Disagreeing with Bregman

The Astros talk about their loss to the Red Sox in the ALCS. I disagree with this Alex Bregman comment:

“This year’s team is better than last year’s team,” third baseman Alex Bregman said. “Everyone in here will have a little bit of an edge to play with, a chip on their shoulder knowing that we believe we should have been back-to-back champions.”

Houston boosted its rotation with Gerrit Cole last winter and its bullpen with Roberto Osuna ahead of the July trade deadline. The Astros won a club-record 103 games, led the majors with a plus-263 run difference and swept Cleveland 3-0 in the Division Series.

The Astros shifted emphasis this season, going for the best pitching in the league while the offense regressed a bit. Part of that was injuries, but they were weaker up the middle as Carlos Correa suffered from back problems, and Jose Altuve‘s number regressed to close to his career averages. If the offense had played like they did last season, it would have been a better team, but the way it worked, out, they were about the same.

I have to say I’m extremely impressed with the Red Sox right now. They have now eliminated two 100 win teams from the post-season, and it wasn’t even close. Dave Dombrowski used to strike me as one of the smartest GMs in the game, but his situation in Detroit, trying to win for an extremely old owner, made me rethink that. This team is showing that Dombrowski once again knows how to assemble a winner. He also hired the best of the rookie managers.

from baseballmusings.com https://ift.tt/2q2gTO8