The Importance Of Winning The Pacific Cannot Be Overlooked

[lordtoffee]

As we near the final stretch of the regular season, there are some great playoff races. The Heartland is pretty much a done deal and Yellow Springs can focus on getting healthy and lined up for the Doubleday. The Johnson League has two tight divisional races, and the wild card race is divided between the race for top wild card seed and the battle for the final playoff spot. The Pacific race is going to have a huge impact on the playoff bracket in the Frick, and I think that whomever wins the division is going to be at a huge advantage for things besides getting a free pass to the Doubleday. Let's explain why.

The Yellow Springs Factor
Look, Yellow Springs is going to be the regular season champion in the Frick, and the heavy Landis favorite. This is probably one of the best teams Ron has put together, and is probably going to be the last chance for the current Nine core before they have to make some tough decisions as the cap is pretty tight. Plus, they will have the chance to impact the playoff bracket as a couple of Heartland rivals will be playing the Nine down the stretch. For example, Nashville is fighting for home field advantage in the first round, and will have to host Yellow Springs in a couple of weeks. But most importantly is going to be a series that the Nine play on September 23-25 against Omaha. The Cyclones are currently in a dogfight with Nashville to get home field in the playoffs, and have 3 teams who could inch closer right behind them. One decision that could be critical is that the NIne are projected to get Carlos Pineda back. Pineda has been hurt for most of the past two years, but his ratings indicate that he is among the best in the game. The decision for Yellow Springs to try and give him some work before the playoffs is going to be an underrated factor. Ron has not publicly shared what he plans to do after the Nine clinch, but he could try and go for the record and try and set up his rotation. For Hawaii and Long Beach, this decision could impact how they plan for matchups, and could impact if they want to play a specific team in the first round.

Rust vs. Rest, Game 163:
If you remember last year, the Atlantic was a complete mess at the end of the season. Rockville, New Orleans, and Charm City were all involved in various tiebreakers, that pushed back the postseason. Rockville was forced to play 2 tiebreaker games, and just missed out on a division title after losing to Charm City. However, they advanced to the Landis in spite of these extra games. Charm City lost to Rockville in the Cartwright despite getting to rest and only having to play one tiebreaker. Despite losing the Landis, Aaron deserves a lot of credit for navigating those challenges last season to make the Landis. What I am trying to say is that sometimes there are going to a bunch of teams bunched together because of circumstances. If you win the Pacific and don't have to juggle worrying about tiebreakers, you can give yourself the advantage of resting and lining up a rotation as you please. But the danger is that a team can get hot and use that momentum. In the fake MLB in 2007, the Diamondbacks won a competitive NL West, and swept the Cubs in the Division Series. They had the extra advantage of the Phillies losing to a Rockies team that had to win a bunch of games at the end of the season to just get into the playoffs, including an extra inning Game 163. The Rockies beat the Diamondbacks pretty handily in the NLCS that year. Still, I would take the advantage of getting home field advantage against a team might have to pull an upset or have a run to get into the playoffs.

In conclusion, the team that wins the Pacific will not have to worry about Yellow Springs until the Cartwright if the bracket is chalky, and would not have to worry about Ron making a decision on a pitcher getting work at the end of the year.

[RonCo]

Every team in the league wants to face us in the post season.

[HoosierVic]

The Pacific ... the Pacific ... nope, not ringing any bells.

[bcslouck]

Every team in the league wants to face us in the post season.

I don't know man. At this point, do you want to be one of the teams that couldn't beat you en route to your first Landis?

[Dington]

I'm tanking to get that 4th seed so I face YS in playoffs, for sure.