MLB Week in Review (October 6-12)
There are different levels in the MLB that every team goes through depending on where they are at any point in their lifespan.
Some teams enter a season just looking to get close to .500 at the end of the year while others are looking at the World Series as their goal.
From those two extremes and everything in between, teams are all looking at different goals and where they end up at the end of the year can determine a lot for the future of the team.
Although every team is aiming for the World Series at some point there are teams that are simply looking to make some sort of noise in the league.
Making the postseason is that noise for a number of teams as there are plenty of teams caught right in the middle of the league.
These teams are the ones that are looking for the postseason as their biggest accomplishment with a hope that they can make a deep run.
Most know that the World Series is a bit of a stretch for their group and so they don’t fully expect to make that deep run.
That group of middling teams is also the place where the most change happens as many believe they are good enough to make the postseason but when they don’t things look different the next year.
They hope to make the postseason and those that don’t tend to look to the manager and the general manager to blame their issues on leading to a change.
There are also the teams that make the postseason and consider that the best that they could have done this year.
There is no better example of that this year than the Minnesota Twins who finished last year with 103 losses on the season.
They turned that around in a big way this year as the Twins were able to grab a wild card spot this season in the best turnaround season in the league.
Most postseason teams wouldn’t be happy with just making the postseason as once they are there they have a chance.
For the Twins though making the wild card was exactly what they were looking for and they showed that this week when they gave Paul Molitor an extension.
After guiding his team to one of the best comebacks ever the Twins rewarded their manager by handing him the reigns for the future.
Making the postseason was just what they needed but now their expectations shift as making the postseason alone won’t keep Molitor in his position forever.
Heading into the off-season the Twins are now expected to follow up a wild card berth with another postseason appearance.
Eventually, they will be expected to make a serious run at the World Series and if Molitor can’t continue their progression he will find himself out of a job.
He has this postseason to see an example of what happens when a team doesn’t continue to develop.
The Boston Red Sox were a postseason team just like the Twins but unlike the Twins, the postseason was expected for the Red Sox.
It was clear at the start of the season that the Red Sox were headed to the postseason and that simply making an appearance wasn’t going to do a lot for them.
They needed to make a run through the postseason and to the World Series as the talent on the team was to that point.
They had progressed to a point where winning was the only acceptable outcome and if they fell short someone was going to pay.
That is what happened when the Red Sox lost in the American League Division Series for the second year in a row.
That wasn’t what they were hoping for and so John Farrell lost his job as the Red Sox let him walk away refusing to resign him.
The message was clear and it has been the same in Boston for the better part of this past decade, winning is the only thing that matters in Boston.
No manager will be able to survive the city if they don’t make the postseason and make a real push towards the World Series.
It expresses the difference in teams and their goals as one team made the playoffs but were out in one game an gave their manager an extension while the other made the ALDS and after they were eliminated in four games fired their manager.
That is the case for every team making the postseason and there are still some teams who may make a change if they cannot make it any further in the postseason.
Extra Innings
Protecting Home
It has become a bit of a tradition in certain stadiums as those places with pools often see celebrations involving taking a dip. Arizona is one of those stadiums and it was expected that any big win in Arizona would result in a dive into the pool. It wasn’t just the D-Backs though as other teams love to take the tradition themselves while rubbing salt in the wounds. Arizona was making sure that they weren’t going to be on the receiving end of that celebration when they hired police officers to protect the pool after the Dodgers won their third game and moved on to the NLCS.
No Love at Home
There are certain places that take their baseball a little more seriously than others and New York is one of those places. They may be one of the most hated franchises in the league but they have a fan base that truly knows what’s going on. That was on full display this week when the Yankees fans showed their displeasure with decisions made by manager Joe Girardi. The Yankees manager admitted that he should have challenged a call that could have changed the game and in the next game at home, he was booed for not pulling the trigger proving that the sport is above everything else.
Ausmus to New York
At the end of the season, Terry Collins decided to step down as the manager of the New York Mets with rumours that he was about to be fired. He took over in the front office leaving the Mets to try to find a manager. It seems like are focusing in on Brad Ausmus who was let go by the Detroit Tigers after a bad season last year. The Mets are interesting in him though as they have apparently reached out and have talked with him to cover their empty manager spot.
The Sport Addiction 