I only count bWAR for the years that the players accumulated on their acquiring teams while under the team control at the time of the trade. In other words, I didn’t count any years added by new contracts or spent on other teams after subsequent trades. A positive or negative WAR is the result of the difference between the combined
Read moreOver the last few years there’s been a silly idea floating around… the idea that 1 WAR is worth $8-9 million in annual salary on the open market (note: I’ll be using rWAR). Before we look at that, let’s quickly look at annual salaries and payrolls.. The best players cost $20 million+. $30 million or even higher is reserved for
Read moreHouston has a new manager. The bad news is that it’s Dusty Baker. Baker has yo be in the dictionary next to “incompetent managing”. I e thing that Dusty proved throughout his career is that he’s good at losing when it matters. He made it into an art form on fact. 2002: He managed the San Francisco Giants to a
Read more1990 Teams That Changed Closers: 10 1991 Teams That Changed Closers: 12 1992 Teams That Changed Closers: 10 1993 Teams That Changed Closers: 9 1994 Teams That Changed Closers: 9 1995 Teams That Changed Closers: 6 1996 Teams That Changed Closers: 8 1997 Teams That Changed Closers: 10 1998 Teams That Changed Closers: 12 1999 Teams That Changed Closers: 11
Read moreThis isn’t an actual list where the managers are ranked from best to worst, but rather a look at the greatest managers. 1. MILLER HUGGINS 1913-1917 St. Louis Cardinals 1918-1929 New York Yankees Pennants: 6 Championships: 3 Extra Pythagorean W-L: 37-11 Overall Playoff Series Results as Favorites/Not Underdogs: 3-2 Overall Playoff Series Results as Underdogs: 0-1 2. JOE MCCARTHY 1926-1930
Read moreI decided to make a list based on records, level of competition and postseason success. I used this to help with my own opinion. MY OPINION 1. 1927 NEW YORK YANKEES 2. 1939 NEW YORK YANKEES 3. 1998 NEW YORK YANKEES 4. 2018 BOSTON RED SOX 5. 1932 NEW YORK YANKEES 6. 1961 NEW YORK YANKEES 7. 1975 CINCINNATI REDS
Read moreI only considered competitive series with ideally rivalries. ALDS 2001 NEW YORK YANKEES 3 OAKLAND ATHLETICS 2 NLDS 2001 ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS 3 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 2 ALCS TIE BETWEEN 2003 NEW YORK YANKEES 4 BOSTON RED SOX 3 AND 2004 BOSTON RED SOX 4 NEW YORK YANKEES 3 NLCS 1992 ATLANTA BRAVES 4 PITTSBURGH PIRATES 3 WORLD SERIES 1956 NEW
Read moreThe Washington Nationals are world champions for the first time ever. During the series, Washington batted .241/.320/.419 compared to .265/.342/.454 during the season. The Houston Astros batted .272/.342/.452 during the series and .274/.352/.495 during the season. On the pitching side, Washington had a 4.29 ERA during the series and a 4.27 ERA during the season. Houston had a shockingly identical
Read moreGood start to the offseason by the Los Angeles Angels. Great love by the Philadelphia Phillies, as they get an experienced manager who should make it easier for them to make the playoffs. Questionable hire by the San Diego Padres, that seems pretty risky and could work out or be a disaster. A move that can go either way by
Read moreNLCS WASHINGTON NATIONALS 4 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 0 The sheer dominance by Washington was a surprise, but their win was not. They had the better record, the better Pythagorean record, better starting pitching and better hitting. They were simply the better team. ALCS HOUSTON ASTROS NEW YORK YANKEES Another unsurprising result. Houston were the favorites going in because they had
Read moreWhat if teams finished according to their Pythagorean W-L records? What changes would take place? I’m only looking at the playoff years. 1969 The Chicago Cubs win the NL East instead of the New York Mets and the San Francisco Giants win the NL West instead of the Atlanta Braves, one of them loses to the Baltimore Orioles in the
Read moreALCS NEW YORK YANKEES VS HOUSTON ASTROS Hard to say which is the better team, though most likely it’s Houston. I think that the Bronx Bombers will be more motivated due to overcoming all of their injuries and not wanting to lose to Houston in the playoffs again. They also swept Minnesota, who were better than Tampa Bay, who Houston
Read moreALDS NEW YORK YANKEES 3 MINNESOTA TWINS 0 New York had the better team and dominated accordingly. HOUSTON ASTROS 3 TAMPA BAY RAYS 2 Houston were the better team and should’ve won easier. NLDS ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 3 ATLANTA BRAVES 2 Atlanta were the better team but it was close and luck was the deciding factor, as St. Louis won
Read moreALDS NEW YORK YANKEES VS MINNESOTA TWINS New York has beaten Minnesota every single time in the playoffs throughout history: 2003 ALDS, 2004 ALDS, 2009 ALDS, 2010 ALDS, 2017 AL Wildcard Playoff Game. The Bronx Bombers also overcame a lot of injuries to get into the playoffs. I expect them to be motivated and confident going into this series. That
Read moreI decided to analyze some playoff upsets. Records aren’t always the best way to judge a team as injuries and trades affect a team throughout the season. A team might’ve had a better record had they not had some injuries or if they had particular players all season. I’m using the “modern” period starting with the advent of the playoffs
Read moreI decided to analyze every team that won the World Series and see what led to them winning the championship that season. 1903 BOSTON RED SOX Easily won the pennant, had the best record in the Majors and dominated to the championship. 1905 NEW YORK GIANTS They had the best record in the Majors and dominated all the way to
Read moreBoston fired GM Dave Dombrowski last night. Dombrowski brought them a championship last year, so it’s natural that there are people questioning this move and thinking that Dombrowski deserved better. Thing is, he just isn’t a great GM. Back in Detroit, he built a team that won 2 pennants, but failed to win the World Series because he traded off
Read moreI used WAR to determine these players, using both for single season and career. AL AL EAST NEW YORK YANKEES SP Whitey Ford CP Mariano Rivera C Yogi Berra 1B Lou Gehrig 2B Robinson Cano SS Derek Jeter 3B Alex Rodriguez LF Charlie Keller CF Mickey Mantle RF Babe Ruth DH Jason Giambi BOSTON RED SOX SP Pedro Martinez CP
Read moreI decided to look at all LDS, LCS and World Series and see which won more. I used team ERA and team runs per game in my analysis. I’m not including the thrown 1919 World Series. TOTAL SERIES: 312 BETTER TEAM IN BOTH PITCHING & HITTING WON: 63 TEAM WITH THE WORSE PITCHING & HITTING WON: 46 TEAM WITH THE
Read moreI’m looking at the WildCard era. YEAR: 1995 TEAM: Atlanta Braves fWAR: 21.0 RANK: 1 ERA: 3.25 RANK: 1 YEAR: 1996 TEAM: New York Yankees fWAR: 14.3 RANK: 10 ERA: 4.96 RANK: 19 YEAR: 1997 TEAM: Florida Marlins fWAR: 13.9 RANK: 8 ERA: 3.76 RANK: 4 YEAR: 1998 TEAM: New York Yankees fWAR: 18.4 RANK: 2 ERA: 3.85 RANK: 6
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