Non-Phillies Postseason chat

phillychuck 2025-10-20 02:14:35 UTC #81

Yes, I know. We are losing a lot of WAR if we don’t increase payroll and I don’t think the Dodgers are losing much. It’s somewhat of a crapshoot (injuries, “down” years, etc.), however our projected win total probably won’t be as high as theirs. And full year records aren’t as much of a crapshoot as playoff performance.

I guess I’m trying to say we will have to spend to stay competitive. which I don’t think is controversial. Spend or do a very smart rebuild while getting younger and cheaper.

zambonir 2025-10-20 03:32:40 UTC #82

Can they just cancel Game 7 and take the best of Toronto and Seattle's rosters for one team against the Dodgers?

zambonir 2025-10-20 03:49:51 UTC #83

It's interesting we used to lament how much better the Dodgers were at developing, and while they took advantage of that to acquire a lot of players too, and also won in 2020 with a more homegrown core, most of those guys are gone now and they are almost entirely a product of $ (and deferrals) and Japanese recruiting power. A few exceptions, but Phillies have those too.

Of course the Yankees, Mets, us all up there with the Dodgers already. Mets higher, though I think largely on dead money. After that it's Toronto, Texas, Houston, Braves and Padres over $200M, with only one of those teams getting their money's worth (Cubs are just below that threshold).

phillychuck 2025-10-20 13:21:56 UTC #84

I’m skeptical about any team not in the West (and not named the Yankees) recruiting premier Japanese players. In Philly, the Japanese-American community is not very large, and there are very few (if any) direct flights to Japan from Philly, and those flights would be about 6 hours longer than the flights from LA or Seattle. If the dollar amounts are similar, I think we lose the recruiting war.

zambonir 2025-10-20 13:54:21 UTC #85

Oh, agreed, though it still happens. Mets, Yankees, Rangers, Cubs have all done it. NY teams presumably have more of an advantage marketing-wise too. I'm not sure the distance shouldn't matter that much, it's not like these guys go home during the season (or live where they play MLB otherwise). We have already lost the recruiting war, several times.

But if the Dodgers were unable to sign the Japanese players they just would have signed Soto and Max Fried probably.

Philsmania 2025-10-20 14:13:21 UTC #86

Other than the West Coast, New York and the Rangers (after all, they represent Texas) and maybe Chicago are the only places that really have a shot at these Japanese guys. Yes, in the case of the Dodgers, homegrown players seem to have been the kickstart to this dynasty with ultimately free agents and Japanese imports eventually taking over the core. But still, the Dodgers always have a farm system that's ranked in the top 5-10 in the game. That's why they don't rebuild or retool. They reload.

But yes, it feels like the Mariners and Blue Jays are playing for the right to be the Washington Generals to the Dodgers' Harlem Globetrotters. For people wondering if the layoff might hurt the Dodgers, our 2008 Phillies are the counterpoint to that. The '08 Phillies dispatched with the Dodgers in five games and waited a whole week for the WS to start while the Red Sox took the Rays to seven games giving Tampa Bay only two days off. Phillies, of course, won the WS in five.

zambonir 2025-10-20 15:16:49 UTC #87

As the saying goes, momentum is tomorrow's starting pitcher. The Dodgers have been unhittable pretty much since early September. Opponent BA of .183 and that still included the pen. Finished the month 15-5 after starting it with five straight losses. Two of the five in that later part were to us.

Postseason ERA 2.45, opp BA .173. I hope it's a good WS but they could finish with something like a 13-2 or 13-3 playoff record.

phillychuck 2025-10-20 15:29:21 UTC #88

And they (the Dodgers) could get unlucky and lose, but it would take a lot of regression from their starters.

EastFallowfield 2025-10-20 22:46:29 UTC #89

Phils scored more runs in the 8th inning of Game 3 of the NLDS against LA (5) than the Brewers scored in the entire NLCS (4).

zambonir 2025-10-21 02:50:05 UTC #90

Mariners blew a 3-1 lead, down 4-3 and their closer just allowed his first two base runners of the post-season in the bottom of the 8th.

But wow, he got a line drive double-play! Now it's just a man on third two outs.

bigegypt0417 2025-10-21 02:55:38 UTC #91

Hoffman to close it out...this will hurt.

zambonir 2025-10-21 02:57:23 UTC #92

45 pitches last night. Allowed roughly as many HRs/9 this season as Romano did. He's been good in the postseason.

zambonir 2025-10-21 03:01:47 UTC #93

Well, we can probably watch him blow one against the Dodgers

bigegypt0417 2025-10-21 03:02:51 UTC #94

Julio rodriguez certainly didn't seem to want to get Raleigh up there.

Three bad swings.

BaseballCat 2025-10-21 03:44:24 UTC #95

I think Hoffman has a Phillies tat on his shoulder . I wish him well in the WS!

RolenRules 2025-10-21 07:33:33 UTC #96

I was rooting for the Mariners. So I'm disappointed. Their wait to get to a World Series will extend to next year.

EastFallowfield 2025-10-21 10:50:40 UTC #97

Former Phillies outfielder Buddy Kennedy is a World Series champion.

Two of the three major league teams he played for this year, the Blue Jays and Dodgers, will square off in the 2025 World Series. He’s one of two players, the other being pitcher José Ureña, to play for both pennant-winning clubs this season. He is guaranteed a World Series ring, regardless of the outcome of the Fall Classic.

Kennedy played in two games at the major league level with the Blue Jays and seven games with the Dodgers.

DurhamBull 2025-10-21 12:19:12 UTC #98

In any season, the Phillies are always my first choice of course, but after that I'm good with any fresh faces, especially small(er) market teams. This was a good year for that, with Cincy, Milwaukee, Seattle, and Toronto all being in the mix. I hope the Dodgers lose, but they're a formidable team.

andyb 2025-10-21 13:25:20 UTC #99

Hoffman's stuff has regressed a bit though I guess he is learning to pitch with it. He is still a good pitcher. The stuff just says more durable setup guy now than elite closer. He is the best they have though so he'll be in a bunch of these situations even if the starters pitch all over the place in the games.

3 days rest now so the Dodgers really don't have a rest advantage heading in the series. I guess MLB pads 2 days off before the World Series in case of a rain delay in the LCS and to allow a media day before the series.

zambonir 2025-10-21 14:31:48 UTC #100

I usually root for the NL team and/or the team that eliminated the Phillies but don't feel any need for the Dodgers to win it again to demonstrate the Phillies lost to a good team. My sentimental attachment both the PNW and Canada (I have lived in both) was going to win out either way).