MLB Bullets is a foregone conclusion

I think no matter what team you’re cheering for, I think we can all hope that the World Series goes more than four games. Unless you’re a lost Red Sox fan who stumbled in here by accident. I must admit that I’d rather the Cubs had won the 2016 World Series in four games rather than seven.

• Just because the Red Sox haven’t won the World Series yet doesn’t mean we need to delay articles like this one in which Matt Snyder asks if this is the greatest Red Sox team ever. Honestly, that sounded like snark on my part but whether or not the 2018 Red Sox are the greatest Red Sox team of all time should not hinge on whether or not they can win two of the next five games.
• Jeff Passan breaks down the 15 minutes in Game 2 that turned the game around, sending the Red Sox out to California with a commanding 2 games to none lead.
• Michael Baumann has a suggestion for how the Dodgers can stop the Red Sox: Don’t let them hit after two outs. That’s where the Dodgers went wrong in Game 2.
• Craig Edwards has more on the Red Sox’ successes with batting with two outs.
• The Red Sox paid a lot of money for pitcher David Price and DH J.D. Martinez and David Schoenfield writes that Games 1 and 2 indicate that it was money well spent.
• Grant Brisbee agrees that Price was outstanding and thinks that Price’s redemption story—a great pitcher who struggles in October until he doesn’t—won’t be told about many pitchers in the future.
• Red Sox manager Alex Cora said that outfielder J.D. Martinez has an ankle injury and may not play in Game 3 of the series. Also, Cora said that Mookie Betts will not start second base in Game 3. Although Cora wouldn’t rule out Betts playing second base anytime after the first inning of Game 3. But if Martinez can’t play the outfield, there’s no point in Betts playing second.
• Mike Petriello makes a strong case that Betts should play second base in Los Angeles. Although he is basing this on Martinez being able to play the outfield.
• How in the world did Dodgers outfielder Chris Taylor throw the ball between the legs of a running Ian Kinsler to get the out at third base? Seriously, I’ve watched this a half a dozen times and I don’t know. I think he called a nutmeg.
• With all this talk, you’d be forgiven if thought that the Dodgers had agreed to resign and simply hand the World Series trophy over to Boston. But no, the Dodgers are confident they’ll have more success at home, writes Richard Justice, and they have their fans to thank for that. As Justice writes, Dodgers fans are a lot louder and passionate than their reputation. Don’t forget, the Dodgers lead MLB in attendance almost every year. The last time they didn’t lead the league was 2012.
• Tim Brown notes that the Dodgers and their fans are used to October disappointment over the past 30 years and the past six or seven years in particular. They’re not giving up though.
• But R.J. Anderson notes that the Dodgers have a history of coming back down 2-0 in the World Series. Since MLB went to a 2-3-2 format in a seven-game series, the team down 2-0 has come back to win just ten of 51 times. But three of those ten teams were the Dodgers. (1955, 1965 and 1981 World Series)
• Alden Gonzalez thinks that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts strategy of loading up on right-handed bats against the Red Sox left-handed starters is backfiring.
• As Eric Stephen writes, the Dodgers won’t win anything if they don’t start hitting better. Man, that sounds familiar.
• Jeff Sullivan thinks that the Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger is a master at hitting balls that you think are home runs off the bat but turn out not to be.
• For those of you convinced that baseball is dying, TV ratings for the first two games of the World Series were the lowest since 2014. Of course, the games were still the highest-rated thing on TV both evenings. So maybe it’s television that’s dying instead.
• But as Jon Tayler writes, the pace of play in these World Series games has MLB worried. They just don’t know what they can do about it.
• Jeff Passan thinks the slow, “hyper-obsessive” game that we saw in Game 1 is the future of baseball and that’s not really a good thing. Passan doesn’t think that Game 1 lacked drama (just the opposite) but that the drama wasn’t easily digested by non-hardcore fans.
• Bob Nightengale talks to several front office people about Dodgers infielder Manny Machado’s upcoming free agency and none of them thought that his behavior in the postseason would affect it negatively at all. He also gets Alex Rodriguez to talk at length about what kind of a player Machado is.
• There are 28 teams not named the Dodgers or Red Sox and one of them just named Rocco Baldelli as their new manager. It was the Twins, I believe. At 37, Baldelli becomes the youngest manager in baseball.
• Another one named Charlie Montoyo as their new manager. I’m pretty sure it was the Blue Jays. (They’re the one in Toronto, right? The one that spells “Centre” funny?) Both Baldelli and Montoyo were working in the Rays organization before getting their new gigs.
• Jon Heyman gives the current state of the still-vacant managerial and general manager jobs in baseball. It certainly sounds like Cubs VP Jason McLeod could be heading to the Giants, although Heyman thinks that the Giants want a “two-man” setup like the Cubs have with Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer. It’s not clear whether McLeod is being considered for the Theo position or the Jed position. (Also, the Orioles are considering a “two-man” setup with former Dodgers executives Ned Colletti and Kim Ng, which I guess wouldn’t be a “two-man” setup after all.)
• A later report from Heyman said that former Brewers GM Doug Melvin will not be the next Mets GM. Melvin had long been considered the front-runner.
• Sheryl Ring looks at the battles between the Angels and the city of Anaheim over the Halos quest for a new stadium. I do have to take issue with one thing—any threat of the Angels to leave the LA television market is an empty one. There simply isn’t an available market that could earn the Angels even a quarter of what they make in local TV revenue that they do in Southern California. (I do remember during Bud Selig’s ridiculous “contraction” quest of the late ‘90s that one proposal had the Angels being contracted, but in that case the A’s would have then moved to Anaheim.)
• The Tigers want their own regional sports network, or at least one they’d share with the NHL’s Red Wings. Both of whom are owned by the Ilitch family. This actually makes sense.
• The Rays have signed 16-year-old Cuban pitcher Sandy Gaston.
• Mark Feinsand has one upcoming free agent that could re-sign with their current team.
• Bill Baer comes up with a list of the most “uncomfortable” pitcher on each team to face. The Cubs choice surprised me, but it makes sense and Baer admitted that there were several other good candidates on the Cubs. Honestly, it would be Dillon Maples, but you can always just leave the bat on your shoulder against Maples and you’ve got a good chance at a walk. Until he fixes that.
• Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina won the 2018 Roberto Clemente Award.
• The finalists for the Gold Glove awards were announced. Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez and Jason Heyward are the three Cubs finalists.
• Dodgers prospect Jared Walker, who is playing in the Arizona Fall League at the moment, talks about playing with the heartbreak of losing his father, his mother and his brother.
• Is Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen the third-best catcher on the team? The first time I had heard of Jansen was when he was the catcher for Team Netherlands in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
• Here are some baseball-themed Halloween costume ideas if you’re thinking of a costume.
• And finally, don’t listen to me about the World Series. Let some kids explain the World Series to you.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.