JUSTgottaBELIEVE

QUOTE (Deadpool @ Oct 22, 2016 -> 09:30 PM) Take solace in the fact that the sport is baseball. Anything can happen. You just gotta BELIEVE Did you take the Indians to win the pennant? I did. I also took them to win the World Series back in August. Have texts to prove it, not that you would believe me anyway. Can't wait for Andrew Miller to make this Cubs lineup look like a bunch of little leaguers. It's going to be delightful.

QUOTE (Footlongcomiskeydog @ Oct 22, 2016 -> 09:25 PM) lol. Are you serious man? The Cubs starting four is lights years better than the Indians starting four. The Cubs have 3 legitimate aces in their rotation. It's better but not light years better. Arrieta is a big question mark right now. He's been mediocre for the past 4 months. Hendricks is pitching great so that's a clear advantage but Lackey is garbage.

QUOTE (Deadpool @ Oct 22, 2016 -> 09:21 PM) Well, you're usually wrong, so... Because I took the Giants to beat the Cubs and win the pennant? Yea guess I'm usually wrong because I lost one $100 wager.

QUOTE (Footlongcomiskeydog @ Oct 22, 2016 -> 09:21 PM) It's not gonna matter in my opinion. Lester is the best pitcher in baseball right now. Pretty much a guaranteed victory for the Cubs every time he steps on the bump. You clearly haven't followed what Kluber has done this season.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 22, 2016 -> 09:19 PM) That's when I knew the series was over. Dodgers played it way too passively. You can't underestimate this Cubs team which they did and the Giants did. The Cubs roster is so much better than anybody else's this postseason. Dodgers conceded the series by holding Kershaw for Game Six. There was a slight chance he'd have won Game Five and made it 3-2 LA. I'd have never guessed we wouldn't make the playoffs once since our WS title. It's truly hard to believe. They did, 2008.

QUOTE (Deadpool @ Oct 22, 2016 -> 09:18 PM) That still puts the Cubs at an advantage, though. The rest of the Cubs staff is much better. I'm not sure it is if Arrieta continues to pitch like second half Jake

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Oct 22, 2016 -> 09:14 PM) Maybe it's a plus for Cleveland that Arrieta starts 2 (possibly 3) games? This will be the first time all postseason that the other teams' ace has matched up with Lester starts. Those games aren't certain wins when he's opposing a pitcher like Kluber.

QUOTE (Footlongcomiskeydog @ Oct 22, 2016 -> 08:42 PM) The Cubs are a completely different animal than Boston or Toronto. A Bauer, Tomlin, or Merritt start at Wrigley is gonna be a complete bloodbath. Huh? Yea I agree they aren't as good as the Red Sox offense and slightly better than the Toronto offense. So yea I guess they are a completely different animal.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Oct 22, 2016 -> 08:40 PM) And coincidentally, the Indians shut them down. Yup

QUOTE (Deadpool @ Oct 22, 2016 -> 08:38 PM) Seriously, where have the last ten years gone? I'm sure many old timers are saying the same thing about the last 71 years.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 22, 2016 -> 08:37 PM) To be fair, and I have said this before, the Indians shut down the Red Sox and Blue Jays offenses. Those are two pretty damn good offenses that did not "eat big time" against the Indians' pitching. Actually the Red Sox offense was better than the Cubs this year. Best in baseball

QUOTE (Deadpool @ Oct 22, 2016 -> 08:36 PM) This is fairly remarkable, as my father hasn't even seen a Cubs pennant in his life time. Not many have but I bet he's seen a White Sox World Series!

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Oct 22, 2016 -> 08:29 PM) http://www.espn.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id...ball-operations I'm completely shook. This is the date a dynasty was born. RIP baseball. Always so dramatic. Let's wait until they win one World Series at least before we start talking about the potential for a dynasty.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Oct 22, 2016 -> 05:50 PM) Which makes it ironic that the NL has won more World Series over that stretch since the disparity is not really close. Playoffs are weird because the best team rarely wins it all: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/page/playo...b-teams-win-all The larger sample size provided by the regular season/interleague play is more representative. Also, it's generally easier to get by with less depth in the playoffs than the postseason. Cleveland wouldn't be able to use Miller in the way they have in the playoffs over the course of a 162-game season. Also, you can basically get by with a 3 man rotation in the playoffs but need at least 5 if not more (due to injuries) in the regular season. In general, the AL is much deeper than the NL and has been for awhile now.

It's not far stretched to think the White Sox could have won more than 85 games this season if they had played in the NL. The disparity between the leagues is real and has been large for the last decade. http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-nl...e-play-for-now/

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 21, 2016 -> 04:37 PM) Soxtalk majority has been so anti NL for a long time. Cmon anybody deny this? Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball regardless of league but he would not have a career ERA of 2.37 if he pitched in the AL. Also, AL is the superior league, just take a look at interleague results since 2004. http://www.stevetheump.com/interleague.htm

A strong DH can still offer a ton of value. If you believe in the second half Jose, he is worth 3-4 wins (even as a full time DH). If you think he's more like the first half Jose, then yea he has negative value. I tend to think the first half Jose is the outlier and the other 2.5 seasons are the Jose to expect over the next 3 years.

Maeda gave them a chance to win last night but Roberts use of the bullpen was very Ventura-like. Questionable at best. Cubs are heavy favorites to close this thing out but you never know. They were in a similar situation (I would say even better situation) in 2003 and couldn't get it done, so we'll see.

The numbers all point to an easy win for the Cubs tonight but I have this gut feeling that Maeda pulls a magic act and the Dodgers bullpen hangs on to a close low scoring game. I could be completely wrong but something tells me Maeda is due for a strong outing.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/page/playo...ge-knotted-nlcs Found this quote from a scout interesting: "They won't beat Kershaw," he said, unequivocally. "And I think they will struggle again with Hill. Anyone who pitches in and changes speeds will have success against the Cubs right now. Any kind of downer breaking ball destroys them."

Well if you are going to lose might as well get crushed and save the good relievers for tomorrow night. Tough decision for Roberts but I don't see how you hold Kershaw back for game 6. There's a very good chance that whoever wins tomorrow night wins the series so why wouldn't you want your best starter on the mound?

Pretty conclusive based on last replay

Thankfully Heyward and Russell are hitting like pitchers right now though Russell did send it for a little ride there

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 19, 2016 -> 05:55 PM) The Indians just perfected the Royals postseason bullpen plan. So many similarities between this team and 2014-2015 Royals (except much better manager). AL Central very well represented the last 3 years. Hahn has some work to do this offseason.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 19, 2016 -> 12:54 PM) Why would the Cubs not sign whomever they WANT to keep? Cubs have tons of money. They spend as much as anybody don't they? Why wouldn't they keep all their studs? Who's available? The only known commodities in their starting rotation beyond next season are Lester and Hendricks. Lester is at an age where I would expect to see a gradual decline in coming seasons and many saber folks have been saying Hendricks way over performed this season based on his peripherals (we'll see). Arrieta, Lackey, and Hammel all hit free agency after next season (aside from Arrieta, I don't think they would want to bring back Lackey and Hammel at their age). The free agent class of 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 doesn't look all that promising for starting pitching either. Unless he falls off next year, I would think Arrieta is the headliner of the free agent SP class in 2017/2018. And what makes you think they have unlimited budget? I mean they already have $40M+ AAV locked into two players for a long time (Heyward and Lester) and Arrieta will likely command a similar contract to Lester after next year (maybe more if he reverts back to ace form next season). Also, they have a whole lot of very good players hitting arbitration starting in 2017.