In a year where baseball has in some ways seem more marginalized than ever, in a year when myriad cracks were made at baseball's expense for having games on Fox Sports 1, in that particular year, baseball decided to give us a treat. These playoffs have been special from the start. They've been special despite having any series reach an elimination game. It was special because 13 of 25 games have been decided by one run. Six have gone to extra innings. We've seen managerial mistakes as well as managerial successes. We've seen the breakout of young stars, the fall of established stars. We've seen dramatic games, huge comebacks, fielding errors, fielding brilliance. We've seen everything, and it will peak with one of the most interesting, exciting and alluring Fall Classics we've had in a while. Baseball, it's special sometimes.
There are many similarities between the Royals and Giants. First, both have deep lineups that combine a lot of above average regulars. The Giants have one true star hitter in Posey, and the Royals have a young guy who has shown flashes of being a star and who certainly has in these playoffs (Hosmer). They both have solid rotations that are lead by one great pitcher (Bumgarner and Shields - though Bumgarner is generally better) and three other pitchers that can be good, can be mediocre, or can be very middling. They both have great fanbases. The Giants seem to be just as excited to win this title as they were to win the title in 2010 and 2012. The Royals famously hadn't even made the playoffs since 1985 until this year. These are special times for both teams.
There are major differences though. First, in roster construction, both teams have taken a very different approach. Though both teams will tell you they try to home-grow talent (and to some extent every MLB team does), the Royals do it in earnest. Back in 2010, Sports Illustrated wrote a story calling the Royals the 2014 World Champions. It was tongue-in-cheek at the time, but that optimism was framed around a special crop of prospects. Alex Gordon and Billy Butler were already established, but Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez were to come. Danny Duffy (who had a great year but was left off the playoff roster) was in the system. The Royals were loaded. It just took a while.
The other side of the spectrum is the Giants. It is not to say that they haven't developed players. Posey came through the system, as did Bumgarner and Sandoval. In past years, the Giants pitching was led by Lincecum and Cain, two system guys. But what is striking about the Giants is how few guys came through the system and how much the roster changes. Just looking at the differences between the 2010 and 2012 rosters was crazy when they won two years ago. Looking at their roster two years later, it is even more ridiculous. Only one man will start a game for all three versions of the Giants, and that is Madison Bumgarner. From 2010, Matt Cain is hurt, Tim Lincecum is relegated to nothing duty, and Jonathan Sanchez was gone years ago. From 2012, Matt Cain is still hurt, Ryan Vogelsong is back, but maybe shouldn't be, and Barry Zito has been replaced by another aging member of the old A's Big-3 in Tim Hudson.
The roster only has two players that were on all three teams: Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval. Only three more of their normal starting-9 are holdovers from 2012, in Hunter Pence, Brandon Crawford and Gregor Blanco. Brandon Belt was on the 2012 roster and his inclusion to starter now is no surprise, and Angel Pagan would have been there this time if he didn't get hurt; but the Joe Panik/Travis Ishikawa guys are just random players on this team. They won't be here when the reach the World Series again in 2016 like everyone knows they will.
The 2010 Giants seem like from another era. Tim Lincecum was their ace. Brian Wilson was their star closer. They employed over-the-hill batters like Aubrey Huff, Freddy Sanchez, Juan Uribe, Cody Ross, Andres Torres and Pat Burrell. That wasn't in 2005. That was 4 years ago. 2012 replaced those guys with Pagan, Scutaro and Pence. The Giants are right back on schedule, winning with a balanced offense, good pitching, and a great, great manager.
Whoever wins the 2014 World Series is set up well fro the future. Two of the best three hitters for the Royals these playoffs are Hosmer and Moustakas, two young players that have relatively underwhelmed to this point but have been on fire since. If they carry these performances forward, or even get better, and the Royals get contributions for full-season from Danny Duffy and whoever else is in that farm system, they can be good for a while.
The Giants have been good for a while, and while it would certainly nice for them to be good in an odd year for once, they are still set up well around a solid core of Posey, Sandoval, Belt as their top three hitters (including Pence for a year or two more) and solid pitching, and with a manager like Bochy who plays his bullpen like Yo-Yo Ma, they can turn random relievers into solid pitchers.
The 2014 World Series should be a great matchup between two great teams and two great fanbases. Who cares if they are just wild card teams. There are no great teams anymore. The Nationals and Angels were better than the Giants and Royals, but neither were 100-win juggernauts. Both had holes (especially the Angels pitching) and both lost. You can easily make the argument that the Royals adn Giants were better than their respective CS counterparts (especially San Francisco, which was quite easily arguably better than St. Louis). You can make the argument that in today's more flat MLB, where young team-controlled players and turning bargain basement shopping into fancy wear wins, these are the two best representatives.
There are many similarities between the Royals and Giants. First, both have deep lineups that combine a lot of above average regulars. The Giants have one true star hitter in Posey, and the Royals have a young guy who has shown flashes of being a star and who certainly has in these playoffs (Hosmer). They both have solid rotations that are lead by one great pitcher (Bumgarner and Shields - though Bumgarner is generally better) and three other pitchers that can be good, can be mediocre, or can be very middling. They both have great fanbases. The Giants seem to be just as excited to win this title as they were to win the title in 2010 and 2012. The Royals famously hadn't even made the playoffs since 1985 until this year. These are special times for both teams.
There are major differences though. First, in roster construction, both teams have taken a very different approach. Though both teams will tell you they try to home-grow talent (and to some extent every MLB team does), the Royals do it in earnest. Back in 2010, Sports Illustrated wrote a story calling the Royals the 2014 World Champions. It was tongue-in-cheek at the time, but that optimism was framed around a special crop of prospects. Alex Gordon and Billy Butler were already established, but Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez were to come. Danny Duffy (who had a great year but was left off the playoff roster) was in the system. The Royals were loaded. It just took a while.
The other side of the spectrum is the Giants. It is not to say that they haven't developed players. Posey came through the system, as did Bumgarner and Sandoval. In past years, the Giants pitching was led by Lincecum and Cain, two system guys. But what is striking about the Giants is how few guys came through the system and how much the roster changes. Just looking at the differences between the 2010 and 2012 rosters was crazy when they won two years ago. Looking at their roster two years later, it is even more ridiculous. Only one man will start a game for all three versions of the Giants, and that is Madison Bumgarner. From 2010, Matt Cain is hurt, Tim Lincecum is relegated to nothing duty, and Jonathan Sanchez was gone years ago. From 2012, Matt Cain is still hurt, Ryan Vogelsong is back, but maybe shouldn't be, and Barry Zito has been replaced by another aging member of the old A's Big-3 in Tim Hudson.
The roster only has two players that were on all three teams: Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval. Only three more of their normal starting-9 are holdovers from 2012, in Hunter Pence, Brandon Crawford and Gregor Blanco. Brandon Belt was on the 2012 roster and his inclusion to starter now is no surprise, and Angel Pagan would have been there this time if he didn't get hurt; but the Joe Panik/Travis Ishikawa guys are just random players on this team. They won't be here when the reach the World Series again in 2016 like everyone knows they will.
The 2010 Giants seem like from another era. Tim Lincecum was their ace. Brian Wilson was their star closer. They employed over-the-hill batters like Aubrey Huff, Freddy Sanchez, Juan Uribe, Cody Ross, Andres Torres and Pat Burrell. That wasn't in 2005. That was 4 years ago. 2012 replaced those guys with Pagan, Scutaro and Pence. The Giants are right back on schedule, winning with a balanced offense, good pitching, and a great, great manager.
Whoever wins the 2014 World Series is set up well fro the future. Two of the best three hitters for the Royals these playoffs are Hosmer and Moustakas, two young players that have relatively underwhelmed to this point but have been on fire since. If they carry these performances forward, or even get better, and the Royals get contributions for full-season from Danny Duffy and whoever else is in that farm system, they can be good for a while.
The Giants have been good for a while, and while it would certainly nice for them to be good in an odd year for once, they are still set up well around a solid core of Posey, Sandoval, Belt as their top three hitters (including Pence for a year or two more) and solid pitching, and with a manager like Bochy who plays his bullpen like Yo-Yo Ma, they can turn random relievers into solid pitchers.
The 2014 World Series should be a great matchup between two great teams and two great fanbases. Who cares if they are just wild card teams. There are no great teams anymore. The Nationals and Angels were better than the Giants and Royals, but neither were 100-win juggernauts. Both had holes (especially the Angels pitching) and both lost. You can easily make the argument that the Royals adn Giants were better than their respective CS counterparts (especially San Francisco, which was quite easily arguably better than St. Louis). You can make the argument that in today's more flat MLB, where young team-controlled players and turning bargain basement shopping into fancy wear wins, these are the two best representatives.
