It is officially World Series Week, and I for one a hyped, the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers are going to have an awesome series with lots of showdown star power in the series. In this post were going to look at the AL West and if it wasn't for Tampa Bay, we may have had the worst World Series Showdown team ever. Not because of them being a bunch of cheaters, but because the regular season version of the Astros was not very good... all the averages and on bases dipped from the last couple years (since they must now see how hard it is to hit like every other team in the league when you don't know what is coming). Okay, I have gotten all my Astros bashing out of the way, so let's BANG on through the AL West and see what the studs (and duds tbh) will be joining the set of stars and that have already been released.
5. Texas Rangers (22-38)
Batters: This team is bad, and you will see them struggle if they don't get their own charts. With four 5 OB cards, it will be tough to get their own charts... but crazy things have happened before! Dietrich is fun as he can play anywhere in the infield; in fact, the three top players for the rangers all have positional flexibility. Not much to write home about for this offense, or team in general, but they have a beautiful new stadium getting to host the NLCS and World Series.
4. Los Angeles Angels (26-34)
Batters: Will Mike Trout ever make the playoffs again???? The big investment in Anthony Rendon this year provided extra pop in the order, as he had another Anthony Rendon year.... but Mike Trout had a down year at the tune of "ONLY" an OB 9, 520 pt card. David Fletcher is a draft league dream, +4 defense with flexibility and only out through 2 at a very good price. Jared Walsh has a 50% chance at a triple or better if he gets the advantage, so he's a true risk reward worth gambling on. Jo Adell made his MLB debut and sadly his card isn't good but maybe next year he will be fully comfortable and not drop HR balls over the wall.... honestly, he feels like a fun throwback to the sub-150 point foils of the 01 PR set!
3. Seattle Mariners (27-33)
Batters: An average lineup. Ty France is the most expensive at 370 pts and provides a decent 2B to the team. The futures card to look out for is Kyle Lewis, who was on pace for a 10 OB card before falling off at the end of the season. He's still a frontrunner for ROY. After Seager, who they may get good value for if they seek to trade him this offseason, the team really falls off and pitchers will be able to coast for the most part as long as they get their charts against the top 3 batters of the Mariners. However, help is on the way from the minors and expect to see Seattle challenging for the AL West title in 2022.
2. Houston Astros (29-31)
Batters: In a crazy season, this Astros team snuck into the post season as the only team under .500, and in typical fashion got extremely hot and played their way all the way to game 7 of the ALCS where most the baseball world was rooting against them. In all seriousness they played incredible this post season, and while I wasn't rooting for them, they showed some true heart before falling to the Rays. This team is a reflection of the regular season, and if they would have somehow would have won the World Series, this year it would have been hilarious considering how bad their cards are. Kyle Tucker did burst onto the scene this year, and I think Michael Brantley is extremely draftable.
1. Oakland Athletics (36-24)
Batters: The Oakland lineup is a very interesting one for a first place team. The Most expensive player is 390 points, but they have tremendous depth of average players. 5 players in the 300 point range followed by a 290 and 270 at least gives the lineup some depth to get to the starting pitchers from the other team, but the lack of an impact player may be their downfall as it has been for the last couple years. Down seasons from their awesome corner infielders Olson and Chapman made this line up somewhat mediocre, especially since Chapman is an all or nothing OB 6 hitter.
Not one but two 4:1-18 out relievers....That's the kind of pitching I've grown to love...and that's not even the best part of their bullpen. A tier ZERO and a Tier 1 Closer. Dang.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best bullpens I’ve seen in showdown form
DeleteI still like Tampa’s bullpen. They also have a tier 1 and tier 0 reliever and two tier 2 relievers
DeleteCorrection: They have TWO tier 1 relievers and tier 0 reliever and two tier 2 relievers
ReplyDeleteAs
DeleteTier 0,1,1,1,2
Rays
Tier 0, 1,1,2,3
:0 you are right!
DeleteRealistically you can’t go wrong with either, in a matchup between the two and a close game it would be interesting to see who breaks first. Based on the offense each team brings is give the edge to Tampa even with a slight weaker pen
DeleteHere is my go for foils for the AL West:
ReplyDeleteTexas: Soo Choo (PR) for the reason of him being a good guy and giving minor league players financial help in this difficult year; Lynn
Los Angeles: Rendon (PR); Fletcher; Bundy (PR); Mayers (PR)
Seattle: France (PR); Crawford
Houston: Brantley; Springer; Tucker (PR)
Oakland: Murphy; Chapman (PR); Laureano (PR); Bassitt; Hendriks; Wendelken (PR); Diekman (PR)
Breakdown:
C-1
1b-
2b-2
3b-2
SS-1
LF/RF-3
CF-2
SP-3
RP-4
Total- 18 players make the first cut of foils
Base- 8
Pennant- 10
Liam Hendriks will be the second Australian foil ever.
ReplyDeleteMatt Chapman's home run is enormous.
I couldn't have named "Chris Bassitt" if you gave me a year to name Oakland pitchers. Are we sure he actually exists and isn't just another gag Baseball-Reference page like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer or Keith Hernandez's mustache?
Haha about bassit, this will sound funny, but I am confident he exists because he was at the same college as me and I saw him pitch there
DeleteLooks like this could be maybe one of Albert Pujols' last Showdown cards.
ReplyDeleteMatt Chapman is a 12-20 Homer. Wow!
Right?? Poor guy only had a .276 OBP, but that 6.5% HR rate was really, really good when reflected in an OB 6!
Deletetanx
ReplyDelete