Skip to main content

The National League West


I wanted to make some brief observations about what appears to be the weakest division in Major League Baseball. In 2005, I became sick that the Padres made the playoffs all the while the Phillies, Marlins and Mets had a better record than the Padres. This year it has become apparent that the NL West may produce another fifth or sixth best National League team. The reason for this I feel is that the NL West has teams that are so evenly matched in their average nature that they seem to beat up on one another each year and struggle against other NL foes. This division is probably the best way to display what true competitive balance would feel like. I have made arguments in the past that perfect competitive balance would be better for small market teams (TB, KC, PIT) and would eventually even out the economic problems in baseball. However, the problem with that, as the NL West displays, is that if everyone has similar talent, the teams are just no fun to watch and would really hurt the sport. Without successful teams like the Cubs, Red Sox or Angels, the MLB would suffer greatly because competitively balanced teams make for anticlimactic ballgames for home fans.
Economic theory has proven that fans will come to games if they feel that there are between 60-65% chance of victory, anything higher or lower would not attract fans because the games would be less interesting to the average fan (Take a look at the attendance and winning % figures for the Red Sox, Cubs and Angels over the past five years). This blog is not intended for the average fan however which is why I bring up the NL West. That division currently provides hometown fans with the possibility of victory well below 60%. Against division rivals, each team should be around a 50% which to me is a thing of beauty. The competition level of NL West games has been fantastic because when they match up against each other, any team could win. This season, I have been watching a lot of NL West games because these teams are all so evenly matched and recommend it to any true baseball fans as well. I do not expect any of these teams to make it far in the playoffs, but they are sure fun to watch play against one another.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Florida Marlins Analysis

After watching the Florida Marlins in living color over the past four days, I feel fairly confident when I say that they are in for some rough days over the next couple of months. There is absolutely talent on this team. Note that Dan Uggla and Hanley Ramirez are all-stars and they have a top end of the rotation starter in Scott Olsen. From my viewpoint, this team has been kept afloat from the unlikely success of many players. Jorge Cantu, Luis Gonzalez and just about every single pitcher on their staff. The Marlins are a group of recycled veteran castoffs that have gelled incredibly well for the first two months of the 2008 season. The reason why I feel that this team is about to nose dive to fourth place is simply that they cannot expect all of these players to continue their unusual success all at the same time. Also, when you look at what internal support they have coming to them there are a couple of talented young pitchers returning from serious arm problems (Josh Johnson and A...
Post a Comment
Read more

Getting a Job in Baseball

I figure that it is time to write an update with respect to my professional development as this blog is intended to shine some light as to how young professionals can get into Major League Baseball using my anecdotal stories as an example. The Waiting Game I recently went on a two week vacation to Egypt and the Dominican Republic. When I left, I had no job offers, few leads and no reason to feel hopeful that anything was coming. Yet I still had the feeling that when I checked my phone each night for messages that I would have good news. Before going to sleep in a timezone that was 7 hours ahead of the east coast, I would turn my cellphone on for five minutes to try and catch a signal to see if I had voice messages. The nerves making my stomach turn over each day that I either did not receive a message or there was no signal for the phone to pick up as we sailed along the Nile. After returning to Cairo, where cellphones work with ease, the message finally came through to me on January 7...
5 comments
Read more

2009 MLB Free Agents

Potential Free Agents for 2009-2010: Catchers: Josh Bard BOS Michael Barrett TOR Henry Blanco SD Ramon Castro CWS Jason Kendall MIL Jason LaRue STL Chad Moeller BAL Bengie Molina SF Jose Molina NYY x-Miguel Olivo KC Mike Redmond MIN Brian Schneider NYM x-Gregg Zaun TB First-Basemen: Hank Blalock TEX Russell Branyan SEA Carlos Delgado NYM Nomar Garciaparra OAK Jason Giambi COL Aubrey Huff DET Nick Johnson WAS Adam LaRoche ATL Kevin Millar TOR Greg Norton ATL Robb Quinlan LAA Matt Stairs PHI Mike Sweeney SEA Jim Thome LAD Chad Tracy ARZ Second Basemen: Marlon Anderson NYM Ron Belliard LAD Jamey Carroll CLE David Eckstein SD Orlando Hudson LAD Felipe Lopez MIL Mark Loretta LAD Third Basemen: Adrian Beltre SEA Geoff Blum HOU Joe Crede MIN Mark DeRosa STL Pedro Feliz PHI Chone Figgins LAA Troy Glaus STL Jerry Hairston NYY Mike Lamb MIL Melvin Mora BAL Juan Uribe SF Shortstops: Orlando Cabrera MIN Juan Castro LAD Alex Cora NYM Khalil Greene STL Ramon Martinez LAD Miguel Tejada HOU Corner Out...
Post a Comment
Read more