AL West realignment thoughts

[mp170.6]

No kidding about Dickey...I was gonna say the same thing. It would be hard for both wc's to come out of the west but it just might happen. How great would that be!

 

You know what I worry about though?

 

If indeed both wildcards come from the AL West -- again, because of Houston -- people will be crying foul that the system unfairly benefits the AL West.  At that point, Bud Selig might take away the second wildcard spot in future years. 

[AZMike]

You know what I worry about though?

 

If indeed both wildcards come from the AL West -- again, because of Houston -- people will be crying foul that the system unfairly benefits the AL West.  At that point, Bud Selig might take away the second wildcard spot in future years. 

 

The second wildcard was added in the first place because of the anticipated Houston move. Thought was with Houston in the AL West, non-Yankees-or-Red-Sox teams might have a better chance of getting into the playoffs via the single wildcard, but with two wildcards and a one game playoff, even if both wildcards come from the West, the winner of the one game playoff will be at a disadvantage from having burned their ace. 

[Bashbrothers]

No one should bitch about our division possibly getting three teams in because of the Astros when the Tigers waltzed into the playoffs with a team that had the seventh best record in the AL. 

[mp170.6]

I've got the Angels finishing around 94 wins, the A's at 89 and the Rangers at 86.  I just don't think Texas will be that good this year, for lots of reasons. 

 

Why are you quoting fewer win totals than last year though? 

 

I think people are forgetting how much the realignment changes the AL West.  Until this year, AL West rivals played each other 20-21 times (instead of 18 this season) because we lacked a fifth team.  The remaining 10-12 "surplus" games had to be played against AL Central and AL East teams, none of which sucked as bad as Houston does. 

 

What this means from now on is that the AL West has traded extra games against teams like the Red Sox, Yankees, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Kansas City, etc with games against the Astros.  So there's no excuse not to maintain win totals like those from 2012 -- even if the Angels/A's/Rangers slump a bit. 

[mp170.6]

The second wildcard was added in the first place because of the anticipated Houston move. Thought was with Houston in the AL West, non-Yankees-or-Red-Sox teams might have a better chance of getting into the playoffs via the single wildcard, but with two wildcards and a one game playoff, even if both wildcards come from the West, the winner of the one game playoff will be at a disadvantage from having burned their ace. 

 

You know how the east coast fans will bitch and moan though...and despite what MLB says, I think they will do whatever it takes to preserve the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry as it generates a lot of revenue for everybody involved. 

[Erick McClendon]

I've got the Angels finishing around 94 wins, the A's at 89 and the Rangers at 86.  I just don't think Texas will be that good this year, for lots of reasons. 

You hope they are not good. I can see more reasons LAA wont win the 89 games they won last year. You guys thought you had 4 #2 pitchers last year and this year you have an average rotation at best and Hamilton is only replacing Hunter's numhers at best. Also no reasonable person can expect Trout to put up another 10+ WAR season...Texas should get improved rotational numbers from Darvish, Ogando and Holland and a bounceback year from Kinsler and a team that gets a better OBP and less Ks just by dumping Mr 2 months..