I think people underestimate just how high the leverage gets in terms of potential championships when you know for a fact you're in a tight playoff race.
Baseball results have generic values like "1 win" or "1 run" or even "1 strike" or whatever, but those are just averages. Twenty wins after you're eliminated have zero value in terms of winning championships. But there was a night in early November 2016 where a single out was literally the difference between 1 championship and 0, the highest leverage you can possibly imagine.
When you know for a fact that you are not easily making the playoffs or easily missing them, then marginal wins become *really* valuable. The leverage goes up a ton. The Cubs are in that position right now. Trying to throw that away with a "well they aren't really that good, they'll just lose in the playoffs" isn't logic, it's handwaving.