Premium post. But they’re not going to turn down elite starting pitching in lieu of mediocre starting pitching and maybe a better long man in the bullpen.
Serious question here, not disparaging the guys in any way, but any of them you really trust, with the game on the line, to close out a 1 or two run lead on the Yanks or Sox with six outs to go? I don’t. That’s a great regular season bullpen, without a weak link, with a lot of diversity that’s a real strength over the 162 game grind.
During last years playoffs, lots of big time relievers got hammered, not just our guys. That said, I trust our current bunch to do better than last years (playoffs).
No, but as we showed last season, McCullers or Morton can and you only need 4 starters in the playoffs.
In my opinion it’s stuff. That’s not to say even the best of the best don’t get cracked from time to time- but everyone is in high alert, great scouting, nobody is dragging bc if travel situations or blahs or anything like that. Nobody is getting AB’s to keep themselves sharp or anything like that. You have to come correct and ready to go bc you aren’t going to catch anyone else not paying attention or half assing it. I want stuff. And strike throwers. That’s my top 2 things I want in a playoff bullpen.
Over the course of the season, you're not going to have good numbers if you don't have stuff. Our guys aren't just getting people out that aren't paying attention or are half-assing things. Players don't suddenly hit better in the playoffs than they did in the regular season. Last year, all the best and most proven guys like Kimbrel, Chapman, Jansen, etc had failures in the playoffs too.
It’s not just that- you also don’t play the Orioles, Royals or Rangers in the playoffs. The rockets and warriors just went seven games throwing haymakers at each other with about a 6.5 man rotation. Last year the dodgers didn’t trust any starter other than Kershaw to get more than about 15 outs, and the Astros were down to about 6 guys they trusted and that might be generous. It’s a meat grinder at the highest level. I don’t trust McHugh, Harris, Giles, Devo etc in that situation. As you said- we got to the best of the best ourselves last year throughout the playoffs. It’s just so hard both ways. Also, I don’t think Beene is particularly wrong when he says this **** is all a crapshoot anyway.
He was first. Being first is a huge advantage. He deserves all sorts of credit for that. I think the younger guys that came behind him are smarter and better but that’s generally the nature of things. Pioneer doesn’t generally perfect the process.
He lucked into a whole bunch of talent (and steroids): 3 great starters, a great infield and a great bullpen. He has done exactly jack **** since then. The "Moneyball" draft is a constant source of amusement to me. "My **** doesn't work in the playoffs." -- Billy Beane
I trust the top 4 starters plus McHugh/Peacock to get thru 7. I trust Devenski in the 8th. And I trust Morton or McCullers to be the closer. Basically I think the only thing we don’t want to see is Giles, Harris, Smith, Sipp, or Rondon coming in during a 1 run game in the 8th or 9th. 2 main things I want to see (in addition to everybody staying healthy) are Keuchel rounding into form and adding a closer like Iglesias or Hand to handle the 8th in a playoff game.
There's not a whole lot you can do when other teams with far greater resources are doing exactly what you are doing. The A's just don't spend any money, ever. Some franchises are just fodder for the teams that do spend money, and if everything bounces your way you may luck into a title in your 2-3 year window before you have to sell everything. Us and the Royals are the only champions in the last decade plus that wasn't in the top 1/3 of spending, and we wouldn't have won if we didn't pick up all that Verlander salary midseason.
He became the GM in the late 1990's (?) and was dominant with the players you talk about. But the A's also made the playoffs in 2012-2014 (2 division titles) with a completely different team and despite being in the bottom 5 of payroll every one of those years. They won 94 games the AL West in 2012 with a payroll below the 55-107 Houston Astros. Of course he's not doing much in the current era because everyone else can do everything he can with $100+MM more to spend doing it. Teams the Red Sox and Cubs and Astros have the same level of genius but 2-3x the payroll. If you gave Lunhow a $70MM payroll limit, he wouldn't be doing much either.
Billy Beane was very good until he lost interest in baseball a long time ago. He now is more concerned about the ponies and a number of other passions. He was offered the Red Sox job but didn’t want to leave California. Beane is all about the good life, baseball is just a job at this point.
