Season's Over looks at the possibility of the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Dodger meeting in the 2014 NLDS and how the matchup would pan out.

By Mike Corasaniti
Editor-in-Chief

Some consider it the greatest baseball rivalry of all time, even better than that small time Boston-New York thing on the east coast. The two franchises have met an astonishing 2,394 times in their 125-year history, with countless pennant races, division titles, and bragging rights on the line. Even more astonishingly so though, the two franchises have only met in what we now consider to be baseball’s postseason only once: The 1889 World Series, when the then Brooklyn Bridgegrooms defeated the then New York Giants.

Since then, both teams have had long and successful franchise runs while running into the other on every so often. The Dodgers have won six World Series titles (The first of which in Brooklyn) while the Giants have won seven of their own (With only the last two coming in San Francisco). But with both teams once again battling it out for an NL West title, are both teams once again standing in each other’s way of further lining their trophy cases?

A Word on the Dodgers

Los Angeles has one of the best, and highly publicized, problems in the entire league: When Carl Crawford returns from injury, they will have too many outfielders.

Yasiel Puig has only continued to cement himself as one of the best players in the game in right field, Andre Ethier has stayed consistent at the plate and wherever head coach Don Mattingly puts him, and Matt Kemp’s .350 June batting average is making it very hard to think about taking him out of the lineup. But whatever the Dodgers end up doing to shift things around, these three have been a lynchpin behind the Dodgers finally rediscovering what made them so successful in their 92-win campaign last season.

And if these are the things that the Dodgers have to “worry” about in their lineup then they are going to be in pretty good shape, especially considering their starting rotation. Zach Greinke is striking out batters left and right, L.A.’s bullpen is closing out as many games as the best of them, and can you name another team that has thrown two no-hitters this season?

With Clayton Kershaw leading the way and veteran Josh Beckett rounding things out, their rotation is one of the best and hottest right now.

A Word on the Giants

Their current losing streak and 2013 downturn aside, the Giants have been one of the more consistent teams under head coach Bruce Bochy. Their last two NL West and World Series titles came under Bochy, and his team’s four-game division lead – the second highest in the majors – certainly isn’t a bad sign of things to come.

Their pitching staff has had a rough week and then some, but it’s still near the top of the league in team WHIP, opponent’s batting average, and ERA. Thank Madison Bumgarner and the 38-year-old Tim Hudson for keeping the Giants in as many games as they have so far this season, as well as the still-excellent Sergio Romo and his 20 saves through mid-June.

San Francisco’s lineup has still been strong recently as well, which makes their recent skid all the more frustrating. With players like Angel Pagan hitting above .300 and Michael Morse driving in as many runs as he’s been doing, it’s only a matter of time before the Giants start to figure it out again.

Prediction

What makes a playoff prediction between these two teams so difficult is their current contrasting trends. San Francisco, who was baseball’s hottest team by far through the month of May, has showed its pedestrian potential since sweeping the Mets on June 8 while Los Angeles is taking advantage by chipping away at their division deficit as much as it can.

Granted, the Giants are allowed to have a bad stretch, especially considering the 42-21 record they boasted when it began. But how they eventually come out of it will prove whether or not they can handle a young and fully loaded team in the postseason like the 2014 Dodgers. Los Angeles has also proved that it’s current lineup and rotation can handle a postseason series, taking only four games to defeat the very strong Atlanta Braves in the 2013 NLDS. 

So is this make-believe postseason matchup a pure coin flip at the moment? Maybe. But if it is, you have to favor the team that’s hot, has the better pitching staff, and has shown more recently it can do a little damage in October, and right now that team is Los Angeles. Dodgers 3-2 

Season's Over looks at the possibility of the Oakland A’s and Baltimore Orioles meeting in the 2014 ALDS and how the matchup would pan out.

By Mike Corasaniti

If you didn’t hear or see the tensions that flared from Oakland and Baltimore’s three-game series this past weekend then you are most certainly missing out. Not necessarily from the ridiculous Manny Machado-fueled drama, but from the beginning of some commotion brewing between two ball clubs that may be on the verge of getting comfortable among the the American League elite for the next few seasons.

Oakland has the tools to win its third straight divisional title, so the chances these two teams meet in the playoffs currently hinge mostly upon Baltimore and it’s prospects for either usurping Toronto or fighting for a Wild Card spot. Certainly nothing about it is out of the realm of possibility, and certainly nothing about the two teams meeting for a rematch in October would be less than exciting.

A Word on Baltimore

Oakland has been on the cusp of a breakthrough for the past few years now since they once again began looking like divisional contenders. Their Wild Card berth in 2012 was a solid start for this new era of Baltimore baseball, but the O’s would certainly like to take the next step as soon as humanly possible. Whether that next step comes this year or in a few more years when young stars like Manny Machado are a little more developed – and more mature – remains to be seen, but some noise in the playoffs is still very much in the realm of possibility for this year’s club.

They have certainly had their setbacks with pitchers Miguel Gonzalez and Johan Santana (From the minors) sustaining injuries this week, but they’ve seen their share of promise as well. Adam Jones, Nelson Cruz, and Nick Markakis continue to be leading lights in their own ways for an offense that is third in the majors in batting average. Throw in even more depth with the power of Chris Davis and the rising potential of second baseman Jonathan Schoop, and Baltimore’s offense won’t go quiet too often.

The Orioles have crucial meetings with the Red Sox and Blue Jays this coming week, which could very well set the tone for the division in the coming summer months.

A Word on Oakland

How good has Oakland’s offense been? Not only are they the best at scoring runs and getting men on base, but their run differential that has been floating around plus-120 has made their winning style dominant: They are running away with games more than anyone else. 

First baseman Brandon Moss, who has now been integral to Oakland’s offense since arriving three years ago, is heating up at the right time. His three home runs in the past week are helping the A’s continue distance themselves from the second place Angels (Who they begin a three-game set with starting June 9), and his .279 batting average and 53 RBI’s lead the team.

But the source of Oakland’s AL-Best 39 wins have come from the mound much more so than from behind the plate. Scott Kazmir, a sort of paradox for teams over the last few seasons as he’s tried to hone in on his true potential, is coming into his own once again for the A’s. Kazmir’s 2.20 ERA and 7 wins top a pitching staff that leads the majors in ERA, WHIP, and opponents batting average. That’s scary stuff for the AL West.

Prediction

Where Baltimore contender hopes go to die is in it’s pitching staff: It’s not very good right now.

Lefty Wei-Yin Chen’s mediocre 4.13 ERA is an Oriole best, and Ubaldo Jimenez can’t seem to close out games despite tossing a team-leading 66 strikeouts. Numbers like the ones Baltimore pitchers are offering don’t win playoff matchups, but ones like Oakland’s do.

A likely playoff scenario sees the AL-West winning A’s see the Baltimore Orioles after a Wild Card win over the Angels or someone similar, but the Orioles are still a few years out from making a big splash in the playoffs. Whether they can go on the capture their first World Series since 1989 is a mystery, but the A’s, on the other hand, seem like they’re years past they’re due. A matchup against the Orioles in their current state of play may lead to another dramatic encounter, but it would be an easy series for Oakland nonetheless.

Oakland in 4

Season's Over looks at the possibility of the Toronto Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers meeting in the 2014 World Series and how the matchup would pan out.

By Mike Corasaniti

The Milwaukee Brewers and the Toronto Blue Jays have never been considered poster teams for postseason success. 

The Brewers are still one of eight teams in the entire league to have never won a World Series and Toronto hasn’t seen playoff baseball since their second World Series win in 1993.Two hot months of baseball for the respective clubs though have given hope to some weary fan bases.

A Word on Milwaukee

The Brewers have come down to earth a little after starting scorching hot out of the gate to start the season. Their divisional lead over St. Louis sis constantly in flux, but series wins over the Orioles and Cubs have seemingly put the Brewers back on track. Upcoming series against Minnesota and Pittsburgh should only add to the gap their working on in between them and the Cardinals.

But if Milwaukee wants to distance themselves from the role of dark horse and into the contender ranks for 2014, there are few issues they will need to address.

Ryan Braun’s productivity has been a concern for Milwaukee all season. But even battling injury, the Brewers have seen some of his power come back in a major way which is an important and promising sign going forward. Milwaukee’s team batting average hovering around .260 is a good thing, but they’ll need bats like Braun’s to keep it there.

From the mound, the Brewer pitching staff has been nothing but a pleasant surprise so far for Milwaukee. Francisco Rodriguez is looking like the closer he has the potential to be, and Kyle Lohse and his seven wins have become a solid leader for the rotation. If the supporting cast, like the ever-improving Wily Peralta and his 2.73 ERA, can continue to shut down offenses then they could be throwing well into the postseason.

A Word on Toronto

North of the border there is a very different division leading team that has given itself a comfortable division lead after a surprisingly fruitful start.

May was very good to the Blue Jays as Jose Bautista provided his typical productivity from the plate and Edwin Encarnacion exploded for 16 home runs. And with Melky Cabrera on pace to finish the season with more than 200 hits, Toronto’s bats are among the hottest in all of baseball.

If there is anything that could bring down the Blue Jays it’s a lack of depth in their rotation, which is strange to say for a staff that has one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. Mark Buehrle, who at the age of 35 is showing some of the best stuff he’s ever shown, is on pace to start this season’s All-Star Game in Minnesota. If Toronto can find support from more than just Buehrle and a knuckleballer named Dickey it will coast comfortably an AL East title and be able to set it’s sights on a much larger prize.

Prediction

The Brewers are one of the most interesting teams in baseball right now, mostly because they may be the most difficult to figure out. At times they have shown elite stuff and at others they have slumped into a team looking like it could be irrelevant come August.

The Blue Jays on the other hand are looking more like a team who has finally figured out how to get over the hump it has been facing down for the past few promising – but ultimately disappointing – seasons. They are baseball’s hottest team right now, and they are showing that they just may have the depth to keep it going past the end of the season.

Blue Jays in 5