Quote from fenn68 on July 23, 2020, 1:12 pm

Expanded Wild Card format approved for 2020 only. 8 teams per league .... first series would be a 3 games series ... details to come.

Like it ... more interest during the season and more interest in post-season. Added benefit of the extra interest in Sept and Oct may match up with the potential delay of College / Pro football ... and that is good for baseball, sports fans everywhere craving live sports that mean something, and most importantly ME who is desperate for sports.

Quote from fenn68 on July 23, 2020, 1:40 pm

Teams in:

1. 3 Division Winners

2. 3 Division 2nd place finishers

3. 2 Teams in the League with the best record.

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Round 1 .... 3 games ... ALL at the city of the higher seed so still and incentive to secure the best record ... even if no fans in this stands.

Quote from Brian Connelly on July 23, 2020, 2:34 pm

WOW!  This changes everything.   I go from hoping everything breaks Pads way for a 1 game wildcard to EXPECTING our team to make what is now a 3 game playoff series, where-- if no fans in stands--you could almost argue the away teams have an advantage of being in the bunker together without home distractions, and the home teams have the pressure of winning a short series they are "supposed to".  Just popped into my head that if a team were locked into a 5+ seed but had made playoffs with a few games left, they could even "set" their rotation & not worry about who they are facing...

As MLBTR points out, this change dramatically alters the trade market in this weird season in Sellers' favor.  Might be very few true "sellers", but teams needing to unload $ have to be happy about this.  Hard to believe players & owners wouldn't adopt some version of this playoff format next year too; really changes trade calculus.

Padres are well situated for this change with deep pen, maybe underrated top 3 SP, and maybe deepest pool of prospects in their 60-man for possible trades...

 

 

Quote from Ben Davey on July 23, 2020, 9:27 pm

The idea that eight teams make the playoffs IMO hurts the Dodgers and helps the Padres.  In a best of 7 series, as much as I hate to say it, the Dodgers probably win the series 90% of the time.  But in a 3 game series, Dodgers still would be the favorites but probably closer to 60-65%.

For example, last year in the first half (when the Padres were actually trying... grr...) the Padres played a three game and a four game series against LA.  They won the series @LA 3-1 and lost the series @ SD 1-2 (that was the series where Yates got back to back losses, and then Renfroe hit the iconic GS off Jansen)  (Dodgers won all series in the second half)

Quote from Ben Davey on July 23, 2020, 9:29 pm

Also, this really means we are playing for 2nd, which IMO makes the games against Arizona even more important.

Yes, 3rd place can still get in, but with four competitive teams in the NL Central, and four in the East there is no guarantee that the Padres get one of the two other spots.

Quote from fenn68 on July 24, 2020, 6:45 am

IF I understand the "seeding" for the playoffs ... wins will be very important.

1. Top 3 seeds will be the Division Champs (seeded by wins) plus the highest seed picks its opponent from the #5 - #8 seed (at least that is the rumor) ... incentive to keep winning even if the Division is wrapped up.
2. Seeds 4-6 will be the second place teams seeded by wins ...
3. Seeds 7-8 will be the two remaining teams.

A team that is designed to finish in second place gets an advantage if they get seeded 4th ... home field for the first 3 game series and cannot be selected as the opponent by any of the three Division winners. So, 2nd place teams have an incentive to keep winning to the end even if 2nd place is a lock.

Even the teams vying for #7 - #8 are focused on winning to the end ... lest they get bumped by team chasing the #8 spot.

If fans want motivated teams really competing to the end of the season ... having this structure where number of wins is important for seeding should do it.

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We will see but also think that NOT expanding the rosters in September (will stay at 26) will keep the quality of competition up and the game consistent with a "normal" season roster structure.

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Bottomline the league jumps into every game being "a must win elimination game" from opening day in a 60 game slate. We should see some strategies, moves that might not be used in a 162 game season.

 

Quote from Randy Manese on July 24, 2020, 9:55 am

I like the mix of maturity and confidence this team seems to have.  If we can get Hosmer and Myers to work the count more and Hedges to simply bunt with runners on, then I believe others in the line-up will have less pressure on them to carry the offense.  Looking forward to our top 3 starters performing like we think they can and some imaginative use of the other staff to get through games and close-out those in which we grab the early lead.  Can't wait for the season to start!  Go Padres!

Quote from fenn68 on July 24, 2020, 10:18 am

I guess my focus is Grisham - Profar - France/Naylor - Mejia playing at least "average" ML quality to boost what was a bad offense in 2019. Basically neutralize the "black holes" potentially in the offensive line-up. Great if they do better but not relying on them.

Hosmer, Hedges, Myers are probably what they are so don't expect a major change. Have to hope Pham can hit at PETCO but seems to have this history to be "above average".

Machado is the wild card and has to be that "above average" "elite" player they thought they signed to get the offense to the next level. 2019 was just OK but not the production of a $30MM player. He just was not a good hitter at PETCO ... maybe a year after changing leagues and getting used to PETCO will make a difference.

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Maybe too optimistic about the pitching (especially as compared to the rest of the NL/AL West) but Paddack - Lamet - Richards seem a very strong 1-3 and I like Davies more than most based on his 4 years of experience (great away from Miller Park) and with a competitive Brewer team. Bullpen may be the best (or near best) in MLB.

#5 SP may be a question but neither Lucchesi nor Quantrill are incapable of being better than the average #5 among the Padres' competitors.

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So looking good for a playoff run in 2020 with the "new offense" probably the major risk. Machado may be the key.

Quote from MrPadre19 on July 24, 2020, 3:24 pm

So I woke up this morning and spent the entire day waiting for this game to start.

For me that means 9pm!

Come on already!

So I just turned in the Det @ Cin game.

Lead off hitter just walked.

Boyd starting for Detroit.

Am I the only one that thinks this game gets ugly fast?