2020 MLB Season

Can i start complaining about injuries yet?

Luis Severino is out for the year, he had Tommy John surgery last Thursday, it went as expected. James Paxton is expected to be out until May with a back injury. These injuries are complicated by Domingo German getting himself suspended for half the season for violating the league's Domestic Violence rules.

I am absolutely FOR professional sports leagues holding their athletes to a higher standard when it comes to domestic violence, even when it's my team's guy that gets suspended. I hope Domingo takes advantage of the resources the League makes available and learns his lesson.

Obviously Gerrit Cole is thee Ace for the Yankees this year, and with German and Severino both unavailable, it's a damn good thing the Yankees signed Cole or they wouldn't have an ace to play on Opening Day. Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ were reliable innings eaters who won games and will likely be the 2 and 3 starters, but thing get very fuzzy very quickly after that. Jordan Montgomery has the best early chance of pitching his way into the #4 spot. The Yankees have a lot of quality arms in the bullpen, but it'd be risky to hang too many innings on them early in the year. Hopefully Paxton can come back a little early and at least one durable starter emerges from Spring Training. Assuming the position players and Gary Sanchez stay healthy, the Yanks could potentially have their Opening Day roster heavy a pitcher and light a pine rider, but that can get risky too, as running out of minor league options could mean putting valuable talent on the waiver wire, which is something the talent-stacked farm system will very much want to avoid.

The Yankees are projected to return to being MLB's biggest spenders this Opening Day in grand style, with the largest player payroll in MLB history. It's been several years since the Yankees were at the top, with Boston and the Cubs at 1 and 2 last year. This year's #2 spenders will be the Dodgers, with the Houston Cheaters Astros not far behind.

The Yankees's injury bug is so far nothing like last year's historic IR reports, and hopefully it won't become anything like it again, and obviously there are plenty of teams who'd be happy to start the season with three starting arms like those of Cole Tanaka and Happ, much less expecting Paxton back ~ a month into the season. Nonetheless it stings a little to see two of last year's heroes laid low, and no, CC Sabathia will NOT be riding back out of the sunset AGAIN this year.

Centerfielder Aaron Hicks is also recovering from Tommy John surgery and isn't expected back before June, possibly as late as the All-Star Break. Also twin OF towers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are both currently listed as Day-To-Day.

Does anybody have any juicy insider stuff about, i dunno, maybe the Dodgers, Indians, Mariners, or Defending World Champion Washington Nationals?

I have to say, when I heard about Cole, I felt sorry for ya.
How long is he expected to be out?
What about Judge? Is he going to make opening day?

I haven't really been following the preseason. But, I have been contemplating making it to opening day against the Giants.

Insider scoop on the Mariners? Probably another season of not contending. They seem to be going for the same "Pitching and Defense" formula, but the starting staff seems shaky. Marco Gonzalez has good stuff, although his ERA over the last two seasons as a starter is a bit high, right at 4.00. Yusei Kikuchi had a rough first year after coming over from Japan. His pitch control was a bit erratic within the strike zone, which is often worse than being unable to find the strike zone. When he is on he is very difficult to hit because he changes speed well, but last season he issued 50 walks while striking out 116 in 161 innings. So far in the spring he has 1BB, 8K in 10.2 innings. Maybe he has sorted things out. Taijuan Walker makes his return to the tam after three season in the D-Backs organization. Not sure what happened to him there but he only made four appearances, all starts, with the big club, over the last two. He was "The Guy Everyone Wants" when he left here at the end of the 2016 season. Justus Sheffield, a young 'un the team picked up from the Yanks with just 7 starts and 38 IP under his belt is the 4th starter. We'll see... The 5th starter is 29 year old Kendall Graveman. This doesn't look good. Five year veteran, last four with Oakland. Was a mediocre starter for three of them, last year he started seven games, went 1-5 with a 7.60 ERA.

I remember Justus's brief stint with the Yankees. He didn't have many appearances (2? 3? 3 i think) and his stats weren't great, but iirc his stuff is actually rather decent. He was part of the package my guys sent your guys for Paxton. He's still really young yet. Is he Gary's nephew, or son? Either way, i wish him well (except when he pitches against the Yankees of course).

Paxton is from somewhere in B.C. One of those little towns out by Penticton. A few years ago he became the first Canadian in MLB history to throw a no-hitter in Canada. Might have been celebrated a bit more except for the fact the the Blue Jays were the team which got the short end of the deal.

Justus is not directly related to Gary, but his uncle Tony was an outfielder who was drafted by the Bosox in '92 and played in the minors for 6 years.

I feel like the NL should have a team in Western Canada, but franchises of US pro sport leagues don't seem to last long in Canada (other than NHL of course). I mean, the Blue Jays and Raptors have stuck around, and now both of them have even won at least one championship each, but it seems to me that lots of Canada tries to pretend that Toronto is actually a US city and that the cartographers keep screwing up. Wasn't basketball invented by a Canadian?

Anyway, that's a fun fact about Sheffield. I hope Paxton's back feels better soon, but i also hope he doesn't rush it.

Will Toronto become Buffalo as one of my neighbors suggested? Canada has forbidden that Toronto the city be the Blue Jays' home during the 2020 regular season. Health and safety concerns. Too many covid-enriched Americans crossing the border. My further question though is if the Blue Jays decide on Buffalo or any American city as their new temporary home, will Canada even allow their own team to return during the regular season without quarantine protocol? The Jays would still be mingling with Americans after all. Of course the other solution is not to have an American home city at all but to become a road team. At least in name. Half of the road games would actually be home games and the Jays would be pitching first and batting second. A new twist a week before the official season begins.

I watched last night's Yankees v Mets exhibition, and they talked quite a bit aboot the Blue Jays's situation. I guess it seems pretty likely that they'll be playing home games in Buffalo. It appears that Jays management worked out details with Ontario Province and with Toronto Municipality, but forgot (or tried to sidestep) the Canadian Federal Authority. One might think it would be merely common sense to start with the Feds, but then again maybe the Jays upper management felt they'd stand a better chance of getting things their way by applying as much pressure as possible, and maybe they don't feel that the work they did was wasted if they can make the Trudeau admin look bad in front of one of the nation's biggest cities.

I was starting to wonder how much home field really means anymore with no fans in the stadia. 30,000 cardboard cutouts do offer some advantages, like not throwing batteries, but they also aren't buying concessions or merch, and didn't even pay to get in, in fact it cost money to put them there!

The piped in crowd noise is weird. The players seem to like it though, or so we're being told so far. Maybe it helps them feel like there's a crowd there rooting for and/or against them. I've heard many players talk about how much they love winning in front of the hometown fans, and several have even spoken eloquently of the joys of silencing a hostile road crowd.

One thing about Baseball that the other major pro sports leagues don't have is that each park has its own peccadillos, like the short porch in right at Yankees' Stadium or the Green Monster at Fenway Park. A ball hit a particular way at Coors Field in Denver might be a home run, while the same swat might result in a relatively routine catch near the warning track at many other ballparks. Some parks have wider foul lanes where popups can be caught. Also, though the leagues try to keep the diamonds as uniform as possible, there are some minor variations that can give defenders playing at home a slight advantage because they're more familiar; it's a very slight advantage, but baseball is a game of slight degrees, so it matters.

And therefore home field still matters, and each team deserves to have one. I hope the Jays will be comfortable in Buffalo.

BASEBALL RETURNS TONIGHT!!!!! YANKEES VS NATIONALS!!!!

I'm a little bit pumped up for this.

with a soundtrack and digital fans in the stands

the Blue Jays dont have a place to play

MLB this year is going to be REALLY different.

Let's start with scheduling. 60 game regular season instead of 162 games. Most years, divisional rivals play each other 19 times. As each team has 4 divisional rivals, that obviously can't happen this year; instead they'll play each other only 10 times, and that still leaves only 20 games for extra-divisional play. Ordinarily, each team would play every other team in their league for a minimum of a 3-game set; this year teams that are in the same league but not the same division will not see each other at all. Instead, those 20 extra-divisional games will be split into 4-game sets against each of the 5 teams in the other league's division that has the same North/Central/South designation. It's been normal for these teams to see each other in interleague play every season for the last 20 years at least, but...

The Universal DH rule is here, possibly to stay. No longer will pitchers have, nor even be allowed, to swing a bat as part of the regular lineup. My father's corpse might rest a little easier in his grave, but Madison Bumgartner and Carlos Zambrano lose a little value, the legacies of Dontrelle Willis and Don Nelson feel shat upon, and major strategic elements of the game are simply erased. Boo. Perhaps even worse, definitely worse for the bullpens...

Extra innings will now start with an opposing runner on second base. This is idiotic and should stop ASAP. If a World Series game is decided this way it will make this season feel like even more of a cartoon shitshow than it already does, and it seems inevitable that this terrible idea will affect playoff games. Speaking of bad ideas and the playoffs...

The playoff field will be expanded from the already bloated 10 to a blatantly ridiculous 16. More than half of the teams will play in the postseason. What works for hockey and basketball will not work for baseball. Well, i want to be fair: with this year's shortened regular season, it might work, though it will look terribly stupid, because losing teams should not be playing playoff baseball.

_______________

Anyway, the 2020 New York Yankees:

The Yankees have returned to the status of MLB's biggest spender this year in style. This past off-season's biggest addition was a new #1 "true ace" starting pitcher Gerrit Cole. Last year he pitched 212 1/3 innings and went 20-5 and led the AL in ERA w/1.8; ERA+ w/ 185; and K w/ 326. The Yankees still have Luis Severino as a "genuine ace" type pitcher but he's out hurt for the year. They also still have Masahiro Tanaka and Paxton, who are both great #2 pitchers, but Tanaka was hit in the head by a line drive on July 4th and was most recently put on the 10-IL retroactive to last Sunday, 7 days ago, so he could be back fairly soon but isn't starting early. The Yankees still have Domingo German as well, but he's sitting out a season for a Domestic Violence incident. I don't know where JA Happ is but the Yankees have a large, deep, and phenomenal bullpen too, even with Aroldis Chapman hurt.

So far, Cole looked absolutely stellar in a rain-shortened 5 inning win. He was masterful and dominant against the defending champion Washington DC Nationals lineup on Opening Day. Paxton got a little roughed up by them in game 2, and the Yankees bullpen is shining brightly in game 3 so far. Perhaps Happ is anchoring what's still a 5-start rotation being executed temporarily by 4 starters, and the managerial staff want that bullpen start to be where Tanaka will slot back in to the lineup, and if he's ready a day early, they could have the option to rest Paxton an extra day.

The Yankees Offensive is monstrous. When they go large they are physically by far the largest murderers row ever assembled in the Bronx, and the backup catcher is even bigger than the starter. Brett Gardner is easily the smallest of the lineup that favors offense first, as he's the only one under 6' at 5'11" and the only one under 215 lbs at 190. Kyle Higashioka is a better defender than Sanchez and will see a good amount of work in a short "sprint" season. LeMahieu, Judge, Torres, Stanton, Hicks, Sanchez, Voit, Urshela, and Gardner is probably what that lineup looks like, though there are several other permutations that are just as large and they could even go larger, but not often. These players are also the components of a better-than-average defense, and there are a lot of potential moving pieces that could allow for imaginative managing, not that i think Boone will do anything truly unconventional, but i will admit that having a shortened season has given me some hope of seeing some historical weirdness somewhere in MLB, hopefully at multiple places.

I'm a little worried about the effects of the scheduling on the Yankees. I mean, the AL East has been a historically difficult division over the last couple of decades, and i think this year's NL East is going to be a historically difficult division this year in particular. The Nationals Braves Phillies and Mets all have legitimate reasons to think that they can compete and play hard, even if the division gets out of reach, because so many teams will be going to the postseason, and home field will mean so much less this postseason. I'm even more afraid for the Red Sox fans, whose team has one starter whose name i recognized and another who looks ready for the job and a big bunch of hopefuls who are probably mostly going to get their dreams crushed playing for the franchise that sold Mookie Betts and David Price. That's tough stuff. At least Betts is across the country far away.

I think a team from a Central division will have the top seed in their league. Either Minnesota or Cleveland or Chicago or St. Louis or Milwaukee, ... or (loooong-shot here) Cincinnati, will get hot and thrash the crap out of two or three of the teams that i've listed in this paragraph and the rest in the Central divisions. If the (Cubs or Cards) and (Twins or Indians) both get hot and the rest all shit their beds, the Central Champions could even "host" both LCSs.

If i had to predict the World Series right now, i'd say the #1 Seed Yankees defeat the #3 Seed Braves in 6 games, with the Yankees winning games 1, 2, 4, & 6 in a Series with a lot of fast changes in momentum. More realistically, Las Vegas sportsbooks seem to have the Yankees and Dodgers finally facing each other in the Fall Classic again for the 12th time overall, and the first time since 1981, when i was 7 and Hodge was roughly the same age that most dirt is now.

after three games all teams are either 2 and 1 or 1 and 2. Nobody swept and nobody got swept. Cleveland sort of came close but lost to KC in 10. KC scored from the freebie second base while the KC reliever with two men on base struck out the next three impressively. That was the middle game. Cleveland dominated the third game. The first game was a 2-0 Cleveland pitching performance although KC pitching was almost as good. Cleveland broke through one inning and that was that.

When i heard about the extra innings guy on second set up I wondered if that automatically favored the visiting team. We'll see how many extra inning games the visitors win this year. I suggested to a my neighbor friend that the 10th should start with a man on first. If undecided in 10, a man on second. If undecided in 11, a man on third. Then I thought if there's no winner, a tie. My neighbor friend disagreed with that twist and said games should continue until decided. I imagine with a man still on third? We didn't get that far. I prefer not to have the man on second at all. But I don't dislike it as much as I hate the automatic walk. Now that's a disgrace!

Meanwhile I learned that the Blue Jays will be in Buffalo except for their first home stretch I guess as the stadium needs a wee bit of work. Yes, They play two "home" games in Washington and three in Philadelphia. Also they have a weird set up with the Yankees in September. Host then visit then host with hosting the Mets and traveling to the Phillies filling in the gaps. Weird. 10 games between them right at the end of the season. I think scheduling could have done better there.

Meanwhile Covid sings: Don't you forget about me...

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/marlins-orioles-game-postponed-due-to-covid-19-outbreak-resulting-in-at-least-11-player-cases/

By rights in the real word and if money weren't involved the Marlins and the Phillies would be in automatic quarantine. However Baseball will somehow work this out. For the fans you know. In truth I hope they do. But this virus is far from over in all facets of life.

I like the idea that regular season games finish in a tie if there's not a victor by the end of the 11th - 13th. I think 12th or 13th would be better than 11th. Games that go over 13 innings are really pretty rare, it wouldn't have caused any problems at the end of any given season if every game that went over 13 innings during the regular season had been called a tie after 13, and there's a certain numerological fun to be had with the last possible inning being the 13th. Abandon Every Hope type stuff plays well in a "superstitious" team sport.

I'm very concerned that this COVID outbreak could be the beginning of the end, already, for the very young MLB season. This season could still very well wind up cancelled if this spreads any farther.

Two games between Miami and Baltimore are canceled. Wednesday maybe at Baltimore. Who will play for Miami? Farm players? We'll see how many Phillies are infected. If any are, I think the season is half way to being toast.

Meanwhile the White Sox at Indians was postponed due to rain. Although Renteria for the White Sox woke up with something. He's being tested.

Between the weather and the COVID, the Yankees were able to bring Cole to the bump to start twice in the first 4 games. But they've apparently missed a 3 game set against the only NL East team that's not expected to compete.

The Yankees are currently leading the Major Leagues in both wins and winning percentage. They're an absurd 7-1, which is .875. An .875 pct over a 162 game season would be 142-20. 

Which is just silly. But it has been very cool to see the Yankees playing like each game could be the last, and they don't want to have any regrets.

BTW my divisional picks were: Yankees, Indians, Angels, Braves, Cubs, and Dodgers.

I would exchange the Twins for the Indians.

Well, those were my picks before play started. The Angels aren't looking good so far either.

The Indians have now won two in a row. Their pitching has been great but their hitting has been very weak.

Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox on Espn for the rubber game. Neighbor Kathy invited me over. I'm bringing snacks.

Somehow after some strange strike zone calls and a rain delay and 2020 extra inning shenanigans Cleveland won 5-4 and have won 2 two out of three series from the Chicago White Sox. That helps a lot based on the strange post season format which I just learned about and which based on the  Marlins and Cardinals should be amended immediately.

The method is each division winner and each second place team and then the next two best teams compete in a semi-traditional play off format that would involve eight teams. For instance team 8 would go to team 1. At team 1 there would be a best of three games but only at team 1's stadium. This I'm fine with. However teams that haven't played nearly the number of games seem to be currently counted in races as though they're equals (Marlins and Cardinals). What absolute nonsense. Even Detroit who has yet to play enough games to match them with Cleveland for instance is counted as second place due to mere percentage. Now Detroit was supposed to play St. Louis and those games were postponed. Maybe Detroit's number of games can be evened out over time. But St. Louis? I doubt it. So what do you do with that team? Let them stand with 50 games and not 60? Nonsense. Either they catch up---in whatever configuration (as in Minor League players perhaps)---or they're out. Same with the Marlins who might though have a better chance to make up their games. Or any team. May as well set up a playoffs where everyone is one and records merely determine playoff position. Of course if the Oakland A's get eliminated by the Angels well then bad luck. Check their records.

Meanwhile two idiot pitchers on the Cleveland Indians left the hotel for the nightlife or some such bullshit and are now scratched from play while being kept in quarantine and the testing regimen. I hope they enjoy nasal penetration. I hope they're fined until they bleed green.

Well said, David. Those two guys deserve everything they get and then some. At least the one guy came clean, although only after he was caught. The other asshole had to be completely thrown under the bus after not going back to the hotel that night, then lying to cover himself, and THEN to make his actions truly horrific, he got on a plane with a teammate who had just told the team that he'd been diagnosed with leukemia. How selfish can one person be? He KNEW his teammate was at extremely elevated risk, and STILL lied and put EVERYBODY at risk.

I seriously hope that this doesn't turn into an outbreak on the Indians. I really really don't want any more teams to have outbreaks. 

I hope the Indians will be okay.

I want serious gut-punching fines.

Carlos Carrasco has had leukemia for over a year. His first pitching outing since the diagnosis was the other day. So everyone knew of his ailment. Not to mention the coach Terry Francona is fighting some sort of weird gastro-intestinal ailment. Sandy Alomar had to take over for a while.

Therefore---there was no excuse.

I also hope the Indians will be okay. I definitely do not want the franchise to suffer for the crimes of two assholes. To a certain extent it's unavoidable that it hurts the team, the one guy has been a good pitcher for them.

"Gut-punching fines" I like it. They'll probably be suspended on top of their quarantines, but i agree with you that the fines should hurt.

Cleveland wins 6 in a row on the road. Helps that the opponents are Detroit and Pittsburgh. Detroit comes to town. Another sweep?

Well, no. Cleveland had a 5-0 lead, but Detroit stormed out with 10 unanswered runs, including a player's very first professional homerun which happened to be a grand slam! So Detroit's 20 game losing streak to Cleveland is done, and probably for the better. Cleveland can now focus on individual games and not on record books.

The loss probably doesn't hurt Cleveland all that much, either. They're only a half game (one in the win column, too) back of the Twins now. The AL has had a few teams on hot streaks lately, with the CheatStros out West and the Rays charging hard in the East. Tampa actually had first place for a game until losing to Toronto, er Buffalo, i mean the Blue Jays.

The Yankees are currently idle because they're supposed to be playing the Mets.

Meanwhile in the Senior Circuit, Hodge's Dodgers have the best record in the Bigs, while Maturin's defending World Champion Nationals share the worst record in their division with the Phillies, which to be fair is still only 4 games out of first place.

Ugh. Cleveland lost 2 out of 3 to Detroit. Revenge for Cleveland's sweep in Detroit I guess. Oh Cleveland. You gotta show up for the bad teams and stop worrying about when Minnesota is coming to town! Thankfully Triston McKenzie pitched a great game on Saturday. He is the tallest, slimmest stick of a man in all of baseball (a subjective response). Anyway Cleveland should dump the Chicago-on-the-town pair and keep him. Or at least trade those two pitchers for some solid hitters. Bats were quiet much of the weekend.

They had designated both of those pitchers for minor league assignments already, but yesterday they recalled the younger and more talented one. One of the "ESPN MLB Insider" guys (I think it was Buster Olney) reports that the recalled player is being told by upper management that he's very lucky to be getting one warning, and that the other guy is being made the example, that the team may look into trading Example Man during the offseason but will, supposedly, NOT be calling him back up to the Majors for any reason. I apologize for being too lazy to go look up their names.

It looks as though Clevinger is pitching tonight. Plesac is apparently returning later. It's Sandy Alomar's decision. He is subbing for Terry Francona who is experiencing worrying health problems (not covid related). Clevinger committed the worse of the covid-related infractions by not disclosing his escapades and then traveling back with the team. But as I said it's Alomar's decision. My problem with this equation though is that by and large pitching (outside two blowout losses to Detroit) hasn't been the problem. It's been the hitting. For any pitching staff (with or without Clevinger and Plasec) to clamp down on any opponent while Cleveland fails to score a sufficient number of runs is going to be difficult if not impossible. At least Biever kept the first-place Twins to 2 runs while Cleveland scored 4. The 3-2 loss on Monday was troubling however. That was a hitting problem. Squandered opportunities. Let's see what Clevinger does after what I hope was serious reflection in the penalty box.

I've been having a difficult time trying to really get into this season. It's so weird. A team can play 7 games in 5 days, and 4 of them are only 7 innings, then have 5 days off, rinse, repeat. If this lack of rhythm and continuity is bothering me, i don't understand how the players are handling it, especially the pitchers.

The Yankees have been in free fall lately too, but it's not like they've been playing poorly.

And david i also heard that Plesac will also be returning to the team. I'm a little surprised if the Commissioner's office hasn't fined and/or suspended those guys. I hope the best for Terry Francona and his family. Sandy Alomar's a nice second to have on your bench though.

I haven't even checked the stats the last few days, i've been a little out of it.

My guess is that Clevinger and Plesac have been laying on thick apologies.

More important to me though is that Triston McKenzie is pitching for Cleveland in St. Louis tonight. He was great against Detroit. TM might be the skinniest man in the majors. For his height. He struck out 10 last week: his debut. A friend of mine said today: If TM was white, he'd have gotten a lot more press.

baseball-reference.com lists McKenzie as 6'5" 165 lbs, so a tall slim man indeed, and those aren't the most impressive stats listed on his page at the moment. He's pitched 10 innings in two appearances so far this year with Cleveland, and in spite of a couple of HRs given up, his ERA and WHIP are both excellent, and he's struck out 13 of the 38 batters he's faced!

And now the White Sox have been the white hot team-of-the-week in the AL Central, all the way into a 3-way tie for first place with the Twins and Indians. They're feasting on the NL Central's weak teams. I'll be hoping to see a detailed breakdown on how having the DH changed NL rosters and challenged NL managers, when this season is all over.

TM wasn't as sharp as during his previous start. But when your team wins that game 14-2 you don't have to be perfect.

Today Cleveland is in first place by 1 and by 1.5 games. KC beat CWS. Detroit swept a double-header with Minnesota. Cleveand beat St. Louis 2-1 in 12 innings. St. Louis had seemingly better chances to win but Cleveland squeezed a run home.

Cleveland has now won 10 road consecutive road games. I think St. Louis can be swept tomorrow. Kansas City is another matter.

So the Yankees have gotten hot again, and have clinched a non-losing record for the season with 30 wins, and with 9 games to play they're 3.5 games behind Tampa for the divisional lead.

Cleveland went kind of cold for a while, but in spite of now being in 3rd place in their division, they're still in good shape to make this year's expanded playoffs because they're 5 games over .500. With 9 games left to play, though, they'll likely need to win at least a few of them.

The Dodgers have the best record in the Major Leagues and have a 5 game lead for best record in the NL.

The defending World Champion Nationals have been chewed up and spit out by this insanely strange season. They're in last place in their division and will not be playing postseason baseball this year.

The Mariners may be in third place in the AL West, but their situation is nearly as dire as DC's. They would need to win out and get some help to make the postseason, that's not likely to happen. Sorry TBC.

The Indians once more are lucky to have played the Tigers over the weekend: winning three games out of four. They have seven home games I believe. Win three or four and they're certainly in.

If I understand the play off system correctly they'll have to play The White Sox, The Rays, or The Athletics.

The AL Central is real interesting right now, with Cleveland Chicago and Minnesota all having clinched playoff berths. The Twins have a 1 game lead on the Sox, the Sox have 1 game lead on the Indians, and all three teams have 3 games left to play.

The White Sox face their crosstown rival Cubs, who have clinched a playoff berth and will probably win their division; the Indians face the Pirates, who are one of only 3 NL teams already eliminated from playoff contention. and the Twins will be playing the Reds, who will be playing for a shot at the postseason.

Idk what the tie-breaker scenarios are.

Elsewhere in the AL, there's only one playoff spot left available, which will go to the Astros (who'll be playing the Rangers, who are eliminated already) or Angels (who will be playing the Dodgers, who are already guaranteed the best record in the big leagues). The Astros also have a 3 game lead on LAAAA, so Houston will almost certainly take the AL's 8 seed.

The Rays have sewn up the East. They'll likely finish with the AL's 1 seed, though they do close with a set against the Phillies, who are playing to try to make the postseason. The Yankees have clinched a playoff berth, and will probably be the 6, or maybe 5 seed. The Yankees close with a set against Jeter's Marlins, who are in a good position but will need at least 1 win to make the postseason. Toronto/Buffalo has clinched a playoff spot, likely the 7 seed, and they'll finish the season with a set against Baltimore, who are eliminated from postseason play.

The Rangers are worse than the Red Sox, but the Tigers are better than the Red Sox. The BoSox finish up against Atlanta, and will likely remain the second worst team in the AL. The Tigers get to finish up against Kansas City.

The A's have clinched the AL West and finish their season with a set against the Mariners, who will again not be playing postseason baseball this year.

The universal DH will stay in place for all teams for the postseason this year, although thankfully the even more goofy shit of extra innings starting with a RISP will end. Double-headers don't happen in the postseason either, so no more 7 inning games, and no more 7 games in 5 days bullshit either.

However, there will be no travel days or rest days in between. The first round will be best-of-three format with the higher seeded team hosting all three games in three days. After that, the surviving teams will travel to LA/SD and Texas, where the divisional and LCS rounds will be played. The divisional round will be best-of-five in five days, the LCS will be best-of-seven in seven days.

The World Series will be held at Globe Life Field, and there will be a day off after game two, and after game 5 if necessary.

The AL Central is real interesting right now, with Cleveland Chicago and Minnesota all having clinched playoff berths. The Twins have a 1 game lead on the Sox, the Sox have 1 game lead on the Indians, and all three teams have 3 games left to play.

The White Sox face their crosstown rival Cubs, who have clinched a playoff berth and will probably win their division; the Indians face the Pirates, who are one of only 3 NL teams already eliminated from playoff contention. and the Twins will be playing the Reds, who will be playing for a shot at the postseason.

Idk what the tie-breaker scenarios are.

Elsewhere in the AL, there's only one playoff spot left available, which will go to the Astros (who'll be playing the Rangers, who are eliminated already) or Angels (who will be playing the Dodgers, who are already guaranteed the best record in the big leagues). The Astros also have a 3 game lead on LAAAA, so Houston will almost certainly take the AL's 8 seed.

The Rays have sewn up the East. They'll likely finish with the AL's 1 seed, though they do close with a set against the Phillies, who are playing to try to make the postseason. The Yankees have clinched a playoff berth, and will probably be the 6, or maybe 5 seed. The Yankees close with a set against Jeter's Marlins, who are in a good position but will need at least 1 win to make the postseason. Toronto/Buffalo has clinched a playoff spot, likely the 7 seed, and they'll finish the season with a set against Baltimore, who are eliminated from postseason play.

The Rangers are worse than the Red Sox, but the Tigers are better than the Red Sox. The BoSox finish up against Atlanta, and will likely remain the second worst team in the AL. The Tigers get to finish up against Kansas City.

The A's have clinched the AL West and finish their season with a set against the Mariners, who will again not be playing postseason baseball this year.

The universal DH will stay in place for all teams for the postseason this year, although thankfully the even more goofy shit of extra innings starting with a RISP will end. Double-headers don't happen in the postseason either, so no more 7 inning games, and no more 7 games in 5 days bullshit either.

However, there will be no travel days or rest days in between. The first round will be best-of-three format with the higher seeded team hosting all three games in three days. After that, the surviving teams will travel to LA/SD and Texas, where the divisional and LCS rounds will be played. The divisional round will be best-of-five in five days, the LCS will be best-of-seven in seven days.

The World Series will be held at Globe Life Field, and there will be a day off after game two, and after game 5 if necessary.

Well, the short regular season is done. Now we have an extended playoff which I find more interesting than the regular playoffs even though some sub 500 teams are in. If this format is kept, the sub 500 inclusion will have to be looked at. Other things to keep? The 3 batter minimum for relief pitching---unless the offense subs a batter then there can be a pitching change. I like the guy on second more than I thought I would but I don't think it should start in the 10th. Maybe the 11th or 12th. But if it stays I won't cry about it. Get rid of double headers except for make up games. And then consider the 7 inning rule I guess. Or reduce the season to a more manageable number of games to begin with. I've always said: the season is too long and the playoffs are too short---at least in terms of the five game series and the stupid one game playoff. As for the future playoffs give better positions to actual numerical records and not to whether a less deserving team is first place or second place. The Houston Astros being ahead of Chicago WS and Toronto is just dumb.

Meanwhile the 2020 playoff brackets are set. I guess after the first round where for example the NY Yankees will travel to Cleveland the American League plays in California while the National League plays in Texas. The World Series is in Arlington.

AL

Toronto at Tampa
New York Y at Cleveland

Chicago WS at Oakland
Houston at Minnesota


Minnesota is the big winner in that arrangement.

NL

Milwaukee at Los Angeles D
St. Louis at San Diego

Cincinnati at Atlanta
Miami at Chicago C

Here I think the LA Dodgers will win the NL playoffs. The whole thing? Maybe.

Twins are out. A deeply stupid result. Not because of play. But because of the playoff system where a sub 500 team was even allowed in. If the Yankees defeat the Indians tonight that will be fine because the Yankees ended above 500 and deserve to be in. Playoffs---any playoffs in any sport---should automatically disqualify sub 500 teams.

Minnesota was definitely a big winner in the wacky seeding. They're the 3 seed, but they got the first-round matchup with the only AL team with a losing record.

The White Sox had a better record than the Yankees or the Astros, but are seeded lower than them because they finished second in their divisions and the Sox finished 3rd.

Odd too that the Central Divisions are sending 7 teams, with half of the 8 NL teams coming from their Central Division including the losing record Brewers.

Can you imagine if a team that had a losing regular season record wins the World Series? I know it's not likely, but frankly, it should be impossible. Having a losing team seeded 6th really makes bad sense, too.

I wouldn't have a problem with starting late innings with a runner on base, but i didn't like having it start in the 10th. I think the 12th would be fine.

I'm a little upset over thinking that the universal DH will probably stick around after this season. I love having the DH for the AL and not for the NL, i love that the leagues aren't exactly the same, i love that individual ballparks have different dimensions and individual features like the Green Monster in Boston and the short porch in right field in Yankees' stadium.

ALL SEVEN Central Division teams lost in the first round of the playoffs. Crazy.

Divisional round matchups:

Yankees v Rays - I think NY has a slight edge because of their bullpen, but Tampa has had their number this year, so either team can win this. All bets are off.
Astros v Athletics - The Astros are a plucky team in spite of a losing regular season record, but this 5-game set is the A's's to lose.

Marlins v Braves - This has been where the Braves have been falling off in recent postseasons, but i think they get over this hump this time. The Marlins franchise has never lost a postseason series, but i expect they're about to.
Padres v Dodgers - The Pads have enough offense to make this interesting, but with Kershaw starting two games, LA needs only win one of the other three, and i predict they will.

Yep. It's AL West vs AL West, AL East vs AL East, NL East vs NL East, AL East vs AL East.

I wish the NY Y vs Tampa was the finals. But Oakland is fine as a future opponent. Houston however is not. So if I root for anyone this round it'll be Oakland. If only for mathematics.

The LA D vs SD matchup to me is more interesting than Atlanta Miami.

Both LDS are going to Game 7.

The Dodgers won again today to force a Game 7 tomorrow, and last night the Astros became only the second team ever to win 3 in a row after starting an LCS 0-3 and force a Game 7, with of course the Red Sox being the first.

I'm rooting for the Dodgers and the Rays fwiw, which isn't much. I'm more rooting against the Astros because fuck their cheating eyes. No offense Dusty if you read this, you're cool.

And also fuck the Astros' losing record. Glad they're gone.

We'll see whether the Braves or the Dodgers win today.

Hodgepodge's beloved Dodgers are headed back to the World Series for the 3rd time in 4 years, and Vegas sportsbooks are listing them as a prohibitive favorite, with the Series money line at -220.

NLCS Game 7 this year was a real nail-biter, Cody Bellinger hit the GW-RBI HR in the bottom of the 7th and caught the series clinching fly out in the top of the 9th. There had been a few lead changes throughout the early innings of the 4-3 game.

These teams haven't faced each other this year because of the short schedule, and i think that that gives Tampa a slight advantage, but i agree with the sportsbooks that this series should be the Dodgers's to lose.

Game 1 is scheduled for tomorrow at 8:09pm. It should be a good one.

...aaaand the Dodgers finally did it!!!

Kershaw even won two games and looked great doing it.

I thought Seager was a deserving choice for MVP because of what he did offensively, but i thought two players had more impact on The Series overall. Clay Bellinger was clutch both offensively and defensively.

But can you imagine being the GM that traded away Mookie Betts? That young fellow changed the direction of several games with unbelievable base running, overall he was simply phenomenal, and there is NO way the Dodgers could have won this series without him. If i was the GM that traded him away, i'd probably be considering Seppuku right now, and if i was that GM's boss, i'd be putting a protective detail on him until i felt it was safe to quietly request a resignation letter.

Thoughts and prayers to the family of Justin Turner. How shitty to get pulled during the ultimate WS game due to a positive COVID test and not be able to celebrate with his team, especially when he's been such a big part of the team's backbone these last several years of success and struggles.

Wherever Hodgepodge is, i hope he was able to enjoy this.

Good for the Dodgers. My semi-prediction to win it all. I think they were baseball's best team.

Adios Lindor! Adios Carrasco! Buena Suerte with the New York Mets.