I didn't understand trading away Austin Jackson, also the A's trading Cespedes was equally mystifying.

 

Making plans for the Orioles parade now.

 

The Austin Jackson trade was not mystifying. J.D. Martinez needed to be playing full time in LF, which made it possible for Rajai Davis to platoon in CF. The Detroit Tigers offense / defense has not been their downfall. It's the bullpen.

 

What makes the Jackson trade so mystifying for you?

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Matt Williams doing his best Ned Yost impression. Zimmerman walks one guy after 20 straight outs and lifts him for the closer despite just 100 pitches and it promptly gets blown.


Yikes.

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Hail- I don't know the Tigers that well. The Jackson trade was mystifying to me only in the sense that they would trade such a solid player who can do a lot of things. They don't come along too often. AJ is similar to Jason Heyward in that they both have so many tools yet haven't reached their potential.

 

I probably said it wrong. Acquiring a Cy Young award winner and solidifying the OF as you described probably isn't a bad trade off for a guy who could be viewed as a disappointment by some.

 

 

TheSchmidt- couldn't agree more. He overthought it. It was Zimmerman's game to win/lose. The guy he walked (Panik I think) took 3 balls which could have been strikes, they were that close. Yikes is right.

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Season Ticket holder since 2004.

 

        

Oh ok, gotcha. The trade did kind of come out of nowhere. Jackson had that feeling like he'd be around for a while, so when I heard he got traded it was like :mellow:, but when I heard what we got in return I was pretty elated. FWIW, I don't think that trade happens if J.D. Martinez doesn't prove to be an every day outfielder.

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Wow, that was a terrible call. Don Kelly was being HELD by the O's 2nd baseman so he couldn't get back to the bag. I don't think I've ever seen more blatant obstruction. How does that not get called?

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Well that's that. Baltimore wanted it more. Pretty flawless baseball by the O's this past week.

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Well that's that. Baltimore wanted it more. Pretty flawless baseball by the O's this past week.

It was a good series. All three games were close, even game one in spite of the score. I suffered 14 losing seasons, 7 of which I was a season plan holder. It feels really good to root for a team who is having success after so many years of frustration. I can't wait until I can say the same about our Jaguars.

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Enjoy it.

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Hopefully the Tigers fix their bullpen and depth issues next season.

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I loved the interview with the O's hitting coach right after Detroit went back to back in Game 2; he stated something along the lines of "I'm not sure that five runs is going to be enough to win this game."

 

But now we're on to playing a hot team and those always scare me. I think it's definitely going to be a clash of types between KC and Balt.

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I'm trying to make myself more informed and less opinionated.

Stop saying whatever stupid thing you're talking about and pay attention to all the interesting things I have to say!

The Nats had the best team all season long, and the deepest. Even in September when they had it sewn up they still put the pedal down. How they turned cold in 5 games is astounding. Bumgarner is a good pitcher, but those Nats bats should have killed Hudson and Vogelsong.

 

Jayson Werth going 1 for 17? Unbelievable.

 

I think Matt Williams decision to lift Zimmer in that situation in game 2 was a good one. Storen has been lights out since he took over the closer role and he's a ground ball producing machine. It just didn't work out. Only needed one stinking out!

 

The Royals seem to be the team of destiny. Those guys can get up out of the grave and smack you in the face.

 

Go Cards!

 

Regards..........................the Chiefjag

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The Nats had the best team all season long, and the deepest. Even in September when they had it sewn up they still put the pedal down. How they turned cold in 5 games is astounding. Bumgarner is a good pitcher, but those Nats bats should have killed Hudson and Vogelsong.

 

Jayson Werth going 1 for 17? Unbelievable.

 

Google: "Baseball playoffs are a crapshoot". Here a great article on it. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/should-ml...-playoffs/

 

“The playoffs are a great thing for our sport – I want to make that clear,” Beane tells Posnanski. “But let’s call it what it is: we allow small sample sizes and random events to determine the champion. That’s how it is in baseball.”

 

 

Think about it.

 

The best team in the entire league, over the course of 162 games, about 3-2 in every 5 game series.

The worst team in the entire league, over the course of 162 games, goes about 2-3 in every 5 games.

 

A 5 game sample size of baseball is incredibly small when you consider the amount of variables and luck involved.

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I agree with you wholeheartedly! I don't know how old you are but I long for the days before they had the playoffs. It was the American League and the National League, no divisions, 154 games, the two winners of each went to the World Series. You had the best two teams in baseball playing in the World Series.

 

People will tell you how much more excitement there is because of the playoffs but that is a myth. In the days before playoffs, the ENTIRE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER was the playoff. There were 4 maybe 5 teams fighting each other for the pennant, for an entire month, in 3-game series, home and away. Then, when it was all said and done, the best two teams played in the World Series.

 

These 1 game playoff, 5 game playoff, 7 game playoff, will produce the hottest team, not the best, for the World Series.

 

Regards........................the Chiefjag

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I agree with you wholeheartedly! I don't know how old you are but I long for the days before they had the playoffs. It was the American League and the National League, no divisions, 154 games, the two winners of each went to the World Series. You had the best two teams in baseball playing in the World Series.

 

People will tell you how much more excitement there is because of the playoffs but that is a myth. In the days before playoffs, the ENTIRE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER was the playoff. There were 4 maybe 5 teams fighting each other for the pennant, for an entire month, in 3-game series, home and away. Then, when it was all said and done, the best two teams played in the World Series.

 

These 1 game playoff, 5 game playoff, 7 game playoff, will produce the hottest team, not the best, for the World Series.

 

Regards........................the Chiefjag

 

That was long before my time, but I agree that it would be awesome.

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Imagine the Nationals, Giants, Cardinals, Braves, Dodgers, Pirates all playing each other in 3-game series for a MONTH for the pennant. Throw in a few series against teams not in the hunt. It really was awesome and you were assured the best one won the pennant.

 

Regards...................the Chiefjag

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Its a stupid trade (at least for this year) for Oakland...

 

They had a better chance of winning it all WITH Cespedes in that lineup than without. Their rotation was good enough as was with Gray/ Samardjzia/ and the rest. 

 

The Phillies tried this method with overloading the pitching and neglecting significant lineup defections such as Burrell and Werth and won squat with the great "rotation". 

 

Conversely, they won the world series in 2008, when the batting lineup was at its best & most deep. 

 

 

Yeah that Billy Beane is an idiot. What's he ever done to make anybody think he knows anything about being a GM?

 

 

I guess we'll see how Oakland fares from this point on for the rest of this season, huh, Sparky?... 

 

 

 

B) B) B)

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Nice

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B) B) B)

And who is Detroit playing?


Seems the trade had pretty similar results for both teams.

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And who is Detroit playing?

 

They played the Orioles! And now the Orioles are in the ALCS! Just in time for me to go to Connecticut for a month! Yay!

 

My life blows!

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I'm trying to make myself more informed and less opinionated.

Stop saying whatever stupid thing you're talking about and pay attention to all the interesting things I have to say!

 

And who is Detroit playing?

Seems the trade had pretty similar results for both teams.

 
1. Trading away Smyley and Jackson isn't what killed the Tigers. The Tigers pathetic excuse for a bullpen is what killed the Tigers.

2. What does the Tigers losing to Baltimore in the ALDS have to do with the Athletics nose-diving after the Cespedes trade? Seems like a red herring to me.

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