2015 MLB Season Thread with Postseason Discussion

[ICTknight]

Thoughts KC Fans

http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/

Loved it. But I really think we have some star players on this team. At least Davis...

[cmm]

A crappy end to a fun season. Drats.

Congrats to the Royals and their fans.

[Almighty]

Disgusting, feel terrible for Harvey, Noah, and granderson who played great in the playoffs, but coach :censored:ed up by sending clippard and duda on the field every game.

[Still MIGHTY]

I just saw the Kansas City Royals win the World Series. For years they were for me the embodiment of irrelevant small-market pro sports franchise that would never be competitive. They were just in the league to fill out the schedule and sure they had some good years in the 70's and 80's, but that was 1,000 years ago and the product of a different era. As far as I was concerned there was no need to be concerned with the Kansas City Royals. This is basically the equivalent of the Florida Panthers winning the Stanley Cup.

I guess my point is anybody can win it all. There are no excuses anymore.

Just gonna quote this because it's spot on.

Me too.

In August 2004, I saw the Angels score 21 runs against the Royals. I laughed because those Royals were awful.

The stories people told about the 80s Royals and their battles with the Yankees, it all sounded like fiction. Mystical takes from a far away land.

Hell, even when guys like Gordon and Moustakas came up, I thought, Really? These are the future of baseball? These guys are going to make the Royals good? Push, yeah. Ok. Nice fountains, though.

Those Royals just won the World Series. How about that? Congrats KC.

[SFGiants58]

Also, huge congrats to the Royals. They bested incredibly tough competition in the AL playoffs, and restored playoff baseball to Kansas City. I'm sure they'll be back sooner than later, and I can't wait to see them back in the series!

Well, they were back sooner than later, and they did it. The Kansas City Royals are the 2015 World Series Champions. I never thought I'd be typing that out a few years ago, but now I am.

Even in 2014, I knew there was something special about this group of guys. They were hungry, they were tenacious, they played a style of baseball I love (1980's-style small ball), and they would always find a way to come back. Sure, MadBum pounded them into oblivion, but I had a feeling they would be back. Oh boy, did they ever come back. I'm incredibly happy for them and their fans.

As for the Mets, I've got a sense that they will be back. They've got a bright future with their young stars and the ability to fill the holes left by Murphy and Cespedes/any others who leave in free agency. I think they'll be back sooner rather than later, and I can't wait to see them back in the series!

[Almighty]

Also, huge congrats to the Royals. They bested incredibly tough competition in the AL playoffs, and restored playoff baseball to Kansas City. I'm sure they'll be back sooner than later, and I can't wait to see them back in the series!

Well, they were back sooner than later, and they did it. The Kansas City Royals are the 2015 World Series Champions. I never thought I'd be typing that out a few years ago, but now I am.

Even in 2014, I knew there was something special about this group of guys. They were hungry, they were tenacious, they played a style of baseball I love (1980's-style small ball), and they would always find a way to come back. Sure, MadBum pounded them into oblivion, but I had a feeling they would be back. Oh boy, did they ever come back. I'm incredibly happy for them and their fans.

As for the Mets, I've got a sense that they will be back. They've got a bright future with their young stars and the ability to fill the holes left by Murphy and Cespedes/any others who leave in free agency. I think they'll be back sooner rather than later, and I can't wait to see them back in the series!

Everyone says that about the losing team in the finals, 95% of the time those teams do not make it back to the finals for another shot at a title.

[cubsfan2015]

The Royals get their well deserved championship!

Ironically,the Royals start up their 2016 season against the Mets.

[Crabcake]

Congratulations to the 2015 Royals on an incredible World Series.

IMO the mets can't resign Murphy and Cespedes and they just got their excuse to not resign Murphy.

As for the Royals, wow what a team. Don't be surprised if by the end of the decade were talking about the dynasty that is the Kansas City Royals. Can't believe I just typed that.

[Kramerica Industries]

I only wish Kansas City had finished the job last year, too. They went 52-27 over their last 79 games in 2014. 95-67 in the regular season this year. 11-5 in the playoffs. Add all of that up - 158-99 in their last 257 games (.614). Entirely legitimate, very good, and doing it using an archaic roster construction model that, huh, if done right, can still succeed at a high level in the modern MLB. Of course, this all very easily could've never happened - they were down four runs with six outs left way back in the ALDS against Houston, but they deserve their fair credit for pulling off improbable feats time and again.

Before this World Series began, Alex Rodriguez said the Mets would win if "they catch the ball".

Alex is so prescient that my brain is going to explode.

[The_Admiral]

Ironically,the Royals start up their 2016 season against the Mets.

coincidence =/= irony

[CS85]

The Governor of Texas looks like a total dumbass.

[The_Admiral]

That's a prerequisite for the job these days.

[The Six]

The thought that "small market" teams are doomed and can never compete in baseball has always been a myth. Just a few years ago people complained that the same teams always outspend everybody and dominate and nobody else has a chance: the Phillies, Yankees, and Red Sox. People whined about the Phillies having all the power! Now supposedly it's the Cardinals and Giants. You don't ein in baseball because you have money to spend. The Royals developed a good farm aystem and made great trades to get here. Every single team is capable of that. Always has been.

Now I just wait until the great Royals Revolt starts. Baseball fans are too damn fickle. Whenever a team wins they're cool and exciting, until they win again, and then they become the devil and boring and why can't somebody else win? If the Royals get back to the ALCS the next three years the same people who are saying this is awesome now will be whining that it's always the same team. Baseball fans just refuse to enjoy consistently great teams, and that prevents them from enjoying the sport.

[infrared41]

By the way, how does Jonny Gomes keep Forrest Gumping his way onto division/pennant/World Series winning teams every year?

He's the new Craig Counsell.

[infrared41]

The stories people told about the 80s Royals and their battles with the Yankees, it all sounded like fiction. Mystical takes from a far away land.

It's true. All of it.

[SFGiants58]

Before this World Series began, Alex Rodriguez said the Mets would win if "they catch the ball".

Alex is so prescient that my brain is going to explode.

He was right. Look at 2014. The Giants didn't just MadBum the Royals to death. The Giants had a killer defense that could shut the small ball down (for the most part) and pulled off plays that the Mets simply couldn't execute (i.e. the Joe Panik-led double play in Game 7).

The Mets didn't have that kind of defense, and that's why they fell apart.

The stories people told about the 80s Royals and their battles with the Yankees, it all sounded like fiction. Mystical takes from a far away land.

It's true. All of it.

Those "mystical tales" are what kept the Royals in the AL when the 1998 realignment came up. Strange, but it happened.

[Quillz]

I think the thing about the Royals that really sets them apart from other previous World Series champions isn't just that they've been in the playoffs now twice in the past 30 years, it's the fact that as recently as 5-6 years ago, they were perennial losing anywhere from 90-100 games. It's not like this was some mostly average team that just never quite got into the playoffs, it's that this is a team that was legitimately awful for so long, suddenly being great. Kind of reminds me a bit of the '06 Tigers, how they were just three years removed from arguably one of the all-time worst MLB teams ever assembled. The Royals also happen to combine their feel-good success story with that "small market charm" that people like. Say the Yankees just won the World Series after some 6+ years of mostly average baseball. It wouldn't be the same at all. The Royals perfectly fit the narrative of the "any given Sunday" mantra.

[TheOldRoman]

I was pulling for the Mets. They were a great story this year, and I really enjoyed watching them in the playoffs. That being said, I can't imagine how Mets fans feel after that game and series. It's one of the most unsettling feelings I've gotten from a game that didn't involve one of my teams. They blew three freaking leads in the 8th or 9th innings. You can't take anything away from the Royals, as they came up with big, timely hits all postseason. But the Mets lost this series. The Mets 2-6 did jack squat, their defense was awful at the wrong times (LOL inside the park whiffed catch), Clippard was atrocious, and the bullpen management was terribad. The Mets' starting rotation was better than the Royals', but that didn't matter because the Mets' pen collapsed and the Royals bullpen was unhittable. Mets fans have got to feel terrible knowing this is a series they realistically could have easily won.

The Mets' rotation looks incredible going forward, and Familia's confidence and career might well be killed by blowing three saves in this series. They need a whole new bullpen. I love David Wright, but his best days are far behind him. Conforto is going to be really good, Duda is an interchangeable lumbering slob who hits for decent power at 1B, Granderson has a few years left, and d'Arnaud looks like he'll be good for a while. They've got to replace Cespedes and Murphy, both of who gave crap defense and nothing on offense this series. The Mets have a lot of work to do, and we might not see them here for a while.

As for the champions, you can't say enough about the fight this team put up. Not just in the playoffs, but all year after losing a heartbreaking game 7 at home last year. They replaced Shields and Butler and actually improved over last year. They might have to replace Gordon this time around, and they'll almost certainly have to replace Zobrist and Cueto (who didn't have a huge impact, anyway). They've got a nice window here and might well end up back on top of the mountain in the next three years before everybody gets paid elsewhere.

[TheOldRoman]

Two things to add, specifically about game 5. Collins blew it in the 9th inning. I understand letting Harvey back out there, but you only do so with everybody knowing his night ends when he allows a baserunner. Waiting until a run is in and the tying run is on second to bring in your closer is stupid.

Also, Hosmer's run home was a really, really dumb play. The only thing you can say in defense of it is "Well, if he's thrown out, they Royals still get two more shots at home to win it." A decent throw there gets him. Duda did his best Chuck Knoblauch, so it worked out for the Royals, but it was a bad risk to take at that point.

[pmoehrin]

The biggest issue with the Mets wanting to improve their defense is going to be David Wright.

Just based on what I saw during the playoffs and the regular season, his days as a third baseman should be done. By in large the range is still there, but the problem is that back has rendered his throwing arm basically useless and you saw it on the Hosmer play. You look at the throw to first, there's barely anything even on it and I don't think it was Wright being lazy, that's just how hard he throws now.

Easy answer would be to say just move him to first, but then the question becomes what to do with Lucas Duda?

I think Wright would be be a pretty tough guy to trade as well. If he was a free agent now, I don't think any team would commit to him for more than three or four years and he's got five years left. The contract is at least front loaded, so for as long as he can do something at the plate its not going to be a bunch of money for nothing. But still you're looking for a team that both has the money to pay someone like David Wright and is in the market for either a bat or a first baseman. That type of list never gets longer than three or four teams and I don't see an obvious landing spot either.

The easier route would be to trade Lucas Duda even though I know that's not something the Mets had in mind or want to do, but the Mets can't have both him and Wright in the starting lineup and say their infield defense is going to be better than it was last year.

Outfield I think they're fine whether they keep Cespedes or not. Pitching they're obviously more than fine, but I could see David Wright at first and three other guys not even on the team right now as the Mets starting infield going into 2016.