MLB Playoff Race Heats Up: Dodgers, Tampa, Boston in Mix
Dan Sileo and Bob Nightengale discuss how the Dodgers, Rays, and Red Sox are competing for a playoff spot through savvy strategies and thrilling gameplay.
Video Transcript
What teams do you expect to be like, buyers?
Do you think the Dodgers are gonna be in the conversation as always?
I mean, they've just got a wealth of riches.
Could you see a team like Tampa Bay being a team that could be in that conversation?
And Bob, who would've thought this?
I don't know how they did it, but Boston, here they are.
They get rid of Alex Cora at the beginning of the year, and everybody was talking and saying to John Henry, "Sell the damn team."
And all of a sudden now they're fighting out for a playoff spot right now.
And as you just said, everybody's within striking distance.
Is there going to be a particular team that you think is gonna be particularly active?
Well, I think Tampa Bay, will be very aggressive.
When you talk to, GMs and they says, you know, they got scouts everywhere.
So I think Tampa will be very aggressive 'cause the American League is so wide open.
You're right about Boston.
I mean, they were, they were like 14 games below 500, then they went 21 and 4 in July, and now they're just six games back, right in the middle of a, a, a wild card derby.
So yeah, they're a completely different team.
How'd they turn it around, Bob, in your opinion?
What was, what was the determining factor?
I mean, I can't think firing Alex Cora was that big a deal, but here we are, like you said.
I mean, the last month and a half this team's been on fire, and maybe the best team in the American League right now.
How'd they turn it around?
Yeah, started pitching on their minds.
So the pitching was really dominant, and just guys came together.
And the more they, won, the more, more confidence they had and everything else.
So, but yeah, it was the pitching that was just lights out, you know, during that whole stretch.
And, that's why they traded away, you know, early to the Nationals to get some offensive help.
Then of course Mean gets hurt the, the first day they get him.
But they're still looking for a, a shortstop.
And I think if they get a shortstop they got a chance to go to the World Series
