Fin de Siecle

 

It's very simple. Sixto Sanchez made the Marlins a contender last year. A season without them made them bottom feeders once more.

It's honestly kind of depressing. You'd think that brilliant seasons from young players like Zach Thompson, Sandy Alcantara, Trevor Rogers and Jazz Chisholm would make them more of a factor, but it really didn't. The whole season they were sort of bobbing between 4th and last along with the Nationals. Even teams like the Phillies and Mets had more going on than them. Which is kinda sad considering the playoff run last year.

Looking at the backbone of this team, I'm honestly kind of saddened. Brian Anderson, Lewis Brinson, Jorge Alfaro, Jon Berti, Garrett Cooper and Magneuris Sierra, who all were crucial pieces in 2020, all had disappointing seasons. Anderson looked damn near elite last year, and this season he's not even batting .250. A lot of the people who looked like they'd have big roles this year, like Isan Diaz, Monte Harrison, Nick Niedert and Braxton Garrett, either succumbed to bad luck or struggled. And even when there are people like Pablo Lopez, Miguel Rojas and Sandy Alcantara doing well and performing to standard, it doesn't mean as much when the rest of the team is letting you down. A lot of this team felt workable and foundational last year, and now I worry that this team is gonna have to start over again at a lot of positions.

The good news is that Jesus Sanchez has hit 10 homers in 50 games, Bryan de la Cruz has a .336 average in 41 games, and Edward Cabrera is only 23 and can work out his struggles this year over time. But while this is a very young and controllable team, the biggest piece, Miguel Rojas, has an option that may or may not be picked up after this season. If he goes, yes the team will be fine, but the struggle will be finding another person on this team who can carry the lineup like Rojas did without getting hurt or cold too easily. And that may not come easily. Maybe it'll be someone as easy as Brian Anderson or Jesus Sanchez, but...I'm not certain about either of those guys yet.

We're very close to being back at square one with this Marlins team again. And I hate that. But this is the risk you run.

Coming Tonight: I'm giving this guy a custom cause he's been injured most of the year, but he's healthy now and has only played amazingly this year. 

Jays of our Lives

 

In a version of 2021 where Shohei Ohtani didn't exist, the Blue Jays would be winning a Cy Young and an MVP in the same season. But they're not getting the MVP, and Robbie Ray's Cy Young win isn't set in stone yet.

And right now...even with the surge, they're still not 100% lock for the playoffs. The two wild card spots are going to come down to one of the three AL East contenders, and since the gap has narrowed between them, they've all been bobbing around and taking spots. The Jays have been ahead, oh wait here come the Red Sox, oh now the Yankees are back. The stalemate that the season sort of opened with has reemerged in the most crucial part of the season. And now, it's going to be an all out fight to the finish.

The way this is going to work, the AL East is essentially going to devour itself in order to see who plays either the White Sox or Astros in the ALCS. First the three contenders fight for two spots in a one-game elimination, the the winner of that plays the Rays. It's a game of snake, only instead of getting longer the more it goes, it gets shorter, to the point where the AL East is essentially going to be its own large bracket this year.

This of course only works if the Mariners and A's don't make the last spot, but...as of right now, that's looking very likely. 

The Blue Jays' playoff case has grown exponentially in the last few weeks. They have the roster flexibility and depth the entire time, but now they have the momentum. Now guys like Lourdes Gurriel, George Springer and Alejandro Kirk are snapping into place and having strong seasons. Gurriel was quiet for most of the year but now has a 2.8 WAR with 19 homers and 80 RBIs, becoming the sixth member of the team with 80 RBIs, alongside Guerrero, Semien, Hernandez, Bichette and Randal Grichuk for some reason. Steven Matz is actually having a halfway decent season, with 12 wins and a 3.87 ERA. Ryu, Ray and Manoah are all stellar arms. And Berrios has been pretty sharp in 8 starts so far.

While the Red Sox would do better in a Rays series, and the Yankees would do better in a wild card game, the Blue Jays cannot be counted out, because once they catch fire, they are unstoppable. And once again, like in 2015 and 2016, they have caught fire, and it's going to take a shit-ton of Rays to put them out. 

As depressing as an Astros-Rays ALCS or a Red Sox-Astros ALCS would be...Jays-Astros would also not be particularly great for me either. So uh...either the Yankees pull things together or, uh....go White Sox!

Coming Tomorrow- A man who was traded for J.T. Realmuto, and somehow it got worse.

Triumph of the Grande Box: The Yankees

 

Yes. There were a lot of Yankees in Nachos Grande's breakers club box that arrived last week. Lots. And lots. Of Yankees.

Not that I was complaining. I'd signed up for them in multiple group breaks, ranging from base cards from current products to cards from 90s and 00s products I wasn't familiar with. Honestly, it was a chance to just fill a lot of holes in my collection, and this mega-box certainly did that.

I mean, first and foremost, it did allow me to add some much loved short-lived yankees to my collection. Like this Tim Raines as a Yankee issue that I did not have.

One of those fringe Yankees I like collecting is Robin Ventura, even going back to his White Sox days. I managed 2 Yankee RV's, even if one was technically a Met. There's another one coming in tomorrow's post, too.

I always enjoy pulling cards of Wade Boggs on the Yankees, cause...hey, great player, great career. I find it interesting that the logo on the Leaf Preferred card is in the same place as it is on the 97 Leaf card. 

Two guys I figured I'd see more of here, but not complaining. Any Chien Ming Wang card is a success.

With the glut of 2021 products, there were some current Yankees, including these two, always welcome. 

Also a great deal of Gleybers. I'm not completely over him yet, so it's nice to fill up. Also, 2021 Gypsy Queen is...a set. Are they even still allowed to call it that anymore? Where's Eisner's excuse there?

These two, who had very big 2021s, were also all over this box. LeMahieu not only appeared in a throw-in Bowman Platinum hanger, which...all those sets are new to me, I never go there, but...

I also pulled a cool Aficionado insert of DJ from this year's Diamond Kings, which is also pretty new to me. Kinda the same as the last few, but that's Panini for you.

Clarke Schmidt may have been the surprise hero of this box, for reasons I'll mostly get into tomorrow. For a guy who hasn't pitched in the majors this year, he was all over 2021 products. 

Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of Gerrit Cole here as well. I think a lot of people have forgiven him for the tack thing, and I think it's cool to like him again. That said, if Robbie Ray could have one bad start so we could finally give this bad boy a Cy Young, that'd be great.

This also came from a 2021 Heritage box. Don't mind this comparison at all, though Gerrit looks a little bummed in his photo. 

Of course #99 showed up too, not only in base cards, including a short print from 2021 Donruss...

But this....very weird coin from something called 2018 Baseball Treasure, which confused even Chris. It's just...an Aaron Judge coin. Cool. Don't know how to use this in my collection, but cool beans.

The newer projects also had some retired players. Good to see Mickey Mantle back on cards, even if Topps has him again now. That Mattingly from Playoff Portraits is also a nice one.

Babe Ruth made a few appearances, not only in an Opening Day insert, but in another 2021 Donruss short print. How very odd.

These two were the best legends inserts. The Mick came from 1997 Gallery, that one's awesome. And the Gehrig came from 2021 DK, and it's also pretty cool, especially in the design.

Alright...let's get to some of those Championship Yanks that showed up a great deal in this box...

-Andy Pettitte. Unsurprisingly, a lot of him in here, including 2 different ones from 1997 Leaf. My favorite might be the 1998 Pacific Online one. Spring Training uniform there.

-Jorge Posada. An underrated member of these teams. I think my favorite here is the Fleer focus Jersey edition one. Full wingspan of Jorge.

-Mariano Rivera. Was expecting a few more, but these were all worthy and necessary. How cool is that Topps Ten one. Proudly proclaiming he's the best closer in baseball.

-Mike Mussina. There were a few more not pictured, but Moose was well represented. 

-Alfonso Soriano. I was surprised at how many Sorianos we pulled, but...then again I shouldn't be. Soriano was a huge rookie in 2000, and had some huge seasons before the A-Rod deal. So of course he's here. A few of these like the Victory, and the Crown Royale and Vanguard ones, are rookie cards.

This die-cut from Topps 10 was an added bonus. Kinda like the Sabathia.

-Bernie Williams. Well, 90s and 00s boxes, so of course. Plus, I'm building my Bernie collection back up, so I'll take whatever I can get. The moment in time on the 1997 Leaf one is great, as is the 2000 Fleer Showcase one.

Some Pacific inserts. The return of those High Voltage Vanguard inserts. A base card from Pacific Invincible. A checklist from 1998 Pacific Online. And a Pennant Fever insert from 2000 Pacific Aurora. If anything, these breaks made me appreciate Pacific's heyday. 

Of course...the winner, by no slim margin...

Yep. The Captain himself, the week of his induction.

THIS BOX HAD TONS OF JETERS. The majority of them were new to me and are going into my collection. Man, these are great! The Aurora one feels classic. All the Leaf ones feel iconic, especially the bottom middle. 

EVEN MORE. That 1997 Gallery one looks great. The Showcase scans well. It's just all awesome.

Some inserts. Top is all Pacific, as is bottom right, from Invincible. There's a Scrapbook insert from Triple Crown and a Big Play insert from Victory. And man does Jeter look good on that High Voltage.

And finally, we've got a pinstripe short print of Jeter's 2000 Aurora card, and a Final Answer insert, that surprisingly doesn't scan well, from 2000 Fleer Showcase, complete with trivia questions on the back. Just really cool stuff all around, and a lot for my Yanks collection.

Tomorrow...you get to see the hits. 

Snells Like Teen Spirit

 

It's looking like the last NL Wild Card spot is going to come down to the Reds and the Padres. Two teams that made the playoffs last year. One got extremely far and went toe-to-toe with the Dodgers, only losing by a slim margin. The other didn't last long at all but still made themselves known.

And while the Cardinals and Phillies could still find themselves in there...the Padres still have the best case of anybody to take on the Dodgers, I think. Unlike the Reds, Phillies and Cardinals, I do see the Padres beating the Dodgers in a one-game playoff. Pitch Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish or Blake Snell and see what happens.

I just look at this lineup, and it still feels like a playoff team. Machado, Tatis, Cronenworth, Hosmer, Grisham, Kim and Pham are all having excellent seasons. Tatis has even gotten over an injury and a position change and he's still playing really well. Frazier and Marisnick haven't been perfect but still have had some nice moments. There's amazing power numbers AND contact numbers. This is a team that can do so many things without being even the top team in the division.

I do worry about the second half downturn of people like Yu Darvish, Ryan Weathers or Dinelson Lamet, and the fact that...as of right now, the Padres' rotation isn't as strong as it has been all year. And the lower ERAs are the result of the sort of slope the team has taken since the end of the first half. On the other side, Blake Snell has improved greatly in the second half, has had some very nice starts, including a near-hitless outing that was fouled up by the bullpen, and is looking more like his Tampa self as we go on. Snell could be a huge player in a playoff scenario, as could Darvish and Musgrove. 

It just takes holding onto this stretch, fending off the Reds, and proving that they have what it takes to take on the Dodgers. Because it's a game that both everyone wants to play and no one wants to play, because for most teams it's a definite loss. But the Padres have enough to convince me that they can overthrow the alpha and take it further. It's not definite, but they have a chance, in my eyes.

Coming Tonight: An outfielder fighting to join his older brother in the playoffs. 

Time of the Ancient Mariners?

 The Seattle Mariners have better playoff chances than the Philadelphia Phillies and Oakland Athletics, who were at different points this season division leaders. The MARINERS are 2 games behind a wild card spot, and potentially ending their playoff drought. The Mariners are the closest competitor to the current wild card spot holders. 

I just...can't believe it's the same Mariners who seemed to be dead on arrival a few months back.

The big takeaway is that the power bats, like Kyle Seager, Mitch Haniger and Ty France, came to play. Haniger and Seager had 30-homer years. Even the guys who didn't hit for average, like Dylan Moore, Tom Murphy and, yes, Jarred Kelenic, still had decent power numbers and had some big moments throughout [Murphy had one or two walk-off highlights this year]. While there have been great contact players on this team, especially J.P. Crawford and Abraham Toro, the power hitters lifted this team on a number of levels, and have made them the contender they are right now.

The pitching has also made huge strides forwards, even without Justin Dunn or Nick Margevicius. Yusei Kikuchi, Marco Gonzales and Chris Flexen have had strong, commanding seasons. New addition Tyler Anderson has been a wise choice for extra man, and has pulled even better numbers than he did in Pittsburgh, with a 3.83 era and 34 Ks in 8 starts so far. And while Logan Gilbert has had some shaky moments in his rookie season, his 115 strikeouts are still a good sign of things to come. And even without Kendall Graveman, Drew Steckenrider and Paul Sewald have combined for an excellent ninth inning platoon, with excellent seasons from both. 

This team has come a long way from where we all thought it would be, and even if they don't make the postseason, they should be very proud of how far they've come. Plus, now they finally have a good foundation to build a potential competitor off of.

Coming Tomorrow- Is anybody gonna remove him early again after last season? Maybe.

Triumph of the Grande Box: The Phillies

 

One of the first breakers clubs that Chris from Nachos Grande did, I was a bit hesitant to go in, and I think during my hesitance somebody claimed the Yankees. So, for that, I claimed the other team I root for, those lovable but doomed Philadelphia Phillies. The subsequent breaks another regular would beat me to the Phils, so I'd take the Yanks. You'll see my results from that team soon enough. 

But...I did actually get a lot from the Phils, despite there being shockingly no hits in their direction during this break. For instance, as much as I love 1995 Donruss, I somehow had yet to grab Darren Daulton's card from it. Here it is now.

While there were a lot of great Phillies that I collect, somehow these two favorites of mine were limited to one card apiece. No matter, I'll take either. Kind of criminal I didn't have that 2003 Authentix J-Rol anyway.

There were a lot of Hoskinses though. That Gallery one is a bonafide Rhys rookie, which I'm certainly not gonna complain about,

This one, out of a bonus pack of 2006 Upper Deck, was pretty cool- a rare Carlos Ruiz rookie, one that I somehow did not have before this. Very cool stuff. 

The cool stuff came on coming. Not only did I get much-maligned sophomore Alec Bohm's Topps rookie, I also got the hobby-exclusive 86-shiny card, which is pretty awesome. 

There was also some Nola love, rounding out the newer Phils. All of these are from 2019 Donruss. The DK is a cool one, but the base card on the left is a BASE VARIATION SP. Very cool!

Heading into the legacy Phils, these three Burrell's were all new to me. It's also nice to see stuff from 2004 Leaf, which you don't see very often at all. 

And yes, there were also some Phillies Thomes as well. The Authentix one is a little, uh, inauthentic, but the Absolute Memorabilia one makes up for it. 

This 2004 Leaf Thome was a Passing Through Time insert, so just like the Big Unit from the other day...

...his 1994 Leaf issue is on the back.

Obviously one of the stars was Bobby Abreu, and there were a lot of nice ones of him here, all new to me. Also a lot of sets that were new to me, like 2004 Playoff Honors and 2000 Pacific Private Stock

Scott Rolen was the big Phils winner though, with a lot of cards across his legendary tenure in Philly. The 206 one is a thicker card, and the Gold Label is a Class 1. Also...1998 Pacific Online is underrated. 

Both of these were cards from 1999 Topps Tek, the herculean mega-set that's better to just have a few cards of than try and collect. These commemorate Rolen's rookie year and team name. Cool stuff. 

This Gold Label Rolen was a Class 2, and I did not have this one. Very cool.

And finally, the Leaf box had a very nice MVP Winners insert of Mike Schmidt. Not numbered, but a very cool Michael Jack, and a great legends card for me.

Tomorrow...get ready for a lot of Yankees. 

The Cardinals Have a Shot, or Please, Think of the Children

 

The NL Wild Card Race...is still very much a moving item right now, mostly because a number of losing and winning streaks have lined up together. So even if there's one wild card spot that's very much reserved for the Dodgers...the last one has become a five-team free for all.

Granted, the two contenders that have been there all season, the Padres and Reds, are still there and leading, and currently tied for the spot. But the Phillies and Mets have caught up, and also...a team that was counted out a little while ago is now one game behind the two leaders. 

And because it's September, and I'm never allowed to enjoy myself...it's the Cardinals. 

I would love it if the Cardinals would just go away and not compete for a long period of time. I know this is what you all say about the Yankees, but the Cardinals just never get the hint to stay down. They remove themselves from the conversation, then by the end of the year they've hung around and can sort of waltz back into it without anyone objecting. The Cardinals have been pulling this shit every few years for the last decade or so, and sometimes it catapults them into the NLCS. 

We don't need the Cardinals to come in and start winning when there's absolutely no need for them. We already have the Astros for that.

To their credit, the Cardinals do have a halfway decent team this year. It's a lot of elder-statesmen types, like Paul Goldschmidt, Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright, who are leading this team, but also some homegrown types like Harrison Bader, Tommy Edman, Tyler O'Neill and utility infield standout Edmundo Sosa. There's some versatility, some surprising heroes, and some nice depth. Granted, not everything has worked. Jack Flaherty has been injured for most of the season, Paul De Jong has seemed lost without former battery partner Kolten Wong, Lars Nootbar has been only serviceable as a bench bat, and trusted veterans like Miles Mikolas, Andrew Miller and Jon Lester have all struggled this year. 

So it's not a perfect team, but it's a very fortuitous, streaky team. This week, they have to play 2 Wild Card contenders, the Mets and the Padres. I feel like they have enough momentum to ground the Mets a bit, but I don't think they'll get past the Padres, who...yeah, I'm thinking might take the last wild card spot. I appreciate the Cardinals' determination and drive, but I just don't think they have a place in this construct this year. Especially if it leads to a 1-game playoff against the Dodgers.

Just watch, I just gave the cosmos permission to give me an Astros-Cardinals World Series. Wonderful.

Coming Tomorrow- An acquired starter for a team whose wild card status has shifted slightly but isn't completely dead yet.