2012 MLB discussion thread

Surprisingly(unsurprisingly?), on Outside The Lines, they had on Dick Justice, Keith Law, Ken Rosenthal and Jayson Stark, and all were asked who they like for MVP and all said Trout over Cabrera.

I guess you can't go wrong with either but what say you?

 

Trout. I value speed and defense, and all his numbers would be higher if the Angels didn't piss away a month leaving him in AAA.

 

Yeah. I thought Trout had it all along and then it seemed Cabrera came out of nowhere. Ha no, I don't really think he came out of nowhere but it came to my attention, maybe 2 weeks ago, about Cabrera and his chase for the crown.

Both deserving but...I don't know.

 

Both are deserving, so I would give the tie-breaker to whoever's team makes it to the playoffs. If both make it, then I would go with Cabrera if he wins the Triple Crown. If Cabrera doesn't win the Triple Crown, then I go Trout.

 

So, despite the fact that Trout's teams has won more games and has the best record in baseball since his arrival, Cabrera should get credit for playing in the worst division in baseball?

 

Detroit is in the playoffs; LA is not. But LA has won more games - they just weren't lucky enough to be in a craptastic division.

 

Triple Crown = MVP to me.

 

They didn't want to add a 5 game series (and I certainly don't want another 5 game series added to the playoffs)...they wanted to stop the situation where winning the WC was the equivalent of winning the division.

 

Wait...the Rangers have already locked up a playoff spot going into tonight's game. They've clinched the WC at least under the old system..or at least a play-in game for the WC.

 

Oh my... we have a tie in the AL West.

 

Would love to have the Rangers get knocked in the wild card game rofl!

Choking, like always.

 

If they lose today and the Orioles win, under the old system they would be out of the playoffs. The Orioles and Rangers are tied for the 1st WC spot right now.

The Yankees or Orioles would win the Wild Card.

You are losing it in your old age Max. Rangers have only clinched the 2nd WC spot.

 

I know they didn't want to, but it is ridiculous to finish way ahead of another team, and then have a 1 game playoff to decide who gets to play a series. It doesn't make sense.

And they didn't really care about making the division race more exciting, they cared about making more money by keeping more teams in it longer.

 

You're right...I'm losing it. And you're right about the WC spots.

 

It's always about money, for sure. But I like the idea of there being a premium on winning your division.

 

Go A's!!!!

 

Indeed! Really looking forward to watching that game. Just a ridiculous turnaround for that team this season.

 

I just would have liked it done differently if we wanted to award division winners with more than home field. Maybe do a 4 game series where the WC has to win 3 games. In effect giving the number one seed a 1-0 lead over the WC team in the first round. That would put a premium on winning the division, and being the #1 seed.

Of course, in basketball and hockey, the division winners don't get anything special. In the NFL only the top 2 division winners in each conference get an advantage. NCAAF you don't even need to win your conference to play for the National Title (don't know if that is changed with the playoff rules).

Of course, baseball had the best setup for the postseason in terms of only letting 8 teams in.

 

And I think the new playoff system speaks to that value....yes, there are 2 more teams in the playoffs...but we've redefined what making the playoffs actually means. Being one of those WC teams only assures you a sudden death game now...as opposed to assuring you a full series.

I didn't like the previous WC setup, despite the fact my team benefitted from it a couple of times.

 

Yes. I'm not saying that it is the most fair approach, but playoffs tend to sway votes. But like I said, both are very much deserving.