woot21

MLB should learn from the NBA and start seeding its playoff teams solely by record, without giving seeding priority to division winners, especially in cases where the top 2 (or like this year, top 3) teams in the league come from the same division, so that the two best remaining teams in each league don't meet until the LCS at the earliest if they advance that far, and weaker division winners don't avoid playing a team from that good division until the LCS, having to play in the wild card game for the right to play the league's top team, like the Mets and Dodgers should have. Think about this: if the playoff teams in the NL had been seeded honestly and the Dodgers lost the wild card game, every remaining playoff game would take place in the Eastern or Central time zones. as the Dodgers were the only playoff team from outside those time zones. This would have been good for the TV announcers, who would only need to travel one time zone in series between and Eastern time team and a Central time team, losing only one hour by traveling east, and still getting relatively plenty of sleep on the off days in each series.

I feel your pain about how the NL playoffs were set up. Back 9 years ago there was controversy in the NBA because in the Western Conference, the two best teams in the conference, Dallas and San Antonio were seeded such that they would meet in the conference semifinals as they both won in the first round, while half the Western playoff teams got to avoid those two teams until the conference finals. The NBA changed its seeding procedure the following year so that one division runner-up, if it had a good enough record, could get a #2 or #3 seed in their conference, and last month they changed it again, completely removing the top 4 seed protection for division winners, in fact, division winners aren't necessarily guaranteed to make the playoffs (but they usually do finish in the top 8 of their conference so it's not too much an issue. This means that in the NBA, the top 8 teams in each conference will be seeded almost solely by record, tie-breakers used as needed. I've been advocating for that change for quite a while, and I still want to see a new provision wherein if 9 or more teams from one conference finish in the top 16, the conference with the surplus sends those below 8th place in that conference to the other conference's playoffs (something Oklahoma City would have benefited from last season), and for re-seeding to occur after the conference quarterfinals (like in the NFL and formerly in the NHL). I'd also guarantee division winners in the playoffs still, that shouldn't be a problem since division winners tend to do relatively good.

Alright, then... I'll look forward for another match outside of this. You have a promising Wario.

It's up to you. Yes or no?

Oh, I just figured having all three if you want.

BTW, have you tried using Chomp when someone is trying to go back to the stage by climbing?

Um, you don't want to fight one last time?

...Last fight?

Oooookay. Restart from zero then... Whatever happens now will be definite then.

Well, that's fine, then, but you decide if we should start from zero or continue from best out of three.

If the rematches aren't going to count for the tourney, no.

Oh god, I can't believe this. I didn't fight correctly because my button layout wasn't right. When I wanted to shield, I grabbed, and vice versa.

Well, you win, I guess. Too bad this was such a mess to me.

Oh yes. I'm booting the game now.

In case you're still there, I'm ready. Reply soon.

Ready for my...

Oh, crud. You're gone.

I'll see if I can do it today.

Why till Monday otherwise?

And even if you choose to believe that Fowler is a product entirely of his home parks, Wrigley ain't PETCO.

It wasn't Arrieta's first good year - his 2013 was good, just overlooked because he only pitched half a season after getting traded. And saying "If Arrieta fails to repeat his success" is an if/but. What if everyone on the Pirates sucks too? You don't evaluate based on "well he COULD suck", you evaluate based on his numbers trending up considerably.

That Mercer was "among the best anything" speaks to just how bad overall the shortstop crop is offensively, not to anything special about Mercer.

Pedro Alvarez is what he is - that you're deriding Castro for "not being what he's expected to be" but championing Alvarez is hilarious. "If he learns to hit against the shift" - so basically if he learns to hit against a fielding shift designed specifically to keep him from getting a hit. Is he going to become a sorcerer? To claim Marte as better than any Cubs OF equally so. Third base is Kris Bryant's come May.

To call "Liriano, Cole, Burnett, Locke, Worley" better than what the Cubs have is black and yellow colored glasses. Simple as that. You can sit there and say "the Cubs didn't improve that much" while overrating your own mediocre team all you want. I'm beyond satisfied with the roster and we'll let the baseball talk as it does.

You're a riot, woot old boy.


----------
Fowler is not underrated. He has played his whole career in very hitter friendly home ballparks, and Wrigley is nowhere near as friendly as Minute Maid and Coors. I wouldn't expect much from him
----------
Career .366 OBP, .389, .369, .375 the last three seasons. He ranks near the top in pitch recognition and his role in the offense will be to get on base. Which happens to be what he's good at.


----------
and so is Lester.
----------
Lester, Arrieta, Hammel, Hendricks and Somedude Rodriguez from about 6 options. The rotation is just fine.


----------
Beyond them the team is Castro who looks like he might not ever come close to what was expected of him
----------
You mean a shortstop with 846 hits in his first five seasons? Don't be ridiculous. I get that not every player can be Greatest Shortstop Ever (TM) JORDY MERCER but let's not be hyperbolic here.


----------
Wellington Castillo who is not exactly a top tier catcher
----------
And who also won't be starting. He'll either be second on the catching depth chart behind Miguel Montero and ahead of David Ross, or he'll be traded. He's a non-factor in this already flawed evaluation, at any rate.


----------
and a bunch of young unproven players.
----------
Whom are better than your players, young and unproven and possibly even the old and proven. You fear them. I smell it. You know it's coming.


----------
The Cubs look to be the 4th best team in the division at best
----------
That's hilarious.


----------
As for other things, why did the Pirates trade Travis Snider? Much better 4th outfielder than Jose "I pulled my hamstring for the 6th time" Tabata and Andrew Lambo. The trade makes no sense.
----------
No he isn't. Eminently replaceable. There's nothing he does that a half decent GM can't replicate fairly easily.

aww, shucks

you know I wasn't flawless in that

great games yourself; you're damn good at this