2024 Other Games/Playoffs

[Bertz]

1 hour ago, Andy said:

There's no reasonable amount of games that will make those series less random. If you want less random playoffs you need to let fewer teams in. That's it. No other solution will regularly produce the best teams at the end.

I saw something making the rounds last week about how baseball series would need to be ~70 games to as reliably move the better team forward as the NBA does (~80%).

[squally1313]

Yeah you're never going to get a 'fair' playoff system. That's why I think you need to do whatever you can to incentivize the thing you can most discernably 'win' in the regular season, which is your division. Repeating myself, but go back to 2 wild cards and make them play each other in a 1 game thing. Or, if you want to stick with the 'everyone is invited' thing, go to 4 wild cards and make one of them have to win two games, back to back, before immediately going into the divisional series. Basically, do whatever you can to minimize the chances of a wild card ending up in the World Series. It incentivizes winning the division, which should already draw interest because it's against your rivals (they should also do some combination of unbalancing the schedule and backloading division games), and every couple years you'll get to have a wild card team play the cinderella role.  

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Who gives a horsefeathers if the "best" team wins an individual series or the entire playoffs? An underdog winning is part of what makes sports fun to watch. I wouldn't give a horsefeathers if everyone was let in and the White Sox won it all this year.

[UMFan83]

18 minutes ago, Ding Dong Johnson said:

Who gives a horsefeathers if the "best" team wins an individual series or the entire playoffs? An underdog winning is part of what makes sports fun to watch. I wouldn't give a horsefeathers if everyone was let in and the White Sox won it all this year.

I understand that viewpoint and as a neutral fan I agree with it...its super fun to see teams like the Tigers come out of nowhere to potentially end up in the ALCS.  But if the Cubs ever decide to make the playoffs again, it would annoy me to no end to play 162 games, win the division and have the season end 72 hours after the final regular season game because you had 2 bad games.  If that's how they want to do it fine...hopefully one of these years the Cubs will be like last year's Diamondbacks, win 84 games and end up in the World Series.  But I'd personally prefer to go back to the 8 team model, every playoff team plays at least 3 games and has at least 1 home game.  But I know that is never going to happen now that we've taken it this far.

Edited October 11, 2024 by UMFan83

[squally1313]

29 minutes ago, Ding Dong Johnson said:

Who gives a horsefeathers if the "best" team wins an individual series or the entire playoffs? An underdog winning is part of what makes sports fun to watch. I wouldn't give a horsefeathers if everyone was let in and the White Sox won it all this year.

Would you watch and/or care about the regular season if that were the case?

[gflore34]

3 hours ago, squally1313 said:

Yeah I don't know if this is getting old/old and soft or what, but like...Soto and Judge are a ton of fun. And as a fan of a big market team, give me the prestige that comes with the best teams of this current generation going at each other. This Guardians/Tigers series is fun, but it's fun in the way that like, I tune into the College World Series and pick a team based on some reliever (except in this example Jose Ramirez is also there). 

The Dodgers have been doing this forever and I certainly strongly dislike a lot of their bit players (Edman, Muncy, Kopech, Treinen especially)....but Shohei/Mookie/Freeman is about as good as it gets. The Padres are universally great and I hope Darvish shoves tonight. But it's probably fine either way. 

horsefeathers the Dodgers, I enjoy watching the Padres kick their asses and rub their faces in it.

I'd also like the Dodgers losing to see their off season.  It'll be interesting to view what "creative" financing they'll employ to sign every viable FA pitcher Burnes, et. al. and, Juan Soto.

Edited October 11, 2024 by gflore34

[Ding Dong Johnson]

31 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Would you watch and/or care about the regular season if that were the case?

Every bit as much as I do now. If you're strictly looking for the "best" to win, there's no point in a playoff at the end. Everyone played everyone over 162 games. You can just say the best record is the champ and move on.

[CubinNY]

3 hours ago, squally1313 said:

Let's maybe wait until the Tigers, with their entire playoff roster making when Jameson Taillon does, gets eliminated before we start thinking the owners are going to learn a lesson of some sort here. 

The owners will never learn their lesson. I'm talking about the fans, and more specifically Cubs fans, and more more specifically Cubs fans who post here. 

[squally1313]

3 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

The owners will never learn their lesson. I'm talking about the fans, and more specifically Cubs fans, and more more specifically Cubs fans who post here. 

.....fine. I'll bite. Who here is making the arguments that 'you don't need to spend money to win'.

[Irrelevant Dude]

Man, the vaunted Padres offense is really choking this away against the Dodgers.  They are in the middle of a Cubs-like scoreless streak.

[Derwood]

Yu Darvish deserved better

[soccer10k]

My interest in the playoffs has dropped dramatically over the last week.

[Brian707]

Tigers Cinderella run ends today?

[gflore34]

Sucks the Dodgers won, Darvish was very good, didn't think the Padres would turn into the 2015 Cubs vs the Mets the last two games of the series.  We'll see if the Dodgers' pen can hold out, my guess is they'll make it to the WS before it blows up.

[CubinNY]

On 10/11/2024 at 2:28 PM, squally1313 said:

.....fine. I'll bite. Who here is making the arguments that 'you don't need to spend money to win'.

Games a horsefeathers break. Every armchair GM is against signing anyone this side of Juan Soto. Every time someone signed a big contract there is a chorus of ‘I’m glad Jed is smart enough not to do that.” All you guys talk about is value and adding up mythical WINS and then putting a dollar value on the myth. It’s tedious. 

[squally1313]

33 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

All you guys talk about is value and adding up mythical WINS and then putting a dollar value on the myth

…sorry?

[CubinNY]

Ohtani is ridiculous 

[We Got The Whole 9]

Are there actually baseball people out there that think Luke Weaver could close out a World Series?

[JHBulls]

Mets are no match for these Dodgers. 

[soccer10k]

Emmanuel Clase gave up 2 home runs in 74 1/3 IP this regular season. He gave up 2 home runs in the 8th inning today.

[CubinNY]

The Dodgers are peaking at the right time. Suck it, haters. 

[Rcal10]

15 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Are there actually baseball people out there that think Luke Weaver could close out a World Series?

Yes, apparently the Yankees do. Must have seen something in his last 4 years with an era around 6 during that time. 🤷 I was actually amazed he was their closer. But that goes to the uncertainty of the bullpen. 

[Bertz]

Emmanuel Clase and Edwin Diaz having disastrous postseasons feels pretty compelling as "don't sink a ton of resources into a reliever" evidence.  That said the Yankees and Dodgers have plenty of resources in their pen, it's just more of a spread the wealth sort of deal.

[Rcal10]

6 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Emmanuel Clase and Edwin Diaz having disastrous postseasons feels pretty compelling as "don't sink a ton of resources into a reliever" evidence.  That said the Yankees and Dodgers have plenty of resources in their pen, it's just more of a spread the wealth sort of deal.

True. But for the Yankees having so many resources, have they spent a lot on the one? Or are the resources cast off sort of guys? I mean Weaver is closing! As you said, what is happening in the playoffs is compelling. BTW, you didn’t even mention Hader or Williams blowing games. This is why I always argue that a lot of what happens with pens comes from journeyman or young guys having good years. Throwing money at it isn’t the only answer. 

[gflore34]

3 hours ago, CubinNY said:

The Dodgers are peaking at the right time. Suck it, haters. 

Yes, they are, unfortunately, here's to hoping their bullpen implodes in the World Series.