We’re six days away from pitchers and catchers and I couldn’t be less excited. “6 days till pitchers and catchers used to get me excited. Now it does very little. As an Oriole fan, you may be able to understand my thoughts and more importantly my frustration. If they were in the NL Central, let’s say, I may be singing a different tune.
Now I’m not saying that the National League is far inferior to the American League or that the teams aren’t as good. I may actually argue the opposite. Through the maniacal nature that is the Sox-Yanks rivalry, the American League has been ruined. Two franchises have become so overly consumed with another and have completely destroyed the hopes of virtually every other team in the league. “The greatest rivalry in sports” has turned into a one on one slugfest with 12 other teams observing.
You can’t fault anyone for getting excited about watching a Yankees-Red Sox game, let alone a seven game series. But look at it from any of the other teams perspective, and it may not be as great as it seems. In the American League, how many teams, how many teams, outside the Red Sox and Yankees, can you make an argument for making the World Series? Three? Four if you’re hopeful?
Conversely, take a look at the National League, or as some people call it AAAA. Is the National League made up of worse teams or is it just more balanced? I’d like to argue the latter of that statement. Going into spring training, how many teams in the National League have a legitimate shot at making the World Series? Ten?
The Mets, quite possibly the best team in the NL for about 150 games last year, just added the best pitcher on the planet without diminishing their major league roster. The Phillies, if Brad Lidge works out like they hope, have one of the best top of the rotation tandems to go along with the past two NL MVP’s. Throw in maybe the most complete player in the NL to go along with a number of very good offensive players. Atlanta lost Andruw Jones, but has tons of young hitters to fill his void. A lineup consisting of Teixeira, Franceour, Chipper, McCann, with all the other kids is quite formidable. Then you have a veteran staff of Smoltz, Glavine, and Hudson at the top. Not to mention they’re trying to get back to the postseason after missing it last year for the first time in 14 years.
The NL Central has its own competitive teams. Last year’s division champs added the biggest Japanese export. We saw what happened last year with prize of the Japanese free agent market. I’m pretty sure he has a championship ring. They brought back their ace and might have the most dangerous 3-4-5 in the league. Milwaukee’s “kids” are all one year older and have the experience they lacked last year when they crumbled in the second half of the year. Houston added Miguel Tejada this off-season, who is not completely removed from his MVP season a couple years ago.
Out west, we may have the most competitive division in baseball. Excluding the Giants, each one of those teams has a very legitimate shot at winning the NL and not because of “mediocrity.” Arizona won the division last year and added an ace to pair with their Cy Young winner from two years ago. Their young guys are also a year older and they get Randy Johnson back in some capacity. Colorado went to the World Series last year and was able to lock up their two best players. In the playoffs, they got valuable contributions from two young kids who only surfaced in the majors at the end of the year. They also may have as good a lineup top to bottom as any team in the NL. The Padres have the best pitching staff in the NL and added a former #1 draft pick to that staff. Even a little bit of offense makes them a very dangerous team, especially if they can get to October. Lastly, the Dodgers added a power hitting centerfielder who may be the best defensive outfielder in the game. They also added a manager who brought his previous team to the postseason for the previous 11 seasons. Throw in the return of Jason Schmidt to their rotation behind Brad Penny and Derek Lowe and the abundance of young hitting talent they have on their roster and I’m not sure there is a more balanced team in this division.
So, my point is probably that while the two, maybe three “best” teams in baseball may play in the American League, you may have a hard time arguing against the fact that the next ten play in the NL. The only debatable thing in the AL is who won’t make the playoffs out of the Red Sox, Yankees, Tigers, or Indians? So as we head towards spring training my attention will be squarely focused on the National League and the great match-ups we’ll be treated to consistently throughout the year.
1 comment:
I completely agree with pretty
much the whole thing. The American League has the best 3 or 4teams in baseball, but after that you can make cases for several National League teams. This then leads to those 4 teams making the playoffs without too much competition. Like you said, it still is interesting because either
the Yankees, Indians, Tigers, or Red Sox will not make the playoffs. The rest of the league, unfortunately, has much more of an outside chance. I always wonder what Devil Rays fans think going in a season. They cannot think that they ever have a chance, especially since their payroll is
$171,104,845 less than the Yankees. The whole "non-salary cap issue" in baseball to me is one of the biggest jokes but that could be a topic for another day.
I did some quick research which turned out pretty interesting. In 2006, with 1 month left in the season (great time to watch baseball for the playoff races), there were 3 teams in the AL within 5 games of each other for the Wild Card. In the National League, how many teams were within that same amount of games?.....10! 10 teams within a solid reach of a playoff spot. That's also not including the Division Leaders. There were 3 teams in the National League that didn't have a shot at the playoffs. Think about that.
13 teams fighting for 4 playoff spots as of September 1st. On September 15th (2 weeks left to play) there were 8 teams fighting for that Wild Card spot. Over in the AL, the Twins were 2 games up on the White Sox and 6 games up on the next closest team. The lonely Devil Rays, by the way, 33 games back in the division, 29 back in the WC.
Moving on to 2007, the Tigers won their division by 8 games. The Angels won theirs by 6. The Red Sox won theirs by 2, but somewhat anti-climactic because both the Sox and Yankees had the Wild Card locked up by 6 games. In the NL, the Phillies won the division by 1 game (after trailing by 7 with 17 left to play), the Cubs won the division by 2 games, and the
Diamondbacks and Rockies finished tied. The WC was won by one game over the Padres and 2 over the Mets. 3 teams in the same division were within 1 game of each other. Meanwhile AL teams were shuffling their rotation
around with a week left to get the best playoff pitching matchups because they have their spots clinched. Meanwhile 7 NL teams are fighting for 4 spots up to and through the last pitch of the year. Even if you look to September 1st, the Red Sox were leading by 5 games, the Indians by 5, and the Angles by 7. At that same point, the Mets were leading by 3, the Cubs leading by 1.5, and the Padres leading by .5. Two of those division leaders didn't even make the playoffs a month later. The average "Win" difference between first and second place teams in the AL is 5.3 wins....that same stat for the NL....1 win.
Hopefully these numbers will help validate Adam's point even more. There is a great mix of teams with extremely impressive young talent (Rockies, Brewers, Diamondbacks, etc.) mixed in with great veteran teams (Mets, Cubs, etc.) all fighting for one goal, and chances are, come September 1st, their
goal will still be in reach. I'm not so sure the same can be said in the AL. The best teams are in the AL, but the even level of teams in the NL makes September a great month.
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