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Poll: Who Will Win The World Series?

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The 2017 season will culminate in an epic World Series, matching the Dodgers against the Astros.  It is the first time since 1970 that the Fall Classic has featured two teams that each won 100 games or more games — L.A. will have homefield advantage, as the Dodgers’ 104-58 record topped the Astros’ 101-61 mark.

After winning the NL West title and falling short in each of the last four postseasons, the Dodgers finally broke through this year to capture their first National League pennant since 1988.  The club overcame scores of injuries (38 DL stints, the most of any team in baseball) to achieve their success, though obviously having the game’s largest payroll goes a long way in securing roster depth.  Beyond the expected contributions from established stars like Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen, and Justin Turner, the Dodgers were also buoyed by Corey Seager’s excellent sophomore year, rookie Cody Bellinger’s 39 homers, Yasiel Puig’s bounce-back year, and utilityman Chris Taylor’s emergence as an everyday threat.  If this wasn’t enough, the Dodgers added Yu Darvish at the trade deadline to enhance an already-outstanding rotation.

This is the Dodgers’ 19th World Series appearance, tied with the Cardinals for the third-most in history.  By contrast, this is only the Astros’ second trip to the Fall Classic, though they now have the unique distinction of being the only franchise to represent both the American League and National League in the World Series.

This pennant represents the culmination of the Astros’ scorched-earth rebuild under GM Jeff Luhnow.  Due to a complete focus on building up the farm system, the Astros went only 162-324 from 2011-13, a brutal stretch of play that saw fan interest in Houston almost evaporate and Luhnow’s methods questioned by many around the game.  As with last year’s champion Cubs, however, a long rebuild resulted in an enviable core of young talent.  George Springer, Carlos Correa, Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers, Alex Bregman and AL MVP favorite Jose Altuve are all homegrown Astros, and the team further supplemented that core with under-the-radar trade pickups (i.e. Marwin Gonzalez, Chris Devenski) and bigger-ticket acquisitions (Yuli Gurriel, Brian McCann, Josh Reddick, Carlos Beltran).  The final piece of the puzzle was trading for Justin Verlander at almost literally the last second prior to the August 31st waiver deadline, and Verlander has been nothing short of spectacular since coming to Houston.

With two days to go before Keuchel vs. Kershaw at Dodger Stadium in Game One, we post the question…what is your prediction for the 2017 Series?  (link to poll for MLBTR mobile app users)

Quick Hits: C. Seager, Cubs, Rangers, Red Sox

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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is optimistic shortstop Corey Seager will be able to return for the World Series, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com was among those to report (Twitter link). “Corey doesn’t want to be denied,” Roberts said of Seager, who missed the Dodgers’ five-game National League Championship Series triumph over the Cubs with a lower back sprain. Reserve Charlie Culberson provided surprisingly excellent production at shortstop against the Cubs, hitting .455/.417/.818 in 13 plate appearances, but he’s obviously not in Seager’s stratosphere. Seager has opened his career with two superstar-caliber seasons and is arguably the Dodgers’ top position player.

More from around the game:

  • The Cubs’ firing of pitching coach Chris Bosio on Saturday was manager Joe Maddon’s decision, Paul Sullivan and Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune report. Maddon’s relationship with Bosio deteriorated as the season progressed, per Sullivan and Gonzales, who add that Mike Maddux and the previously reported Jim Hickey are candidates to serve as the Cubs’ next pitching coach. Maddux was the Nationals’ pitching coach over the past two years, but his time with the club ended with manager Dusty Baker’s exit. Hickey, meanwhile, is also on the Cardinals’ radar, according to Sullivan and Gonzales.
  • Rangers general manager Jon Daniels will enter a contract year in 2018, but he told Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram and other reporters on Friday that he has “no desire to go anywhere.” Daniels’ hope is to land an extension, though neither he nor members of the Rangers’ ownership group commented on whether a new deal is in the works. The 40-year-old has been in his post since October 2005, making him the second-longest tenured GM in the game behind the Yankees’ Brian Cashman, and has helped construct five playoff teams and two pennant winners (2010 and ’11). The 2017 season wasn’t a success for the Daniels-led Rangers, however, as they finished 78-84. Daniels is still optimistic, though, saying: “This was not a fun year, just the variety of things that we dealt with, but what it illuminated was getting back to the things that are fun. Being creative, finding new ways to compete, finding different competitive advantages, circling the wagons and building with our people.”
  • The Red Sox are an “obvious” fit for Tony La Russa, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe observes. La Russa, who’s set to exit the Diamondbacks’ front office at the end of the month, has a longstanding relationship with Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, Cafardo points out. La Russa spoke glowingly of Boston’s front office leader, telling Cafardo, “There’s nobody in baseball I respect more than Dave Dombrowski.” Both La Russa’s friendship with Dombrowski and his vast experience in baseball could make him a candidate for an advisory role with the Sox. When asked about the possibility, Dombrowski said, “We’ll see.”

West Notes: Rockies, Darvish, Rangers, Padres, Angels

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Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post tackles a number of topics pertaining to the Rockies’ offseason in his latest Rockies Mailbag column. Among the more interesting items of note, Saunders opines that Carlos Gonzalez’s days in Colorado are through, noting that it’s unlikely that he’ll receive a qualifying offer. Saunders also notes that the ascension of prospect Ryan McMahon, who has been working out at second base, could also cloud DJ LeMahieu’s future with the club. LeMahieu is a free agent after the 2018 season, and McMahon has little left to prove in the minors. McMahon cut his teeth as a corner infielder, however, so it seems possible that the Rox could yet view him as an option at first base, where they’re currently a bit unsettled. Ian Desmond, of course, is an option there, though he could also be utilized in the outfield or elsewhere on the diamond (perhaps even at second base, speculatively speaking, though he has hasn’t played there since 2009 with the Nationals).

A bit more from the game’s Western divisions…

  • Dodgers righty Yu Darvish reached out to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News with an unprompted message to praise Rangers pitching coach Doug Brocail and recently fired bullpen coach Brad Holman. As Grant notes, Darvish’s recent improvements and changed mechanics have led to criticism for his coaches with the Rangers. “…There should be no criticism of Doug Brocail or Brad Holman,” said Darvish. “They are both very good coaches without a doubt. They are also great people. I’m not the kind of person who lies, so please trust me when I say this.” Darvish goes on to explain some of the alterations that he’s made since changing teams and eventually comes back to the point that there’s “no major difference in coaching or philosophy” that has led to his rebound following his trade to Los Angeles.
  • Following up on Evan Drellich’s recent report that Red Sox hitting coach Chili Davis will interview for the same position with the Padres, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune adds that the Padres have also interviewed four other candidates for the currently vacant post. Lin also notes that the Friars won’t bring infield coach Ramon Vazquez back to the coaching staff next year, though rather than making a new hire, his duties could potentially be absorbed by third base coach Glenn Hoffman. “We decided to go in a different direction to work with and lead our infielders,” manager Andy Green tells Lin.
  • The Angels will be on the hunt for multiple relievers that can pitch multiple innings this winter, writes MLB.com’s Maria Guaradado. “I believe every bullpen needs at least two guys that can pitch multiple innings,” GM Billy Eppler said this month, per Guardado. “At least two.” Yusmeiro Petit excelled for the Angels in that capacity this year, tossing 91 1/3 innings of 2.76 ERA ball with 10.0 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9. Eppler wouldn’t comment on the possibility of retaining Petit, though it stands to reason based on Eppler’s outspoken interest in players of his skill set and Petit’s success in Anaheim that the team would at least have interest.

NL Notes: Dickey, Finnegan, Puig, Marlins

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The Braves are still waiting to see where the MLB investigation into international signing violations will lead. David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the latest on that situation, though it’s mostly a holding pattern. O’Brien also notes that his expectation is that veteran righty R.A. Dickey will choose to walk away from the game even if the club intends to pick up his $8MM option. Per O’Brien, it “seemed since he last week of the season that [Dickey] was leaning heavily toward retiring.”

More from the National League:

  • Reds southpaw Brandon Finnegan, who made just four starts this season due to trouble in both shoulders, tells MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon that he has “completely” healed and is anticipating a normal offeason and Spring Training. “I’ve got more rotation in my right shoulder than I had before I got hurt,” said Finnegan. “That’s a good thing. I’ll start working out in November and throwing in December. I’ll keep up with my running, and that’s it.” Finnegan twice suffered a strained teres major muscle in his throwing shoulder and also was diagnosed with a torn labrum in his right (non-throwing) shoulder after an off-the-field fall in July. The Reds will be counting on the 24-year-old former first-rounder to come back healthy, alongside righties Anthony DeSclafani and Homer Bailey, to help stabilize the rotation.
  • New Marlins owner Derek Jeter has already trimmed something in the vicinity of fifteen employees, Barry Jackson and Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald report. That includes a few recent scouting and player development cuts, with some other preexisting personnel still unsure whether they’ll be retained. In the post, the Herald duo also make an astute observation about star slugger Giancarlo Stanton: if the team is going to get to a payroll in the $90MM range, it’s all but impossible to hold Stanton (and his $25MM salary) since the team must also already spend $31MM on Edinson Volquez and Wei-Yin Chen. The former will miss the 2018 season while the latter is a major health risk, so those contracts aren’t movable.
  • Scott Miller of Bleacher Report profiles the renaissance of Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig. Sources tell Miller that the relationship between Puig and former skipper Don Mattingly was broken beyond repair,” but it seems a second chance under new manager Dave Roberts has paid dividends for all involved — even if it took some time for that to come to fruition. Puig himself credits a newfound willingness to listen to Roberts and others within the organization, spurred by encouragement from his mother, for his improved performance in 2017.

NL West Notes: Seager, Rockies, Padres

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Dodgers phenom Corey Seager feels “normal-ish”, according to manager Dave Roberts (via an article by Ken Gurnick of MLB.com). Seager was injured while sliding into second base during the game in which the Dodgers clinched the NLDS series victory, and hasn’t done any baseball activity since then. Roberts adds that Seager won’t be traveling with the team to Chicago, though that could change under certain circumstances. Regardless, Seager can’t be added to the NLCS roster at this point unless someone on the current roster gets injured. In that case, the player Seager replaces would be ineligible for the Dodgers’ World Series roster, should the team advance that far. The 23-year old Seager batted .295/.375/.479 with 22 home runs during the regular season, and ranked first among all NL shortstops in fWAR. His situation will certainly be worth monitoring closely.

More from baseball’s NL West division…

  • In a mailbag article for MLB.com, Rockies beat writer Thomas Harding points out that Colorado used only eight total starting pitchers this past season, which was incredibly lucky considering they averaged 12 starters per season from 2011-2016. Seven of those eight starters are set to return in 2018, and while they have youth on their side, Harding wonders how the organization will adapt if their luck with pitcher injuries regresses to the mean. The Rockies playoff hopes for the next few years will rest largely on the health and development of their young starters, including Jon Gray, Jeff Hoffman, Antonio Senzatela, German Marquez and Kyle Freeland.
  • Speaking of mailbag articles for MLB.com, Padres beat writer AJ Cassavell suggests that San Diego’s bullpen-related offseason plans will largely hinge on whether any teams will meet GM A.J. Preller’s asking price on lefty Brad Hand. If Hand is traded, the Padres’ bullpen will likely need a significant overhaul, including some spending on established major leaguers. However, if he isn’t moved and the club is able to retain Craig Stammen, their relief corps may only need a few tweaks for 2018. To say that Hand essentially was the Padres’ bullpen in 2017 isn’t an exaggeration; his 3.89 Win Probability Added (WPA) ranked fourth-best among all relievers in baseball. All other Padres relievers combined for -1.76 WPA, and Stammen was the only other arm in their ’pen to exceed 0.20.

Dodgers Leave Corey Seager Off NLCS Roster

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5:50pm: Seager told reporters on Saturday that he will not play in the NLCS. He’s dealing with “a lot of tightness” in his back and is “not really mobile,” and is “hoping” he’ll be able to return should the Dodgers advance to the World Series. It’s possible Seager will start baseball activities next week (Twitter links via Bill Shaikin and Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times).

4:04pm: Seager received an epidural injection after suffering a lower back sprain, Roberts told reporters (including J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group).  Seager suffered the injury during a slide into second base in the first inning of Game 3 of the NLDS and he “hasn’t hit, hasn’t moved around” in terms of baserunning since, Roberts said.  The shortstop is considered day-to-day for now, and Roberts didn’t rule out the possibility of Seager being added to the roster later in the series (though this would require another player going on the DL and thus subsequently being inactive for the World Series).

1:11pm: Star shortstop Corey Seager wasn’t included on the Dodgers’ 25-man roster for the National League Championship Series, as revealed today when the Dodgers announced their roster.  Los Angeles made two changes from its NLDS roster, with Seager and righty Pedro Baez omitted in favor of outfielder Joc Pederson and utilityman Charlie Culberson.

Seager missed the last two days of team workouts due to a bad back, and the injury is apparently severe enough that the Dodgers didn’t feel comfortable activating him even for a critical playoff series.  Manager Dave Roberts described Seager’s problem as a “muscular issue” to MLB.com’s Joshua Thornton and other reporters yesterday, and while Roberts expressed confidence at the time that Seager would be in the Game 1 lineup, the shortstop’s absence could indicate a turn for the worse, or perhaps just extreme caution on the team’s part.

Seager could still appear in the NLCS if another Dodger were to hit the DL during the best-of-seven set with the Cubs.  Seager also would’ve been ineligible for the World Series if he’d been removed from the NLCS roster due to injury, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register points out on Twitter.  Assuming Seager’s back problems don’t continue, deactivating him now preserves his status for the Fall Classic.

Of course, the Dodgers now face a tougher path to the Series without Seager in the fold.  After winning Rookie Of The Year honors in 2016, Seager enjoyed a big sophomore season, hitting .295/.375/.479 and 22 homers over 613 PA.  These numbers were posted despite battling elbow problems late in the year, and as Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times recently reported, Seager and Dodgers management haven’t always seen eye-to-eye when it comes to playing through pain, as Seager is loath to take time off.

Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez are the likeliest candidates to fill the starting shortstop role throughout the NLCS, with Logan Forsythe and Culberson also possibilities.  Pederson’s inclusion on the roster gives the Dodgers an additional left-handed bat and more outfield depth, which would allow Taylor or Hernandez to move into infield duty.  If Forsythe plays short, Chase Utley could step in at second base, though this scenario would only be deployed with a right-handed pitcher on the mound.

Quick Hits: Twins, Sano, DeSclafani, Mikolas

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The Twins announced a few baseball operations changes on Tuesday, including the hiring of 27-year-old Jeremy Zoll as the team’s new director of minor league operations. Brad Steil, who had previously been the team’s farm director since 2013, will now instead head up the Twins’ pro scouting department. Zoll has spent the past few seasons in the Dodgers organization, most recently holding the title of assistant director of player development. Zoll has also worked as an advance scouting coordinator with the Angels. “We’re really fortunate and excited to have him,” said chief baseball officer Derek Falvey of the newly hired Zoll (link via MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger). “He came in highly recommended from the people he worked with and around. He’ll bring some new ideas into what we’re doing developmentally.”

A bit more from around the league…

  • While it’s been suggested that surgery isn’t expected for Twins slugger Miguel Sano, GM Thad Levine said today that surgery is still an option for the third baseman’s ailing shin (via Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Levine painted surgery as a last resort, however, and said the team will explore other avenues. A decision will be made sooner rather than later though, as the procedure Sano would theoretically require would come with an eight-week recovery, so the Twins understandably don’t want to wait too long before making the call. Whether Sano requires surgery or avoids going under the knife, manager Paul Molitor said today that he doesn’t think Sano needs to play in the Dominican Winter League this year, per Berardino.
  • In some other notable injury news, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets that Reds righty Anthony DeSclafani threw seven innings in an instructional league start today. That could be DeSclafani’s final start of instructional league play, though it’s nonetheless a positive step for a key part of the Cincinnati pitching staff after missing the entire 2017 season. DeSclafani was diagnosed with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament early in the year and was never able to make it back to a Major League mound during the regular season.
  • The Rangers could have interest in right-hander Miles Mikolas as he eyes a return to the Majors after a strong three-year run in Japan, writes T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. (We noted at MLBTR last week that Mikolas was aiming for an MLB comeback.) Limiting walks is high on the Rangers’ wishlist in terms of offseason pitching targets, and Mikolas excelled in that area over his three-year career with the Yomiuri Giants, Sullivan points out. He also notes that the Rangers have had success on the Japanese market in the past under GM Jon Daniels, getting value out of signings such as Colby Lewis, Yu Darvish and Tony Barnette. Obviously, a pursuit of Mikolas would more closely resemble the modest contracts given to Lewis and Barnette than the massive financial commitment that the Rangers spent to acquire Darvish, but Sullivan notes that Texas is likely to explore as many avenues to rotation upgrades as possible this winter. Mikolas’ most recent stint in the Majors came with the Rangers back in 2014.

West Notes: Athletics, Giants, Peacock, Hill, Rockies

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The Athletics have a history of adding veteran starters to eat innings and serve as mentors within otherwise young rotations, and the team will again be looking to add such a pitcher this winter, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes in a look at the starting situations on both Bay Area teams.  “You have to bring in the right guy in that situation.  Not just any veteran or experienced guy can come in and play that role, so we’ll certainly survey the market and be opportunistic,” Oakland GM David Forst said.  As for the Giants, they seem pretty set in the rotation, as they’re counting on better health and/or returns to form from Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija and Matt Moore, with Ty Blach and Chris Stratton competing for the fifth starter’s job.

Here’s more from both the AL and NL West divisions….

  • Improved health, a lower arm slot and an altered slider all led to Brad Peacock’s breakout year, though as recently as this Spring Training, Peacock seemed a longshot to make the Astros roster or even stay in Major League Baseball, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle writes.  “We thought we were going to Japan, honestly,” said Peacock’s wife Stephanie.  Dan Straily’s emergence in 2016 made the Astros hesitant about giving up on another arm, however, and Peacock found a roster spot when Collin McHugh began the year on the DL.  The rest was history — over 132 innings as a starter and a reliever, Peacock posted a 3.00 ERA, 10.98 K/9 and 2.82 K/9 rate.  He’ll make his first postseason appearance today as Houston’s starter in Game 3 of the ALDS.
  • Rich Hill is no stranger to reinvention, and after the curveball that fueled his late-career revival began his fail him early this season, The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh illustrates how Hill moved away from his signature pitch.  Hill began to utilize his fastball to great success, what the southpaw’s heater lacks in speed (89mph), it makes up for with excellent movement. Cutting back on the curveball usage also may have helped Hill avoid the blister problems that plagued him in 2016.  The end result was another strong season for the Dodgers lefty, as Hill posted a 3.32 ERA with 11.01 K/9 over 135 2/3 innings.
  • The Rockies have almost $54MM in payroll coming off the books this winter in the form of Carlos Gonzalez’s salary and over $33MM in “dead money” paid to players no longer on the roster, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes.  Between that large sum and another $24MM being freed up by other impending free agents, Colorado has plenty of cash to spend this winter, though some of those funds could go towards re-signing some of those players, perhaps Greg Holland and Jonathan Lucroy.  Saunders also wonders if the Rockies could look into extensions for Charlie Blackmon, DJ LeMahieu (free agents after 2018) or Nolan Arenado (after 2019).

How They Were Acquired: Los Angeles Dodgers NLDS Roster

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The Dodgers have now taken the NL West for five consecutive seasons. But the current roster wasn’t exactly built with just that in mind. The big-city organization hasn’t won the World Series since way back in 1988.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and GM Farhan Zaidi were looking to construct a powerhouse. At mid-season, they struck a deal to land ace Yu Darvish to an already-loaded rotation. Despite a late-season lull, the team racked up 104 wins.

Here’s how it all came together:

[Related: Los Angeles Dodgers Depth Chart and Payroll Outlook]

Los Angeles will lose some players to the open market at the end of the year, but all were signed to one-year pacts last winter or added over the summer via trade. That means that the core of the club will remain under control — in many cases well into the future. No matter how things turn out this fall, though, there will likely be quite a few interesting opportunities for the always-creative Dodgers front office to pursue over the offseason to come.

NL West Notes: Prieto, Holland, Seager, Giants

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There won’t be any major penalties arising out of the investigation into Diamondbacks coach Ariel Prieto, who was spotted with an Apple Watch during the Wild Card game. The league announced that it has “forensically examined” the watch as well as Prieto’s cell phone, in addition to conducting an interview with the veteran baseball man. With no indication that he improperly used those devices, the league decided upon only undisclosed fines for both Prieto and the team. The funds will be donated to Puerto Rico for hurricane relief efforts.

Here’s more from the NL West:

  • Greg Holland says he hasn’t yet thought at all about whether he’ll return to the Rockies, as Nick Groke of the Denver Post writes. He is seemingly still unhappy with his appearance in the team’s Wild Card loss, which represented a disappointing end to an otherwise quality bounceback season. Holland didn’t quite max out his contract incentives — he needed to finish two more games to earn an extra $2MM — but did tack another $9MM on top of his $6MM base. His mutual option became a $15MM player option along the way, but the expectation remains that Holland will choose instead to enter the open market. While he wasn’t exactly back to his prior form as one of the game’s best relievers, Holland turned in 57 1/3 innings of 3.61 ERA ball with 11.0 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 while pacing the NL with 41 saves. He’ll soon turn 32 and hasn’t regained his prior fastball velocity since his return from Tommy John surgery, but Holland did sustain an outstanding 15.2% swinging-strike rate on the year and ought to draw quite a lot of interest on the open market.
  • As the Dodgers prepare for a tough NLDS challenge, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times looks at the difficult balancing act the team has faced with star shortstop Corey Seager. The club has sought to ensure he doesn’t overwork himself, particularly (but not exclusively) since an elbow issue cropped up. But the youngster says he “like[s] to work” and has not always seen eye to eye with the organization on the matter. You’ll want to read the entire story, which conveys and explores the tension surrounding the issue as the Dodgers look to convert their excellent regular season into postseason glory.
  • Giants president of baseball operations Brian Sabean discusses some of the organization’s young players with Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area on his podcast. It’s an interesting chat for fans that wish to understand how the top brass sees the farm and player development. The veteran executive also touches upon the team’s increasing incorporation of sabermetrics.
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