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NLCS Preview: Cardinals vs Giants In A Battle For Decade Supremacy!
It’s all about the Pennants in the LCS Round, The Cards are competing in their 4th straight NLCS, and 9th out of 14 years, while the GIants are in the series for the 3rd time in 5 years, and have never lost a playoff series under head coach Bruce Bochy.
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I am not going to preview this from an analyst angle because our “Lead Podcast Personality” Paul Francis Sullivan ‘AKA Sully’ does a brilliant 20 minute podcast that he does daily, and he has described this matchup beautifully.
I will post the podcast at the end of the article.
Instead, I am looking at this series as a professional handicapper sense.
Opening Odds
STL -135
SF, +115
I have to give the nod to the Giants for value on this one. If you go down the rosters, the St. Louis franchise is a smidge better on the talent level, however how can you bet against San Francisco when they have won 8 straight playoff series from 2010 – 2014.
The Giants have also won 4 of 5 games in this year’s playoff. Read the rest of this entry
Odds To Win The 2014 ALCS + NLCS In The MLB
Camden Yards will see home games in the ALCS for the 1st time since the 1997 season. Buck Showalter has a decisive edge in the managerial department over the Royals skipper Ned Yost. The O’s are the new owners of home field advantage all the way throughout the postseason now, as the top seed left in the American League.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
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The Dog Days Of October
The 4 teams in the League Championship Series were all underdogs in the last round.
When you also factor the Wild Card Games were both won by the Giants and Royals, (both not being the favorite), it marks the 1st 6 rounds of this postseason go to the “Dogs”.
Baltimore defeating the Tigers was probably the least surprising as the other clubs winning against their opponents. Again via a sweep of the 3 straight Cy Young Winners is impressive though.
The Nationals and Cards losing to the Giants and Cardinals had a lot to do with playoff pedigree with the teams moving on, as they handled the pressure better than the two upstart clubs. Read the rest of this entry
How All Of The St. Louis Cardinals Roster Was Acquired: 2014 Season
The Cardinals Roster Tree has been the easiest to do by far. This organization has Drafted so incredibly well, that there has been no real need for trading of late. We will still see how drafting J.D. Drew has turned into Adam Wainwright, and how Albert Pujols signing with the Angels, made for the Cards to select young phenom Michael Wacha. St. Louis is made to their 8th NLCS in the last 13 years, and 4th World Series Appearance in the last 10, with a multitude of young stars coming in the horizon. They are going to be players in the National League for some time to come.
How All Of The Cardinals Were Acquired:
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
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At the MLB Reports, we intend to show you the Roster Tree for the St. Louis Cardinals – and how they assembled their current roster for hitting and Pitching. It will work in a six degrees of separation like format.
Once we figure out the origin of how many trades going back in time it takes to see where the tree started, it will be time to dissect how the team fared on the deals.
If a player has never left the organization at all, the tree will be easy – as it will just be the year they were drafted or signed.
Cards State Of The Union – Fall 2013: John Mozeliak + STL Brass Are Baseball’s Best ‘Rounders’
The Cardinals are the model NL Franchise, having gone to 8 out of the last 13 NLCS Matchups. They also stand to benefit that the highest revenue teams in the MLB like New York, Boston, Los Angles (x2), Detroit, Texas and San Francisco do not reside in their Division. Their team has been run the best in the MLB for over a decade. At a just north of a $115 MIL payroll, they slightly hover over the Reds for highest team salary in the NL Central. if the Cards continue to display “Rounding techniques” in player acquisitions, they will keep contending every year with the other big boys across baseball. When you add the fact that the brass knows how to run a club like the Oakland A’s and Tampa Bays Rays do, but also have money to spend, then you can see how dangerous this organization has been since 2000.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
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What is not to like about this team?
The club has appeared in 4 World Series in the last decade, 8 NLCS series since the turn of the millennium, and now with brilliant drafting and trades, the club is in outstanding position to keep it up for the next decade.
While I hated the fact they recently signed Jhonny Peralta, I understand the move because it was so smart.
This franchise addressed their two top needs this offseason, without surrendering any of their top young Pitching prospects, or even Oscar Taveras for that matter.
Did I also mention that when Carlos Beltran signs somewhere else – the club receives another pick?
Michael Wacha Tosses 8.2 IP Of No – Hit Ball 9/24/13
MLB Playoff Predictions: Who Will Win The 2013 World Series?
Boston will be at a slight offensive advantage at Busch Stadium for Games #3. #4 and #5 – with losing Napoli out of the lineup – if John Farrell decides to have David Ortiz face all of the Cards Right Handed Starting Pitchers. Despite that fact, I can’t ignore the clutch playoff performers that the Boston club have for this series. The Cards team has fought injuries and used their system brilliantly to get this far, but I think they fall just short in the World Series.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The last thing I wanted to be in my 2013 ALCS Prediction was right. I am a New York Yankees fan, but I have to give it up to the Boston Red Sox.
Much like the 2001 New York Yankees made the World Series after 9/11, how could any begrudge the city of Boston having something to rally around like this?
This matchup will feature the winner laying claim to team of the time frame of 2004 – 2013. No one will contest the Yankees were the best team in the MLB from 1996 – 2003.
St. Louis Cardinals Current Roster Tree: How All Of The Team Was Acquired
The Cardinals Roster Tree has been the easiest to do by far. This organization has Drafted so incredibly well, that there has been no real need for trading of late. We will still see how drafting J.D. Drew has turned into Adam Wainwright, and how Albert Pujols signing with the Angels, made for the Cards to select young phenom Michael Wacha. St. Louis is in their 8th NLCS in the last 13 years, with a multitude of young stars coming. They are going to be players in the National League for some time to come.
How All Of The Cardinals Were Acquired:
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @chuckbooth3024
At the MLB Reports, we intend to show you the Roster Tree for the St. Louis Cardinals – and how they assembled their current roster for hitting and Pitching. It will work in a six degrees of separation like format.
Once we figure out the origin of how many trades going back in time it takes to see where the tree started, it will be time to dissect how the team fared on the deals.
If a player has never left the organization at all, the tree will be easy – as it will just be the year they were drafted or signed.
For all of the Rosters, Depth Charts, State of the Unions and Salaries that we do, please visit our dedicated page link here.
Carlos Beltran Steals Game #1 of the 2013 NLCS for the Cards
Who Has Earned Their $ – And Who Has Not: The Top MLB Contracts Of All – Time Part 1 of 10
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Follow @mlbreportsSaturday Aug.10/2013
Mike Piazza has been linked to admission of using PED’s during. his career. This will probably not go down favorably with the BBWAA towards an entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mike Piazza hit 427 HRs in his MLB Career (397 as a Catcher) to go along with a .308 Avg and 1335 RBI. From 1999 – 2005, he signed a 7 YR/$91 MIL deal with the New York Mets after being acquired from the Miami Marlins. He was full value for the franchise, hitting for a 3 Slash Line of .296/.373/.915. In the 7 years of his deal, he blasted 197 HRs and drove in 579 RBI – despite missing half of the 2003 year. He was the most prolific hitting Catcher during the era.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
In doing a recent article about the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays ways of contracts, I thought I would delve into some of the biggest contracts of ALL – Time – in order to dissect them.
I have decided to break the articles up into a 10 part series that will go through the top 53 contracts in the history of the MLB. We are going to count backwards.
Each week for the next 2 months, there will be a post over the weekend with a set of 5 or 6 players.
At the MLB Reports, we are committed to being the best overall payroll/roster/depth chart/state of the union site for each club. Bookmark our page dedicated for keeping track of this here.
Signing high 8 or 9 digit Salaries is a risky business that can cripple a franchise for many years. I mean who wouldn’t want to shed themselves of the biggest Free Agency contracts of late.
I think once we have gone through these all, you will see most of them have not lived up to the value they did – when they first received their deals.
Billy Beane, The A’s Management, The Rays front office and the Braves have been the best run franchises in terms of not making horrendous mistakes.
I have to give the ultimate edge to the A’s and Rays because of B.J. Upton‘s current 5 YR/$75 MIL contract looks to be the worst FA signing ever presently, he fell just short of being in this list.’
Tied for #49 are 5 players, and the 48 th biggest contract belongs to Mike Piazza.
Mike Piazza Post 9/11 HR
Dusty Baker and The San Francisco Giants Just Don’t Mix Well
Tuesday October 23rd, 2012
Jake Dal Porto: The San Francisco Giants and current Reds’ manager Dusty Baker just don’t seem to mix all that well. Baker had a very capable Reds squad just a win away from the NLCS, putting pressure on the Giants to win all of the remaining three games. And they did, doing their best imitation of the comeback kids.
The thing is, the Reds weren’t expected to be on vacation by the end of the second week of October. They were built for a World Series run. They had the pitching, the powerful offense, and air-tight defense all in their favor to make a charge. They didn’t boast the second best record in baseball by accident. This was a team on a mission- a team of destiny.
More simply put, their expectations and the fans’ expectations exceeded a first round departure, especially with a lofty 2-0 lead in their home park. Of course, DustyBaker doesn’t deserve all the blame. He set up his troops to succeed and they didn’t answer the bell at home. It’s that simple, and there really is nothing else he or any other manager could have done differently to alter the outcome of that series. Read the rest of this entry
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