>Yankees 8-1 They should be the favorite to come out of the AL next year, very young team with the black Noah Sindergaard, Luis Severino, my pick for AL Cy Young next season, along with a great offense and the pythag of a 104 win team, needed seven games to get past them and they ain't close to reaching their ceiling.
Nationals remind of the 90s Astros that ran into the Padres and the Braves several times. Great teams that couldn't get over that 1st round hump.
They don't have a manager or a coaching staff at the moment. Hard to take them seriously until you see who is running that young talent.
Couldn’t one say similar things about the Astros? Astros still have the best to come from their “core four”. And even if they simply match what they did this season, it’s very, very good.
I said they would be the favorites in the AL, not actually take our crown. Still a very dangerous team that is always set to throw money at things
assuming the yankees improve and the astros won't is the most ridiculous take. many astros and astros fans had the same take after the 2015 collapse like if it was a forgone conclusion it would happen the next year. well it didn't and more work had to be done. so if the yankees think they can just show up and get a seat at the table they will be sorely mistaken. also, the confidence that comes with having done it cannot be measured. astros, dodgers, cubs would be my favorites.
1) Find a closer. I'm on board (but not on board with Britton). But realize that this moves Giles to setup, where he will excel. 2) Lefty RP, but not expensive (so not Brad Hand). If it's Liriano for cheap, that's ok 3) Internal replacement for Beltran unless there's a great, short-term vet presence to be had 4) No one's said it yet... decide whether it's time to sign Marwin to a long-term deal, or play out his final year of arbitration and then likely lose him after next year. It'd take something significant. Perhaps 4/$60 based on a rough Zobrist comp (he was much older, but had a longer track record and was a UFA). Remember that there's a difference between the playoffs and regular season, and the regular season matters a lot too. Marwin's versatility was perhaps the biggest key on the position player side this year. He allowed everyone to get rest (keeping them fresh for the season, relatively healthy, and fresh to do damage in the postseason), and he allowed us to fill in for any injuries without significantly altering things because of his flexibility. Guys like Marwin don't grow on trees, and good teams seem to really like them these days. (If Marwin is the reason we don't have money for Springer or an Altuve extension, he can be dealt in the future.)
Yes they could implode despite the young core just like the mets did this year, but I doubt it. And the Cubs? The pitching has regressed mightily, Davis and Arrieta by not be back next year, they shouldn't have beaten the Nats and the NLCS showed it, they looked like a AAA team against LA. LA is the pick to come out of the NL by default until further notice.
Tanaka preformed very well in the postseason, I would be shocked if the yankees don't bring him back. The yankees, despite graduating Judge and buying at the deadline, still have the #2 farm system in baseball, CC Fatt will be replaced by a top prospect. Or maybe they sign Yu Darvish to a 200 million dollar deal
The most interesting thing when stepping back from the series, and looking at it from a distance, was that it actually appears that pitching dominated the series. Not hitting. Astros Ops was down 53 points Astros BA was down 55 points And The Dodgers took an even bigger dive. I’m not sure that a case could be made that it was a series dominated by pitching because era and whip were up, but maybe that did in fact determine the series. Or was it just walks that really determined the outcome. Having a hard time actually figuring out the numbers against my perceptions watching it. And then applying that to roster changes. My Hinch gut says fix the bullpen, but I wonder if it’s really our postseason lineup that needs a little shakeup. I just Don’t know. I mean the offense was epic during the season. Maybe we are too good to fix.
Would sign Wade Davis 4yrs/60 mil, Tony Watson 3yrs/12 mil maybe re-sign Maybin and give a roster spot to a position player and pitcher among the group of top prospects. Oh and extending Altuve
Pitchers are significantly better in the postseason as postseason teams have better pitchers and rest days allow the better pitchers to pitch more frequently. Batter stats as a result are usually worse on average on an individual basis though more variance based on small sample size.
And we are? That's the frightening thing. This Astros team is very young. The core will still be under 30 and will have a full season of Justin Verlander. You could say they are a favorite...not the favorite.
According to Neifi (a stat product MLB teams pay money to acquire named after Neifi Perez), the Astros have the most value of any organzation going forward by a wide margin. Can't remember the article that I saw this, but I've seen a few references to Neifi over the last year or so.
