Now that the field of 8 is set, who wins it all?

I think the winner of Houston/Cleveland wins it. Not confident in the Tribe so I'm going Astros over the Brewers.

Tribe. 

Tribe

You gotta believe

Not Cleveland, that's for sure.  I'll say winner of Boston NYY series.

Cleveland or Houston. Best playoff rosters. Deepest teams. Best starters. Best bullpens (top arms).

Brewers. Hottest hitter and great bullpen. 

posted by Laley23

Cleveland or Houston. Best playoff rosters. Deepest teams. Best starters. Best bullpens (top arms).

This was my reasoning. Both of these teams are best built for the playoffs.

I voted Boston but I can see any team except  Atlanta and Colorado winning it all.

I don’t think Dodgers bullpen or Brewers starters are quite enough.

Four top candidates are all in AL

posted by Laley23

Cleveland or Houston. Best playoff rosters. Deepest teams. Best starters. Best bullpens (top arms).

At some point shouldn't actual performance play more of a role in determining a team's postseason potential than simply having good arms? Perez has been great in his role and Hand is a very good option, but the rest of the pen is mediocre at best, with the two guys expected to be the leaders at the beginning of the season (Miller, Allen) having horrible seasons by their standards due to injuries or plain ineffectiveness. Sure, if everyone pitches at their peak, I'd agree, but it seems to be one hell of a leap of faith to think that switch is magically going to be flipped after 162 games of inconsistency and mediocrity. Cleveland's hopes reside in their starting pitching going deep constantly and their offense flipping a switch, since some of those guys have fallen off somewhat over the past month or so.

Yankees 

posted by Heretic

At some point shouldn't actual performance play more of a role in determining a team's postseason potential than simply having good arms? Perez has been great in his role and Hand is a very good option, but the rest of the pen is mediocre at best, with the two guys expected to be the leaders at the beginning of the season (Miller, Allen) having horrible seasons by their standards due to injuries or plain ineffectiveness. Sure, if everyone pitches at their peak, I'd agree, but it seems to be one hell of a leap of faith to think that switch is magically going to be flipped after 162 games of inconsistency and mediocrity. Cleveland's hopes reside in their starting pitching going deep constantly and their offense flipping a switch, since some of those guys have fallen off somewhat over the past month or so.

When Miller was healthy, he was pretty damn good, which is the case going into postseason. I wasn’t counting Allen, but did count Bauer lol. Yankees would be the best bullpen probably. Astros and Indians right behind them.

posted by Heretic

At some point shouldn't actual performance play more of a role in determining a team's postseason potential than simply having good arms? Perez has been great in his role and Hand is a very good option, but the rest of the pen is mediocre at best, with the two guys expected to be the leaders at the beginning of the season (Miller, Allen) having horrible seasons by their standards due to injuries or plain ineffectiveness. Sure, if everyone pitches at their peak, I'd agree, but it seems to be one hell of a leap of faith to think that switch is magically going to be flipped after 162 games of inconsistency and mediocrity. Cleveland's hopes reside in their starting pitching going deep constantly and their offense flipping a switch, since some of those guys have fallen off somewhat over the past month or so.

Truth.  

posted by BRF

Truth.  

ditto. 

posted by Laley23

When Miller was healthy, he was pretty damn good, which is the case going into postseason. I wasn’t counting Allen, but did count Bauer lol. Yankees would be the best bullpen probably. Astros and Indians right behind them.

Gotcha. I didn't think Miller had been that great since coming back off the DL, but a lot of that was one bad outing (although it was his last outing before the playoffs) and if you take that one out of the equation, stat-wise he was very good, just not dominant .The part I'd find worrisome is that you might not be counting Allen, but Francona sure is. Down 4-2 in a playoff game with, I think, three innings to go isn't the highest of high-leverage situations, but it's still pretty important as you're two hits away from tying the game and there he was to ruin that.

I just want the media to cry because the Cubs, Red Sox and Yankees are eliminated.