Who has the most complete team heading into the MLB playoffs?
COACHING
American League
Boston Red Sox: John Farrell +3
Cleveland Indians: Terry Francona +5
Houston Astros: AJ Hinch +2
New York Yankees: Joe Girardi +4
Minnesota Twins: Paul Molitor +1
BREAKDOWN: When it comes to the postseason, Terry Francona is one of the best coaches of our generation so there’s no question he gets the +5. Helping the Red Sox end their wretched curse and now helping a city of Cleveland believe in World Series aspirations again is big in part due to Terry Francona. Joe Girardi of the Yankees has done a really nice job with the young Baby Bombers as well and has also managed his depth of the bullpen nicely (for the most part). People thought the Yanks were a year or two away from contending but Girardi earns +4 for getting this team on track way a head of schedule. John Farrell has the Red Sox winning back to back AL East titles for the first time ever and has done a solid job dealing with the injuries that the Red Sox have endured. The Red Sox have a lot of talent and I’m not too sure Farrell (like Girardi) always makes the right decision with his bullpen. gains +3. The Astros were one of the most dominant teams in the first half of the 2017 season and have been one of the most dominant teams since AJ Hinch took over in 2015. He earns +2 and the nod over Paul Molitor (+1) who has also done a really strong managerial job with a team that wasn’t expected to make it this far.
National League
Arizona Diamondbacks: Torey Lovullo +2
Chicago Cubs: Joe Maddon +5
Colorado Rockies: Bud Black +1
Los Angeles Dodgers: Dave Roberts +4
Washington Nationals: Dusty Baker +3
BREAKDOWN: A few really solid options here in the National League. Joe Maddon, Dave Roberts, Dusty Baker. All really great managers. Maddon might have over managed a little in the playoffs last season but he still ended a +100 year old World Series drought, earning him +5. Dave Roberts has been extremely successful in his first two years with the Dodgers and the players seem to really respond well to him. He led them to one of the hottest historical baseball stretches ever, before they started to slump. Dusty Baker is a great coach too but I feel like he always makes a head-scratching decision every so often that costs his team the game. When it came between both first year managers between Diamondbacks and Rockies, I based it strictly off record. Torey Lovullo of the Diamondbacks gets +2 and Bud Black of the Rockies gets +1.