2014 playoff watch

[NinersSBChamps]

About six weeks left in the regular season. As of this morning here are how things stack up across baseball.

Baltimore is beginning to pull away in the AL East. Toronto and New York are probably there biggest threats. In the central it's become a real exciting race between Kansas City and Detroit. Cleveland still in the hunt. Out west Oakland continues to lead, but the Angels are hot on their heels. You can't rule out Seattle either.

The wild card race has many teams squaring off and somehow Tampa is still in the mix.

Out in the National League things are pretty interesting too.

Washington firmly has control over the NL East, but has struggled against the Braves and still plays them this season. The central is very close right now. Everyone except Chicago is within striking distance. The west is controlled by the Dodgers, but the Giants can easily challenge them. The wild card has a handful of teams vying for the two spots. Including the Mets and Marlins.

[nsacpi]

The teams with the most grit maturity leadership and clutchness will win out.

[bravesnumberone]

The path is to take all 6 remaining against the Nats and then pick up a net of 1 game in the other 34.

Should be some fun races.

[The Chosen One]

Rays reach .500 after being 18 under, and without David Price.

They have a window to get the 2nd wild card spot... amazing.

Let's make Joe Maddon the highest paid manager in baseball next year.

[bravesnumberone]

Been saying it for a while I'd love to have him.

[NinersSBChamps]

Toronto completely fell off. Buehrle realized he sucks again.

We get Pittsburgh seven more times too, if I remember correctly we play them to end the season.

[NinersSBChamps]

Well we play the Phillies to close the regular season, but Pittsburgh is our second to last series. I expect those games to be intense.

[bravesnumberone]

40 games left

Need to go 28-12 to get to 90 wins.

24 games against the NL East
6 vs. Nats
6 vs. Marlins
6 vs. Mets
6 vs. Phillies

11 against NL Central
7 vs. Pirates
4 vs. Reds

5 against AL West
2 vs. Athletics
3 vs. Rangers

[UNCBlue012]

90 wins should definetly get us into the playoffs as a wild card, anymore should get us the division. We need to play some really good ball down the stretch. We need one of the Braves patented 10-1 win streaks.

[bravesnumberone]

If we win every series from here on out, that's at least 27 wins there.

[AerchAngel]

Rays reach .500 after being 18 under, and without David Price.

They have a window to get the 2nd wild card spot... amazing.

Let's make Joe Maddon the highest paid manager in baseball next year.

please, I hope you are not being sarcastic. My meter is broken at the moment.

[AerchAngel]

40 games left

Need to go 28-12 to get to 90 wins.

24 games against the NL East
6 vs. Nats
6 vs. Marlins
6 vs. Mets
6 vs. Phillies

11 against NL Central
7 vs. Pirates
4 vs. Reds

5 against AL West
2 vs. Athletics
3 vs. Rangers

doable as long as FG manages correctly

[NinersSBChamps]

28-12 would be a very impressive feat to end the season. I am trying to remain somewhat positive, but this team doesn't have the capability to have a run like that. 23-25 wins the rest of the way might keep them in the hunt for a wild card.

[NinersSBChamps]

Well all the Braves need to worry about is winning. Yes we should watch the scoreboard, but it's all about controlling your side of the equation. It does suck to sweep the best team in baseball and not gain any ground on the Nationals though.

[50PoundHead]

I'm going to laugh my butt off if the A's don't win the West and then get bumped by a fluke in the wild card play-in game. I wonder how the national media that continues to gargle Billy Beane's man gravy will handle that.

[cajunrevenge]

I don't know what your beef is with Beans but he is the best GM in the game. He might not have won in the playoffs but the Red Sox who copied his strategy have won a few. All the GM can do is build the best team possible and hope luck favors them.

[50PoundHead]

I don't know what your beef is with Beans but he is the best GM in the game. He might not have won in the playoffs but the Red Sox who copied his strategy have won a few. All the GM can do is build the best team possible and hope luck favors them.

I've got nothing against Beane per se. I just tire of the national media contending that he invented baseball.

I don't believe the A's are the best team in baseball and I find it odd--and this is where I do find Beane to be inconsistent--is that he has always contended that the playoffs are a crapshoot. I was 7 years old when I figured that out after watching the Pirates beat the Yankees in the 1960 World Series. So if the playoffs are indeed a crapshoot, shouldn't getting to the playoffs be the sole goal and one shouldn't worry about things after that point. In making his deadline deals, Beane has gone against that thinking and is now "in it to win it." That's contradictory.

I'm old and I'm not the smartest baseball fan out there, but there is nothing--and I mean nothing--that Beane has done or that is reported in Moneyball that hasn't been done before.

PS--The only difference between the Red Sox teams that won the world championships and the Red Sox teams of yore is the quality of their pitching. The successful Red Sox teams have always been built for that park.

[nsacpi]

So if the playoffs are indeed a crapshoot, shouldn't getting to the playoffs be the sole goal and one shouldn't worry about things after that point. In making his deadline deals, Beane has gone against that thinking and is now "in it to win it." That's contradictory.

I agree. You can do a few things to help optimize your chances in the playoffs. But the effects are marginal and generally not worth the price.

[cajunrevenge]

Calling it a crap shoot is just a short answer. The odds are more like 55-45 or 60-40 depending on how good the teams are. If you have a 60% chance of winning every series there's a good chance your going to lose one of the 3 series. The longer the series the better chance the better team wins. In football a playoff game is over 6% of the regular season. Basketball it's around 9%. Baseball the division series is around 3%. Basically the playoffs are a small sample size.

Money ball is misinterpreted by the media. It's just finding under valued players/stats. What is undervalued changes. Yes that has existed since the dawn of time. What was controversial at the time was what he considered undervalued. It was part of the statistical revolution of modern sports.

[thewupk]

I've got nothing against Beane per se. I just tire of the national media contending that he invented baseball.

I don't believe the A's are the best team in baseball and I find it odd--and this is where I do find Beane to be inconsistent--is that he has always contended that the playoffs are a crapshoot. I was 7 years old when I figured that out after watching the Pirates beat the Yankees in the 1960 World Series. So if the playoffs are indeed a crapshoot, shouldn't getting to the playoffs be the sole goal and one shouldn't worry about things after that point. In making his deadline deals, Beane has gone against that thinking and is now "in it to win it." That's contradictory.

I'm old and I'm not the smartest baseball fan out there, but there is nothing--and I mean nothing--that Beane has done or that is reported in Moneyball that hasn't been done before.

PS--The only difference between the Red Sox teams that won the world championships and the Red Sox teams of yore is the quality of their pitching. The successful Red Sox teams have always been built for that park.

Yes and no. Before hand there was no difference in winning the division or taking the wild card. Just getting in is what matters. Now winning the division is much more important and Beane realizes this. You 'go for it' to not get stuck in the wild card game.