2021 AL West Preview

Happy Opening Day Eve!

With the Major League season kicking off tomorrow, I have one day left to get this in. The past couple of days, I've gone through both East and Central divisions for the upcoming season, leaving us with just a pair of divisions to go today.

So before we tackle our defending champion, let's take a look at the American League West.

2019 MLB Preview: AL West

We're staying out west for the second post of the day.

Earlier today I kicked off my series of MLB preview posts with a look at the NL West. Like last year, especially with the regular season starting on a Thursday, I need to get this series expedited, so I'm covering two divisions a day. This means for the afternoon portion, we're going to take a look at the AL West.

90's Youth Life Podcast Special: The 1994 MLB Playoffs Simulation

I was a radio guy in college. So it's kind of a surprise that, other than a random podcast with a Nintendo forum something like ten years ago that who knows if it even still exists anywhere or not, I am a novice at the podcast game. Fortunately, I know people.

I've talked up the immortal Geoffrey Clark on here before. He's a classmate and friend from my North Central days, a blogger for Chicago Bulls Confidential, and he is also the host of the 90s Youth Life podcast. He's talked up a number of topics from when we grew up, including topics like the McDonald's Beanie Baby craze and the career of Ken Griffey, Jr. with another WONC alum we overlapped with.

So a couple weeks ago, I got a text from Geoff regarding my favorite tool on this blog, WhatIfSports. He'd been introduced to the tool through Confessions of a Sportscaster and was talking about how addicting it was. It was through that discussion that he brought up the lost postseason of 1994 due to the strike. One thing led to another and, well... I was a guest on a podcast.

In it we run through how the 1994 Major League Baseball postseason could have played out had the playoffs been the leaders in the standings when play stopped. After the jump I will post links to the box scores of the games, but if you want to keep the element of surprise... take a listen.

2018 MLB Preview: AL West

And so we've come all the way across the country. Five divisions down, one to go.

I broke one tradition with my 2018 MLB previews in condensing this down from six days of posts to three. But one tradition I didn't break was the alternating of leagues and working across the country.

And now, we conclude with the division that contains our defending champion: the AL West.

MLB Tournament of Champions: Championship

Four and a half months. 1,415 games. That's how long it has taken for the MLB Tournament of Champions to reach its apex. 30 teams entered this tournament with dreams of being the greatest team of all time, one representative from each franchise. We're now down to two, who will do battle for the title of Champion of Champions.

As with every series to date, I will end up going through game by game, because after all this time, these two teams deserve the fullest attention I can give them.

On one side of the battle, we have what many people probably would have considered one of the pre-tournament favorites: the 2016 Chicago Cubs. The team that every Cubs fan was waiting for came into this tournament and largely dominated, winning a tournament-high 59 games to secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs. One could argue they've needed it, though they're 3-4 at Wrigley this postseason. It hasn't mattered, as they've done enough on the road, going 4-1 over two series to reach this point. Problem is, in both series they've needed a winner-take-all game to advance, and they've squeaked by in both, needing a walkoff home run by Ben Zobrist to make the NLCS, and requiring some masterful Game 7 pitching by Jake Arrieta to survive and advance to this round. Arrieta has probably been the best pitcher in the tournament, and the Cubs have gotten timely clutch hits from guys like Zobrist, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and even the ageless David Ross. Now, they are just four more wins from another level of immortality.

Standing in their way was a team that was a strike away from winning the World Series in its time: the 2011 Texas Rangers. After dropping heartbreaking Games 6 and 7 six years ago, the Rangers used that defeat to fuel them in the tightest division race in the tournament en route to 53 wins and an AL West title. It ranked them third among American League division winners, meaning they had to start on the road, but it didn't matter. They took the first two games in Boston in the ALDS and knocked off the 2004 Red Sox in four. They also had to start on the road in the ALCS against Cleveland, but took two out of three both there and at home, including the clinching Game 6 to bring them to this title round.

These two titans will play a best of seven series in a 2-3-2 format to determine the Champion of Champions. The Cubs get home field advantage by virtue of the better tournament record, even though they played no interleague games so there are no common opponents to judge these teams by. This means that in Games 1, 2, and if necessary 6 and 7 pitchers will bat for themselves in the National League park. Games 3, 4, and if necessary 5 in Texas will have the benefit of the designated hitter, so both teams will have some lineup tinkering to do here and there. The Rangers had to do it for their three games in Baltimore, but for the most part have had the benefit of the DH all tournament long. For the Cubs, this is new, and unfortunately unlike the 2016 World Series, Kyle Schwarber is not walking through the virtual clubhouse doors.

I have kept stats for the entire postseason portion of the tournament, and you can view those stats both by round and in aggregate here. I will use these stats when all is said and done to pick both a Series MVP and an overarching Tournament MVP. At a later time I will also make a post with some All-Tournament Teams from the entire tournament. For this series, as with all 1,415 games before, all simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's crown a champion.

MLB Tournament of Champions: ALCS

Just four teams remain, and we're one round away from the Championship of Champions here in the MLB Tournament of Champions!

At the end of July we wrapped up the Division Series round, and we're now onto the LCS round. Once again I'm giving each series its own post so I can do brief writeups for each game in the series and all the players can get their due.

In one corner in this matchup we have the 1995 Cleveland Indians, who came in looking for a greater prize than falling just short in their World Series can bring, and they've done well on that quest: 58 regular season wins, the most in the American League, and an ALDS sweep of the wild card 2001 Seattle Mariners. Their middle of the lineup (read: Albert Belle) produced, and Omar Vizquel proved to be a great table setter, and their pitching staff was lights out against Seattle, especially the bullpen which didn't allow a run.

They take on a team that pulled an upset in the 2011 Texas Rangers. Texas finished a game back of Boston, but the lack of home field advantage didn't matter as they took the first two games at Fenway to close out the Red Sox in four. The Rangers gave up a higher number of runs than you'd like to see out of a postseason team, but they more than made up for that with an elite offense with a middle of the lineup that did a ton of damage over four games, especially Mike Napoli and Nelson Cruz.

These two teams will play a best of seven series with the Indians, by virtue of that top record in the AL, getting home field advantage which will be played in a 2-3-2 format. Considering the Indians and Rangers split their six games played during the regular season, they may need that home field advantage to break the deadlock. Statistics for this series, as well as postseason totals, can be found here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play ball!

MLB Tournament of Champions: ALDS Series 1

The postseason rolls on in the MLB Tournament of Champions!

I'm making sure to devote one post to every individual series to make sure that they all get the attention they deserve. Today, we're looking at the American League. I'm also starting things off with our series that doesn't involve the Wild Card, because I do want to give the winners of those series an opportunity to rest a little bit.

In this series, on one side we have the 2011 Texas Rangers. A team that came one strike away from winning the 2011 World Series before Cardinal Devil Magic took over, the Rangers spent a little time in first place in the AL West early in the tournament, then suffered a sweep at the hands of the 2001 Mariners to fall into third place. But they hung around and retook the lead in mid to late June and, other than briefly dropping out after a bye, hung on to win the West with one of the better records in the league.

They take on the 2004 Boston Red Sox, a cursebreaking team that started the tournament a little slow, but by mid-May was in first place and for a while, contending for the top spot in the American League. While the Red Sox couldn't keep that pace, they played more than well enough to take the AL East crown by the second to last weekend of the tournament. Their sweep at the hands of the 2005 White Sox hurt their chances, but the Rangers got swept on the final weekend as well, which allows Boston to take home field advantage into this round.

That home field advantage will be in a 2-2-1 format, and I'm glad their records were separated by a game, because these two teams split their regular season series, with the road teams taking four of the six matchups. That might present an advantage to the Rangers, but we'll have to see. I will also be keeping track of stats for this and every round of the postseason, and you can view those here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's head down to the field.

2017 MLB Preview: AL West

Happy Tuesday! We're onto Day 3 of MLB previews. We're less than a week from the start of the season, though a few teams will officially kick off the year a week from today. A week from today is also the second day of the MLB Tournament of Champions, which I hope you'll check out.

We're going from one coast to the other, as we swap leagues again and preview the AL West today.

2016 MLB Predictions: AL West

Day 2 of baseball previews is upon us, and I'm back with a look at another division.

I'm starting out on the western edge of the country before swinging out east and then coming back to the heartland of the country this weekend to look at our defending champions as well as some of the other major contenders. Today, however, I remain out towards the Pacific with a look at the AL West.

2015 MLB Preview: AL West

Happy Good Friday and Almost Opening Day! We've almost wrapped up with our look around Major League Baseball in anticipation of the 2015 season.

Today we make the trek out west to finish out the previews, starting in the American League. If you want to refer back to my predictions from last year, you can view them here.

Let's take a look at the 2015 AL West.

2014 MLB Preview: AL West

I'm onto Day Two of doing MLB previews now, as we're just a few days away from the stateside start of the season. After having done the NL West, we've covered the two teams that have already played, so I've already got a decent head-start on my predictions with the Dodgers being 2-0, though Arizona at 0-2 isn't as great a start. As people are fond of saying though, it's a long season, and April is a time of hope for basically every team. You know, unless you're the Cubs. I'm going to go cry in the corner now.

As for today, I'm looking at the AL West, where I've been pretty wrong two years running. I'm not going to be fooled again. Of course, this probably means I'll still be wrong knowing how my luck with these things go. We'll see. Here's how I predict the race will go.