All Decade League -- Regular Season Complete!!

Whew, now that we've cranked out the 2020 Set, I've been able to *finally* get back to the All Decade League. As you hopefully recall, with the help of Savard and his sim skills, I've been running a full 30-team league made up of each MLB franchise's "All Decade" squad to celebrate the decade of Showdown that began with Colby's great work in 2009. You can find the 90 game standings update here and each of the thirty teams under the "All Decade Teams" tab! 

2009 AL MVP Joe Mauer and 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger were both impact players in the All Decade league's first season

So without further ado, let's check out the final standings from season 1:

Surprise Teams:

Good Surprise

(1) Kansas City Royals -- despite having the lowest points total in the All Decade League at 6570 points, KC not only snagged a playoff berth, but would have made the postseason in the normal 10 team postseason too! You know who wasn't surprised though: Matt, who correctly projected the Royals to finish 2nd in the AL Central AND to snag a wild card berth!

(2) Oakland A's -- Okay, this one's cheating a little since they won a mere 76 games, but they finished second in the AL West anyway and found themselves in the postseason despite being the 28th most expensive team (6670 points). Jeepers, once again Matt successfully pegged them to finish second in their division!

(3) New York Yankees -- Ok ok ok this is a controversial pick... after all, the Yankees were the #3 team in overall points coming into the year. However, NONE of the human experts picked the Yankees to win the AL East, so their triumph over the Rays (barely) and Red Sox (substantially) was impressive... and now the team none of us thought would win the East finds itself as the #1 seed in the AL!

Bad Surprise

(1) Minnesota Twins -- 4/5 experts had the Twins finishing first or second in the AL Central. This is a team that came into the year with the most points in the division, and a top five MLB lineup in terms of points. Nevertheless, Minnesota ended up (thanks to their rotation) finishing as the ONLY team in the All Decade League with over 100 losses.... which frankly devastated me. I think if I could incorporate a couple of Minnesota's 2020 starters into the rotation, the next sim would tell a different tale.

(2) Texas Rangers -- Texas made multiple World Series predictions and was a playoff team for nearly every prognosticator... and yet, the Rangers went a measly 74-88 (even with Josh Hamilton contending for the MVP). A really disappointing go from a franchise I'm used to seeing tear it up in my showdown leagues!

(3) Philadelphia Phillies -- Edging out the Mets for this spot, the Phillies were picked to go to the World Series by multiple experts behind their strong rotation and versatile lineup... but they finished 78-84 and missed the playoffs altogether. When you've got a Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2, Tier 2, Tier 2 rotation you expect and several MVPs in the lineup, you expect better.... but alas poor Phillies, twas not your season!

Awards

AL MVP: 2019 Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

Stat line: 747 PA 617 AB 210 H 127 BB 41 2B 63 HR 144 RBI 123 R .340 avg .451 OBP .713 SLG

bold = AL leader

The higher PA numbers inflated many players' counting stats, but what's interesting is how 2019 Trout over-performed his standard projections against the most elite competition. As an OB 11, HR at 17 hitter, Trout was expected (against the "average" Tier 4, C3 starter) to hit a HR in 8% of his AB (40% expected chart as an OB11 x 20% chance of HR on his chart). This was the closest of the OB 11 chart options to capturing his ridiculous real life 2019 HR% of 7.5%. Here, Trout had an extremely impressive and over-performing HR rate of 8.43% -- against stronger competition than that Tier 4, C3 starting pitcher. Granted, the AL West had several teams with a host of C3 pitchers, but I'm still blown away and Trout deserves the MVP crown. It'll be interesting to see how that % fluctuates in future seasons.

This Trout card is a great illustration of why there are less doubles on charts in the 2020 set, as we really factored in "pitcher chart doubles" in our calcs moving forward. IRL, Trout doubled 4.5% of the time in 2019. Here, Trout doubled 5.48% of the time. Off his chart alone, his expected double rate would be 4%, slightly less than reality and within reasonable projections; however, with the average pitcher factored in, giving an OB 11 like Trout two doubles shoots the projection up to 7%! Thanks to the amount of no doubles pitchers and higher control guys in the All Decade league, that suppressed Trout to "only" a 5.48% double rate, but it's still almost a full percentage higher than his real life production despite playing superior pitchers. That's why, under our new formulas, this Trout would only receive a single double, which would depress his expected 2B rate to 5% -- much closer to his irl 4.5% than the 7% expectation attached to this one. I hope y'all enjoyed this little breakdown.... we're always working to get better and I think what we've done with doubles in the most recent set is certainly part of that!

Unfortunately, the Angels didn't work too hard to get better around Trout and they ended up finishing 22 games back of the first place Astros in the AL West.... but were a mere ONE game from coming in second and sneaking into that 6 seed (see below). And so, just like real life, Trout takes home the hardware but is left sitting at home in the postseason.

NL MVP: 2015 Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals

Stat line: 732 PA 624 AB 201 H 103 BB 65 2B 33 HR 124 RBI 88 R .322 AVG .415 OBP .585 SLG

Bold = NL Leader

Ah peak Bryce, edging out Christian Yelich (who I felt would've been super biased of me to choose), Derrek Lee, and JD Martinez for the NL MVP. While some are going to be disappointed with his "mere" 33 dingers, those 65 doubles (a lot off pitcher's charts tbh) were key for Bryce being the key cog in the Nats lineup. Washington ran away with the NL East and won 98 games, and Harper was rewarded with the MVP as a result!

AL Cy Young: 2018 Blake Snell, Tampa Bay Rays

Stats: 33 GS, 203.1 IP, 13-7, 2.35 ERA, 1.05 WHIP

Is it too soon to point out that the Rays let Snell pitch for over 6 IP per start in the All Decade league, helping them get to 97 wins? It's no World Series, but I hope Snell's performance as the Cy Young winner is a minor salve to the sting of the loss to the Dodgers.

NL Cy Young: 2015 Jake Arrieta, Chicago Cubs

Stats: 33 GS, 232 IP, 21-5, 2.68 ERA, 1.23 WHIP

The NL Cy Young race was hotly contested between Arrieta, Kershaw, and Grienke.... just like the real 2015 season! In the end, I had to go with the best ERA and NL wins leader, as Arrieta was instrumental in the Cubs run to the top of the NL Central.

If you want to view all the stats from the season, feel free to check it out HERE

Playoff Picture:

So originally, the playoffs were going to be the normal 10 team structure... but the delay caused by the 2020 season (and set creation) to this league gave me time to experience the expanded 16 team MLB Playoffs and.... I love it. I don't care that it "cheapens" the regular season, especially in a super team league like this -- I want all the epic matchups, and we're getting a heaping of them in this postseason! The standings section still has it highlighted to show who would've been in originally, but this way is SO MUCH more fun! 

American League

(5) Kansas City Royals (87-75)

(4) Tampa Bay Rays (97-65)

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(1) New York Yankees (98-64)

(8) Boston Red Sox (81-81)

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(3) Cleveland Indians (94-68)

(6) Oakland A's (76-86)

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(2) Houston Astros (97-65)

(7) Detroit Tigers (85-77)

National League

(5) Milwaukee Brewers (88-74)

(4) Arizona Diamondbacks (97-65)

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(1) Los Angeles Dodgers (102-60)

(8) Cincinnati Reds (79-83)

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(3) Chicago Cubs (93-69)

(6) Atlanta Braves (82-80)

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(2) Washington Nationals (94-68)

(7) St. Louis Cardinals (84-78)

Take a look and remind yourselves of the squads through the hyperlinks, and then drop your playoff predictions down in the comments! Just like the 2020 playoffs, it'll be (a) Best of 3; (b) Best of 5; (c) Best of 7; (d) Best of 7. 

I know I'm stoked to play these series out, especially after watching Matt play out his epic playoffs (shout out to the MLB SHOWDOWN 2018 WORLD CHAMPION MILWAUKEE BREWERS)!!! I don't know if the Brewers have the firepower to get it done in the All Decade League, but I'm excited to see them and all these other squads in action!