If I had to bet on anyone, Cleveland is by any objective observation the best team in baseball. I’d want 5-to-1 odds to put money on them, though.
I agree, though I hold out hope the Yanks can slip past them. I’m hoping Francona not setting up his rotation to have Kluber is game one gets talked about as being the mistake that cost them the division series in the end.
This is no problem. The Rockies can easily score 9 or 10 runs with the air in Coors Fi—oh. Right. 
The Indians are the clear favorites, but the Yankees are a dangerous opponent. They’ve gotten throughout the year.
Similarly, the D-Backs are a dangerous team for the Dodgers. They’re familiar with each other and Arizona’s lineup is explosive.
So here are some team lines for Yanks vs Cleveland.
TEAM BA R H HR OBP SLG ERA WHIP BB SO BAA
NYY .262 858 1463 241 .339 .447 3.72 1.21 504 1560 .228
CLE .263 818 1449 212 .339 .449 3.30 1.16 406 1614 .236
The teams are close in hitting but Cleveland has the clear pitching advantage. So a bit more power and a better bullpen vs more speed and a better starting rotation.
ETA: Very bad thing for the Yanks though. Yanks hit worse vs Cleveland than any other team this year.
The funny thing is that Severino gave up fewer runs than the other three starters in the Wild Card round.
I don’t see how Cleveland is faster.
New York is a better offensive team because they hit a few more home runs. Aside from home runs, offensively they are the same team; same on base percentage, nearly identical in batting average, walks, and stolen bases. Cleveland is a WAY better pitching team - the Yankees allowed the second fewest runs of any team in the AL, and Cleveland was 96 runs better than that. There is as much difference between Cleveland and New York than there is between New York and the league average.
That was a fun game though. Every time the Rox looked like they were dead they came pounding back. Hopefully, they wore out the D-bags enough that the Dodgers can make it through.
I’m trying to get tickets for Friday but damn, they’re expensive at about $60 for the nosebleeds.
If we just flipped coins, the odds against any team (now that the wild card games are over) are 7-1. That’s a pretty small difference.
The other day, I looked at tix for a potential Nats/Dodgers matchup in the second round. The cheapest seats started at $220. So I suggest you grab those $60 seats if you can!
In other news, I saw a pretty interesting ESPN article this morning breaking down the playoff teams and their odds going forward against every other team. I like the article except for the fact that they ranked Kluber as the fourth-best pitcher in the playoffs (behind Sale, Kershaw and Scherzer, respectively). That feels like lunacy to me, though I admit I don’t know what metric they’re using. I certainly don’t think that’s reasonable based solely on this season.
I’m actually working on some $70 seats in the outfield but I’ve got to convince my wife that its acceptable use for our quarterly date night. So far I’ve got her down to a complaint that the game won’t end until 1030 at best.
Remind her that you know Dodger fans that won’t have the Friday game START until 10:30PM, so leaving at that time will be a blessing!
That is the main reason I wouldn’t want to live in the Eastern Time zone. Central at least gets things live but they still start too late. Mountain really is the best but Pacific is acceptable. We lose our babysitter at 11 though and I don’t feel like dropping $200 to leave early so now we’re talking about taking a 2-year-old to the game on Saturday, at least she gets in free.
Yeah, but the Nats are worth it!
Oh, sure. If measured on a per-postseason-victory basis. 
Seriously, I am rooting for the Nats in the first round in the hopes that the Dodgers will come to me for the NLCS. It would be my best chance for seeing them in person in a playoff game. Otherwise, I’d have to hope for them playing the Yankees in the World Series, which is not really a scenario I’m in favor of.
Of course, neither silenus nor NAF1138 have acknowledged the World Series Dodger Dog they both owe me, so perhaps I’ll just have to head out to LA for a game.
Five to one is a significant advantage over 7-to-1 is baseball.
If we were down to the final eight in the NBA, I would cheerfully make 3-to-1 bets on my favourite. Basketball is like that. But in baseball, how often does the best team during the regular season win the World Series? It did happen last year - I think the Cubs were legitimately the best team in the regular season. But it usually doesn’t happen, no matter what measure you use.
Speaking of interesting news, MLB isinvestigating the Diamonbacks over a wristwatch their coach was using during last night’s game. MLB of course forbids the use of electronic devices in the dugout as the Red Sox will attest.
Would love to see Arizona disciplined prior to the start of our series. Either way, my guess is there at least won’t be any wristwatch wearing now.
So Jose Altuve is a baseball player, I hear.
“I’m pretty good!”