Second Guessers Special: Unfilled Off-Season Wish List

Last few WS winners.

10 Giants- Who thought they'd win it all? - Rotation of Linecum in his prime, Cain in his prime, Sanchez's best yr and Bumgarner's rookie yr. Elite rotation (important for playoffs) and solid lineup top to bottom.
11 Cards- Lucky to get in the first place. - One of the best teams in baseball the 2nd half of 2012. Most forget they had a ton of injuries in the 1st half including Pujols arm fracture. If we had Pujols in his prime it would be different
12 Giants- Same. - Another great rotation and MVP Posey.
13 Sox- From worst to first. - Best team in baseball. The best offense in baseball last yr as well.
 
Carp said:
I keep hearing this crapshoot business but we haven't reached the 2nd round of the playoffs for over a decade, despite reaching the playoffs over half the time during that span. Seems to me like we have been playing against loaded dice most of the time. Just b/c you have a competitive team doesn't mean you are built for a deep playoff run. Not to mention, it's hardly a guarantee we reach the playoffs.
Click to expand...

There is no magic formula for building a team that wins in the playoffs. Therefore the playoffs are indeed nothing more than a mere crapshoot. Why is that so hard to comprehend?
 
Carp said:
Last few WS winners.

10 Giants- Who thought they'd win it all? - Rotation of Linecum in his prime, Cain in his prime, Sanchez's best yr and Bumgarner's rookie yr. Elite rotation (important for playoffs) and solid lineup top to bottom.

11 Cards- Lucky to get in the first place. - One of the best teams in baseball the 2nd half of 2012. Most forget they had a ton of injuries in the 1st half including Pujols arm fracture. If we had Pujols in his prime it would be different

12 Giants- Same. - Another great rotation and MVP Posey.

13 Sox- From worst to first. - Best team in baseball. The best offense in baseball last yr as well.
Click to expand...

10- Giants offense was pretty mediocre that year. Pitching was downright nasty.

11- Sure, fact stands they needed a massive collapse to get in the playoffs.

12- They were down 2-0, and had to win 3 straight on the road to survive the opening round, got down 3-1 to Stl, and won 3 straight. They were a good team but best team in baseball, they were not.

13- This i could agree.

Even still, there is no magical formula to win it all.

Tigers have had an elite rotation, great lineup last 2 years, yet no WS, why is that? Isnt that all you need.

Even still, getting Price would guarantee NOTHING.

Especially at the huge cost it would take.
 
A lot of these claims that certain teams that won the WS were built for post-season success suffer from the fact that they are made with the benefit of hindsight. Who was saying at the start of last season that the Red Sox were shrewdly assembling a team with good chances in the post-season.

So my challenge to those claiming that there is some sort of secret sauce that the Braves should be acquiring is the following: Name the teams that this off-season have done a good job of increasing their secret sauce quotient. Also name the two teams you think are likely to be in the 2014 WS. Let's see if you are on to something.
 
There is no formula for winning the world series. If you're looking for pitching, how come Halladay, Lee, Hamels never won the WS? But Hamels, Moyer and Blanton did?

Playoffs are a crapshoot. The only thing that seems to help the odds in the post season that we're missing is power pitching, but it's not a magic bullet.
 
zitothebrave said:
There is no formula for winning the world series. If you're looking for pitching, how come Halladay, Lee, Hamels never won the WS? But Hamels, Moyer and Blanton did?

Playoffs are a crapshoot. The only thing that seems to help the odds in the post season that we're missing is power pitching, but it's not a magic bullet.
Click to expand...

And the interesting thing is that most teams who have recently won the WS develop their own aces. Cain, Bumgarner and Lincecum were all drafted and developed by the Giants. Lester was the Red Sox' best pitcher and is homegrown. The Cardinals had mostly homegrown pitching. Wainwright is the notable exception and they acquired him while he was still in the minors.

The big money clubs can afford to be the exception. The Yankees can take on a lot of risk and salary to get someone like CC. The Dodgers can do that with Greinke, and they haven't won yet. And even if a team spends a lot of money to acquire an ace, there is no guarantee. The Phillies tried to do that with Halladay and Lee but did not succeed.
 
nsacpi said:
A lot of these claims that certain teams that won the WS were built for post-season success suffer from the fact that they are made with the benefit of hindsight. Who was saying at the start of last season that the Red Sox were shrewdly assembling a team with good chances in the post-season.

So my challenge to those claiming that there is some sort of secret sauce that the Braves should be acquiring is the following: Name the teams that this off-season have done a good job of increasing their secret sauce quotient. Also name the two teams you think are likely to be in the 2014 WS. Let's see if you are on to something.
Click to expand...

I thought the Red Sox were destined to lose 90 plus games again because on paper their pitching staff looked horrible.
 
I think the rotation is going to be a problem (for itself and eventually the bullpen). The team needs to get lucky with Beachy and Garcia (you know he is going to be in the rotation unless he dies during Spring Training).

Uggla is most likely going to continue being horrible. If he is starting in June, that will be a huge disappointment--if he does well in April/May, he needs to be traded; if he does bad, he needs to be benched/dumped. Tommy needs to be the starter by June at the latest.

We have Schafer ready to K two or three times per game if BJ is too tired to do his own dirty work. Think of September and you will get the picture.

Many people said last year that a contending team can't have a Garcia or a Loe pitching in September. We are going to have one of those pitching in April. How sad is that?

Those are potentially crippling issues that Wren ignored. Like last year, you will likely see him looking desperate at the trade deadline and getting nothing done. If Arizona is out of the race, we will likely see him claim Arroyo.
 
If this rotation worries you then you must have been ****ting bricks early last year. We had no idea what we were getting from Medlen, he had a great run but no one is sub 1 ERA good. Minor was coming off a 4+ ERA season. Teheran was coming off a 5+ ERA season in his second trip thru AAA. Alex Wood had not pitched above A ball and Beachy was still on the DL. Then Hudson/Teheran have a bad first month and Venters/O'Flaherty go down. No way that team wins 90 games or wins the division.
 
cajunrevenge said:
If this rotation worries you then you must have been ****ting bricks early last year. We had no idea what we were getting from Medlen, he had a great run but no one is sub 1 ERA good. Minor was coming off a 4+ ERA season. Teheran was coming off a 5+ ERA season in his second trip thru AAA. Alex Wood had not pitched above A ball and Beachy was still on the DL. Then Hudson/Teheran have a bad first month and Venters/O'Flaherty go down. No way that team wins 90 games or wins the division.
Click to expand...

I was. And rightfully so. Our pitching staff was noticeably tired by the playoffs and the bullpen paid the price. We are going to see a repeat of last year in that area (if we are lucky, like last year).
 
Let's not act like it didn't cost us last year. By the time September rolled around, we were playing like a below .500 team.
 
Dalyn said:
I think the rotation is going to be a problem (for itself and eventually the bullpen). The team needs to get lucky with Beachy and Garcia (you know he is going to be in the rotation unless he dies during Spring Training).

Uggla is most likely going to continue being horrible. If he is starting in June, that will be a huge disappointment--if he does well in April/May, he needs to be traded; if he does bad, he needs to be benched/dumped. Tommy needs to be the starter by June at the latest.

We have Schafer ready to K two or three times per game if BJ is too tired to do his own dirty work. Think of September and you will get the picture.

Many people said last year that a contending team can't have a Garcia or a Loe pitching in September. We are going to have one of those pitching in April. How sad is that?

Those are potentially crippling issues that Wren ignored. Like last year, you will likely see him looking desperate at the trade deadline and getting nothing done. If Arizona is out of the race, we will likely see him claim Arroyo.
Click to expand...

Freddy Garcia out pitched Clayton Kershaw in the playoffs dude! He's not hot garbage. Would you like to not having him pitching? Of course, but we've dealt with plenty worse on teams that made the playoffs. Did you miss my post about how the Braves rotation is better than the 2008 Phillies rotation that won the World Series? Better than the 2008 Rays that made the World Series that year? The Braves rotation is not an issue.
 
Dalyn said:
I was. And rightfully so. Our pitching staff was noticeably tired by the playoffs and the bullpen paid the price. We are going to see a repeat of last year in that area (if we are lucky, like last year).
Click to expand...

The Braves did not lose the series to the Dodgers because our pitching staff was tired. The Braves lost the series to the Dodgers for the same reason they lost to the Cardinals in 2012, Giants in 2010, Astros in 2005, the offense and defense not showing up.
 
AUTiger7222 said:
The Braves did not lose the series to the Dodgers because our pitching staff was tired. The Braves lost the series to the Dodgers for the same reason they lost to the Cardinals in 2012, Giants in 2010, Astros in 2005, the offense and defense not showing up.
Click to expand...

Did you watch the playoffs?

Game 1: Medlen gets beat up badly. Bullpen gives up a run.

Game 2: Braves pull out the win because Minor pitches great. Bullpen nearly blows it by giving up two.

Game 3: We score SIX runs. Teheran is destroyed. Wood is destroyed. Walden is destroyed.

Game 4: Garcia walks the line and lets ten people on base in six innings and gives up two homeruns to Carl Crawford. We score enough to win. Bullpen blows it by giving up two.

Pitching cost us the first round. No doubt.
 
And Garcia did not pitch better than (even a tired) Kershaw. That is just not true.
 
Garcia pitched well considering the circumstances, but let's not pretend it was some all world performance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top