2016 MLB Post Season Thread

[SFGiants58]

Well, that's the 2016 MLB season in the books.

 

Congrats Cubs, and I can't wait to see what next season has in store!

[FGM13]

Eddie Vedder's Cubs song is much better.

[habsfan1]

@CS85 Incredible!

 

Who else from the boards here attended?

[Cujo]

Seventh largest mass of humanity EVER.

 

 

[Unocal]

The 2016 Cubs will be remembered for a long, long time.

 

Not just that they ended the curse, but that they were a VERY good team.

 

For all that we remember about the near-miss 2003 team, statistically they actually were kinda of average (88 wins, +41 run differential).

 

This team won 15 more games and had a +200 run differential.

 

I feel that they're gonna be remembered by this generation the way the '84 Tigers/'86 Mets are remembered by a past generation.

 

Not saying they're the 1975 Reds/1998 Yankees, but some championship teams are more well-remembered than others.

[CS85]

1 hour ago, SabresRule7361 said:

The 2016 Cubs will be remembered for a long, long time.

 

Not just that they ended the curse, but that they were a VERY good team.

 

For all that we remember about the near-miss 2003 team, statistically they actually were kinda of average (88 wins, +41 run differential).

 

This team won 15 more games and had a +200 run differential.

 

I feel that they're gonna be remembered by this generation the way the '84 Tigers/'86 Mets are remembered by a past generation.

 

Not saying they're the 1975 Reds/1998 Yankees, but some championship teams are more well-remembered than others.

 

 

Goes to show hard damned hard it is to win the whole thing, too. This team had it all.  Some are already saying they're bigger than the 85 Bears, but....no, not likely.  That team is legendary, even if it's unfortunate in some regards.  They defined an era.  The Cubs of 2016 made sports history in a way that was just as larger-than-life as the 85 Bears, but perhaps in a different, more somber way that signified the end of a team's legacy and the birth of a new one. 

[kroywen]

2 hours ago, SabresRule7361 said:

The 2016 Cubs will be remembered for a long, long time.

 

Not just that they ended the curse, but that they were a VERY good team.

 

For all that we remember about the near-miss 2003 team, statistically they actually were kinda of average (88 wins, +41 run differential).

 

This team won 15 more games and had a +200 run differential.

 

I feel that they're gonna be remembered by this generation the way the '84 Tigers/'86 Mets are remembered by a past generation.

 

Not saying they're the 1975 Reds/1998 Yankees, but some championship teams are more well-remembered than others.

The 2016 Cubs are definitely the best team in baseball since the 2009 Yankees, and I'd put those two teams neck-and-neck. Of course, the 2016 Cubs have an advantage going forward that the 2009 Yankees didn't quite have, in that they have a much, much younger core. But that notwithstanding, it's very tough to choose between those two teams.

 

I do think the 2016 Cubs will absolutely go down in history as one of the better world champions that baseball has ever produced. If nothing else, nowadays, it's rare for the head-and-shoulders best team in baseball to win it all, and the Cubs were unquestionably the best team this year.

[crashcarson15]

15 hours ago, McCarthy said:

The team didn't really fall apart after 97. They made the playoffs in 98, 99, and 01. Of course, the rest of the AL Central at that time was garbage (The White Sox were okay, won the division in 2000, but the Twins, Tigers, and Royals were consistently awful) so coming out of that division wasn't that difficult. 

I mean, hell, that 2000 Tribe team still won 90 games. The Indians legitimately had an eight-year window from 1994 (strike-halted, of course) through 2001 where they were a routine playoff team, making the field [or sitting in the WC slot in ’94] every year but one. This is, of course, why so many (and I hope it’ll change) are anti-Dolan ownership in Cleveland. Buy a team that was, for nearly a decade, a routine contender and make the “real” playoffs once in the first 14 years.

 

Obviously, the Central is more difficult today as far as divisions are concerned — the Tigers are a top-five payroll team — but there’s no reason this core group isn’t at least going to contend moving forward. Make it back to the World Series? Who knows. I think this iteration of the Tribe will have one more in them, but the AL is tough.

 

What the Indians have going for them is that they can keep this team together for awhile before making the hard decisions. Kipnis is under team control through 2020; Lindor through 2021. Kluber is here until 2021, Carrasco until 2020. I mean, yes, at a certain point in time, ownership is going to have to spend a little bit of money to keep everyone around as this whole thing progresses, but as long as the team is successful, I have a certain faith that’ll happen.

 

I think it’s likely this is the first of two Indians World Series appearances in this window — and that the second time around, they’ll be better suited to finish the job.

[The_Admiral]

You have to temper the Cubs' regular-season record due to how many National League teams tanked their seasons. The Reds and Brewers teams they ran up the score on all year were barely even major-league rosters by design (Cubs fans, of all people, should recognize what that looks like), and the same goes for the lesser-seen garbage in Denver, Atlanta, and San Diego. I'm not one of those AL supremacists who thinks the designated hitter makes all its baseball better (it makes it worse), but the NL really sucked this year and the Cubs profited from it.

 

I don't need to know where their regular season ranks among other champions, and I'm not concerned that they lost six games in the postseason, because the Cubs won.

[CubsFanBudMan]

How many games they won before and how many titles they win from here on do not matter, because they won Game 7 in 2016. Their place in history is secure whether they turn out like the 1985 Bears or the 1990s Bulls.

[FGM13]

This series really drove home to me how good Francisco Lindor, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo are (very, especially the first two) and how unfortunate it is that the MLB isn't really taking advantage of all these young stars. Mike Trout should be Michael Jordan. All these amazing young players like Trout and Lindor and Bryant and Machado and Harper and Seager should be advertised the hell out of, because that's what'll gain fans for baseball and money for MLB. It's a damn shame we lost Jose Fernandez so young, because he was the perfect poster boy for this young "Make Baseball Fun Again" movement, and these other young superstars need to step up and fill that role, and MLB needs to capitalize. These kids plus the weird homer surge this past year and a half should be HUGE for baseball's marketing and popularity, MLB just needs to do the right thing. 

[Unocal]

32 minutes ago, the admiral said:

You have to temper the Cubs' regular-season record due to how many National League teams tanked their seasons. The Reds and Brewers teams they ran up the score on all year were barely even major-league rosters by design (Cubs fans, of all people, should recognize what that looks like), and the same goes for the lesser-seen garbage in Denver, Atlanta, and San Diego. I'm not one of those AL supremacists who thinks the designated hitter makes all its baseball better (it makes it worse), but the NL really sucked this year and the Cubs profited from it.

 

I don't need to know where their regular season ranks among other champions, and I'm not concerned that they lost six games in the postseason, because the Cubs won.

 

Not buying that argument.

 

That's like saying the 1975 Reds record was fattened because they ran it up against the Padres/Braves and other NL West meh teams. Or the 1998 Yankees record should be tempered because of the Rays/Jays/Orioles.

 

(And the Cubs didn't exactly run it up against the Brewers, Rockies won the season series, Braves split with them.)

[Cujo]

Measuring the greatness of the 2016 Chicago Cubs.

 

Single-season success: 103 wins, 58 losses (and 1 tie). Nearly going wire-to-wire with MLB's best record, basically clinching the Central by August. Seven players named to the ASG. Likely NL MVP (Bryant) and Cy Young (Hendricks) winners, perhaps MOPTY as well (Maddon). In the modern playoff-era (going back to 1995), the Cubs became just the third team to win 100-games, own the best record in baseball and win it all. ('98 & '09 Yankees)

 

Long-term MLB domination: Of course, only time will tell. This Cubs team is absolutely loaded with youth and talent. It's very premature to place them same category as the late-90s Yankees and recent SF Giants teams, but as long as Ricketts owns and Theo runs, they're in amazing shape for another ring in the very-near future.

 

Curse Killers: These Cubs now go down in history alongside the 2004 Red Sox. Pretty much every baseball fan came along for the ride and remembers where they were when it finally happened. They are slated a notch above the 2005 White Sox (a forgotten team with no mega-stars playing second-fiddle in their own town) and the 2010 Giants (who's title drought wasn't as long and are now remembered for their 3 rings in 5 years).

 

The City of Chicago: The 2016 Cubs instantly join the '85 Bears and Jordan's Bulls as the city's all time best. What I'm basically saying is: A player from any of these teams could stroll into a bar or pizza joint and it's completely on the house. (Yes, even Chapman.)

[The_Admiral]

In the 1985 Bears, you have the best defense of all time, most dominant season by a Super Bowl champion, and tie with whoever for second-best record of all time. In the 1996 Bulls, the best season an NBA team has ever had. In the 2013 Blackhawks, a team that went wire-to-wire, absolutely blew out a condensed season, and came just a few goals away from leading the league in goals scored and prevented. And the 2005 White Sox went wire-to-wire, 11-1 in the postseason. It's too early for me to know where to slot the 2016 Cubs in among those teams. I just know that they finally won and it could very well surpass all four of those just by dint of being the Chicago Cubs.

[Still MIGHTY]

3 hours ago, FGM13 said:

This series really drove home to me how good Francisco Lindor, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo are (very, especially the first two) and how unfortunate it is that the MLB isn't really taking advantage of all these young stars. Mike Trout should be Michael Jordan. All these amazing young players like Trout and Lindor and Bryant and Machado and Harper and Seager should be advertised the hell out of, because that's what'll gain fans for baseball and money for MLB. It's a damn shame we lost Jose Fernandez so young, because he was the perfect poster boy for this young "Make Baseball Fun Again" movement, and these other young superstars need to step up and fill that role, and MLB needs to capitalize. These kids plus the weird homer surge this past year and a half should be HUGE for baseball's marketing and popularity, MLB just needs to do the right thing. 

 

It's doesn't help that Mike Trout's Angels outside of Mike Trout are just flat out broken.

 

And sure, they made a nice pickup in Cameron Maybin today but... how's his ERA?

[2001mark]

Alas(?) what keeps these Cubs from the utter top echelon may be the parity of the 2016 MLB season.  I kept seeing upset Cubs fans online complaining about their losing streaks even while up 1289 games in the Central, & that was mid summer.

They're an excellent team who played as unified as that 116 win 2001 Mariners team, only they closed their deal.  While of course these Cubs closed their deal with a WS victory, both teams seemed so zoned in from April to October that winning was their only option.

85 Bears defined the league I think for their era.  I don't think, yet, this Cubs team defines this era.  I still think the Giants' success still has a window earned to close.  

Going into the WS I thought perhaps they'd be defined aside the '04 Red Sox.  They're better than that.

1998 Yankees probably remain the #1 all time hand in hand with the '27 Yanks.  125 wins through the WS is as close akin to an NFL 19-0 season we'll ever know.

 

[cmm]

22 hours ago, SabresRule7361 said:

 

Not buying that argument.

 

That's like saying the 1975 Reds record was fattened because they ran it up against the Padres/Braves and other NL West meh teams. Or the 1998 Yankees record should be tempered because of the Rays/Jays/Orioles.

 

(And the Cubs didn't exactly run it up against the Brewers, Rockies won the season series, Braves split with them.)

Right, it should be tempered because Tino Martinez took strike 3 but Richie Garcia blew the call like he did in 1996. Not that I'm bitter.

[kroywen]

12 hours ago, cmm said:

Right, it should be tempered because Tino Martinez took strike 3 but Richie Garcia blew the call like he did in 1996. Not that I'm bitter.

Yes, because a dominating series sweep can be entirely blamed on a single call in Game 1.

 

I'll admit, it was a bad call by Richie Garcia. But that's part of baseball - an annoying part, granted, but umpires make questionable ball/strike calls all the time. It's not an excuse for a pitcher coughing up a Grand Slam on the next pitch. And it's certainly not an excuse for a team getting whipped in the next 3 games.

 

I can guarantee that if Garcia punched Martinez out on that potential strike 3 that the Yankees still would've went on to win that Series. Maybe it wouldn't have been a sweep; we'll never know. But given how the Yankees utterly dominated that series, it's time we all stop kvetching about a blown strike call. Don Denkinger this is not.

[Thomas]

On 5/11/2016 at 6:45 AM, FGM13 said:

This series really drove home to me how good Francisco Lindor, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo are (very, especially the first two) and how unfortunate it is that the MLB isn't really taking advantage of all these young stars. Mike Trout should be Michael Jordan. All these amazing young players like Trout and Lindor and Bryant and Machado and Harper and Seager should be advertised the hell out of, because that's what'll gain fans for baseball and money for MLB. It's a damn shame we lost Jose Fernandez so young, because he was the perfect poster boy for this young "Make Baseball Fun Again" movement, and these other young superstars need to step up and fill that role, and MLB needs to capitalize. These kids plus the weird homer surge this past year and a half should be HUGE for baseball's marketing and popularity, MLB just needs to do the right thing. 

We just need more blow dude, then everyone is happy, even fans of Tampa and Atlanta. Pass it out at the entrance to the ballparks,  ♫ Take me out to the snort game ♫

[Thomas]

On 5/11/2016 at 5:48 AM, crashcarson15 said:

I mean, hell, that 2000 Tribe team still won 90 games. The Indians legitimately had an eight-year window from 1994 (strike-halted, of course) through 2001 where they were a routine playoff team, making the field [or sitting in the WC slot in ’94] every year but one. This is, of course, why so many (and I hope it’ll change) are anti-Dolan ownership in Cleveland. Buy a team that was, for nearly a decade, a routine contender and make the “real” playoffs once in the first 14 years.

 

Obviously, the Central is more difficult today as far as divisions are concerned — the Tigers are a top-five payroll team — but there’s no reason this core group isn’t at least going to contend moving forward. Make it back to the World Series? Who knows. I think this iteration of the Tribe will have one more in them, but the AL is tough.

 

What the Indians have going for them is that they can keep this team together for awhile before making the hard decisions. Kipnis is under team control through 2020; Lindor through 2021. Kluber is here until 2021, Carrasco until 2020. I mean, yes, at a certain point in time, ownership is going to have to spend a little bit of money to keep everyone around as this whole thing progresses, but as long as the team is successful, I have a certain faith that’ll happen.

 

I think it’s likely this is the first of two Indians World Series appearances in this window — and that the second time around, they’ll be better suited to finish the job.

Hope they do what the royals did the year after their WS defeat, KC went out and got even better.

Indians should get Holliday, Cespedes, Sale, whatever, just win the whole :censored:ing thing