Excerpt: "LDS Roundup"

"For reasons that aren't completely clear, Ned Colletti never addressed his bullpen in-season, and that neglect is coming home to roost in October. Scott Elbert was a excellent reliever once and he may be again, but right now he's a guy coming off an injury who wasn't even that good in the minors this year. Using him in a tied playoff game is a cry for help. Rostering him is a cry for help."

Excerpt: "NLDS Catchup"

"However, we also have to acknowledge that many decisions are closer to even, that they're 60-40 choices or 55-45 ones or even 52-48 ones, and using the outcomes of those decisions to pretend they were 95-5 discredits all analysis. The choices made by Don Mattingly on Friday and by Matt Williams on Saturday were defensible, and had each chosen the other's path, that would have been defensible as well. At least here, neither manager deserves scorn for his particular choice just because of the outcomes."

Excerpt: "Tigers/Orioles Preview"

"The one clear advantage for the Orioles comes late in games. They, in no small part thanks to Showalter, have a very tough bullpen and one that includes a number of righty-killers. Darren O'Day held righties to a .164 BA and .247 SLG. Brad Brach, a .192 BA and a .277 SLG. Ryan Webb had a 24/2 K/BB against righties. Throw in Tommy Hunter, and the Orioles are very well positioned to exploit the Tigers' lineup imbalance once the starters leave. It's not unfair to think of this series as having two halves -- the first six innings, and the final three. The Tigers will be favorites in the first, the Orioles favorites in the last. How many games will swing in those final three innings?"

Excerpt: "AL Wild Card Game"

"Ned Yost does not understand the relative skills of his players. He doesn't understand the range of potential outcomes of a plate appearance. He doesn't appear to understand how leverage changes within an at-bat. He doesn't know how to look ahead in an inning. He just knows the things he learned about baseball 40 years ago."