Article Revisit: Why I’m Not Afraid of the Cleveland Indians in the Postseason

With tonight’s start to the American League Division Series just a couple hours away I feel this urge to “put up or shut up” after posting this article we are about to revisit just three weeks ago. The article was titles “Why I’m not afraid of the Cleveland Indians in the postseason” and boy was it a popular one for us here on the blog. Whether the view count, tweet mentions and comments made the article “famous” or infamous remains to be seen but I felt compelled either way to post it again before the New York Yankees begin their quest to make me look like a wizard, a Messiah and a God by basically calling the upset here in the ALDS. I mean, I guess the team could make me look like a complete homer and a fool as well but since the Yankees are expected to lose and come in as huge underdogs I see this as a no-lose situation for me anyway…. So enjoy the article revisit and get pumped for the start of the ALDS tonight inside Cleveland’s Progressive Field.

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Why I’m Not Afraid of the Cleveland Indians in the Postseason

The Cleveland Indians are one of, if not the best team in Major League Baseball here in 2017 but you know what? If the New York Yankees and the Indians meet in the playoffs here this season I am not at all worried and here is why.

They call the playoffs baseball’s second season for a reason, what you did in the regular season and $15 will get you a beer at Yankee Stadium. It means little to nothing and I personally, as a fan, refuse to be psyched out or taken off my game because the Indians won their division, won 21 games in a row, etc. etc. etc. I’m not scared. The playoffs are usually won by the hottest team at the time and aren’t always won by necessarily the best team. That’s the great thing about baseball, any team can beat any pitcher and any opposing team on any given night. You can’t predict baseball so you can’t necessarily predict that the Indians will be the hottest team when the calendar changes to October. Hell you can’t predict that the Indians will be the hottest team tonight or this weekend, they could go on a slide much like the Los Angeles Dodgers have of late. You just don’t know and I’m not that scared of them to be honest. None of this is to disrespect the Indians, their team or what they have done this season either. They are a great team and they are playing extremely well, much respect to all, but respect and fear are two entirely different things.

The New York Yankees are built for short series and the postseason. The team is young, energetic and overall healthy at this point in the season when most teams cannot say the same here in September. The pitching has been fantastic, the bullpen has the potential to be absolutely and completely dominant when on and used properly and the offense can hang a crooked number on the scoreboard at any given inning. Again, not to say that the Yankees are better than the Indians or that Cleveland cannot do the same because they can. I am merely saying that I have confidence in this group of Yankees players and the team. Again, I am not saying the Yankees will necessarily reach the ALDS or ALCS (more than likely the ALDS though if New York does not win their division) and meet Cleveland, I am just saying IF they do I am not worried. I think New York can stand and throw punches with the best of teams in baseball this season and at the end of the day, win lose or draw, whoever they are facing will know that they were in a fight for their lives.

How did the 2002 Oakland Athletics fare in the postseason, the last team to win 20 games in a row in a season, you ask? After winning 103 games and after having both the AL MVP (Miguel Tejada) and AL Cy Young Award Winner (Barry Zito) the team lost in five games to the Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series. 

Why I’m Not Afraid of the Cleveland Indians in the Postseason

The Cleveland Indians are one of, if not the best team in Major League Baseball here in 2017 but you know what? If the New York Yankees and the Indians meet in the playoffs here this season I am not at all worried and here is why.

They call the playoffs baseball’s second season for a reason, what you did in the regular season and $15 will get you a beer at Yankee Stadium. It means little to nothing and I personally, as a fan, refuse to be psyched out or taken off my game because the Indians won their division, won 21 games in a row, etc. etc. etc. I’m not scared. The playoffs are usually won by the hottest team at the time and aren’t always won by necessarily the best team. That’s the great thing about baseball, any team can beat any pitcher and any opposing team on any given night. You can’t predict baseball so you can’t necessarily predict that the Indians will be the hottest team when the calendar changes to October. Hell you can’t predict that the Indians will be the hottest team tonight or this weekend, they could go on a slide much like the Los Angeles Dodgers have of late. You just don’t know and I’m not that scared of them to be honest. None of this is to disrespect the Indians, their team or what they have done this season either. They are a great team and they are playing extremely well, much respect to all, but respect and fear are two entirely different things.

The New York Yankees are built for short series and the postseason. The team is young, energetic and overall healthy at this point in the season when most teams cannot say the same here in September. The pitching has been fantastic, the bullpen has the potential to be absolutely and completely dominant when on and used properly and the offense can hang a crooked number on the scoreboard at any given inning. Again, not to say that the Yankees are better than the Indians or that Cleveland cannot do the same because they can. I am merely saying that I have confidence in this group of Yankees players and the team. Again, I am not saying the Yankees will necessarily reach the ALDS or ALCS (more than likely the ALDS though if New York does not win their division) and meet Cleveland, I am just saying IF they do I am not worried. I think New York can stand and throw punches with the best of teams in baseball this season and at the end of the day, win lose or draw, whoever they are facing will know that they were in a fight for their lives.

How did the 2002 Oakland Athletics fare in the postseason, the last team to win 20 games in a row in a season, you ask? After winning 103 games and after having both the AL MVP (Miguel Tejada) and AL Cy Young Award Winner (Barry Zito) the team lost in five games to the Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series. 

The Key to the 2017 Yankees Bullpen is Not Who You Think…

When you think of the New York Yankees bullpen and when you think of which one of those talented arms will be the key to success in 2017 who immediately comes to mind? Is it Aroldis Chapman who will presumably be closing games in the Bronx for the foreseeable future? Is it Dellin Betances who will be setting up games and acting as the Yankees fireman all season long? Is it Tyler Clippard in presumably his final year in the Bronx? Is it Adam Warren who can give you middle relief, who can start games, who can pitch as a long man and has even closed games for the Yankees in the past? Nope, nope, nope and nope. When you think about it the key to the Yankees bullpen in 2017 is likely left-handed reliever Chasen Shreve.

The Yankees back-end of the bullpen is solid and may be one of the better bullpens in all of Major League Baseball but with the Yankees starting rotation in the shape it’s in right now you could have four All-Star closers back there and it wouldn’t matter. Having the best closer in the game and about $15 will buy you a beer at Yankee Stadium if your starting rotation can’t give you six-or-seven innings a night or your middle relief cannot hold the lead that the offense and that day’s starting pitcher give them. Enter Chasen Shreve and quite possibly the most important season of his young career.

Aside from Chapman, and LOOGY Tommy Layne who may or may not even make the team this spring, Shreve is the only other left-handed relief pitcher that is expected to make the bullpen this season. Shreve struggled at the end of 2015 and he let those struggles carry over into the 2016 season posting a 5.18 ERA in 33 innings as we all watched his home run rate per nine innings soar to 2.2 HR/9. You don’t have to be the author of Moneyball to know that’s not good, especially when his HR/9 ratio from 2015 was just 1.5 HR/9.

So how does Shreve return to the dominance he saw in Atlanta and in his first five months or so in the Bronx? While it’s easier said than done in most cases the lefty simply has to throw more split changeups. Period. Shreve buries that pitch in the dirt and gets more swings and misses on it than any other pitch in his arsenal due to the movement and deception of the pitch.

If Shreve can keep the ball down, which he has not during his struggles, and bury that pitch for strike three he can return to being a dominant reliever in the Bronx again. If Shreve can return to being the dominant force in the fifth, sixth and seventh inning that he was for much of 2015 the rest of the league better watch out because these games against the Yankees may have just become four inning games again. And that’s scary for anyone not wearing a Yankees uniform in 2017. 

Mike Trout, the Yankees and a Quick Reminder

The Yankees world has absolutely lost its mind and it began when the Sweeny Murti of CBS mentioned the idea of the New York Yankees taking a stab at acquiring Mike Trout this offseason. Well, let’s be fair, the losing of the mind for the New York fan started long before Sweeny hit publish on this post but for dramatic effect just roll with it. I thought that was an awful cute and novel idea to acquire one of the best young hitters and all-around players in the game right now with this new-found farm system but the idea of it is not so unique if you think about it. You see, I already thought about it back on October 7^th so in case you missed it, and want to lose your mind all over again, here is the post again in its entirety. The post is dates, so remember that, but the general gist remains the same. Use prospects, acquire Trout, win. Period.

SEE ORIGINAL POST HERE

This is a pipe dream but as the New York Yankees season ended abruptly on October 2nd the offseason is officially underway for the team and now is the time to dream. If you’re going to dream then you have to dream big and I don’t think it gets any bigger than thinking about the Yankees making a huge splash this offseason by acquiring Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. 

Now before you all simply roll your eyes and click off the post please hear me out. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were absolutely horrible again in 2016 and with now five seasons under the belt for Trout and Albert Pujols together the team has about as many playoff game victories as I had during my MLB career, zero. In fact the 2016 season was the worst season for the Angels since 1999 so why wouldn’t they at least entertain the thought of blowing it up and beginning a rebuild with a move of Trout and Pujols?

The Angels have a top-heavy payroll and no farm system in sight to bail the team out if and when they get hit by the injury bug like they did in 2016 and at some point the team has to either sacrifice winning now for a future or continue to live in mediocrity while wasting the best years of Mike Trout’s playing career. CJ Wilson made $20 million in 2016 and didn’t throw a pitch, Garrett Richards missed five months with an elbow ligament injury, Andrew Heaney and Andrew Tropeano will likely miss 2017 recovering from Tommy John surgery and no one knows the status of Matt Shoemaker after taking a line drive to the head late in the 2016 season. With no arms, no prospects to replace them and no money to acquire any the Angels may have to make a trade. They don’t want to, they may have to though and that is where the Yankees should come in with their new-found Top 5 farm system they acquired this summer doing similar trades. 

Before we get too far into this you must remember that Brian Cashman’s former right-hand man Billy Eppler is now the GM in Anaheim so you have to think he is at least somewhat familiar with the bulk of the Yankees system. So what can the Yankees offer to make this deal work for both clubs? I honestly think there are two options that could work. One option is throwing prospects at the Angels and hoping for the best. Headlining a package for Trout could be Jorge Mateo, an outfielder (preferably not Clint Frazier but to acquire Trout it would likely have to be Aaron Judge), and a pitching arm like James Kaprielian or Chance Adams (or Justus Sheffield or Brady Lail or a slew of other names and prospects) and hope for the best or the New York Yankees could get creative and help Anaheim out in multiple ways. 

The Angels need prospects, salary relief and MLB ready talent so why don’t the Yankees give them all three? No I’m not suggesting taking on an aging Albert Pujols to play DH, he has five years left on his deal at $140 million and he is 36-years old, but instead I am suggesting “taking the Josh Hamilton contract” off the Angels books. I put that in parenthesis because Hamilton is not on the Angels anymore, he’s being paid over $26 million by the Angels to play for the Texas Rangers, so if the Yankees could send “cash considerations” over to Anaheim to essentially pay for the Hamilton contract while giving up significantly lesser prospects I think this could work for both sides. 

The Angels have CJ Wilson and Jered Weaver coming off their books which should help but having an extra $26 million, or even less depending on what the league would allow, could only help Anaheim rebuild and get better. Adding back some talent for Trout as well can only help speed up the impending rebuild in Anaheim. Is it unlikely? Yeah, sure is. Is it impossible? No, nothing is impossible. Well it’s only impossible if you don’t ask. So Cashman, ask. 

So I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I’m either the biggest idiot you’ve ever read for even suggesting this or that they should make a Moneyball type movie about me and let me play myself in it since I am so much better looking than Brad Pitt. Whichever it is, leave it below in the comments section or Tweet me @GreedyStripes. 

Books about Baseball to Pass the Time

The MLB offseason right now has went from a snail’s pace to something slightly slower than a snail’s pace and frankly, I’m bored. When I’m not working on the blog, working my 9 to 5 or being a dad I am usually reading so I figured why not share my favorite baseball related books that I’ve read. Maybe they can help you pass the time while we wait on pitchers and catcher to report, Justin Upton, Wei-Yin Chen, Chris Davis, Yoenis Cespedes and other to sign and Opening Day. If I missed one or haven’t read one then please leave that in the comments section below for everyone to take advantage of, thanks.

Five Seasons: A Baseball Companion by Roger Angell

-       -   This book collected Angell’s New Yorker columns from 1972 to 1976 which talked about changes in the game of baseball, the Oakland A’s Moustache Gang, Hank Aaron’s pursuit of Babe Ruth’s home run record, the 1975 World Series and so much more.

Red Smith on Baseball: The Game’s Greatest Writer on the Game’s Greatest Years

-       -   Many of these columns are a bit outdated for my liking, the 1940’s and 1950’s, but the amount of wit and humor that Smith uses encourages me and drives me to be a better writer.

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis

-          - Who hasn’t read Moneyball or at least seen the movie right?

The Bronx Zoo by Sparky Lyle with Peter Golenbock

-          - The author and the title kind of give this one away but it is the story of the 1978 World Series champion New York Yankees. George Steinbrenner, Billy Martin (again) and Reggie Jackson make for pure entertainment. 

Yankees to Pass on Zobrist and I Say…. Good!

Ben Zobrist, often imitated but never duplicated. Zobrist has been the epitome of money ball for multiple seasons now because he’s a switch hitter that can get on base and play multiple positions in the field on defense. Versatile, flexible and you can’t really shift on him or bring in a specialist relief pitcher against him. Any team would love to have him and often time’s teams try to acquire or develop talent like him. For the first time since finally being recognized for what he’s done all along Zobrist hits the free agency market thus giving teams the opportunity to not trade for a player like him, to not develop a player in his shadow but to acquire THE Ben Zobrist. According to recent reports though one of those teams will not be the New York Yankees and if you ask me, that’s good.

Sure Zobrist adds a lot to any team and would be especially helpful on this team. As I said he’s a switch hitter so he would help manager Joe Girardi stack up lefties against right-handed pitching and he could also help the team’s biggest flaw, hitting left-handed pitching. Zobrist plays good defense everywhere in the outfield and the infield (with the exception of catcher) but his natural position is second base, a position the Yankees face some uncertainty at going forward and Zobrist can hit anywhere and on the biggest stage, see his performance in the 2015 World Series. Zobrist has a laundry list of pro’s but the con’s may outweigh them all.

Zobrist is 34-years old and turns 35-years old in May. That would be fine on a short term deal, one or two years, but Zobrist is likely to want the final big contract of his career. Zobrist could be in the market for around four-years and $60 million this offseason after hitting 13 home runs and posting a .809 OPS between the Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals. In a world where the importance of versatility and flexibility are key you may want to spend $15 million annually for Zobrist’s age 35-39 seasons but thankfully it looks like the New York Yankees will not. 

Improving the 2016 Yankees Starts w/ Putting the Ball in Play

The New York Yankees had one of the worst team batting averages in 2015 with many players hitting well below the magic .300 mark. The team’s leading hitter was Carlos Beltran with a .276 batting average while two members of the team hit below the .250 mark leaving the team hitting just .251 as a whole. The moneyball craze began with an emphasis of getting on base in a world where a strikeout counted the same as a line out to the shortstop but is the new craze moving towards putting the ball in play regardless of an out or not? Maybe.

If the new craze is not putting the ball in play, putting the pressure on the opposing team’s defense and running out every single play then it may be before we all know it. If it’s not this is an advantage that the Yankees need to explore and begin to build their team around and if it already is and we just don’t realize it yet it may be time to jump on board. The emphasis of taking pitching and merely getting on base or striking out is working about as well as #TooManyDamnHrs. If this team wants to be better in 2016 and relatively unchanged, which seems very likely, then a change at the plate may be in order.

New York fell into a very predictable pattern in 2015. If it was obvious enough for me to catch onto it with two kids climbing all over my wanting my attention then you know the opposing teams scouts and such caught on to it as well. The team would play patient with a lead or a tie game and the second they fell behind they would swing at anything and everything. The offense could be running on all cylinders but the second the team would fall behind they would get overly aggressive and lull themselves to sleep. With the lead the Yankees were making the opposing pitchers throw 15-25 pitches an inning and without the lead you saw the 7-10 pitch innings that frustrated the fans for much of the second half. So how do you fix it?

Swing at strikes. Sounds simple but it works. Who cares if the count is 3-0 or 0-2, if it’s a strike swing then you swing at it, simple. There are obvious exceptions to the rule, if the opposing pitcher hasn’t thrown a strike for the last two or three batters then you make him throw at least two strikes before you swing, but the general premise is the same. In Major League Baseball you may only get one good pitch to hit per at bat and too many times in 2015 the Yankees watched that best pitch go right down the middle because it was a 3-0 count or the first pitch of the at bat. SWING!

That’s what the players can do, what the GM Brian Cashman can do is bring the team hitters that can hit for average. Too Many Damn Home Runs is nice to watch but the Kansas City Royals are hitting too many damn home runs, they are spraying singles and doubles all over the park and scoring 10 runs a game (slight exaggeration) against a team that owned the Yankees all season long. Put the ball in play, swing at strikes, run out every play and put the pressure on the other team instead of yourselves. It sounds simple on paper but if the team and coaching staff can buy into the philosophy then I truly think it can help the team win in 2016. 

I Come from the Era Everyone Loves to Hate

For better or worse I am realizing more and more that I come from the era in baseball that everyone seemingly loves to hate. I grew up a Yankees fans after being born in the Bronx and after moving just outside the city in 1985 and really got into baseball around the 1994 season. I didn’t grow up watching the terrible Yankees teams of the 80’s, all I knew was the dynasty years and the World Series victories and Derek Jeter. Many call me spoiled, and I was, but now it’s a whole new generation and fan base that is being attacked, the sabermetrics community.

I grew up in the era where a teenage kid could sit in front of a computer and scout every pitch every player ever threw in every game ever. The same can be said for every bat that ever made contact with every pitch, fair or foul, and somehow quantify it into meaning something. I am a fan of sabermetrics, I believe the defensive shift does more good than it does harm, I’m all about pitch framing and I truly believe a strikeout is no worse than a ground or fly ball. I watched and read Moneyball, I idolized Billy Beane there for a minute and I thoroughly enjoyed Joe Girardi’s binder when he actually used it and the more you look around the internet, twitter etc. the more you will see that I am more so in the minority than I thought.

How can you argue it though? Batting average across the league is at its lowest level since 1971 since the shift has been employed and coaches are having to find new and inventive ways to teach their players. Shifts are changing the game, for better or worse, and not just regular season games either. Remember the 2014 World Series Game 7 when Juan Perez was almost huddling the left field line against Nori Aoki? Off the bat it looked like Aoki had a game tying fifth inning double that could have drastically changed the outcome of the game but instead Madison Bumgarner continued to shut down the Royals when the ball was played perfectly and caught and the rest became history.

In 2011 teams shifted 2,357 times which doubled to 4,577 in 2012, increased to 8,180 in 2013 and ended with 13,296 in 2014. The first defensive shift can be linked back to the June 25, 1870 game between the Brooklyn Atlantics and the Cincinnati Red Stockings and has caught fire more and more ever since and the fans that agree with the notion have had to defend themselves and their thinking more and more ever since as well. I am growing up in unprecedented times and swimming in unchartered waters and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Moneyball: The Yankees Are Doing it Wrong

This was an interesting graphic that I stumbled upon and just had to share with the class. Looking at the above graphic can be a bit overwhelming but don't worry I will walk you through it. All the teams on the right side of the vertical line should at least contend in 2015 while the teams to the left of the vertical line probably will not. All the teams above the horizontal line are considered "aging" or old not only on the 25 man roster but in the upper levels of their farm systems. If your team lacks the MLB ready prospects you will be higher on the line and if your farm is stocked with young talent you will be on the lower end of the spectrum.

Looking at the graphic the Yankees should contend in 2015 but, even after all the trades, still have a lot of work to do to get younger. Personally I think the Yankees are far from "hella old" but it's not my graphic.

Nationals and Tigers World Series in 2015?

Books about Baseball to Pass the Time

The MLB offseason right now has went from a snail’s pace to something slightly slower than a snail’s pace and frankly, I’m bored. When I’m not working on the blog, working my 9 to 5 or being a dad I am usually reading so I figured why not share my favorite baseball related books that I’ve read. Maybe they can help you pass the time while we wait on pitchers and catcher to report, James Shields and Max Scherzer to sign and Opening Day. If I missed one or haven’t read one then please leave that in the comments section below for everyone to take advantage of, thanks.

Five Seasons: A Baseball Companion by Roger Angell

-       -   This book collected Angell’s New Yorker columns from 1972 to 1976 which talked about changes in the game of baseball, the Oakland A’s Moustache Gang, Hank Aaron’s pursuit of Babe Ruth’s home run record, the 1975 World Series and so much more.

Red Smith on Baseball: The Game’s Greatest Writer on the Game’s Greatest Years

-       -   Many of these columns are a bit outdated for my liking, the 1940’s and 1950’s, but the amount of wit and humor that Smith uses encourages me and drives me to be a better writer.

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis

-          - Who hasn’t read Moneyball or at least seen the movie right?

The Bronx Zoo by Sparky Lyle with Peter Golenbock

-          - The author and the title kind of give this one away but it is the story of the 1978 World Series champion New York Yankees. George Steinbrenner, Billy Martin (again) and Reggie Jackson make for pure entertainment. 

Billy Beane & Brad Pitt Thinks Ricky Nolasco Sucks

If Billy Beane says it than it must be true, I mean the guy just acquired Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel in the same deal and didn't give up nearly enough once again. If Bradd Pitt says it than who am I to argue with the guy who pulled Angelina Jolie? Ricky Nolasco sucks apparently...

"I do, it's true."