1. Poor play of 2016’s playoff teams
It would be easy to focus on 2016’s World Series combatants — the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians. It’s certainly true that both teams have under performed, hovering around the .500 mark for most of the season. But in truth, it’s really been a league-wide issue.
In the American League, the Boston Red Sox are the only playoff team from 2016 currently in postseason position. The Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers have all struggled and all sit around the .500 mark.
In the National League, the picture is similar. Like the Red Sox, the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers are both having good seasons. But while the New York Mets are showing signs of life, they still have a long way to go before we can call them playoff contenders. The San Francisco Giants have been awful. As we’ve already detailed, the Cubs are in contention but would be in a lot of trouble if they played in either of the NL’s other divisions.
That’s 70 percent of 2016’s playoff teams playing well below expectations. A few are already essentially out of contention.
We weren’t expecting a 10-for-10 repeat of 2016’s playoffs. But the number of teams falling well short of expectations is certainly worthy of our attention.