Braves Are Third In ESPN’s Power Rankings
August 20, 2012 at 11:57 am by Ben Duronio under Atlanta Braves
The Braves came in at third for ESPN’s power rankings today. The only teams ahead of them also play in the NL, the Nationals and Reds. I do the SI rankings and I believe the Braves came in at 8th if I remember from what I did last night. Something around there either way.
Here’s Franklin’s quote from the article if you don’t feel like going to the rankings:
After addressing the pitching rotation, the Braves now find themselves occasionally struggling to score runs, scoring zero, one and two runs in their three losses over the last week (a period in which they went 4-3). Chipper Jones continues to be the best hitter on the team in his farewell season, boasting an incredible 147 wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created plus).
Bill from The Score had a good article on the new wildcard spot and how its looking this year. Particularly, he wanted to note how this season, it sucks for the Braves.
2. It sucks to be the Braves. My biggest criticism of the system is that it seems to me that the single most important thing it does is unfairly punish a team that does run away with the #1 wild card. The clearest example of this system being horribly unfair is the 2001 American League. The 2001 Athletics finished the season 102-60, the second-best team in the American League, seven games better than the third-best Yankees. They just happened to play in the same division as the 116-win Mariners, though, which left them with the wild card. Hadthis system been in place, they would have had to play a single game for their playoff lives against the 85-77 Twins. The A’s were seventeen games better than the Twins over the course of the season, yet the two teams would get basically identical chances to move on.
These Braves aren’t those A’s, but it’s set up to be a similarly rotten deal. BPro’s simulations have the Braves averaging out to 93.5 wins, four and a half behind the Nationals, but just 2.2 behind the Central-winning Reds for the second-best record in the NL, and more than four better than the fourth-best (a tie between the Cardinals and Dodgers). They could easily emerge as the second-best team in the league, right behind the Nats. It doesn’t matter, though; they’ll still have to play just one game against the plainly inferior Dodgers or Cardinals or Pirates or Giants, just because the #1 team happens to play in the same division. The system (even more than the old wild card system, with which I had that and other problems) arbitrarily doles out rewards and punishments based on nothing but geography. That struck me as really dumb back in November, and apparently it still does.
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I KNOW that a number of fine individuals here have spelled out the benefits of the new wild card system, and I KNOW that I’d be singing a different tune if the Braves were the “lesser” of the play-in teams and they won the new wild card game, but I seriously hate this new format SO MUCH.
Great, teams are supposed to put in more effort to win their division, but when did teams stop trying to do so before this new format. This way punishes a very good team, and if a so-so team like the Pirates beat a LEGIT WS contender like the Braves and ends it all, I can’t imagine how that would help the league when the Pirates would most likely get curb stomped by the Nats.
tl;dr, this new system blows.
the new system is fine. were on the crap end of it, but honestly, winning the division should be the most important and clearly this shows how important it is. The fact is, the nationals are beating the teams that they are supposed too and the braves are giving some of those away.
Braves need to prove they deserve an end of season run and win this 3 game series with the nats and put some pressure on them.
If you don’t want to play in the play in game win the division. Wild card teams have had in easy for years being treated basically equal to division champs. If people want a situation where only the best teams are in then would have to do away with divisions and just be a 15 team league.
Well it’s easy to say that, but don’t you think the Braves are trying to and win their division? Don’t you think the Giants, Cards and Pirates are trying as well?
I think saying, “Try harder to win your division if you don’t want the wild card spit” is pointless because no one goes into the season with the notion to just win the wild card. Every team, especially contending ones, always want to win their division. Even though wild cards have gone on to succeed, they haven’t had it easy due to the better competition they faced in the playoffs.
No duh everyone tries to win the division and that’s the way its should be. And every team in the playoffs is good so every team played a similarily difficult playoff series. Wild cards even got a break say we would get the Reds instead of the Nats in the first round. My main poin is if there are going to be divisions you must reward division winners, if you just want the best teams get rid of the divisions and have one league.
I have no problem with the wild cards having to play in. My gripe, as has been since the format was announced, is that it a one game playoff. The whole season of baseball is based on series. I think it should be a 3 game series to decide it.
I think they’re going to have a 3-game play-in series starting next year. The scheduling didn’t work out for this season.
Cut the season to 150 maybe even 146 games, add 2 more expansion teams (OKC, Portland Ore, ABQ etc..), put everyone in one 15 team division, top 8 make playoffs play it out 5-7-7-7. Its the best system in sports right now. Current standings would put the Braves as the 3 seed playing San Fran. This way the Pirates and Braves don’t get screwed for being better than LA and SF.
Oh wait, baseball won’t do that. too drastic….tradition blah blah blah blah….
meant two 15 team divisions 1 in each leagues…no interleague play….hate interleague.
If you add 2 teams you get 16 in each league and not sure baseball could support expansion. I would like it but I don’t see it happening.
I’d have less of a problem with this system (though the play-in should be more than 1 game given the randomness of baseball) if they unbalanced the schedules.
Joe S talked about this a little yesterday – the Pirates and Cards have multiple series left each against the Cubs and Astros, the former of whom are complete shit and the latter of whom may be historically bad. The Giants and Dodgers get to play lots of games against the Padres who have a AAA offense and the Rockies who have AAA (maybe) pitching. Meanwhile the “lesser” teams in the East are the Phils who still have three pitchers who could throw a no hitter on any day and the Marlins who despite being drama queens still have some talent.
Bottom line – division winners should get preference but if the rest of the league fights for the last spot then let them play the same schedule.
I think what the quote was trying to get at was that teams are rewarded (or not) based on nothing but geography. I don’t get it either, the idea of a “east” or “west” division is plainly absurd. The NL central has SIX teams this year, while the AL west has only four. Yes I know the Astros and Cubs stank but what about seasons when they don’t? What happens when you have three legit teams who all deserve to make it from one division yet because another team is located on the West Coast they get to win their division with a lesser record? That’s ridiculous. If Selig wants to do it right, scrap the divisions and take the top (four, five, whatever) teams based on record alone from each league. This well never happen however, probably because there is some money in the system that makes it more profitable to keep the division set-up the way it is. It’s the same reason college football took forever to get it right. But yeah if we’re gonna have this new two wild-card thing at least have a three game series between the four and five.
If we weren’t 4-8 against the Nats this year we wouldn’t be in this mess. If we lose this series and drop out of contention then there really shouldn’t be anything to complain about.
Proposal: The two wild card teams have a 19-inning play-in game.
I agree with the “geography” comment. It’s an archaic holdover from when teams had to travel by train. And a 1 game series? Baseball is so screwed up in so many ways. What other sport plays so many games in a year and still doesn’t have every team play every other one at least once? It boggles the mind.
Get rid of divisions. Play a damn balanced schedule – trim some games if needed, the season is too long and hard on players as is. Then take the top 4 teams from each league and have the playoffs.