Official MLB 2021 Thread

[Polychrest]

So, my Braves are doing well. Losing Acuña was a huge blow but our GM made fantastic moves without spending any real money or losing prized prospects.

Alex Anthopoulos built very good teams when he was GM of the Blue Jays. Had a great eye for talent and was willing to spend what it took to get somebody he really believed in. One of his best-ever signings happened near the end of his tenure in Toronto: a big Canadian-born Dominican-raised kid named Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who"s now taking a run at the AL triple crown.

[Geoff Grace]

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Shohei Otani may both accomplish rare feats. What a time we live in!

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[MAJUSCULE]

Indeed, a little crazy to think that a 22 year-old (potential) Triple Crown winner who will likely finish above 50 HR and push his team to a Wild Card in one of, if not the, toughest divisions in baseball will probably lose out on the MVP.

[Synthaholic]

Indeed, a little crazy to think that a 22 year-old (potential) Triple Crown winner who will likely finish above 50 HR and push his team to a Wild Card in one of, if not the, toughest divisions in baseball will probably lose out on the MVP.

So will the catcher with what may be the best offensive season in MLB history, Salvador Perez.

[Geoff Grace]

The two teams with the best records in MLB are neck and neck, in the NL West, as the final game of the regular season approaches:

 

Julio Urias' 20th win keeps Los Angeles Dodgers alive in NL West race

 

The playoff-bound Dodgers (105-56) must beat Milwaukee again on Sunday and hope the rival first-place Giants (106-55) lose again to San Diego to tie for the title. That would send them and the Giants to a deciding Game 163 in San Francisco on Monday.

 

It's the first time in MLB history that a division has more than one 105-win team and the first time two such teams were even in the same league.

 

It's a shame that one of these exceptional clubs will have to face a single play-in game to qualify for the postseason. To make matters worse, that team will have to face the Cardinals, who are red hot right now. St Louis, LA, and San Francisco have all won eight of their last ten games.

 

Fans of sports drama should be primed for the days ahead...

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Doerfler]

I was at Nationals Park yesterday where the Boston Red Sox kept their wild card hopes alive with a 4 run 9th inning. Beautiful weather, packed stadium of fans from both teams, everyone getting along and enjoying baseball.

 

We will see what today's results will be, should shape the playoff picture.

[Adan]

So will the catcher with what may be the best offensive season in MLB history, Salvador Perez.

 

I assume you mean best amongst catchers, and in that category it's certainly in the top 5 in modern times. It's rare for any hitter to unlock their potential at beyond 30 yo, and must be even more rare for catchers, who get worn down more quickly by nature of the position.

 

Other for-the-ages catcher seasons I could find quickly:

 

Mike Piazza 2000 38 HR .324 avg 113 RBIs .614 slugging 69 strikeouts

 

Johnny Bench 1970 45 HR 148 RBIs .587 slugging 102 strikeouts

 

Ivan Rodriguez 1999 35 HR .332 avg 113 RBIs .558 slugging 64 strikeouts

 

comparing

 

Salvador Perez 2021 to date 48 HR 121 RBIs .273 avg .545 slugging 169 strikeouts

 

 

honorable mention: Buster Posey 2012 .336

[Geoff Grace]

Congrats to San Francisco. They clinched the NL West, on the final day of the regular season, with a franchise-record 107 victories:

 

San Francisco Giants cap season to remember, secure National League West crown on final day

 

Logan Webb pitched a great game and hit his first major league home run to help cement to win.

 

As a result, the Dodgers became the winningest second-place team in major league history, beating Milwaukee 10-3 today for their 106th victory:

 

Trea Turner wins NL batting title, Dodgers beat Brewers 10-3

 

The Dodgers host St. Louis in the NL wild-card game on Wednesday, and the winner plays the Giants in the NL Division Series.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[harmonizer]

Adan, I love the historical perspective.

One thing that hurts any historical comparison of Salvador Perez's 2021 season is that he played on a team with a weak offense.

The Royals were 13th out of 15 AL teams in runs scored, and 11th out of 15 AL teams in on base percentage.

And despite Perez's incredible 48 HRs, the Royals finished last in the league in team HRs.

Pitchers must have pitched around Perez quite a bit, and that probably hurt his stats compared to what he could have achieved on a better team.

 

I added another great catcher season to your list, of Roy Campanella from 1953.

Both Campanella in 1953 and Bench in 1970 played on great hitting teams, which had to inflate their RBI stats. 1953 was a 154-game season.

 

I also added a stat to show the delta between the player's slugging average and the slugging average for the entire league for that year.

It is a very different accomplishment to have great batting stats in "offense inflation" years like 1930 or 1998-2000,

versus "lower offense" years like the late 1960s.

 

Mike Piazza 2000 38 HR 113 RBIs .324 avg .614 slugging (.182 above 2000 NL slugging avg of .432)

 

Johnny Bench 1970 45 HR 148 RBIs .293 avg .587 slugging (.195 above 1970 NL slugging avg of .392)

 

Ivan Rodriguez 1999 35 HR 113 RBIs .332 avg .558 slugging (.115 above 1999 AL slugging avg of .443)

 

Salvador Perez 2021 48 HR 121 RBIs .273 avg .544 slugging (.129 above 2021 AL slugging avg of .415)

 

Roy Campanella 1953 41 HR 142 RBIs .312 avg .611 slugging (.200 above 1953 NL slugging avg of .411)

[MAJUSCULE]

Tough ending to a pretty cool season for the Jays. Should be a scary team going forward, even in such a tough division. I imagine they re-sign Marcus Semien, not sure if they'll be able to bring Robbie Ray back. Need to fortify the bullpen, but overall a very encouraging season.

[drawback]

Tough ending to a pretty cool season for the Jays. Should be a scary team going forward, even in such a tough division. I imagine they re-sign Marcus Semien, not sure if they'll be able to bring Robbie Ray back. Need to fortify the bullpen, but overall a very encouraging season.

 

I think they may have a shot at Ray due to his relationship with Pete Walker (one of the main reasons he signed on for this season) but Semien"s a shortstop at heart and expects to be paid handsomely to do that. Meanwhile, the Jays have a few controllable options at second. Maybe not with the offence of Semien, but then again, their offence wasn"t even all on the field together until after the all star break and look what they brought. I can"t see them pursuing him.

[Geoff Grace]

Red Sox vs. Yankees, Fenway Park

 

Let the playoffs begin!

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Geoff Grace]

With Clayton Kershaw and Max Muncy out, it's a good thing the Dodgers picked up Max Scherzer and Trea Turner from the Nationals back in July.

 

The Dodgers have won every game that Scherzer has started for them. I hope that the trend continues in tonight's winner take all game against the Cardinals.

 

http://www.geoffgrace.com/Pictures/Dodgers.jpg

 

GO DODGER BLUE!!!

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Geoff Grace]

Wow!!! Simply wow!

 

The Dodgers were down to their final out, and Chris Taylor hit a walk-off home run to keep the game from going into extra innings.

 

Congrats to the Cardinals for a great late season run. They held their own against the Dodgers until the very end.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[zxcvbnm098]

Wow!!! Simply wow!

 

The Dodgers were down to their final out, and Chris Taylor hit a walk-off home run to keep the game from going into extra innings.

 

Congrats to the Cardinals for a great late season run. They held their own against the Dodgers until the very end.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

 

Indeed, a great game. I was worried given the Dodgers history over the years with the Cards, but thankfully CT got the pitch he needed and connected. Great pitchers duel, and now onto SF.

[elsongs]

Wow!!! Simply wow!

 

The Dodgers were down to their final out, and Chris Taylor hit a walk-off home run to keep the game from going into extra innings.

 

Congrats to the Cardinals for a great late season run. They held their own against the Dodgers until the very end.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

 

 

Still UNDEFEATED during Scherzer Day!

 

As a lifelong Dodger fan, I've lived with the trauma of being defeated in the postseason by the Cards since 1985. The Dodgers have only pulled it off once before (2009 NLDS), now they added another victory round against the Redbirds.

 

Props to the Cards for not making it too easy. The Bullpen deserves much more credit for being flawless tonight.

 

As for CT3...simply clutch. BRING ON THE GIANTS!

[Adan]

Dodgers v Giants one of the most storied rivalries in sports, a rivalry in which both teams actually moved from one coast to the other and kept the battle for geographic dominance going. I have to be partial to SF having lived in that city for 12 years. But even putting that aside, I think the Giants are objectively speaking the more interesting team to watch because they have relied to such a heavy extent on strategy rather than star players. If part of the pleasure of watching baseball is imagining yourself in the manager's seat, the Giants provide more grist for the mill.

 

Above in this threat I posted about Trea Turner and Max Scherzer being Dodgers for 15 minutes and the playoffs. Can't hold that against the Dodgers -- they're just playing the same trading game everyone else does, only better (if the Giants could have landed Turner instead of Bryant, they would have). But it doesn't do much for the integrity of the sport to see the best players with expiring contracts hopping on the bandwagon of teams with the best chance of making the postseason. Turner and Scherzer are in the upper echelon of elite players, but are they really Dodgers? Rhetorical question, that one.

[Doerfler]

Turner and Scherzer are in the upper echelon of elite players, but are they really Dodgers? Rhetorical question, that one.

 

Fans here in DC know that they are really Dodgers.

[Bobadohshe]

The team that outspent the next team in the league by $65 million and had to trade for 2 top pieces at the deadline because their prized free agent was a scumbag barely eeked out a win in the wildcard. What grit!

 

-Bitter and biased Padres fan

[Doerfler]

Dodgers now employing the formula the the Yankees used for so many years. Spend the most money, (hopefully) get the most wins. 2 biggest cities in the USA with the largest fan bases have the most money.

This is why there is a salary cap in American football. I know there is a luxury tax in baseball, but billionaire owners can afford that if they want to. The amount of money earned by a World Series win more than covers the luxury tax.

[Geoff Grace]

Dodgers now employing the formula the the Yankees used for so many years. Spend the most money, (hopefully) get the most wins. 2 biggest cities in the USA with the largest fan bases have the most money.

This is why there is a salary cap in American football. I know there is a luxury tax in baseball, but billionaire owners can afford that if they want to. The amount of money earned by a World Series win more than covers the luxury tax.

 

As a Packers fan, I am grateful for the NFL's promotion of parity. The Packers wouldn't exist without it. As a Suns fan, I also wish the NBA did more in that regard too. The Lakers are my second favorite NBA team, but I grew tired of their decades-long dominance. It wasn't good for the sport.

 

Even as a Dodgers fan, I wish that MLB worked harder for parity. After all, under the current system, LA had a decades long drought between World Series victories prior to last year. I'm not sure that would have been the case if there had been more parity. Regardless of how it may help or hurt the Dodgers, it's better for any sport to have a level playing field.

 

That said, I don't hold it against the Dodgers (any more than I do any other team) that they are building their squad in a way that complies with the current rules. All of MLB is responsible for the way that things are set up.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[zxcvbnm098]

Dodgers v Giants one of the most storied rivalries in sports, a rivalry in which both teams actually moved from one coast to the other and kept the battle for geographic dominance going. I have to be partial to SF having lived in that city for 12 years. But even putting that aside, I think the Giants are objectively speaking the more interesting team to watch because they have relied to such a heavy extent on strategy rather than star players. If part of the pleasure of watching baseball is imagining yourself in the manager's seat, the Giants provide more grist for the mill.

 

Above in this threat I posted about Trea Turner and Max Scherzer being Dodgers for 15 minutes and the playoffs. Can't hold that against the Dodgers -- they're just playing the same trading game everyone else does, only better (if the Giants could have landed Turner instead of Bryant, they would have). But it doesn't do much for the integrity of the sport to see the best players with expiring contracts hopping on the bandwagon of teams with the best chance of making the postseason. Turner and Scherzer are in the upper echelon of elite players, but are they really Dodgers? Rhetorical question, that one.

 

I would point out that there were other destinations that were being discussed that would have paid the salaries, but the Dodgers had the best prospects to offer the Nationals. Of course the Dodgers are flush both cash, but historically they have always had excellent player development operations which often will give them the leg up in situations like this.

[Geoff Grace]

Dodgers v Giants one of the most storied rivalries in sports

 

This could conceivably be the most important series of the postseason, not just because of the rivalry, but also because the Giants and Dodgers have the two best records in MLB. In fact, they have two of the best regular-season records of all-time.

 

It's a shame this series will be limited to five games.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Doerfler]

It's a shame this series will be limited to five games.

 

This is no more or less true than the wild card being only one game, winner takes all. It adds to the excitement. Imagine if the walk off last night had gone the other way. One of the winningest teams this year would now be watching the games on TV.

If the Dodgers win the World Series, they would be the second wild card team in 3 years to win it. Baseball needs this drama to stay revelent, IMO.

[Geoff Grace]

If I put on my football fan hat, I can see it your way, Dave. Perhaps you're right when it comes to baseball too, but I don't see that way at the moment.

 

For me, I'd like to stretch an exciting series to seven games rather than cut it short; but that's merely my preference.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Doerfler]

Also need to consider the calendar. Baseball needs to be finished by the end of October, it's cold in many parts of the country at night already. It was 53 degrees in Boston for the wild card game there at gametime, and it was only the first week of October.

If the divisional playoffs were expanded to best of seven, the season would have to stretch into November.

[Geoff Grace]

That"s a very good point, Dave. Baseball isn"t a cold weather sport.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[harmonizer]

Arozarena's steal of home last night in the playoff game between Tampa Bay and the Red Sox was really exciting. I'm not even a Tampa Bay fan, but that was great baseball.

[Synthaholic]

because their prized free agent was a scumbag

But was he? More is coming out, and none of it looks good for the accuser. Bauer may have a perverted kink, but this woman is not trustworthy.

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2021/10/08/trevor-bauer-seek-attorneys-fees-accuser-assault-case/6058665001/

[Geoff Grace]

Let's say for the sake of argument that it turns out he was "only" agreeing to hurt someone who wanted to be hurt. It still doesn't speak well of him.

 

As for what this says about the Dodgers, I suppose it's evidence that they don't vet their players' personal lives as much as they do their professional abilities. Is this standard practice for most MLB teams? Probably.

 

Best,

 

Geoff