Playoffs are set

[hoosiers]

IMO, difficult to go against a major part of what has made Rays successful all season.  If their analytics say it is time to change, then they make a change.  Glad to see it was a great series between the two best teams in baseball IMO.  The Rays are a small market success model - ruthlessly efficient in drafting and trading and still with a strong minor league system.  The LAD are a model large market team with a huge depth of internally developed stars and still quite a young team - so much better put together than the NYY.

I saw an early projection for next year with the Dodgers, Braves, Padres, Rays and White Sox in the top 5.  Several of those teams are quite young and almost all of them should be good for the next three to five years at least.  The Os were 26th on the list.

[JR Oriole]

I was disappointed to see Snell come out, but I guess at the end of the day the better team won anyway.  Tampa's offense is weak.....too many of their runs come from homeruns and they strike out way too much.  The Dodgers are much more disciplined offensively, even though Snell obviously had them in knots.  Tough being Cash.....going to live with that one for a long time.  But his offense just did not deliver at all.  

The Orioles have won 3 total LCS games in 37 years.  The Rays have been to 2 world series since their inception.  So they have done very well given their budget constraints.  

[Just Regular]

Brian Kenny on with Russo just now had the observation Cash let his starter go past 18 Batters Faced 5 of the first 6 games.  

Obviously a 1-0 score and all the big relievers "rested" in an elimination game different circumstances last night.

Mad Dog was ready for blood, but Kenny sort of headed him off at the pass surprising by giving his agreement the Snell pull was incorrect.

Given the scuffles of the 4-week postseason, I'm not sure sticking with Anderson as the A reliever did him any favors.  His stat producing robot mode was clearly offline (today the inevitable reports acknowledging fatigue a factor).  Fairbanks or Castillo probably would have been better picks last night for in-inning fireman.

Kenny in the spot also had the Mad Dog (pining for Snell to have the Smoltz experience) counter the Dodgers did October with a 2-man rotation, and bullpenning to take the WS clincher and survive two NLCS elimination games.  Obviously in the 162, Urias and May take their turns and do fine, but the October Corbin blueprint got drawn a bit more heavily this year.

Snell is kind of an interesting gray area of is he a good enough starter to transcend the 18-batter leash as is correctly done with Cole, etc.  He has the Cy, but also like a 3.50-ish expected ERA across the couple of years including the Cy.   I think the Rays see him more JA Happ than Clayton Kershaw.

[OFFNY]

o

 

Fair or not, there is a decent chance that John Romano's contention will be what many choose to subscribe to with when looking back at the 2020 World Series  ........ essentially the opposite of the Grady Little/Pedro Martinez scenario from Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS.

 

History Will Forever Sneer at Kevin Cash for Yanking Blake Snell

(By John Romano)

https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2020/10/28/history-will-forever-sneer-at-kevin-cash-for-yanking-blake-snell/

 

o

[WillyM]

20 hours ago, now said:

So what about Cash's decision to remove Snell? Comparable to Buck's Brittongate?

(Asking for a Rays fan -- me, for this playoffs vs. NYY, HOU and LAD).

For me, it brought back memories of Sam Perlozzo and the 2007 Mother's Day Massacre in Boston.

On the other hand, if we say Cash was an idiot to start bringing in a stream of relief pitchers starting in the sixth inning, we must also acknowledge that Dave Roberts started bringing in a stream of relief pitchers starting in the second inning, and the strategy worked out great for him.

[Can_of_corn]