October 6, 2015 Playoff Schedule

Just one game around the league tonight as the postseason gets kicked off in style with the New York Yankees.

New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros 

Masahiro Tanaka vs. Dallas Keuchel

8:00 pm ET on ESPN

Looking Back at my 2015 Standings & Playoff Predictions

We are under two weeks away from the start of the 2015 playoffs for Major League Baseball which seems like a good time to check back on my pre-season predictions again. Like the major awards we have been going over this week I also took a shot at predicting the records and standings for all 30 MLB teams while also predicting the playoff teams in 2015. Those predictions are below, how did I do?

American League East:

Boston Red Sox - 96- 66 *

New York Yankees - 90-72

Baltimore Orioles - 88-74

Toronto Blue Jays – 85 -77

Tampa Bay Rays – 70 - 92

American League Central:

Detroit Tigers - 93 -69 *

Cleveland Indians – 92- 70 **

Chicago White Sox – 89 - 75

Kansas City Royals – 83 - 79

Minnesota Twins – 79 - 83

American League West:

Seattle Mariners – 95-67 *

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – 93 -69 **

Oakland Athletics – 90 -72

Texas Rangers - 88 -76

Houston Astros - 82-82

National League East:

Washington Nationals -101-61 *

Miami Marlins – 93-69 **

New York Mets – 89 - 73

Atlanta Braves – 82-82

Philadelphia Phillies – 65- 97

National League Central:

Pittsburgh Pirates - 91- 71 *

St. Louis Cardinals – 90-72 **

Chicago Cubs – 88 -74

Milwaukee Brewers – 79- 83

Cincinnati Reds – 70 - 92

National League West:

Los Angeles Dodgers – 99-63 *

San Diego Padres – 89- 73

San Francisco Giants – 85-77

Colorado Rockies – 78-84

Arizona Diamondbacks – 75-87

Well I kind of whiffed on the Boston Red Sox prediction but I was relatively close on the Yankees prediction I think. I pretty much whiffed on the Detroit Tigers prediction as well as most of the AL Central and AL West Divisions. Why even bother anymore?

The National League East wasn't much better but I feel like I did well in the NL Central. The win/loss numbers may not be accurate but the Pirates could absolutely take the Cardinals over by the end of the season thus predicting the top three teams in the division. I think everyone had the Dodgers winning the NL West Division although I had higher hopes for AJ Preller's San Diego Padres team.

ICYMI: Riddle Me This, What if Alex Rodriguez Can Still Play Baseball?

This post went live on the blog on March 1, 2015 SEEN HERE. 

What does it mean for the New York Yankees if Alex Rodriguez pulls a 2009, a year where he started the season late because of his first hip surgery and still finished with 30 home runs and 100 RBI on the nose, and can still play baseball in 2015? We all know the stories of the Yankees third baseman being suspended for all of 2014, missing almost all of 2013 with various lower leg injuries and another hip surgery and the fact that he is 40 years old this season but what if? New York plans on having him spend the majority of his time as a designated hitter and a first baseman which can take some wear and tear, fatigue etc. off his body this season which could conceivably keep him fresher at the plate.

What if? I know it’s a terrible thing to bank on a question mark but I don’t think the Yankees are doing that. With the Chase Headley signing and the Garrett Jones acquisition Rodriguez basically has to play himself into the starting lineup most days. Alex showed opposite field power in his limited at bats in 2013 and I find that encouraging that he can still time a fastball and hit home runs after the second hip surgery and without PED’s. Will he hit 50 again? Lord no, but I don’t think 20 is out of the question and 20 home runs and 60-70 RBI out of the bottom of the lineup is a huge improvement over what Yankees DH’s have done over the past two or three seasons.


If Alex can do what I went over above and the team can get the rest of the team to live up to the back of their baseball cards this team is a playoff team. I didn’t say World Series winner, I didn’t say division winner, I said playoff team so keep that in mind before sending hate mail. New York had lesser teams each of the last two seasons and barely missed the second Wild Card in the American League. A lot of what if’s, I know, but this is the time for what if’s, hope and maybe a little bit of luck for Mr. Rodriguez and for the Yankees, finally.

MLB Trade Deadline Could Be Moved Back From July 31st

Commissioner Rob Manfred hasn’t been on the job for a calendar year yet and has already made radical changes to the replay system and other facets of today’s game. Commissioner Manfred wants to continue making changes to the game including holding exhibition games inside Cuba, expanding from 30 MLB teams, possibly expanding playoff formats and moving back the July 31^st non-waiver trading deadline.

With the addition of the second Wild Card playoff team in both leagues there are more buyers than ever and not nearly enough sellers in the trading market every year leading Manfred to at least discuss the possibility of moving the deadline back. The July trading deadline was first seen in 1920 after the rest of the American League owners feared the New York Yankees financial advantage in the wake of the Babe Ruth purchase/acquisition. Although no date was officially set in stone until 1923, when teams could not trade after June 15^th, the deadline was active and unchanged until 1986. In 1986 the deadline was moved back to where it stands now, July 31^st, as a part of a new collective bargaining agreement.

The new deadline, which could conveniently come with the new CBA that expires after the 2016 season, could be set somewhere around August 15^th giving the contenders and the pretenders two additional weeks to figure themselves out and evaluate before making potential franchise changing decisions. Honestly, and this is just my opinion, how many times have we seen a team sell off a few pieces at the end of July only to climb back into things by mid-August? Never? Once? I’m all for changes that help the game but I am very much against change for the sake of change and this may be just that. Again, just my opinion but this isn’t an issue I see myself beating a drum for. Remember, there are plenty of trades that happen between August 1^st and August 31^st through the waiver trading deadline and even trades happen into September when players become ineligible for the postseason. It happens, it’s always happened and I don’t see a need in changing it now.

Just my two pennies.

Predicting the Standings & Playoff Teams in 2015

I do this every single season and every single season I start the post out wondering why I even bother. I am terrible at these pre-season predictions and it makes me truly wonder how I got nicknamed the “Yankees Wizard” for my predictions on Twitter. Anyway, I digress. I will once again take a stab at predicting the winners of each division, the playoff teams and the overall standings in Major League Baseball in 2015. I will do so with this warning, do not use my predictions to place bets on Major League Baseball (unless you’re going against my predictions, then I want half your winnings) because you are very likely to lose. With that said let’s get to the predictions:

American League East:

Boston Red Sox - 96- 66 *

New York Yankees - 90-72

Baltimore Orioles - 88-74

Toronto Blue Jays – 85 -77

Tampa Bay Rays – 70 - 92

American League Central:

Detroit Tigers - 93 -69 *

Cleveland Indians – 92- 70 **

Chicago White Sox – 89 - 75

Kansas City Royals – 83 - 79

Minnesota Twins – 79 - 83

American League West:

Seattle Mariners – 95-67 *

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – 93 -69 **

Oakland Athletics – 90 -72

Texas Rangers - 88 -76

Houston Astros - 82-82

National League East:

Washington Nationals -101-61 *

Miami Marlins – 93-69 **

New York Mets – 89 - 73

Atlanta Braves – 82-82

Philadelphia Phillies – 65- 97

National League Central:

Pittsburgh Pirates - 91- 71 *

St. Louis Cardinals – 90-72 **

Chicago Cubs – 88 -74

Milwaukee Brewers – 79- 83

Cincinnati Reds – 70 - 92

National League West:

Los Angeles Dodgers – 99-63 *

San Diego Padres – 89- 73

San Francisco Giants – 85-77

Colorado Rockies – 78-84

Arizona Diamondbacks – 75-87

* Denotes division winner

** Denotes Wild Card winner

All 30 MLB Teams to Play Game 162 on Same Day

Here is a cool little tidbit that I found very interesting to get your weekend and Saturday morning started right. All 30 Major League Baseball teams will play their 162^nd and final regular season game on the same day this season. Instead of teams scoreboard watching from home they will all have to scoreboard watch in the ballpark this season during the game. Not only will all the games be played on the same day they will also be played at the same time.

All games will be scheduled for 3:05 pm ET on that day and will mimic what soccer’s Premier League calls “Survival Sunday” where all teams vying for a playoff spot will play at the same time. This is going to be very interesting to watch if the Wild Card and playoff chases go down to the final game like they have the past few seasons, good call MLB.

Riddle Me This, What if Alex Rodriguez Can Still Play Baseball?

What does it mean for the New York Yankees if Alex Rodriguez pulls a 2009, a year where he started the season late because of his first hip surgery and still finished with 30 home runs and 100 RBI on the nose, and can still play baseball in 2015? We all know the stories of the Yankees third baseman being suspended for all of 2014, missing almost all of 2013 with various lower leg injuries and another hip surgery and the fact that he is 40 years old this season but what if? New York plans on having him spend the majority of his time as a designated hitter and a first baseman which can take some wear and tear, fatigue etc. off his body this season which could conceivably keep him fresher at the plate.

What if? I know it’s a terrible thing to bank on a question mark but I don’t think the Yankees are doing that. With the Chase Headley signing and the Garrett Jones acquisition Rodriguez basically has to play himself into the starting lineup most days. Alex showed opposite field power in his limited at bats in 2013 and I find that encouraging that he can still time a fastball and hit home runs after the second hip surgery and without PED’s. Will he hit 50 again? Lord no, but I don’t think 20 is out of the question and 20 home runs and 60-70 RBI out of the bottom of the lineup is a huge improvement over what Yankees DH’s have done over the past two or three seasons.

If Alex can do what I went over above and the team can get the rest of the team to live up to the back of their baseball cards this team is a playoff team. I didn’t say World Series winner, I didn’t say division winner, I said playoff team so keep that in mind before sending hate mail. New York had lesser teams each of the last two seasons and barely missed the second Wild Card in the American League. A lot of what if’s, I know, but this is the time for what if’s, hope and maybe a little bit of luck for Mr. Rodriguez and for the Yankees, finally.