Kuzul

Five years in, the MLB Wild Card Game is a success.

Oh, there are those who quibble with the format and argue a 162-game season should not be reduced to a single winner-take-all contest.

But as FanGraphs’ Dave Cameron put it in 2015, “in terms of theatre and entertainment value, the wild-card play-in games are about as good as baseball gets right now.”

That’s been especially true this October. Two of the best postseason games so far were the Toronto Blue Jays-Baltimore Orioles American League wild-card tilt—which went 11 innings and ended on Edwin Encarnacion’s walk-off homer—and Madison Bumgarner’s complete-game shutout against the New York Mets in the National League Wild Card Game. 

Ratcheting up the drama, though, wasn’t the only goal when MLB tweaked the format in 2012. The league was also looking to give division winners a competitive advantage—to reward teams that finished in first place and make the road bumpier for wild-card qualifiers. 

Has it worked? Sort of.

Since 2012, wild-card teams have won five of the 10 division series they’ve played in, including the Jays’ recent sweep of the Texas Rangers. It’s a small sample, but a success rate of 50 percent suggests advancing via the Wild Card Game isn’t much of a handicap. 

You can even argue wild-card status is a plus, if you believe in momentum.

Consider the 2014 season. The San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals slipped in as the No. 2 and No. 1 wild cards in the National League and American League, respectively. After winning their play-in games, each squad streaked to the World Series, vanquishing more well-rested foes along the way.

Were they riding a wave? Were their opponents rusty? 

This year, the Rangers clinched the AL West on Sept. 24 and had a three-day layoff between their final regular-season game and Game 1 of the division series. Did they suffer because of that against a Jays team that rolled in hot?

“It’s tough to tell,” Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre said, per For The Win’s Ted Berg. “Obviously we did have [time] off in between…but that’s not an excuse.”

Even if you accept the momentum theory, there are many advantages to clinching early. You can rest your regulars and alleviate any nagging injuries. You can line up your rotation and make sure your bullpen is fresh.

At best, it’s a push.

Here’s another way to ask the original question: Has the new format been a disadvantage for the No. 1 wild-card team?

Before 2012, the No. 1 wild card advanced automatically to the division series. Other than a lack of home-field advantage, there was no penalty for failing to secure a division crown.

Now, that team has to go into a do-or-die scenario with another club that, in the past, would have been golfing after Game 162.

Again, sample-size caveats apply, but in the 10 Wild Card Games since 2012, the No. 2 team has won seven times. That’s a 70 percent success rate for clubs that wouldn’t have sniffed the postseason under the old rules and only a 30 percent success rate for teams that would have previously cruised to the division series.

Take the Pittsburgh Pirates, who were the NL’s No. 1 wild card for three straight seasons between 2013 and 2015 but won only one Wild Card Game. In 2015, the Bucs won 98 games and owned the second-best record in baseball. But they were out after losing once to the Cubs.

“Sports is hard,” Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle said at the time, per MLB.com’s Tom Singer and Carrie Muskat. “Life’s not fair.”

To summarize: There may be momentum mojo sprinkled on some teams that keep the accelerator down until the end of the season and win the adrenaline-spiking, do-or-die wild-card play-in. But that’s nearly impossible to prove or quantify, as Berg outlined:

For some, it may be satisfying to look back over a team’s route through October, connect dots and come up with some distinct reason it succeeded or failed. But given all baseball’s tiny little margins and the myriad potential outcomes they determine, there will never be a single distinct reason a team won a series beyond winning more games than its opponent.

What we do know is that the new format has been a distinct disadvantage for the No. 1 wild-card seeds. Instead of an automatic pass to a best-of-five series, they’ve been sent packing more often than not by their No. 2 wild-card counterparts.

Momentum is fun; just ask the Blue Jays. And the team that wins the Wild Card Game has a solid statistical shot at the Commissioner’s Trophy—or at least a deep run.

Winning your division, however, and sidestepping that one-game minefield remains the safest route to October glory.

All standings and results current as of Tuesday and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.

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The ninth inning of Tuesday’s Game 4 of a National League Division Series will long be remembered as a nightmare for the San Francisco Giants.

The Giants were in full control at AT&T Park with a 5-2 lead after a brilliant outing by starter Matt Moore, but the Chicago Cubs exploded for four runs against five different relief pitchers to earn a 6-5 win and clinch the series.

The sequence: Derek Law allowed a leadoff single to Kris Bryant, Javier Lopez walked Anthony Rizzo, Sergio Romo gave up an RBI double to Ben Zobrist, Will Smith allowed a two-run single to Willson Contreras and got Jason Heyward to bunt into a forceout, and Hunter Strickland gave up the game-winning single to Javier Baez.

Rachel Nichols of ESPN reacted to the rally after the Giants had won a 13-inning thriller in Game 3 on Monday:

Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to give the Cubs a spot in the National League Championship Series.

Perhaps the most incredible takeaway was the fact the Giants lost an elimination game in an even year, as ESPN Stats & Info highlighted:

San Francisco won the 2010, 2012 and 2014 World Series, but Stats LLC (h/t Fox Sports) noted Chicago starter John Lackey was the last active pitcher to beat the Giants in an elimination contest (Game 7 of the 2002 World Series, when Lackey was with the then-Anaheim Angels).

Lackey didn’t eliminate San Francisco on Tuesday, as he struggled through just four innings of work, allowing three earned runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four.

His counterpart, Moore, was nearly unhittable through eight innings. The southpaw gave up one earned run on two hits and two walks and struck out 10. He appeared primed to add his own chapter to the Giants’ postseason legacy until the fateful ninth.

Conor Gillaspie—who tallied a go-ahead two-run triple in the eighth inning Monday and the decisive three-run home run in a victory over the New York Mets in the Wild Card Game on Oct. 5—nearly played the role of offensive hero again with four hits, a run and an RBI. He even drew “MVP” chants from the crowd. Moore, Denard Span, Buster Posey and Joe Panik also drove in a run apiece for the Giants.

San Francisco wasted little time jumping on Lackey, as Span doubled to lead off the bottom of the first, advanced to third on Brandon Belt’s fly out and scored on Posey’s sacrifice fly.

Anthony Masterson of Stats LLC pointed out the Giants’ lead was nothing new:

Chicago bounced back in the third when David Ross drilled a home run to left field. At 39, he became the oldest catcher and Cubs player to homer in the postseason, per Andrew Simon of MLB.com.

Lackey kept San Francisco off the board in the bottom half, but it was Baez who turned heads. The second baseman made an incredible diving stop and nearly threw out the speedy Span on a play that was reviewed. He then slapped a lightning-quick tag on the leadoff hitter to help catch him trying to steal second.

Baseball journalist Andrew Baggarly called the first play the best he’s ever seen by a second baseman, and Bob Nightengale of USA Today praised the 23-year-old:

Baez couldn’t do anything to stop the Giants in the fourth. Gillaspie and Panik singled with one out, and Moore came up with the bases loaded after Gregor Blanco walked. Moore smacked an RBI single on an 0-2 pitch, and Span made it 3-1 on a fielder’s choice.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post underscored how unlikely the pitcher’s RBI was:

The Cubs got one back in the next inning when Baez advanced all the way to third on a throwing error by shortstop Brandon Crawford and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ross.

San Francisco appeared to break things open with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Hunter Pence singled, and Crawford blasted the ball off the top of the wall in right field. Pence didn’t score because he went back to re-touch second base, and Crawford ended up with a double.

SF Giants on CSN highlighted just how close it was to a home run:

Travis Wood came on in relief, but Gillaspie plated Pence with a single, and Panik scored Crawford with a sacrifice fly for a 5-2 advantage.

Chicago threatened in the sixth when Dexter Fowler drew a leadoff walk and Bryant dumped one into right field, but Pence charged the in-between ball and forced Fowler out at second. That was the last time the Cubs bothered Moore, who retired the Cubs 1-2-3 in the seventh.

The Giants reacted to his performance:

Moore struck out Ross and Fowler in the eighth to cap his night in style.

But as great as Moore was Tuesday, his showing will forever be a footnote thanks to Chicago’s offensive onslaught in the ninth. San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy didn’t give the ball to Romo to start the ninth after the closer recorded a blown save Monday, and Law, Lopez, Romo, Smith and Strickland couldn’t get the job done.

Adam Amin of ESPN noted the meltdown was nothing new:

The Giants will have all winter to think about their bullpen shortcomings after Tuesday’s collapse.

What’s Next?

The Cubs advanced to the NLCS, which starts Saturday at Wrigley Field. They will face the winner of Thursday’s decisive Game 5 between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Chicago can reset its rotation of Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta and Lackey, while its next opponent still has to register one more win and will likely be without its best starter until at least Game 2. The Cubs were 5-2 against the Nationals and 4-3 against the Dodgers this season.

Chicago reached the NLCS last year only to be swept by the Mets. One key difference this time around will be home-field advantage, as the Cubs will look to get off to a quick start in front of the Chicago faithful.

Postgame Reaction

Gillaspie summarized things from the Giants’ perspective, per Baggarly: “It’s hard. We pour our whole lives into this. To see it end like this, to be honest, I’m still shocked.”

Bochy said he didn’t want to put Moore back on the mound for the ninth, per Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area: “That’s a lot of work [120 pitches]. He did his job. We were lined up.”

Bryant noted the Cubs’ confidence level in the final inning, per Steve Greenberg of the Chicago Sun-Times: “High. It’s always high. We’ve got a lot of guys on our team who have had unbelievable years.”

Baez talked about why he celebrated so much after his big hit, per Greenberg: “Their pitcher was staring at me for no reason.”

Rizzo said the Cubs have a larger prize in mind, per Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago: “You can’t take for granted what we’ve done last year and this year. But we got one mission, one goal in mind. That’s eight more wins.”

If they get those eight wins, Chicago will likely party until Opening Day next year.

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Chase Utley saved Clayton Kershaw from being the goat. Again.

As far as the Los Angeles Dodgers are concerned, there was a happy ending to Game 4 of their National League Division Series on Tuesday. With the Dodgers’ season on the line with two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth inning of a 5-5 game against the Washington Nationals, Utley plated the go-ahead run with an RBI single off Blake Treinen.

After that, Kenley Jansen retired the Nationals in order in the ninth to preserve a 6-5 victory and send the Dodger Stadium faithful home happy and knowing Los Angeles had lived to fight another day—specifically Thursday, for Game 5 at Nationals Park.

But Kershaw? He presumably went home feeling relieved. Because it wasn’t long before Utley’s clutch hit that the Fox Sports 1 cameras had caught him reduced to this:

That’s the look of a man who (at least in a general sense) was not only painfully aware of that bottom number but also how much worse it had been made by recent events.

The top of the seventh inning started well for the left-hander. He allowed a leadoff single to Danny Espinosa but got Pedro Severino for his 11th strikeout and then Chris Heisey to fly out. All he needed was one more out.

It did not come. Instead, this happened:

• Trea Turner: infield single
• Bryce Harper: walk
• Pitching change: Pedro Baez
• Jayson Werth: hit by pitch, RBI
• Pitching change: Luis Avilan
• Daniel Murphy: single, two RBI

When it was over, the “ER” portion of Kershaw’s line score had ballooned from two to five. With it, his career postseason ERA went from an ugly 4.48 to a 4.83 mark that’s about as ugly as the public perception of his postseason track record.

It’s the latest cruel twist of fate October has thrown at Kershaw, whom most of the world knows as a three-time Cy Young Award winner and generally the best pitcher in the sport. And like most of the others, this one was made crueler by how smoothly things had been going.

Kershaw’s day started with promise. After holding out on everyone following an 8-3 loss in Game 3 on Monday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced Tuesday morning he would start Kershaw on three days’ rest rather than put Los Angeles’ season in the hands of 20-year-old rookie Julio Urias.

“One, Clayton gives us the best chance to win,” Roberts said (via ESPN.com), “and No. 2, he gives us the best chance to go deeper into a game.”

The Dodgers needed the latter after getting only 7.1 innings out of Rich Hill and Kenta Maeda on Sunday and Monday. Had Urias struggled under the postseason spotlight, the Dodgers would have been doomed before they even knew what hit ’em.

For Kershaw, it was a shot at redemption under circumstances he’s fared well in. While one of them is remembered for a hanging curveball to Matt Adams, Kershaw’s previous postseason starts on short rest had each consisted of at least six innings and no more than three earned runs.

At first it seemed unlikely Kershaw would add another to the pile. The Nationals got to him for a run on 27 pitches in the first inning and tacked on another in the third. But he settled in after that, and the Dodgers offense got him three runs of breathing room.

Kershaw wasn’t at his sharpest. Brooks Baseball showed he was working up in the zone, where he could have been hurt. But he was sitting around 94-95 mph with his fastball, which climbed as high as 96 mph. He got nine swinging strikes on his heater and 12 more on his curveball and slider. When location fails, it’s good to have that kind of stuff.

This is where my copy of Hot Takes for Dummies says I’m supposed to write that Kershaw then let the pressure burst his pipes rather than turn him into a diamond. I’m supposed to write that he choked.

But, nah. What really happened was an unfortunate series of events that didn’t go Kershaw’s way.

Turner’s infield hit probably should have gotten Kershaw out of the inning. Turner didn’t put good wood on a curveball, hitting it just 83.7 mph, per Baseball Savant. If Corey Seager had been playing a step to his left or had gotten the ball out of his glove quicker, that would have been an out.

Then came the walk to Harper. It pushed Kershaw’s pitch count to 110 but didn’t feature a bad pitch and may have ended differently if he’d gotten one very close call:

Give Harper credit for working a tough at-bat, but don’t take too much credit away from Kershaw. The fact he was still making pitches after having thrown so many on short rest is admirable.

“A matter of will,” Nationals manager Dusty Baker said (via Dodger Insider). “Kershaw was on empty. They knew it; we knew it. That was some battle.”

Once Kershaw was in the dugout, he was powerless to stop the horrors Baez and Avilan released. Baez needed only one pitch to hit Werth. Avilan failed two pitches into his lefty-on-lefty matchup. That their debacles—merely the latest in a trend well covered by Bill Baer of Hardball Talk—resulted in three runs should not to be forgotten when looking at the five runs on Kershaw’s line score.

Had the Dodgers lost the game and the series, there would be a “But…” to talk about. Utley made sure that didn’t happen, though, putting this game in a gray area as far as optics go.

Postseason legacies are defined just as much by memorable achievements and failures as they are by numbers. Had Kershaw’s line loomed large in a Dodgers loss, it would have been another one of his visible failures to carpe the hell out of the diem in October. Since they picked him up and carped the diem on their own, Kershaw’s performance didn’t go down as another visible failure. It’s more of a missed opportunity.

The same can be said of Kershaw’s performance in Game 1, in which he had to rough it through five innings to pace the Dodgers to a 4-3 win. The fact a series they were heavily favored to win is tied 2-2 has little to do with his shortcomings and more to do with those of his rotation mates.

That is to say it remains to be seen whether Kershaw will find redemption or grow another pair of goat horns in his latest trip to the postseason. If either happens, it will be in the National League Championship Series or the World Series.

For now, it’s a push. The Dodgers are still alive, and Kershaw’s postseason legacy is no better or worse than it was at the outset.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers faced elimination Tuesday afternoon at home, but they forced a decisive Game 5 against the Washington Nationals with a 6-5 win thanks to a game-winning RBI single from Chase Utley in the eighth inning.  

Joe Blanton notched the win after he pitched 1.1 no-hit innings on the heels of a tumultuous seventh-inning sequence. Starter Clayton Kershaw (11 strikeouts, two walks, seven hits in 6.2 IP) was superb on short rest even though he struggled with his command early. 

Trea Turner and Bryce Harper led off the top of the first by reaching base, and Daniel Murphy rolled a single into right field with one out to score Turner to put the Dodgers in a rare early hole with Kershaw starting, according to Inside Edge on Twitter: 

By the time the top half of the opening frame came to a close, Kershaw had tossed 27 pitches. As ESPN.com’s Eddie Matz explained, those inefficiencies didn’t bode well for the Dodgers: 

With L.A. in need of a spark following Kershaw’s sluggish start, Adrian Gonzalez delivered. 

After Justin Turner was hit by a pitch, Gonzalez stepped up and crushed a two-run home run to right field when starter Joe Ross let a fastball cut back over the plate up in the zone: 

The Nationals proceeded to tie things in the third on a Murphy sac fly that scored Turner, but things didn’t remain deadlocked for long. 

Ross gave up two hits, two runs and two walks in the third inning, and manager Dusty Baker pulled the 23-year-old after he drilled Joc Pederson with the bases load to give the Dodgers a 4-2 lead. 

All told, Ross managed three strikeouts and two walks while allowing three hits and four earned runs in 2.2 innings. 

Conversely, Kershaw was able to settle down. 

The three-time Cy Young Award winner retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth innings, and in doing so he was able to stabilize his pitch count, according to the Southern California News Group’s J.P. Hoornstra: 

And as the ace found his groove, the Dodgers offense continued to churn out runs. 

Pederson smacked a double to left field that scored Josh Reddick from first, and the RBI that gave Los Angeles a 5-2 lead represented a breakthrough for the Dodgers, according to MASN’s Mark Zuckerman: 

While the Nationals searched for answers, Kershaw looked sharp. 

The southpaw—who entered Tuesday with a 1.89 ERA in three starts on short rest, per MLB.com—notched 10 strikeouts by the time the sixth inning was over, which marked the fourth time in Kershaw’s postseason career that he tallied double-digit K’s, according to Jon Weisman of the team’s official blog and magazine. 

Those numbers were stellar considering Kershaw was on the mound just four days earlier, but things unraveled some in the seventh inning. 

Kershaw was pulled with two outs in the seventh after he loaded the bases, and the bullpen couldn’t work out of the jam. Pedro Baez plunked Werth to make it a 5-3 game, and Murphy tied things up with a two-run single off Luis Avilan.

Yahoo Sports’ Big League Stew noted Murphy has been a virtuoso at the plate in big spots: 

The Dodgers could have folded at that point, but they stood tall and delivered in the eighth inning.

After Andrew Toles was hit by a pitch and Andre Either notched a pinch-hit single, Utley stepped to the plate and drove in the go-ahead run to propel the Dodgers to within a game of the NLCS.

The Dodgers will now travel back to the nation’s capital with momentum in hand after they staved off elimination in pursuit of their first National League Championship Series appearance since 2013. 

The Nationals, meanwhile, will need to put Tuesday’s loss in the rearview mirror as they seek the franchise’s first NLCS appearance since moving to Washington. 

And if Murphy, Werth and Turner can continue to buoy the offense and force a shaky Dodgers bullpen into action early, the NL East champions could be in position to exorcise their postseason demons and send the Dodgers packing. 

Postgame Reaction

Once the Dodgers put the finishing touches on their Game 4 win, the team’s official Twitter account relayed video of their celebration: 

“Man, that was a hard-fought game on both sides,” Baker said, according to Weisman.

Looking ahead, Baker told reporters he’s glad his team won’t have to face Kershaw again this season, according to True Blue LA’s Eric Stephen: 

However, the Nationals will have to face Rich Hill, according to the Los Angeles Times‘ Andy McCullough: 

The Nationals, on the other hand, will counter with Max Scherzer, according to the Washington Post‘s Jorge Castillo. 

“Biggest start of my career,” Scherzer said, according to MASN’s Dan Kolko. “Biggest start of my life.” 

“It’s gonna be a heck of an experience,” he added, per Kolko. “It comes down to one game. Winner-take-all.”

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The Chicago Cubs have moved a step closer to ending its 108-year title drought, while at the same time putting an end to the San Francisco Giants’ even-year magic.

The Cubs scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to win 6-5, clinching the National League Division Series win in four games. Javier Baez’s RBI single scored Jason Heyward for the game-winning run, but before that Ben Zobrist had an RBI double and Willson Contreras added a two-run single as a pinch hitter.

Chicago forced the Giants to use five pitchers in the ninth, scoring three times before recording an out. Before that, San Francisco starter Matt Moore had been electric with 10 strikeouts and only two hits allowed in eight innings.

San Francisco built a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single from Conor Gillaspie and a sacrifice fly from Joe Panik. Three Giants runs cameon outs, two on sac flies and another on an RBI groundout. The fifth runs came when pitcher Moore singled with the bases loaded in the fourth to help his own cause.

The Cubs got their earlier runs on a solo home run from David Ross in the second and a sacrifice fly from Ross in the fifth.

Hector Rondon, the fifth of six Cubs pitchers, picked up the win in relief of starter John Lackey who was pulled after allowing three runs in four innings. Aroldis Chapman struck out the side for the save, a night after he blew a save during the Giants’ 13-inning victory that extended the series.

The Cubs will host either the Los Angeles Dodgers or Washington Nationals, who meet Thursday in Game 5 of their NLDS, on Saturday in the National League Championship Series.

Scroll down for all of our real-time updates, analysis, statistics, tweets, pictures and everything else worth noting from AT&T Park in San Francisco.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.

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After blowing a three-run lead in the seventh inning, the Dodgers got an RBI single from Chase Utley in the bottom of the eight inning to retake the lead and send the series back to Washington for a decisive fifth game.

Utley’s single drove home Andrew Toles gave the Dodgers a 6-5 lead. Manager Dave Roberts summoned closer Kenley Jansen from the bullpen in the ninth and he retired the Nationals in order as the Dodgers to preserve the one-run victory.

The series is tied at 2-2, with each team winning a home and a road game. The fifth game will be played in Washington Thursday.

The Dodgers held a 5-2 lead with Clayton Kershaw pitching in the seventh inning, and with a runner on first and two outs, Washington’s Trea Turner lined an infield single that kept the inning alive. Roberts left Kershaw in the game to face Bryce Harper, and he walked the 2015 MVP on a 3-2 pitch. 

Roberts pulled Kershaw at that point, and Jayson Werth was hit by a pitch to drive in one run and Daniel Murphy followed with a game-tying two-run single.

Joe Blanton came on to put out the fire for the Dodgers, and one inning later, Utley got his game-winning hit.

Max Scherzer will be the fifth-game starter for the Nats, while it appears that Rich Hill or Julio Urias will get the ball for the Dodgers.

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Despite being swept out of the 2016 American League Division Series by the Cleveland Indians, the Boston Red Sox reaffirmed their commitment to manager John Farrell on Tuesday. 

Dave Dombrowski, the team’s president of baseball operations, announced Farrell will stay with the team in 2017, according to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe.

In February 2015, the Red Sox extended Farrell’s deal to keep him on board through the 2017 season, with an option for 2018. Dombrowski declined to say whether Boston will exercise that option.

“Something of that magnitude I need to sit down with ownership and discuss that,” he said, according to Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald.

While the Red Sox finished the regular season with a 93-69 record, their postseason exit led to some criticism of Farrell’s handling of his team.

In particular, many questioned his decision to pinch-hit Chris Young for Andrew Benintendi in the bottom of the seventh inning in Game 3 of the ALDS. While Young walked during the at-bat, Boston was without Benintendi to lead off the bottom of the ninth as it looked to come back from a 4-3 deficit.

Boston.com’s Chad Finn was among those who thought Farrell made a big mistake:

Eric Wilbur of Boston.com thought the ALDS as a whole helped to illustrate the gulf between Farrell and a tactically astute manger such as the Indians’ Terry Francona:

Yet, this series perhaps exposed Farrell’s shortcomings as a big league manager all the same. You could give him and [Francona] two seats to deal with, and Farrell would probably still lose playing musical chairs to his old friend.

Farrell doesn’t have to stay because of the success that the Red Sox found this year, winning the American league East after back-to-back last-place finishes. He needs to go because of the continued promise of watching his in-game decisions backfire, and particularly after watching Francona manage circles around him, almost as if he were in his pickup willingly doing donuts on Farrell’s own manicured lawn.

In August, Abraham also took issue with how Farrell handled Red Sox pitchers:

Farrell also has had less of an effect on the pitching staff than you would have expected from an accomplished former pitching coach. Certainly, he needs to respect boundaries and let coaches do their jobs. But Farrell should be having more direct impact on somebody like David Price.

As a pitching coach, Farrell was an authority figure with the pitchers to a point that some feared him. He was their boss. As the manager, he seems too much like their protector.

Expectations will be high for the Red Sox in 2017, yet it’s doubtful a slow start to next year would result in Farrell’s firing in the first few months. The team hasn’t fired a manager in the middle of a season since Jimy Williams in 2001. Even Bobby Valentine finished out a disastrous 2012 campaign before losing his job.

With only one more guaranteed year left on his deal, Farrell will be under heavy pressure to deliver. Anything short of a trip to the American League Championship Series could put his job in serious jeopardy.

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New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia is expected to recover in time for spring training after undergoing surgery on his right knee Tuesday.

Continue for updates.

Yankees Call Procedure ‘a Routine Cleanup’

Tuesday, Oct. 11

The Associated Press reported Yankees head team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad handled the surgery after Sabathia pitched the entire 2016 season with a knee brace on the bothersome joint.

Sabathia is no longer the ace he was during his prime seasons with the Cleveland Indians and early in his Yankees career. He can still serve as a valuable piece of the rotation, however, especially with New York being limited in terms of pitching depth. He finished this season with a 3.91 ERA in 30 starts.

He had previously established himself as one of baseball’s most reliable workhorses for more than a decade. Injuries have become an issue over the past couple of years, though. He missed most of the 2014 campaign because of knee problems, and a groin injury sent him to the disabled list earlier this season.

Since he should be back to full strength in time for spring training, the Yankees don’t necessarily have to focus on filling a void. But starting pitching is one area the team will probably try to address in the offseason after ranking 19th in starter ERA (4.44), per ESPN.com.

Sabathia should still have a place in the rotation after his solid bounce-back year. But the Yanks will probably take it easy on the 36-year-old lefty during camp to make sure there are no setbacks before the start of the new season.

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Teams around baseball that venture into the offseason free-agent market looking to upgrade their lineup, bench or bullpen should be able to find some useful assets. The same can’t be said for those clubs hoping to improve their rotation with extremely limited options at starting pitcher.

In turn, finding value among the starter group will be difficult because even the middling targets are going to generate plenty of interest. So getting any bang for the buck, which is hard in free agency to begin with, will likely have to come on the hitting side.

So let’s check out some early buzz and discussion involving situations worth watching in the weeks and months ahead. Each section includes a prediction for where the player will land.

Edwin Encarnacion

Encarnacion isn’t underrated in the tradition sense, but he’s rarely mentioned when talking about the league’s best sluggers, a conversation where he should be at the forefront. He’s slugged 193 home runs over the past five years with the Toronto Blue Jays, including 42 in 2016.

The lack of mainstream attention figures to end this winter. The powerful DH, who’s also capable of playing first base, can be a game-changing addition for the large number of teams looking to get more pop from the middle of the order.

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reported the Boston Red Sox are interested in Encarnacion as a potential replacement for the retiring David Ortiz, but the Jays are going to remain in the mix:

The Red Sox also will have a DH vacancy, but they’re expected to fill that from the outside, with Edwin Encarnacion the leading candidate. There are rumblings in Toronto that the Blue Jays may make Encarnacion an offer given that he’s been so productive.

The amount of leverage Encarnacion will have is directly related to whether Ortiz does officially walk away from the game. He’s stayed on the path toward retirement throughout the season, but it will be interesting to see whether his strong year and Boston’s early playoff exit changes anything.

If Big Papi doesn’t change his mind, it’s hard to see another team being more aggressive in their pursuit of Encarnacion. Being able to take him out of the lineup of a division rival is even more incentive for the Red Sox to make a lucrative offer.

Prediction: Red Sox

Lourdes Gurriel

Gurriel is the younger brother of Yulieski Gurriel, who signed with the Houston Astros in July after defecting from Cuba. The 22-year-old prospect is eligible to sign with a team at any time and is an intriguing option for teams that might not be able to afford high-priced players like Encarnacion.

Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball noted there’s still a sizable group of interested organizations following the shortstop’s open showcase. Now he’s in the process of going through private work with those teams before making a decision:

Following a successful open showcase, Cuban talent Lourdes Gurriel will hold about a half-dozen private workouts for interested teams in the near future. The Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, and Miami Marlins are amongst the teams setting up private workouts.

One factor that adds to his value is that he’s still a raw talent with a lot of athleticism that can get molded as a team sees fits. Though he’s a natural infielder, he’s got the physical tools to play just about anywhere and plug a void for a team in the near future.

Gurriel, who posted a .362 on-base percentage in 305 games in the Cuban National Series (via Baseball-Reference), is still working to improve his power stroke. Going to Houston to eventually play alongside his brother on an improving team seems like an ideal fit to continue his development.

Prediction: Astros

Steve Pearce

Pearce is a solid player on the surface. He finished the 2016 campaign with a .288 average to go along with 13 homers in 85 games split between the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles. He’s particularly impactful against left-handed pitchers, though.

The 33-year-old veteran has an .852 OPS against lefties in his career, highlighted by a 1.028 mark this season, compared to a .728 OPS against righties, per Yahoo Sports. That could make him a terrific weapon as a starter against LHP and a bench asset.

Bob Dutton of the News Tribune believes it makes him a possible target for the Seattle Mariners:

Here’s another name to watch: Steve Pearce, a pending free agent at Baltimore who underwent surgery Sept. 21 to repair flexor tendons in his right forearm.

[General manger Jerry] Dipoto showed a fondness last winter for bounce-back cases, and Pearce, 33, should be fully recovered prior to spring training and appears to fit the club’s preferred profile in numerous ways.

The Orioles placed Pearce on the 60-day disabled list in September because of a a right flexor mass strain. Ryan Baillargeon and Cash Kruth of MLB.com noted the recovery timeline was between four and six months, which is within the window to get back to full strength before Opening Day.

Seattle will face some competition for his services, especially if the Orioles remain interested after he’s enjoyed success with the organization in recent years. But there’s no doubt he’s a good match for Seattle, which ranked 14th in OPS against lefties, according to ESPN.

Prediction: Mariners

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Fact: With their 6-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Monday night, the San Francisco Giants extended their MLB record by winning their 10th straight game while facing elimination.

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Source: B/R Insights

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