There is a song called ‘Can’t buy me love’ by the legendary British rock band The Beatles. When interpreted, it means ‘love cannot be bought with money,’ and it has something in common with baseball in that it is difficult to buy a championship with money.
The teams that attracted the most attention in the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB)토스카지노 last winter were the New York Mets and San Diego Padres. The reason is simple. This is because an astronomical amount of money was poured into renewing contracts and recruiting free agents (FA). At the time of the opening game, the players of both teams were spectacular. It was worthy of being called an ‘all-star corps.’ However, with less than a month left in the regular season, the situation between the Mets and San Diego is miserable. We are far from competing to advance to the postseason (PS).
This season, the Mets have a winning percentage of only 0.458 (65 wins, 77 losses) as of the 11th (Korean time). The Mets, ranked 4th in the National League (NL) East Division, are 28 games behind the division leader Atlanta Braves. According to FanGraphs.com, a website specializing in MLB records, the Mets’ probability of advancing to the PS is less than 1%. Ahead of the trade deadline, they raised the white flag early by sending out starting one-two punches Justin Verlander (Houston Astros) and Max Scherzer (Texas Rangers).
Fernando Tatis Jr., a key player in the San Diego Padres. Getty Images
San Diego is even more serious. We expected a big turnaround in the second half of last year, but the winning percentage remained at 0.465 with 67 wins and 77 losses. They are in 4th place in the NL West, 21 games behind the league leader LA Dodgers. Like the Mets, the probability of advancing to PS is less than 1%. Their winning percentage is slightly higher than that of the Mets, but they are in tears because they announced late that they would give up on the season and were not able to acquire any prospects at the trade deadline.
The slump of the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals is impressive, but San Diego’s failure is even more noticeable because of the numbers that move separately from the winning percentage. San Diego is in the top 10 in the league in terms of wRC+, which shows how well they did compared to the average player, and ERA. OAA, a defensive measure that captures more out counts than average, is included in the top five. In particular, the starting ERA is 3.84, ranking first in the NL. Considering the Pythagorean number that predicts expected wins, the Padres’ win rate should be around 77 wins.
Even Major League superstar Juan Soto could not prevent the fall of the San Diego Padres. Getty Images
Based on ‘expected success’, there should be fierce competition for the top rankings, but San Diego’s realistic report card is at the level of failing. San Diego coach Bob Melvin says of the team’s slump, “The timing was wrong.” It is a nuance that refers to ‘off beat’, where you score a lot of points in a winning game but remain silent when you really need to score.
A good example is overtime matches. This season, San Diego is 0-11 in overtime. This is the most losses since the Montreal Expos lost 12 in 1969. San Diego’s overtime batting average is only 0.160. On the other hand, the team’s bullpen hitting percentage in overtime reaches 0.405. There is no way to win in overtime because we score few goals and concede many goals.
That’s not all. In games with a 1-point margin, they are poor this year with 6 wins and 22 losses. In addition, the bullpen’s success rate of runs is the lowest in the league. The performance in a tight situation in the second half of the game was also disappointing. In a fierce situation where the gap is within 2 runs from the 7th inning, the latter half of the game, the Padres’ team batting average is only 0.194. Among the starting players, there are only three players with a batting average of over 0.200: Kim Ha-seong, Juan Soto, and Fernando Tatis Jr.
San Diego Padres manager Bob Melvin raises his voice at the referee during the game. Getty Images
As this situation continues until the end of the season, Coach Melvin has no choice but to discuss timing. Some say that if San Diego had raised the white flag in the middle of the season, they pushed too hard because it would be as obvious that a change in the coaching staff as well as the general manager would be replaced. Regardless of whether it is true or not, unless there is a ‘fire sale’ this winter, San Diego must improve its performance next year.
Investing a lot can increase your chances of success. However, it was clearly revealed this season that there were quite a few cases of failure. Ultimately, in baseball, it seems like ‘can’t buy fans the title.’ You can’t buy the fans a win.