White Sox good bets, Diamondbacks bad beats
With the exception of the AL West Division, every other playoff slot is still up for grabs across the MLB landscape. With history on our side, we know that some team or teams currently in the lead will fall to the wayside while some others will rise to the occasion down the stretch. The Chicago White Sox are one team that will be there in the end while the Arizona Diamondbacks are due for a letdown.
Look at all those playoff races. Every division but the American League West is up for grabs, and the Wild Card standings are more crowded than the lineups to see The Dark Knight.
Not everyone can get into the theater. Just ask the New York Mets, who lost six of their last seven games and 12 of their last 17 to miss the 2007 postseason. Meanwhile, the Colorado Rockies went 13-1 to force a one-game playoff with the San Diego Padres, which they won in stirring comeback fashion in the 13th inning. These things happen.
Someone’s going to get lucky this year. Someone else is going to screw the pooch. I’m looking at these guys:
Make: Chicago White Sox
It’s strange to put the White Sox in this pile. They were on top of the division all year long, but now it’s the Minnesota Twins enjoying a half-game lead on the Pale Hose at 62-49. No problem. It’s only half a game, and the White Sox are in second place in the American League Wild Card race, just two games behind the Boston Red Sox. It’s the smallest playoff deficit for any of the teams currently on the outside looking in.
The White Sox are also the right team for the job. They’ve been solid in nearly every aspect of the game:
Not even small-ball aficionado and manager Ozzie Guillen can mess this up. The talent level on his team is simply too good, and it may have gone up after the trade that landed Ken Griffey Jr. It’s ridiculous for him to be playing center in his state of health, but shifting Nick Swisher to first and sitting Paul Konerko (.673 OPS) as often as possible makes Griffey (.787 OPS in Cincinnati) well worth having.
Honorable mention: Los Angeles Dodgers. Los Angeles is crawling right up Arizona’s tailpipe. The Dodgers have been aggressively (I’d say foolishly) trading prospects and adding talent, and they’ve closed the gap on the Diamondbacks in a hurry. If only they were within striking range of a Wild Card spot – more on that below.
Miss: Arizona Diamondbacks
Of all the teams currently in a playoff spot, the Snakes are in the most precarious position: one game ahead of the Dodgers, who have just traded for Manny Ramirez after having already added Casey Blake.
Arizona is just 57-54, which wouldn’t be enough to get these guys arrested in any other division. They’re 4½ games behind the current NL Wild Card leaders from Milwaukee. There are three teams that have to be leapfrogged in the standings: the Cardinals, Marlins and Mets. So it’s division or nothing for the Diamondbacks.
The betting odds certainly aren’t in Arizona’s favor. Both teams were tied at 8-1 on the futures market to win the NL pennant – before the Ramirez trade. He proved his value to Los Angeles supporters by clubbing a pair of home runs against the Snakes, taking two of his first three games wearing Dodger blue. By the time the smoke cleared Sunday, L.A. had a run differential of +26, five runs better than Arizona. Now the Snakes are 10-1 and the Dodgers are 13-2 to win the pennant.
Dishonorable mention: Minnesota Twins. Of course, if I have the White Sox making the playoffs, that puts the Twins in danger of missing out. And they certainly are in danger. But Minnesota’s record is only 1½ games behind the Red Sox, so there’s a Wild Card safety valve there that the Snakes do not have.
With the exception of the AL West Division, every other playoff slot is still up for grabs across the MLB landscape. With history on our side, we know that some team or teams currently in the lead will fall to the wayside while some others will rise to the occasion down the stretch. The Chicago White Sox are one team that will be there in the end while the Arizona Diamondbacks are due for a letdown.
Look at all those playoff races. Every division but the American League West is up for grabs, and the Wild Card standings are more crowded than the lineups to see The Dark Knight.
Not everyone can get into the theater. Just ask the New York Mets, who lost six of their last seven games and 12 of their last 17 to miss the 2007 postseason. Meanwhile, the Colorado Rockies went 13-1 to force a one-game playoff with the San Diego Padres, which they won in stirring comeback fashion in the 13th inning. These things happen.
Someone’s going to get lucky this year. Someone else is going to screw the pooch. I’m looking at these guys:
Make: Chicago White Sox
It’s strange to put the White Sox in this pile. They were on top of the division all year long, but now it’s the Minnesota Twins enjoying a half-game lead on the Pale Hose at 62-49. No problem. It’s only half a game, and the White Sox are in second place in the American League Wild Card race, just two games behind the Boston Red Sox. It’s the smallest playoff deficit for any of the teams currently on the outside looking in.
The White Sox are also the right team for the job. They’ve been solid in nearly every aspect of the game:
- Team ERA: 9th (3.91)
- Bullpen ERA: 6th (3.50)
- Team OPS: 5th (.783)
Not even small-ball aficionado and manager Ozzie Guillen can mess this up. The talent level on his team is simply too good, and it may have gone up after the trade that landed Ken Griffey Jr. It’s ridiculous for him to be playing center in his state of health, but shifting Nick Swisher to first and sitting Paul Konerko (.673 OPS) as often as possible makes Griffey (.787 OPS in Cincinnati) well worth having.
Honorable mention: Los Angeles Dodgers. Los Angeles is crawling right up Arizona’s tailpipe. The Dodgers have been aggressively (I’d say foolishly) trading prospects and adding talent, and they’ve closed the gap on the Diamondbacks in a hurry. If only they were within striking range of a Wild Card spot – more on that below.
Miss: Arizona Diamondbacks
Of all the teams currently in a playoff spot, the Snakes are in the most precarious position: one game ahead of the Dodgers, who have just traded for Manny Ramirez after having already added Casey Blake.
Arizona is just 57-54, which wouldn’t be enough to get these guys arrested in any other division. They’re 4½ games behind the current NL Wild Card leaders from Milwaukee. There are three teams that have to be leapfrogged in the standings: the Cardinals, Marlins and Mets. So it’s division or nothing for the Diamondbacks.
The betting odds certainly aren’t in Arizona’s favor. Both teams were tied at 8-1 on the futures market to win the NL pennant – before the Ramirez trade. He proved his value to Los Angeles supporters by clubbing a pair of home runs against the Snakes, taking two of his first three games wearing Dodger blue. By the time the smoke cleared Sunday, L.A. had a run differential of +26, five runs better than Arizona. Now the Snakes are 10-1 and the Dodgers are 13-2 to win the pennant.
Dishonorable mention: Minnesota Twins. Of course, if I have the White Sox making the playoffs, that puts the Twins in danger of missing out. And they certainly are in danger. But Minnesota’s record is only 1½ games behind the Red Sox, so there’s a Wild Card safety valve there that the Snakes do not have.