Laika

Yeah, how dare she take a split second to form a cogent sentence.

Also, she makes the broadcast soooooooooooo much better.

Keuchel seems to be rushing a bit, maybe.

AL MVP: Josh Donaldson Donaldson and Trout are so close in Fangraphs' "dashboard" sabermetric stats. The AL is lucky to have three super close awards races this year in the MVP, ROY, and Cy Young. The facts that Trout ended up edging Donaldson in WAR by 0.3 wins and batting average by a hair aren't enough to overcome Donaldson's leads in context dependent stats (RE24, WPA), certain traditional stats (RBI, Runs), and the MLB standings. Donaldson also has the narrative on his side since he was traded to Toronto in the offseason and he can be viewed as the single biggest reason that Toronto is finally in the playoffs again. I think Donaldson will win the AL MVP and I think it will be justified. At this rate, we might look back at Trout's 20 year career some day and wonder why he *only* won like, 7 MVP awards. NL MVP: Bryce Harper See the write-ups above. Nothing more for me to add here. It should be unanimous. AL Cy Young: David Price Price edged Keuchel in fWAR, K rate, ERA, and FIP. Kuechel had 2 more wins than price, a better xFIP, and 12 more innings. Both teams made the playoffs. This is a dead heat. Chris Sale had the best FIP, xFIP, and K rate in the AL. He was probably the league's best full season SP in terms of talent alone. This is a three way dead heat! I think Price's ERA crown will be significant to voters, as will the fact that he switched teams mid-season and lead a division champion team's rotation into the playoffs. I don't think Keuchel deserves any significant credit for the IP and W gap, considering part of that comes from the luxury Toronto had to skip Price's final start of the season. Unlike Spencer, I think there is some room in the Cy Young discussion for ERA and Price's gap on Sale is much larger than Arrieta or Greinke's gap on Kershaw. I think the voters will pick Price, so I'm picking Price. Kershaw was easily the best pitcher in the NL this year. He had a FIP under 2.00 and he K'd over 300 batters! It's a crying shame that win totals and a couple of slightly fluky ERA seasons from two other very good pitchers could actually have him 3rd in Cy Young voting behind Arrieta and Greinke. AL Manager of the Year: John Gibbons Gibbons was exactly what the star-studded 2015 Blue Jays needed at the helm. His laid back demeanor helped the team stay cool when they hit rough patches, struggled on the mound, and found themselves at .500 after ~100 games. Then, his hands off managing style gave plenty of room for his star players to lead and ostensibly create a great clubhouse atmosphere. Throughout it all Gibbons' bullpen management was very good and his tactical decisions (like pinch running Pompey late in the season) seemed to pay off more often than not. Gibby the best. NL Manager of the Year: Bruce Bochy See what Spencer wrote. Alternate choice - Mike Matheny, because the Cardinals win lots of games and he is their manager. AL Rookie of the Year: Carlos Correa Correa came second to Lindor in fWAR. Both rookie shortstops played 99 games and succeeded offensively, but UZR likes Lindor's defense more. I don't think 99 games worth of UZR should be the deciding factor here. Carlos Correa is a destined superstar - the potential reincarnation of Alex Rodriguez. He hit more dingers, and his team made the playoffs. I love Lindor, and he's a future star as well (even if his bat isn't this good), but Correa is sexier and he's my ROY. NL Rookie of the Year: Kris Bryant See above. No debate. World Series: Rangers over Cubs for no particular reason.

Based on what, win totals? By run differentials, the AL has one team that is flat out better (Toronto) and one that is flat out worse (Texas). 221 111 83 66 18 122 101 81 72 70 We know from interleague play that the AL is a more competitive league though, so every AL team gets brownie points. I guess you could make an argument about playoff roster strength though, and it would go like this. 1. Top of rotation pitching is the most important thing in playoff baseball. 2. The NL seems to have more top of the rotation pitchers on its teams. 3. Therefore the NL has the better playoff teams. NL "Aces" (4+ fWAR) Lynn Cole Liriano Arrieta Lester Kershaw Greinke deGrom Syndergaard Harvey AL "Aces" Price Keuchel McHugh Cueto Tanaka Pineda Hamels 10-7 for the NL

This is completely false. The NL is weaker and the few strong teams just put up higher win totals. Interleague (left win total is AL): http://i.imgur.com/41ZCrpp.png

This is true. He has no idea how many people are looking to buy right now, which you need to perform the "basic economics". But based on the trend, one might expect them to go down. Or they might have bottomed out. Hard to say. This seems wise.

Definitely. I plan on checking Thursday morning for game 1 tickets. If I can get some at or under face + ~50%, then I might go!

Anecdotal evidence from a few elite basketball and soccer players demonstrate that you can definitely play for a long time after a menisectomy. It's just an issue of pain management, really. A chore for the training staff. I think Dwayne Wade and Chris Paul have both had the meniscus removal. Basketball is probably harder on the knees than baseball. Will his defense suffer? Probably. Will his future DL risk go up? Absolutely. But will he be done for? I doubt it. He just needs to finally tap into that offensive potential a bit more consistently because the runs from his baserunning and defense won't be as good (or positive at all). I envision him as a part time OF anyway. Him and Pompey can fight over LF. The injury just makes him a cheap option with upside in a 4 man outfield, really. With a need in the rotation the team might want to go this route and then spend on an arm.

Non-tender Saunders but sign him back for less. Trade Revere for a SP. Pompey on the club.

Starting Dickey and Estrada in Texas doesn't worry me too much because the Jays will be going up against two of Lewis/Holland/Gallardo. Should be able to crush them!

Do you still wet the bed?

Also, does Hamels going in game 2 change whether you would want to start Stroman or Dickey?

this is a good point

I wonder if they would potentially start Price on 3 days rest in game 4 if they are down 2-1 in the series? Then Stroman would be lined up for game 5 if he starts game 2. If they're not prepared to do that then Dickey at home in the dome for game 2 games sense.

The off day after game 2 probably mitigates the Dickey effect. Maybe. IMO.

Pretty sure it will

Bad in what way? If you don't need alcohol at the game then you should buy the tickets if the deal is good.

On topic, CC doing this right now with the playoffs just beginning seems like an extremely courageous thing to do. That, or his family just bet against the Yankees and scheduled the intervention months ago.

Seems very likely at this rate

You f***ed up, dude. Missed the sell window by a mile.

At this rate, the "get in the door" prices on stubhub will be under $100 USD, maybe under $90 USD, by tomorrow morning. $108 right now.

Welcome back btw, Grant. I thought the mantids must have finally gotten you last season. Good to see you survived another year. Three tuba blasts for your return! http://forums.chisham.com/images/smilies/tuba.gifhttp://forums.chisham.com/images/smilies/tuba.gifhttp://forums.chisham.com/images/smilies/tuba.gif

Meet Grant!