As I was watching the All-Star game, I was struck once again by the difference in quality. For once, it wasn't the position players; the NL put a really good set of hitters on the field, and the defense was great (one error notwithstanding). No, it was the pitching, and in particular, the real relievers the AL had. Pabelbon-Nathan-Rivera is just not fair. Oh, and King Felix was the guy before them. Wow. Very impressive.
The National League is starting to catch up, but there are still way too many franchises clinging to slim mediocre wild card dreams. With the Dodgers coming into their own, maybe the rest of the league will be forced to grow up and build real teams with real farm systems, like the front-runners in the AL.
1 comment:
It's just silly that arguably the four best teams in baseball are in the AL East. (The Blue Jays are a bit of a stretch, and the Dodgers might be as good as advertised, but that's the only real wiggle room in that argument.)
I think you're onto something: The AL only really has one moribund team (the Royals), while the NL has several (the Marlins, Nationals, Pirates, Reds and Padres), where by "moribund" I mean "bad and not likely to get good anytime soon". (The Orioles are arguably also moribund, but I cut them a little slack due to their division. And unfortunately the A's look like they're teetering on the brink.)
There's some hope that the Nationals and Pirates might get good in 5 years or so. But right now most teams in the NL are flailing around, while there are many teams in the AL that, although flawed, are basically good teams.
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