NL Wildcard; Surprising Teams Making a Push

Two teams that made the Playoffs in 2011 are making a surprising surge for the second Wild Card spot. 

Don't look now but the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers are both sitting at 72-71 and find themselves 3 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for that, new, second Wild Card spot. The Phillies have won 7 straight and 8 of 10 while the Brewers have won 3 straight and 7 of 10.

Both teams appeared to be an afterthought this season after they both won their respective divisions in 2011 (they both lost to the eventual World Champion Cardinals). On August 1st the Brewers were 11 games back of the Wild Card while the Phillies were 12 games back.

Now here we are on September 13th and both teams enter play with a realistic shot to advance to the one game playoff for the right to enter the NLDS. But can they do it?

Never mind that. Here's the real interesting story.

Bud Selig has accomplished exactly what he set out to do and that's create more playoff excitement in more cities for a longer period of time. If there was only the one Wild Card spot available the Atlanta Braves would hold it and have an 8.5 game lead over both teams with 19 games to play. It seems as though that lead would be a little bit more difficult to overcome at this point. So give Bud some credit there. Fans in Milwaukee and Philadelphia are getting a little September magic and even if their teams fall short of the Wild Card it's certainly more interesting to watch when there's something on the line (never mind the fact that both teams have been under .500 for the majority of the season and are still just .500 clubs now).

Here's my quarrel with the whole situation - and has always been my worry ever since the second Wild Card was announced - suppose the Phillies or Brewers do win that second spot and end up beating the Braves in the one gamer. Then what have we learned? Aside from the fact that MLB has created an artificially dramatic one game playoff in an effort to recapture the magical end to the 2011 season it is rewarding mediocrity. A one game playoff is an absolute crapshoot. The Braves who have been the far superior team all season long now have to face an added, inferior, obstacle in order to advance to the playoffs. Yet it is entirely possible that they could lose.

It seems to me that this system is in theory a great idea but in practice is problematic.

If you look at the AL it is working like a dream. Two games separate the Orioles/Yankees and leading A's. Out of those teams it's likely one will win the AL East and the other two will take the Wild Card spots. Fantastic. Both teams deserve to there they've had great seasons. In the old system one would obviously miss the playoffs in an heartbreaking end to their season. At least now they'll have one final shot to really make the playoffs. That's the good.

On the NL side you could potentially have a 90 win team (the Braves) facing off against a team that's floating around the .500 mark. The Braves clearly deserve to be in the playoffs. The team floating around the .500 mark, um, not so much. Yet here we are with the realistic possibility that the Braves could find themselves on the outside looking in at a team that should never even come close to making the playoffs but did because of the added Wild Card. To me, that's the bad.

I want the best teams in the playoffs. I want a team that's grinded out the best record over the 162 game schedule (or at least the second best record if we're talking Wild Card). Otherwise what's the point of the season? I don't want the team that had a great run in the final two weeks and just pushed their record above .500. Despite that they're still a mediocre team at best.

If we just want a dramatic finish let's just forget the whole season and just pit every team against each other in an NCAA March Madness style playoff.

The 162 game schedule is in place to weed out the pretenders from the true contenders, is it not? I guess not anymore.

In theory the added Wild Card is a fantastic way to allow more franchises an opportunity to compete and offers fans exciting, meaningful and quality baseball until the very end. In practice it rewards the undeserving and does little more than provide additional revenue.

Five Players Who Should Be Traded ...

... But (likely) won't be.

With 13 days before the 2012 Trade Deadline here are five guys that could/should/would benefit from being traded by their current clubs. That or they should be traded for the sheer fact that they no longer fit on their current roster. In no particular order.

Mariners RF Ichiro

The Mariners are not going to be contending for a World Series any time soon. Ichiro isn't the same dynamic player he once was. A trade to a contender in hopes of a World Series ring is a chance that Ichiro deserves. He's done a lot for the game since arriving in Seattle in 2001 and even though seeing him don another uniform would be weird at first it'd feel oh so right if it got him a ring.

Rays SP James Shields

Trading James Shields makes sense for the Rays for two reasons: first he's under conrol until 2014 (unlike many other SP available) and second he could bring a lot in return to a team that needs offense. Shields is a proven competitor that's been pitching in the tough AL East for years now. He's due $9 million with a $1.5 million buyout in 2013 and $12 mil ($1 mil buyout) for 2014. For those teams that aren't willing to trade top prospects for a half season rental player he's an attractive option. The Rays also have Wade Davis sitting the in pen. Davis made 29 starts in each of 2010 and 2011 before being forced to the pen this season. He could slot right into the rotation to replace Shields.

Rockies 1B Todd Helton

 Just like Ichiro before him Helton deserves another shot at a World Series Ring. He hasn't been the same player he once was since 2005 and has been declining ever since. He's going to be 40 next season and his career is winding down. Surely some contender would be interested in his services, potentially as a DH. He is currently on the DL but that doesn't stop him from being traded. What does is Helton's willingness to leave the only organization he's played for.

Phillies SP Roy Halladay

Halladay just returned from the DL on Tuesday and pitched 5 innings in a win over the Dodgers. The Phillies should try to trade Halladay and not trade Cole Hamels. The money freed up from Halladay being trade could be used to re-sign Hamels. Halladay won't bring as much back in return because of his age (35) but he does have two more years (at $20 mil a season) left on his deal. The Phillies are an old team that need to reload. Trading Hamels and keeping Halladay doesn't make much sense to me unless they're sure they can't re-sign Hamels.

Red Sox SP Josh Beckett

Beckett needs to go. Boston needs an ace and Beckett just isn't that guy. He's not a particularly consistent pitcher. He does make a lot of trips to the DL and he's owed a lot of money ($31.5 million through 2014). However with so many teams in contention for the playoffs there's someone out there willing to trade for a guy with two World Series rings. The Red Sox are looking for pitching help themselves so it seems counter intuitive to trade Beckett but a change of scenery could be good for both parties. At 32 Beckett is a younger option than Roy Halladay and comes slightly cheaper.


I'd be a little surprised if any of these five guys were actually traded by their respective teams. But if they do get traded it'll make a lot of sense.