Case Against and For Expanded MLB Playoffs

Mike Carp did some damage to the
struggling Tampa Bay Rays. 

Last year, Major League Baseball changed their rules to a five-team playoffs allowing an extra team in for a one-game playoff. It created a great deal of discussion about what might be next for baseball. In my opinion, I could see baseball shortening the season by a week and then having the fourth and fifth team play a three-game series versus one single game. They say this would cause some damage, but a one-game playoff does nothing for me personally.  I doubt they will expand to six teams or heaven forbid eight teams.

The one people should probably expect is baseball is as Taylor Swift might say never ever getting back together with the four-team playoff model. Although if the playoffs were pre-2012, the National League would be must-see every night. But the American League shows why five teams is the better decision in the long run.  

The National League would be awesome in the next couple weeks if they were only four teams allowed in because right now, it is a five-team race with five playoff sports. I highly doubt the Washington Nationals can catch the fifth spot, but then again, weird shit happens in baseball all the time.  There would be storylines about what if the Pittsburgh Pirates do not get in after having their best season since 1992 or could the other two NL Central teams outlast the St. Louis Cardinals having the Cards miss the playoffs for the first time since 2010.

Would it be unfair to one of these teams?   Yes but only if it is St. Louis or Pittsburgh missing out.  Cincinnati has sort just been there the whole year. They are like the person who ends up at the party yet you have absolutely no idea how they got there. We all know that guy or girl. Unless one of these teams pull a Boston or a New York Mets in following couple weeks,  the National League playoffs are all but set just need to place the teams. These two weeks will still be fine in the NL because there is some intrigue to see where these squads finish, but it would have been awesome to see what happened when the pressure would have been truly on.

The American League is a completely other story.  While the AL East and AL Central are probably locked up by Boston and Detroit, the rest of the league is still as open as a field in Idaho.  Texas is the Wild Card, but they are only three games back from Oakland for the AL West. The second Wild Card is truly unpredictable and makes its case for why baseball needs the fifth Wild Card position.  As of this morning, four teams are within three games of the second Wild Card position. The Tampa Rays are clutching on the lead, but they have lost seven of their last 10 games trending water right now at the worst time. New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals are vying for the final position making for an absolutely thrilling final couple of weeks.

The other great thing about the American League race right now is it is not a guarantee Texas will make the playoffs either as the first Wild Card. They are only 2.5 games ahead of Tampa meaning most of the teams mentioned above have a chance at overtaking both Wild Cards with a hot run in the final two weeks of the season. It is likely inevitable some team whether in the playoffs or not will shit the bed and will be the talk of the baseball world.

If you are a purist, and wish baseball still had a four-team playoff, maybe pretend the National League still allows four teams. But if you want to have some fun, watch American League baseball in the coming weeks because it is setting up for some fantastic theater.

Charlie.

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Have the Kansas City Royals Turned the Corner?

The Kansas City Royals are a team that I've tried to keep an eye on the past few years, especially since the Brewers traded the farm to obtain "ace" pitcher Zack Greinke on December 19, 2010.

By "traded the farm", I mean the Brewers traded young shortstop Alcides Escobar, promising young center fielder Lorenzo Cain and Jake Odirizzi, one of their few pitching prospects to get a frontline starting pitcher. That entire subsequent year of 2011 I couldn't care less that they made the trade because the move to get Greinke helped push the Brewers toward a World Series appearance.

While they fell short of their dreams, it was a great ride that I wouldn't trade back for the world.

Anyway, those young Royals (whom I refer to as the 'Brewers West' because of all their ties to Milwaukee) seem to have turned the corner and are making a push for a spot in the playoffs, most likely as an American League wild card because they won't catch Detroit.

Former Brewers manager and current Royals manager, Ned Yost, has always referred to his players as 'kids' or 'the kids' since making this trade. For some reason, I've consistently found that amusing because clearly they are not children and it just seems like a Ned thing to do. They are starting to play like they can in the second half and ironically, since they designated RF Jeff Francoeur for assignment, the team has been playing great baseball.

Ned being Ned.

The Royals are 17-10 since letting Francoeur go and are 14-4 since the All-Star break.

What's been the key to their success? I hate to give you the cliche response and say great pitching and consistent hitting but it's the way you win in baseball.

1B Eric Hosmer has been on a tear in the second half of the season, including at 3-for-5, five RBI performance on Monday's 13-0 route of the Minnesota Twins. He's hitting .295 for the year but is hitting .342 since the break. Mike Moustakas had a dreadful first half but is hitting over .300 in the second half as well.

What about those former Brewers? Cain is hitting a solid .258 this year which is quite a bit less than his career average of .271. Escobar is also struggling offensively and is hitting well below his career average. I think these guys can turn it on a bit and help out the Royals offensively but their defense is always going to impact the game.

The quiet pickup of Justin Maxwell from the Houston Astros has been pretty nice for KC as well. He'll be a nice bat to have off the bench and plug into the RF spot in the field for some starts.

The real strength of this team, however, is their pitching staff. Anytime you're fourth in the majors in quality starts, you're going to give yourself a chance.

The additions of James Shields and Ervin Santana have been great for these Royals. Shields has an ERA of 3.36 this year and, despite a blowup start last night against the Twins, Shields has given the Royals some much needed frontline stability. Santana has backed him up with an 8-6 record and a 2.96 ERA.

Also, top prospect Danny Duffy is making his season debut tonight after being out since last June after undergoing Tommy John surgery. If he can come in and replace Wade Davis (who's not having his finest year), that would be huge for the back of the Royals rotation going forward.

And if you're going to talk Royals baseball, you have to mention their outstanding bullpen. Former #1 overall pick Luke Hochevar seems to have found his niche in the Royals 'pen as a middle man. He's got a 1.65 ERA in 36 appearances this year, all out of the bullpen. Closer Greg Holland has been a stud as well. Holland is 29/31 in save opportunities this year and has emerged as a sure fire closer.

This run the Royals are on isn't necessarily a spitting image of the '08 Brewers but it's similar in that a young team is finally starting to gel and are looking to make a playoff push. I'll be rooting for them down the stretch, no doubt.

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Tap's Tweet of the Day: Ervin Santana

By now, you know how this works.... I find athlete tweets, pictures, Instagrams or Vines that I find funny/cool and we put them on our site. Sometimes they are late because I see multiple good ones in the same day. Yes I realize that ruins the purpose of instant social media... shut up already. Follow me on Twitter here

Still @Target of #traderumors #Pitching at #TargetField tomorrow Here's video I made about being a #target https://t.co/LV1dFL97tw #mlb
— Ervin Santana (@ErvinSantana_54) July 29, 2013

This might be the greatest athlete tweet ever. I do not mean that seriously, but Ervin Santana really knows what he's doing with video production. Odds he paid someone in the Royals staff to do it for him? Probably pretty high, but who knows, maybe the guy knows his way around Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro. Maybe even iMovie might work for this video. It is still very funny and I love all the different mentions and hashtags he uses in his tweet. Well done, Ervin, well done.

Charlie.

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