By Tim Clark / / Baseball, College Sports, Column, Tim's Two Cents
Two

It started at the end of March. Don't get me started on that. It ended Sunday. Oh wait, that isn’t right either. Thanks to baseball’s lack of forward thinking, it ended on Monday.

The long, winding 162 game MLB regular season is over. Now it is time for the chosen twelve teams to march forward to the playoffs, with two playing until November(potentially). What did we learn about these twelve teams over the course of six months? Who is World Series worthy?

I started with a Seattle/Atlanta World Series prediction.

That went out the window early when Spencer Strider, Atlanta’s best pitcher, and Ronald Acuna, the Braves best position player, were knocked out for the season. More injuries and some under performers would follow. Still, give the Braves credit for hanging in there and reaching the postseason.

Seattle simply never had enough offense. The pitching was as good as I thought it would be, but it wasn’t enough to get Seattle to the playoffs or to save manager Scott Servais’s job.

I jumped on the Baltimore bandwagon midseason, but a rotation decimated by injuries, a weird trade deadline, and the Craig Kimbrel experience has the Orioles wobbling into the playoffs. There is enough good young talent in that lineup that they shouldn’t be totally overlooked this postseason.

The Orioles will face off against the most astonishing team of the 2024 season. The Kansas City Royals lost 106 games last year and decided to put their foot in the ground and say, “enough.” Bobby Witt is the best young player in the game of baseball and the Royals decided to pay him as such. Then the team spent money in the offseason and had a couple veterans return to form. Despite a skid the past two weeks, Kansas City will enter the playoffs with a “nothing to lose” attitude.

Cleveland has had its foot on the gas pedal since opening day. The Guardians have made a habit of getting more bang for their buck than any team this side of Tampa. Jose Ramirez is a stud, Tanner Bibee is a quality starting pitcher, and Hunter Gaddis and Emmanuel Clase are locking things down in the 8th and 9th inning. Otherwise, they look fairly ordinary. But all they do is win games. I know this, you better beat Cleveland before it gets to the 8th inning.

The Twins September swoon matched up with the Tigers September soar to create the best story of the season. The Tigers were sellers at the trade deadline. They were muddling through another losing season. Then someone hit the switch. The roster really isn’t much different than, say, the Pirates roster. They just started believing, and here they are.

 

 

The other American League playoff team is a familiar one. The Houston Astros are back as the AL West champs. They never have gained the traction I thought they would this season, but that is a scary roster. The Astros have been to the playoffs 8 of the last 9 seasons, and 7 straight seasons. They have been to 4 World Series, winning two. Needless to say, the Astros know how to win. You also have to like their path. 

In the Senior Circuit, LA was as good as the money they spent on this team. Shohei Ohtani is the best player on the planet, and Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernandez, and Freddy Freeman make a pretty potent posse. Pitching will be the question mark for the Dodgers, with Tyler Glasnow out for the year and Walker Buehler struggling. The Dodgers will try to outscore teams in the playoffs.

I have been on the Phillies train all year. It became clear early on that I chose the wrong NL East team to reach the World Series in my season preview. The Phillies fell asleep for a little while this summer after having such a big lead in the division. Look, this is the best team in baseball. The Phillies have four arms they can rely on in the playoffs, a deep bullpen, and mashers up and down the lineup. Plus, do you think Citizen’s Bank Park will be rocking? If you don’t have it yet, you are going to eventually contract Phillies Fever.

The Brewers remind me of Cleveland. They are a small market team that doesn’t “wow’ you with a powerful roster. They just win. The players love playing for Pat Murphy, and are lead by the youngest star in the game in Jackson Chourio. They steal a ton of bases, have pop with Willy Adames, William Contreras, and Rhys Hoskins, and a now healthy lights out closer in Devin Williams. Don’t sleep on the Brewers.

The Padres are the wildcard team with the best chance of winning it all. The Pads have a deep, deep lineup starting with Mr. Never K Luis Arráez followed by Jackson Merrill, Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis, Jake Cronenworth, Xander Boegarts, and Ha-Seong Kim. Michael King leads a four deep rotation and the bullpen is solid. This is the wildcard nobody wants to see.

As I said, the Braves deserve credit for not folding after all of their injuries. This feels almost like a bonus round for Atlanta. The Braves have 7 players with 15 plus home runs and the pitching is very good. It turns out that the probable Cy Young winner, Chris Sale, won’t pitch due to injury. That hurts. Bonus round or not, the Braves won’t be an automatic out.

Speaking of a potent lineup, I give you the New York Mets. Lindor, Nimmo, Alonso, McNeil, Marte, and Vientos can hit. I am not nearly as trusting in the Mets pitching. I think this is an example of a team that overachieved and took advantage of the Diamondbacks late season slide.

It is time to tee it up and start eliminating teams. Two will remain by late October. Will it be another wildcard team that gets hot at the right time? Will it be a small market team finally breaking through to win it all? Will it be one of the season long best teams to finally win it all? Baseball is a long season, but with the expanded playoffs being hot seems to be more important than having a great 162 game season.

Here are my predictions, about the 37th predictions for the season if you are keeping count.

American League

Who will win: Houston

Who could win: New York

Who will not win: White Sox

Who do I hope wins: Cleveland or Kansas City

National League

Who will win: Philadelphia

Who could win: Milwaukee or San Diego

Who will not win: Pirates

Who do I hope wins: Milwaukee

World Series

Philadelphia over Houston in 6 games

Someone grease the light poles in Philly. It will be a crazy scene, and I am talking about Schwarber trying to climb the light poles. The Phillies are the best team and it is finally time for the best team to win it all.

Two Cent Takes

Baseball

~Pete Rose passed away yesterday at age 83. You know how I know Rose was a great player? I hated him. You never hated mediocre players because they just didn’t matter. Rose mattered. He mattered more than any other player on every team he played on. He was the heart beat of every team. He hustled more than any other player on his team. Of course, he is the hit king. He also bet on baseball and that is why he isn’t in the Hall of Fame. He shouldn’t be. My dad played minor league baseball in the Cardinals system in the late 40’s/early 50’s. He always told me that every clubhouse he walked into, even the smallest, had one sign front and center: Don’t Bet on Baseball. It has always been the golden rule of baseball. It didn’t help that Rose denied the obvious for years and acted like a jerk constantly. All that said, Rose will go down as a top 50 player in baseball history. As baseball moves more and more towards home run or bust mentality, Rose is a great reminder of how great pure hitters used to be. I appreciate Rose for making me hate him. It was good for baseball.

College Football

~It is now officially October, which means it is appropriate to put out a top ten list. Tim’s Two Cent Top Ten:

  1. Alabama: Jalen Milroe is now a front runner for the Heisman Trophy. Alabama has a fairly easy path minus a road test at Tennessee. Another SEC title game seems likely.
  2. Texas: Nice to have a backup quarterback named Manning. Texas has horses. The Longhorns season boils down to a visit from Georgia in three weeks. They could be on a collision course with Alabama.
  3. Ohio State: We don’t really know just how good the Buckeyes are. At Oregon and at Penn State in a three week span will tell us what we want to know.
  4. Tennessee: The Vols can score a ton of points. I like the quarterback a lot. Alabama comes to Knoxville, while the Vols have to go to Georgia. A split would almost lock the Vols into a playoff spot.
  5. Oregon: I am still not sure about the Ducks. I think they are good, but they only looked like vintage Oregon once this year.
  6. Penn State: I think this could be James Franklin’s best team. You know who disagrees? Penn State fans. That is how I know I am on to something. The best and second best running backs in the country are in the PSU backfield. The defense was absolutely dominant in the second half Saturday. Still short on receivers, but they may just get away with it. 
  7. Miami: Well, last Friday was the day I was waiting for. The day where Mario Cristobal doesn’t have his team ready. They got away with it. Barely. I am less confident about the Canes now.
  8. Georgia: Still a talented bunch, and had Alabama beat after a stellar comeback from the depths of hell on Saturday night. Defense seems less Georgia-like. Carson Beck worries me. Tough remaining schedule with trips to Texas and Ole Miss and a visit from Tennessee. Three losses seem possible. No way a three loss team makes the playoff.
  9. USC: The Trojans cannot continue to get off to slow starts that last until halftime. The defense is stunningly better. If the Trojans can figure out how to improve the offensive line play they can beat anyone on their schedule. If not, a team like Penn State will torture them.
  10. Clemson: After getting smoked by Georgia, Clemson has looked like a different team. They have been dominant and will be favored the rest of the way. A matchup with Miami in the ACC title game seems likely.

~Officials took center stage once again this week. First this call/review on Friday night. As I said in my tweet, I think the ball was moving and they got the call right. Sure does lead to conspiracy theories though.

 

~Then again on Saturday in Ann Arbor. Two weeks in a row Michigan gets a favorable call.

 

 

NFL

~Last week showed why the Steelers need more production on offense. The defense won’t be great every week. Although letting Joe Flacco beat you certainly is a low light.

~TJ Watt gets held constantly and rarely gets a call. This is on a touchdown pass, which makes it an inexcusable miss by the officials.

 


~Speaking of inexcusable. Minkah Fitzpatrick is trying to pull off after going full speed towards the receiver.

 

 


~Apparently the Steelers can’t have nice things.

 


~More Darnell Washington please.

 

 

~Aaron Rodgers is getting old. Robert Saleh is getting fired. The Jets are still the Jets.

 

 

~Did I mention getting fired? I would like to introduce you to Nick Sirianni. He may get a reprieve due to a plethora of injuries, but he better start winning games pronto.

 

 

~Sam Darnold continues to play great. Eight different receivers caught balls from Darnold. The Vikings are for real.

~Can Washington win the NFC East? It isn’t out of the question with Jayden Daniels taking a huge early lead for rookie of the year. Looking at their schedule and I would say it is possible.

~If that was the real Baltimore Sunday night, the rest of the AFC better look out. Derrick Henry is still a beast, making Lamar Jackson’s job much easier.

~Miami is done, and Tyreek Hill will soon be disgruntled.

Golf

~The President’s Cup doesn’t really move the needle much, but it is another reminder golf would be wise to add at least a couple more match play events. The players certainly go into a whole new mode when playing match play for their country.

NBA

~Dikembe Mutumbo was a good NBA center with a personality that was even better. On the day he passed away from brain cancer, what we should remember is the content of his heart by far eclipsed everything else about the man. His son offered some great words.

 

 

The Weekly Shiny Penny

It seems apparent that we have to take the good with the bad when it comes to Coach Prime. This week we got the good and this is why, at the end of the day, I still like the guy.

 

 

A Penny For My Final Thought…

While the twelve playoff teams get ready to go for the gold, the Pittsburgh Pirates will be working on their golf swings during October for the 39th time in 45 seasons.

The Pirates continue to flail in sub-mediocrity with incompetence ruling the day and indifference and parsimony running the team.

Need more evidence? Really?

This past week the Pirates cut Rowdy Tellez. In May that headline would have received cheers. With six games left in the season it was a joke. Then we found out it was a dirty joke because Tellez was 4 plate appearances away from a $200,000 bonus.

Then Sunday, the Pirates sat Isaiah Kiner-Falefa four at bats away from a $250,000 bonus. Oh, they came to him Sunday morning and asked him if he wanted to play after posting the lineup without him in it. He declined, stating he was fine with them playing a young player. If he says yes he is looked at as greedy. It was a no win situation for Kiner-Falefa. He handled it professionally, which is more than you can say for the Pirates front office.

Welcome to the world of Bob Nutting.

I want to talk about the on field product and where they should go from here, but the front office and ownership makes it tough. Let me try.

The pitching staff is one envied by many other teams. Paul Skenes will win Rookie of the Year and is the best pitcher in baseball right now. That is a pretty great chip to have in your pocket. Jared Jones had a fine rookie season as well. Then the likes of Mitch Keller, Bailey Falter, Luis Ortiz, the returning Johan Oviedo, and possibly rookie Bubba Chandler will fill out the rotation nicely. Starting pitching is the least of the Pirates worries.

The bullpen needs overhauled. Then again, relievers are very unpredictable. Trying to bring back Aroldis Chapman would be a wise move. Pay him(haha) and make him the closer. David Bednar now has zero trade value —another fail by Ben Cherington— so cross your fingers and hope he becomes reliable again. Amazingly, the only other sure returnee should be Dennis Santana. From there, some combination of returning bullpen arms and new pick ups could fill out the pen. This is a major concern, and nobody should have faith in Cherington being able to assemble a quality pen.

The offense, or lack thereof, is the other major concern. Bryan Reynolds should remain in left field, where he is comfortable. Oneil Cruz looks like he will adjust to centerfield just fine. Even more should be expected from that powerful bat next season. Joey Bart should have locked down the catching duties, meaning I don’t know what you do with either Endy Rodriguez or Henry Davis. Rodriguez is an excellent catcher and his bat showed promise last year. You could move Bart to first base, but his bat doesn’t look nearly as good there as it does behind the plate. Davis is in limbo, and that is the ultimate failure of the Cherington regime. Nick Gonzales certainly earned the lead position at second base, and Andrew McCutchen should be brought back for one more season in the DH spot. He is not only a Pirates legend, but one of their four best hitters on the current team.

One has to assume Ke’Bryan Hayes will be the third baseman if healthy. That means Isaiah Kiner-Falefa will be the shortstop, despite being better at third base. I would be all for the team trying to trade Hayes or Kiner-Falefa —maybe packaged with a pitcher— to get a legitimate bullpen arm, right fielder, or first baseman. I may be the only one, but I like Liover Peguero. With that trade scenario, Peguero could get a shot at shortstop. It is the Pirates, so most likely they go with status quo. That doesn’t excite me.

Regardless of who the GM is, a new first baseman is required. So, too, is a right fielder. Again, it is the Pirates and sticking with Bryan De La Cruz is a real possibility. This is especially true if Cherington is back. He will want to justify his trade for De La Cruz. First base has been a black hole since Kevin Young played first. To get quality players at these two positions will require either quality money being spent or big trades being made. For the zillionth time, it is the Pirates.

The Royals went from 106 losses to 76 losses and made the playoffs. The Pirates just have to go from 86 losses to 76 losses. With the strength in their starting pitching, that should not be that hard to accomplish.

Say it with me one more time, IT IS THE PIRATES.

Bob Nutting hasn’t shown even the slightest inkling of spending Brewers or Royals money. That is the money required to bring in quality players. As of this column posting, he hasn’t even shown an inkling of firing the buffoons he has running his team. Did he see how the team finished the second half? Does he care? Does he care about stats like this?

 


Finishing last in 4 out of 5 seasons should get any GM and manager fired. It is inconceivable to think the Pirates would stick with Cherington and Shelton. I mean they lucked in to getting this guy or it would have been far worse.

 

 

Nutting would take his own personal ineptitude to a new level if he keeps these clowns.

But…say it with me one more time for the folks in the back.

IT IS THE PIRATES.

Just my two cents…