While Atlanta fans are apparently quite sensitive about any perceived criticism of their club, even we have to admit there’s something pretty ballsy about clinching the NL East one day after Phillies broadcasters whined about the bravado Atlanta showed when they kicked the Phils in the ass again. Which all led to this:
Check and send.
Oh yeah, the Phillies won the Division Series last year. That was four games. Over the past five full regular seasons, in which Philly and anyone else in the NL East have played 162 games to prove they were the better team, rarely has anyone come close. The Mets did the same last year and lost on a tiebreaker. But that was it. Atlanta qualified this year with seventeen games to go. In 2021 they won by 6.5 games. They won by four over the eventual World Series champions in 2019. In 2018 the gap was eight games.
Perhaps the most startling statistic is that the NL East has existed in its current version for 28 seasons. Atlanta has won it 18 times. This is exactly what they do.
Whatever we may think of their White Flight ballpark and suburban neighborhood, or their gleeful racist chants at games we will soon be bombarded with in October, this is the model team on the field in all of MLB. While the Mets and Padres have tried to shorten the building process through cash and trades, or other teams have gone the other way, such as Tampa and Cleveland, Atlanta and the Dodgers have proven that if a team has a longer period of wants dominance, a team must spend and develop at the same time. Atlanta did it a different way, by throwing their guys like Ronald Acuna Jr. Ozzie Albies, Spencer Strider, Austin Riley, Michael Harris II and others early in their careers, giving them more money early on so they could give them less. at the end. That certainly caused some controversy when Acuna and Albies signed, but then again, no one forced them to sign those deals. And they got more money than they should have. Maybe it will seem insensitive if Atlanta throws them away as they approach their 30s, but it’s more likely that no one will care if they win division titles and possibly pennants.
Perhaps Atlanta’s best bet was to know which of its surplus prospects to take in deals for guys who were established and ready to contribute big time. Matt Olson came in exchange for some extra bench pieces and one pitcher who has done well in AA. Sean Murphy arrived for William Contreras’ real contributor, who wasn’t needed when Murphy arrived, and a slew of lottery tickets. Back in the day, when John Schuerholtz was in charge of Atlanta, if he called you to offer one of his prospects, you had to hang up the phone. Alex Anthopoulos should get the same reputation.
They will be the most complete team, especially in the NL, heading into the playoffs. The Dodgers are in a rotation at this point. The Brewers can barely score. The Phillies are still built for short runs, focusing primarily on the top of their roster. The Cubs have a flawless offense, one starter they can trust and a manager who eats paint chips. Everyone below that is an ass.
This will remain this way for a while. Everyone who really matters to Atlanta is under 30. And it’s not like anyone in the East is about to overtake them when they get older. This has been the case for 30 years.
And something to make you laugh
-Anyway, we’ll close with a heartwarming aspect of baseball. Click through all the way in reverse order if you can:
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