2015 MLB Season Thread with Postseason Discussion

[cubsfan2015]

Nice to see the Giants channel their inner Sharks tonight

I was at that game donning a Cubs hat, monitoring the out-of-town scoreboard, and vehemently rooting against the Giants. It was incredible.

And with that breathtaking Braves win and the Cubs-Pirates rainout, the Cubs have leapfrogged San Fran for WC2 once again. Nonetheless, this week is going to be a serious gut check for this Cubs team; I'm looking forward to the remaining games in Pittsburgh and especially the series with the Giants.

Uggh. The Giants looked like crap last night. It's really rare that they blow a lead like that, but that one was painful. AJ Pierzynski.

This month is pretty much going to show if the Giants sink or swim. They're on a pretty brutal road trip right now and play teams who are above .500 pretty much the entire month. If they struggle, they're done. The NL is too competitive this season to afford a slip up.

So far, August isn't getting off to a very good start.

THIS coming from a Giants fan.

On the Cubs side,this team has been promising. Though we are 9.5 games back from the Cards,and 5.5 games back from the Pirates,we've been going good.

But September can be a turning point for some teams,and that could decide a season.

NL Wild Card:

Pittsburgh 61-43

Chicago 57-47

If we can make it to the post season,the prediction from Back to the Future II is still alive.

Also,4 teams are tied for AL Wild Card spots.

[ninersdd]

Nice to see the Giants channel their inner Sharks tonight

I was at that game donning a Cubs hat, monitoring the out-of-town scoreboard, and vehemently rooting against the Giants. It was incredible.

And with that breathtaking Braves win and the Cubs-Pirates rainout, the Cubs have leapfrogged San Fran for WC2 once again. Nonetheless, this week is going to be a serious gut check for this Cubs team; I'm looking forward to the remaining games in Pittsburgh and especially the series with

the Giants.

Uggh. The Giants looked like crap last night. It's really rare that they blow a lead like that, but that one was painful. AJ Pierzynski.

This month is pretty much going to show if the Giants sink or swim. They're on a pretty brutal

road trip right now and play teams who are above .500 pretty much the entire month. If they struggle, they're done. The NL is too competitive this season to afford a slip up.

So far, August isn't getting off to a very good start.

Yeah this month is a complete minefield for the Giants. Cubs twice, Cards twice, Pirates, Nationals, Astros, and Dodgers are the opponents through about Labor Day. On the flip side, at least September is much easier, drawing the division plus the Reds and A's.

The Braves are not a good team at all, and you can't blow 6-0 leads like that.

[FiddySicks]

Yeah I still think the Giants have a really good shot, but it won't be easy. The Cubs are playing WAY better this season than I expected them to (I figured NEXT year would be their breakout year), and I honestly think they have the lineup to keep them there.

I'm hoping my Giants can outpace the Cubs for that final wild card spot (or even better, catch the Dodgers), but I'm somewhat skeptical that guys like Panik, Duffy, and even Crawford can sustain this pace for another two months. And that doesn't even touch the concerns I have about the pitching staff.

[Gary]

Dave Dombrowski no longer GM or President of the Tigers. Al Avila promoted to GM

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2015/08/04/detroit-tigers-dave-dombrowski-avila/31121309/

[pmoehrin]

Dave Dombrowski no longer GM or President of the Tigers. Al Avila promoted to GM

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2015/08/04/detroit-tigers-dave-dombrowski-avila/31121309/

Talk about a what have you done for me lately firing.

Four straight postseason appearances including an AL pennant.

This year Miguel Cabrera goes down with an injury, back end of the rotation underperforms a bit. See ya.

[2001mark]

Dave Dombrowski no longer GM or President of the Tigers. Al Avila promoted to GM

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2015/08/04/detroit-tigers-dave-dombrowski-avila/31121309/

Surprised he wasn't an OVO special guest.

[Fishplatter]

Dave Dombrowski is out as Detroit Tigers general manager. I won't say that the Detroit Tigers season is over. It isn't. They can be a wild card team.

[Gary]

Dave Dombrowski no longer GM or President of the Tigers. Al Avila promoted to GM

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2015/08/04/detroit-tigers-dave-dombrowski-avila/31121309/

Talk about a what have you done for me lately firing.

Four straight postseason appearances including an AL pennant.

This year Miguel Cabrera goes down with an injury, back end of the rotation underperforms a bit. See ya.

From what I was hearing. Illich and Dombrowski wasn't seeing eye to eye this year and Illich wanted a new regime. Just don't see Avila lasting past this season as I know Mike Illich wants a title before he passes away.

I could see him going to get a new veteren Manager and GM tjat can build upon the Tigers. But don't see them getting anywhere until they bolster their pitching staff.

[TheOldRoman]

Dave Dombrowski no longer GM or President of the Tigers. Al Avila promoted to GM

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2015/08/04/detroit-tigers-dave-dombrowski-avila/31121309/

Talk about a what have you done for me lately firing.

Four straight postseason appearances including an AL pennant.

This year Miguel Cabrera goes down with an injury, back end of the rotation underperforms a bit. See ya.

The Tigers' window is closed now. Realistically, last year was their last decent chance. It sucks for the Tigers that they won the division four years in a row and only got a pennant to show for it, but I think their roster is on the downside. They do have a few good young players coming up, but Cabrera is aging and starting to have injury problems. They lost Scherzer last year. Verlander is a shell of his former self. Price is gone, although they could presumably re-sign him. They paid huge money to Victor Martinez, but he's 36. They spent tons of money the last few years so Illich could get his ring, but they couldn't get it done.

I'm not saying the Dombrowski couldn't accomplish a rebuild (he saw them through the 2003 disaster), but I understand why they might think it's time to start fresh.

[MEANS]

@the Old Roman, would you want Dombrowski on the South Side?

[TheOldRoman]

I'd take him if we had an opening, but I don't know if I'd want Dombrowski here now. For one, Rick Hahn is in year three, and only really year two of house cleaning. I'm not as high on Hahn as some of the fanbase, but I think he should get at least one more year. The team has a few gaping holes, but literally the entire team outside of Rodon and Soto has performed worse than could have been expected. I don't know that you can blame him at this point. And he was doing the smart thing by holding Samardzija until the deadline, but then the team went on a great three week stretch and put them in a position where they couldn't trade him. It sucks. Even Sale, despite his dominant stretch in May and June, is having a poor year. Plus, I don't know that Dombrowski himself was all that great.

But I will say that I feel the organization needs an entire house cleaning. They've been really good at developing pitching, and that's about it. The drafting has supposedly improved, but they're so awful at player development that who knows when they'll next develop a position player. I don't believe in curses, but I think there's "something in the water" which leads to the team failing in the same ways. Every year, a substantial portion of the team has their "career worst season." We have two month-long entire-team offensive slumps like clockwork every year. No matter who the players are, they start out horrifically on offense, and we hear "you can't expect them to hit when it's cold out." Then they hit bunches of homers in June and July, usually piling up wins, and eventually fade in August. The players change, but the results remain the same. They sign a 30 year old who had hit 40 homer and 100 RBI each year for a decade and he puts up the single worst season of all time. They sign other "edge of their prime" free agents who just so happen to completely fall off the face of the earth the second they put on our uniform (although Melky has been really good after a horrific April). Everybody is constantly "trying too hard" which leads to struggles. All their prospects have a gigantic learning curve which other teams' don't seem to have. Nobody plays fundamental ball, nobody is focused, everybody plays awful defense, and nobody is to blame for it. Buddy Bell was fired by the freaking Royals for incompetence when they were in their dark ages, yet he somehow lands here and becomes a tenured head of player development here who can't be fired.

I'd be fine with Hahn sticking around, but ideally I feel like they need to replace nearly everybody else in the organizational chain outside of the physical trainer (best in the business!) and some of the pitching coaches. All scouts. All managers. All hitting coaches. And they need to bring in someone who had nothing to do with this organization ever before. Their personnel searches of late have been consisted entirely of former players and executives. And I know that Hahn is widely respected and had several other offers, so I'll excuse that. But if we go into next season with Paul Konerko as manager, I'm going down to 35th street and kicking someone in the groin.

[cubsfan2015]

I hope,if the Cubs 2015 plans are spolied,there would be another I-70 Series (Royals vs Cards)

The Cards would have had a god damn freaking 12 pack if it wasn't for that blown call.

There won't be another Windy City Series until both teams are good at the same time.

And my pick was them beating the Mariners,not the Miami Gators.

[TVIXX]

Brewers wearing cerveceros jerseys Saturday against the cardinals

[The_Admiral]

But I will say that I feel the organization needs an entire house cleaning. They've been really good at developing pitching, and that's about it. The drafting has supposedly improved, but they're so awful at player development that who knows when they'll next develop a position player. I don't believe in curses, but I think there's "something in the water" which leads to the team failing in the same ways.

Fish rots from the head. It'll get better when Reinsdorf dies, his weird country club is disbanded, and people start running the White Sox as a modern baseball organization. Hahn is one of the few people who should stick around. He knows what he's doing, but I think a lot of that failing in the same ways comes from the guy looming over him.

[jrodsep]

I wouldn't mind Dombrowski with my Red Sox.

[MEANS]

I'd take him if we had an opening, but I don't know if I'd want Dombrowski here now. For one, Rick Hahn is in year three, and only really year two of house cleaning. I'm not as high on Hahn as some of the fanbase, but I think he should get at least one more year. The team has a few gaping holes, but literally the entire team outside of Rodon and Soto has performed worse than could have been expected. I don't know that you can blame him at this point. And he was doing the smart thing by holding Samardzija until the deadline, but then the team went on a great three week stretch and put them in a position where they couldn't trade him. It sucks. Even Sale, despite his dominant stretch in May and June, is having a poor year. Plus, I don't know that Dombrowski himself was all that great.

But I will say that I feel the organization needs an entire house cleaning. They've been really good at developing pitching, and that's about it. The drafting has supposedly improved, but they're so awful at player development that who knows when they'll next develop a position player. I don't believe in curses, but I think there's "something in the water" which leads to the team failing in the same ways. Every year, a substantial portion of the team has their "career worst season." We have two month-long entire-team offensive slumps like clockwork every year. No matter who the players are, they start out horrifically on offense, and we hear "you can't expect them to hit when it's cold out." Then they hit bunches of homers in June and July, usually piling up wins, and eventually fade in August. The players change, but the results remain the same. They sign a 30 year old who had hit 40 homer and 100 RBI each year for a decade and he puts up the single worst season of all time. They sign other "edge of their prime" free agents who just so happen to completely fall off the face of the earth the second they put on our uniform (although Melky has been really good after a horrific April). Everybody is constantly "trying too hard" which leads to struggles. All their prospects have a gigantic learning curve which other teams' don't seem to have. Nobody plays fundamental ball, nobody is focused, everybody plays awful defense, and nobody is to blame for it. Buddy Bell was fired by the freaking Royals for incompetence when they were in their dark ages, yet he somehow lands here and becomes a tenured head of player development here who can't be fired.

I'd be fine with Hahn sticking around, but ideally I feel like they need to replace nearly everybody else in the organizational chain outside of the physical trainer (best in the business!) and some of the pitching coaches. All scouts. All managers. All hitting coaches. And they need to bring in someone who had nothing to do with this organization ever before. Their personnel searches of late have been consisted entirely of former players and executives. And I know that Hahn is widely respected and had several other offers, so I'll excuse that. But if we go into next season with Paul Konerko as manager, I'm going down to 35th street and kicking someone in the groin.

It's like your reading my mind. Excellent summary.

[TheOldRoman]

But I will say that I feel the organization needs an entire house cleaning. They've been really good at developing pitching, and that's about it. The drafting has supposedly improved, but they're so awful at player development that who knows when they'll next develop a position player. I don't believe in curses, but I think there's "something in the water" which leads to the team failing in the same ways.

Fish rots from the head. It'll get better when Reinsdorf dies, his weird country club is disbanded, and people start running the White Sox as a modern baseball organization. Hahn is one of the few people who should stick around. He knows what he's doing, but I think a lot of that failing in the same ways comes from the guy looming over him.

I knew you would comment on Reinsdorf because you're not a fan. His "family" atmosphere within the organization has been bad. Yes, that's acceptable if you're the Cardinals - going to the playoffs every year, churning out great players and also talentless role players who end up going on to have successful eight year careers. But the Sox haven't had nearly the success to have "The White Sox Way" and they should probably steal some personnel from organizations which have built through the farm.

Anyway, I think most of the criticism of Reinsdorf, at least from the fanbase, is wrong. He's mostly been criticized for being cheap. Post 2003, they've always spent money, often having a top-ten payroll despite attendance not quite in the top ten. They've poorly allocated funds, for sure. I feel that's more on the front office than Reinsdorf, although he has a say over what they do, obviously. Supposedly Jerry was pissed off that they gave a $5 million bonus to Joe Borchard for him to end up being nothing, so they spent cheaply in the draft and devoted that money to major league players. Bad idea to go cheap in the draft, but they still could have spent top money on the farm system and poached a bunch of scouts and player development guys from the Twins, Cardinals and Athletics over the last decade. They should have had guys ready to step up from the minors at any given point. It's maddening that this team has had several seasons over the last 15 years where it was realistically 1-2 *mediocre* players away from a playoff spot. Honestly, some holes were so gaping that had they had a couple guys come up, play good defense and hit .260 with little power, or even just a starter with an era of 4.5, it would have greatly improved the team. Hopefully Hahn can build the farm so they can churn out those players, but I don't see it coming as long as he's required to employ Buddy Bell.

But I do agree that things will hopefully change in the "country club" aspect once Reinsdorf dies. He's said that he recommended his family sell their portion of the Sox and keep control of the Bulls. I think that particularly with a pandery owner who's "all about the fans" like Arte Moreno circa 2004 or even a Mark Cuban, the fanbase can get off their constantly grumpy complaining kick and stop boycotting the team because of something which happened in 1994 or 1997. Honestly, I think a good portion of the fanbase is just miserable bastards intentionally staying away from and hating the team just to show they're better than Cubs fans who go out to see 100 loss teams and gladly eat plates full of crap.

[FiddySicks]

I wouldn't mind Dombrowski with my Red Sox.

That seems like the most likely landing spot for him at this point. With Lucchino stepping down after this year, you just know they're going to push hard for Drombrowski.

BUT, Toronto also has an opening with Paul Beeston leaving after this year, so don't be surprised to see those two clubs end up in a bit of a bidding war for him.

Apparently, Kenny Williams is linked to the Jays as well, which doesn't really make much sense to me.

[DCarp1231]

I wouldn't be surprised if Duquette left Baltimore for Toronto and Dombrowski came to Baltimore

[TrueYankee26]

Yankees lost on Severino's debut, but Severino was solid last night, it's just that the offense couldn't get it done..