RE: OT: NFL/Fantasy Football Discussion
Like I said, I don’t follow the Yankees closely, but I look at that roster and it seems as if they’ve overachieved. I hear you on managing the pen though. That is one reason I love Maddon. He makes moves that puzzle me from time to time, but he is so open in his press conferences and he usually provides his rationale. All managers make mistakes, but when they give their perspective and rationale going into the decision it’s hard to be too critical.
As for the Cards, they racked up a bunch of wins before the break, but they haven’t been as good since. They continue to win a lot of games, but they haven’t been very good against the Pirates or Cubs. I don’t recall the exact record, and a quick Google search didn’t turn up, but they have the third best record in the NL Central since the break. I don’t expect much out of Wainwright in the playoffs; I assume he’ll be out of the pen. It will be interesting to see if Molina plays, and if he is able to gut it out, how effective will he be? His bat is only a bonus, but if he can catch, manage the staff, and control the run game, that will be a huge lift for them. I don’t think Holliday is going to be a huge addition in the playoffs, but I could be wrong. They’re the Cards, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they make it to the WS, but they’re limping, and to me, they seem to be playing the worst baseball of all the NL playoff teams. A rotation of Wacha, Lackey and Garcia isn’t all that impressive, and their ace, Wacha, has given up 15 earned runs over his last 20 innings pitched.
I really think the Pirates are the best team in the NL right now, but they have to face the best/hottest pitcher in the NL in an elimination game. I don’t like the one game wildcard game for that reason. This year, you have MLBs 2nd and 3rd best teams (based on record) facing off in an elimination game. Can’t be in MLBs best interest to have either of those teams at home before the average fan realizes the playoffs started.
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I couldn't possibly agree with you more on Maddon. He's IMO the best game manager in MLB. Girardi's press conferences make you want to jump through the TV because he will never fess up when he does something silly. Yankees are in the hunt in large part to a few things A, Arod and Tex having 60HR between the two of them. B Didi and McCann have had very solid years. and C everyone in the AL has been pedestrian with the exception of a handful of teams.
Agree in your statements about St Louis, although they should get Wainwright back, so to me a big part of how far they can go is what can they get from him? I'm a firm believer that they should shave a week off the season and make the Wild Card at least 2 of 3. Its just not fair to have your season come down to one game and have to face an Arietta for all the marbles.
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