MacAdoo

Perhaps. But there should be no scenario where the five best teams in baseball who have ran the 162 game gauntlet are even exposed to the possibility of going 1-13 in before the league championship series. It just waters down 6 months of baseball being played 5-7 times a week so much. This year may be an anomaly but if I recall last year wasn’t too much kinder either.

I’ve been ignored and scoffed at when I present this format before here and to others but it’s the only way I see to truly reward the best regular season teams for actually coming out on top in the most grueling regular season in professional sports *and* continue to allow multiple wildcard teams in the postseason (which we all know isn’t going away. If anything, more teams will be added): The higher seeded team enters each series with a 1-0 advantage. That means they only have to win two before the lower seeded teams wins three in a five game set and three before the lower seeded team wins four. It reverts then to a balanced best of seven in the WS. This is a supreme reward for grinding out 162 games yet gives the lower seeded teams a real opportunity to still win a championship. Until then I expect to see teams with a bye continue to struggle the division series round under the current format. Baseball is a rhythm and routine game. Anything more than two or three days off completely breaks the rhythm and routine.

If they’re the higher seeded team, yes. As I said, it puts extreme value on the regular season while still allowing an excess of others to compete for a title whereas just a generation ago they’d be watching from home.

You can protect the significance of the most grueling regular season in professional sports AND appease the money-making interest of more teams in the playoffs by simply rewarding the higher seeded team in the following manner: They must simply win one less game. They must win two before the lower seeded team wins three or must win three before the lower seeded team wins four. The World Series is then a straight up best of seven. Problem solved.

The Angels released him for a reason. The Angels…

I didn’t like starting a rookie at home in a “must win.” Too much expectation. Believe it or not, I think there is less pressure in this situation on the road. I Would have preferred a veteran get the start. Maybe bring him out of the pen if Gibson or Kremer faltered early.

“This might cut into our deer huntin’ a little bit, but, hell…it’ll be worth it!” -Ben McDonald to Grayson Rodriguez I feakin’ love this team!

Not going to understate his loss. It’s huge figuratively and literally. He’s the best closer in baseball. But his value is somewhat diminished in the playoffs because part of what makes him so valuable is his ability to strand runners via strikeout—particularly in reference to the reg season extra inning ghost runner. He’s probably won us an extra half dozen games this year that more of a “pitch-to-contact” closer may not. That all goes away with playoff rules.

Agreed. And like I said, I am looking for quality—not quantity.

I was more interested in quality than quantity.

No. We don’t. Elias decided starting pitching was more important at the deadline.

It was obvious that bullpen help was a much higher priority than SP help at the deadline. As right as Elias has been about everything, I have no idea how he didn’t see it.

Fuji or Perez…???

I think Adley has shown that he's a good enough hitter to ride him while he's hot, but he's also shown that he's not a good enough hitter to just pencil him into the DH spot every time he gets a break behind the plate, regardless. Adley seems to be more of Jason Varitek than a Mike Piazza statistically. While statistically he's been good, he hasn't quite been what many (at least me, anyway) expected offensively. That said, his intangibles appear to be off the chart. There has to be something to why the Orioles went from rebuild mode to contention mode literally the day he was called up.

I have a pretty good feeling Jackson Holliday will anchor one of the middle infield spots in the future…