MLB Season Coming Down To the Wire…

Yesterday, I looked at the AL wildcard possibilities; so, today I want to take a peek at the NL race.  The Phillies and the Brewers have won their divisions meaning they are in the playoffs.  The Dodgers lead the Padres by 3 games with 6 games left; these two teams have a 3-game series in LA starting tomorrow.  For the sake of argument, I will make the Dodgers the NL West champions and put the Padres in the wildcard race recognizing that the Dodgers have guaranteed themselves a position in the playoffs no matter what but have not clinched the NL West.  With that stipulation, here are the four teams that will contend for three playoff slots; everyone else in the NL is eliminated from wildcard contention:

1. Padres record = 90-66
2. Mets record = 87-69
3. D-Backs record = 87-70
4. Braves record = 85-71

In addition to the Padres/Dodgers series starting this week, there is another series that will be pivotal.  Starting tomorrow, the Mets will travel to Atlanta to begin a 3-game series with the Braves.  Obviously, a sweep by the Braves would put them ahead of the Mets but then the Braves would need to take on the Royals in the final 3 games of the season and the Royals will be fighting for their own playoff slot in the AL.  Meanwhile, the Mets will close out 2024 with 3 games on the road against the Brewers who have already clinched their playoff slot by winning the NL Central.

• Conclusion:  There will be interesting times in NL baseball this week.

Whilst on the subject of NL baseball, let me turn to a story that has generated plenty of local attention but not nearly as much national attention.  The Washington Nationals sent their All-Star shortstop, CJ Abrams, to their minor league team after the minor league team finished its season.  Essentially, Abrams was banished to the Nats’ Florida Training Facility and manager Dave Martinez said that the decision to send Abrams down had nothing to do with his performance.  Well, if that is even half true, that would mean there is a significant element of “disciplinary action” involved here.

Let me set the stage for those of you who are not in the DC area and may not care enough about the Nats to pay attention to CJ Abrams.  He was part of the deal between the Padres and the Nats that sent Juan Soto to San Diego.  Abrams is only 23 years old, and he has established that he is indeed a major league talent; this year he hit 20 home runs and stole 31 bases.  I am not saying that he is the next coming of Derek Jeter or Cal Ripken, Jr. or Ernie Banks at shortstop, but he has the talent to play at the MLB level.  So, what’s up here?

There was a social media post last week saying that Abrams spent the night after a Nats/Cubs game at a Chicago casino until 8:00 AM and then showed up to play an afternoon game the next day.  After that game, there was a meeting between Abrams, Dave Martinez and Nats’ GM, Mike Rizzo.  Following that meeting, Abrams was sent down to the Florida Training Facility.

Here is the thing about this matter that makes me wonder:

• That punishment seems to be a bit on the draconian side – – unless there have been other behaviors that have resulted in meetings with “management” because said behaviors were deemed to be inappropriate.

Let me say very clearly that I have NO information that would support such a hypothesis.  However, if this were a “first offense” for a 23-year-old All-Star player, I would think that benching him for the final 6 games of a season where the Nats are nowhere near the playoffs would be sufficient as a punishment.  Moreover, if this were a “first offense’, why would Nats’ management risk alienating the mindset of a player who could be a foundation piece for the team’s rebuilding process?

This is a story that will require investigative journalism to unravel because there will not be any candor coming from management or – – probably – – from Abrams any time soon.  It will be a story that provides an overhang for this year’s offseason for the Nats.

One other baseball note today …  Later this week, the Oakland A’s will play their final game in Oakland, CA.  The team will move to Las Vegas – – eventually – – and will play in an updated minor league facility in Sacramento until the new playpen is ready for habitation.  The A’s have been in Oakland since 1968.  This situation has no heroes.

• There is plenty of “evidence” that the A’s owners have wanted to leave Oakland for greener pastures for a while now.
• There is plenty of “evidence” that the city fathers in Oakland held out the possibility of a renovated stadium but not a new one and that the city offers were never going to be close to offers made by alternate venues.
• There is plenty of “evidence” that Oakland fans were not hugely supportive of the team even as sham negotiations between the team and the city ricocheted from point to point.  The A’s were always in the bottom 10% of MLB in home attendance.  [Aside: Since visiting teams get a slice of the home attendance gate, other teams can easily see a move away from a “low support venue” as an issue of self-interest.]
• There is plenty of evidence – – note the lack of quotation marks here – – that the Oakland Coliseum is and has been a substandard facility for more than a few years now.  Forget any other “problems”; the fact that there have been sewage backups (plural) in locker rooms and in dugouts might be sufficient evidence to convince anyone that the stadium could not continue to be the home of the A’s team.

Finally, I’ll close today with these words from Connie Mack – – the former owner of the A’s franchise:

“You’re born with two strikes against you, so don’t take a third one on your own.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………