Teams Destined For Early Postseason Exit

Every team that makes it into the MLB postseason deserves to be there, but some appear destined for failure. Here is one team in each league I think will make an early exit.

Pittsburgh Pirates
It has been some season for a team the has been, well, not dominant for a while. I know I didn't think the Bucs would be here. This last month though has made me wonder if they are really a good enough team. They've gone just 12-12, they've let an winnable NL Central slip away, they are in danger on losing home-field in the wild card game, they've hit just .232, their ERA has increased by 0.74, do I need to continue? I love the underdog, and would love to see the Pirates go deep, but it isn't happening. In a one-game playoff at home, I like their chances, on the road or in a best-of-five series against Atlanta or St. Louis, I don't like their chances.



Pirates after heartbreaking loss in 1992 NLCS, where Atlanta scored 3 runs in the 9th to win 3-2. This was the Pirates last playoff appearance before this year.

Oakland Athletics
Anyone who has ever watched Moneyball would know how the A's and Billy Beane do it. They would also know that he would of thrown a chair at his TV when he saw them talking about the excellent power Coco Crisp has shown, and a desk across the hallway during each of the five times he has been caught stealing. None of this change the fact the A's could make a movie on how to only win two games every year they've played in the division series. In fact they've lost 3 games to 2 in the ALDS in five of their six tries. The other year? They got a sweep only to be swept in the League Championship Series. Here's a tip for your picks this year: pick the A's losing if 5, free points. There is no reason why that won't change this year. If you don't believe me here's a link:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/history/teams/_/team/oak

Overrated and Underrated Stats

People don't realize the importance of some some stats, and people put to much emphasis on other stats, Here I take a look at those stats.

Overrated:

Pitch Count: Why do people always worry so much about the number of pitches someone throws? The only question should be: are they still effective? When the answer to that is no, then you can take a pitcher out of the game.

Batting Average: People say a walk is as good as hit. Then why should we care how someone gets on base?

Underrated:

WHIP: Maybe instead of pitch count we should worry about this. WHIP: The number of walks and hits per innings pitched a pitcher allows, or effectiveness. 

OBP: A stat that makes walks as good as hits. 

AL Players to Watch

In order for any team to still be around in October, someone is going to have to take charge. Sometimes that player is someone you'd expect, for some teams, like the Indians, it is someone that at the start of the season you could have never predicted. Here I take a look at what player will be the most important for team on the outside looking in on an AL playoff spot.

AL:

Kansas City: 4.5 WCGB

Billy Butler: What's more of a surprise is that KC is still in it, not how important Butler will be. This year he is hitting .292 with 14 HR and 72 RBI. Kansas City is running out of time, and have a tough schedule with their next 15 games against teams above .500. If he doesn't continue his good play over those next 15 games, KC will end up where everyone expected them to be: not even close.

Cleveland: 3.5 WCGB

Joe Smith: I told you this one would surprise you. Of all the Cleveland pitchers I could have picked, such as Jimenez, Kazmir, Perez, this is the guy I pick. It would be the equivalent of saying that Kelly is going to be more important that Mo and Robertson down the stretch for New York, but I'll tell you why I like him. We all know how important your the bullpen is for any team in September. Well, guess who has been arguably the most valuable reliever for Cleveland this year. In 60 games this year, Smith owns an ERA of just 2.47, to go along with 46 SO and a team leading 20 holds. Obviously shutting teams down in the late innings will be important, and Smith will have to do just that.

Baltimore: 3 WCGB

Chris Davis: You probably saw this one coming. Anyone that has hit 47 HR will be important in September. Do I need to continue?

New York Yankees: 2.5 WCGB

CC Sabathia: Out of all the things that have happened to the Bombers this year, should he not have been one of the few sure things? Despite not being affected by injuries, the Yankees rotation has changed just as much as the rest of the team. Nova spent time in the minors before winning the Pitcher of the Month award by August. Pettite has been inconsistent, Kirosa has struggled recently, Hughes has been demoted to the bullpen, and CC hasn't been CC. To make it CC will have to be CC. 

Postseason Predictions

Here are my predictions for the teams and winners in the postseason.

Wild Card Games
AL
4- Texas Rangers 3
5- New York Yankees 4

NL
4- Pittsburgh Pirates 6
5- Cincinnati Reds 4

American League Division Series
1. Detroit Tigers 3
5- New York Yankees 1

2- Boston Red Sox 0
3- Oakland Athletics 3

National League Division Series
1- Atlanta Braves 3
4- Pittsburgh Pirates 0

2- Los Angeles Dodgers 3
3- St. Louis Cardinals 2

American League Championship Series
1- Detroit Tigers 4
3- Oakland Athletics 1

National League Championship Series
1- Atlanta Braves 2
2- Los Angeles Dodgers

World Series
AL- Detroit Tigers 3
NL- Los Angeles Dodgers 4

AL Wild Card Race

     This years wild card race doesn't look like it's going to be as good as it was last year, the NL wild card teams, wit the exception of the NL Central, appear to be set. The AL race appears to have some life though.

Division Races
This year is the first year in a while where every division leader, if they lost their lead would be in a wild card spot. Don't underestimate the value of winning your division though, Atlanta learnt that the hard way.

AL East: With just one game separating Boston from Tampa Bay, this race could be the most exciting in the AL. Despite their one game lead though Boston may be a bit of a long shot: Tampa Bay has played four fewer games. Both teams are going to have a tough series ahead of them against red hot teams. Boston is visiting the Dodgers who... you know, while Tampa Bay is hosting a no longer injured Yankees team that has won 11 of their last 14 games. Both Baltimore and New York are long-shots for receiving a first round bye at 5.5 and 6 games back.

AL Central: Cleveland at 5 games behind isn't out of this division, but they're a long shot to win the central. They do have 3 games left against the Tigers though, so you never know. It will take great baseball though, and a 3-game sweep in their Tigers series.

AL West: Oakland has made a habit of losing the game 5 in the division series, they're 0-5. It would say that there is a good chance that that would carry over into the wild card game. They might have a bit of motivation to get the 2.5 games they're behind Texas back. The A's can do it though, just look at last year.

Wild Card: There are two pivotal weekend series going on: Baltimore vs. Texas and New York vs. Tampa Bay. For Oakland and Tampa Bay they can knock two teams that appear as if they could be threats, or make them even more threatening. For New York and Baltimore their seasons are on the line. Along with Cleveland those teams could be more dangerous than ever or they could be forced to forget their postseason dreams.

MLB Dream Team

What if Cy Young could pitch against Justin Verlander? What if we could see Cano play against Hornsby? Here I pick one player at every position for a team featuring active players and non-active players.

Active Players:

SP: Justin Verlander

CP: Mariano Rivera

C: Yadier Molina

1B: Joey Votto

2B: Robinson Cano

3B: Miguel Cabrera

SS: Derek Jeter

OF: Mike Trout

OF: Bryce Harper

OF: Andrew McCutchen

DH: David Ortiz

Breakdown:

7 AL, 4 NL

3 New York Yankees, 2 Detroit Tigers, 1 St. Louis, 1 Cincinnati, 1 Los Angeles Angels, 1 Washington Nationals, 1 Pittsburgh Pirates, 1 Boston Red Sox

Non-Active Players:

SP: Cy Young

CP: Dennis Eckersley

C: Yogi Berra

1B: Lou Gehrig

2B: Rogers Hornsby

3B: Mike Schmidt

SS: Honus Wagner

OF: Babe Ruth

OF: Ted Williams

OF: Hank Aaron

DH: Paul Molitor

Breakdown:

The players are considered to of played for the team that they were a member of during their last MLB appearance, with the league being the league that their team is currently a member of. Since their final team is listed, the team they're associated with may not be listed. An example of this is Yogi Berra who made his final appearance as a Met, not a Yankee.  If the player was a member of a relocated team their modern teams in listed. 

7 NL, 4 AL

Note: If you consider only the team each player was associated with, 7 players were American Leaguers. 

2 Atlanta Braves*, 1 New York Mets, 1 New York Yankees, 1 Baltimore Orioles, 1 Pittsburgh Pirates, 1 Philadelphia Phillies, 1 Boston Red Sox, 1 Milwaukee Brewers, 1 Minnesota Twins, 1 St. Louis Cardinals

*Babe Ruth played his final season with the Boston Braves, the modern day Atlanta Braves.

Will the Yanks Make a Playoff Push

If 2011 was any indication, no team is a lock for the playoffs. There always seems to be a team that stays well back for the longest time, then sneaks up and challenges for a playoff spot that just a bit earlier seemed out of reach. This year, especially with the 2nd AL Wild Card spot, there are a lot of teams that can't quite be counted out yet. But can the Yankees who have battled injuries all year come back from 5 games back this late.

Thanks to their injuries, wins and runs have been tough to get. Despite a line up that should put them closer to 40 wins than 57, the Bronx Bombers find themselves just 5 back of a playoff position. Assuming Jeter comes back soon, the Yankees line up should be able to produce numbers similar to those of last years team that made it to the ALCS. It will be tough, but they have the team to do it. If St. Louis can come back from 9.5 WCGB in late August why can't the Yanks come back from a 5 game deficit in early August?