The aftermath

 

I'm not too enthused about the remainder of the MLB postseason. It seems like I say this almost every year, since like 1989, but this year's final four is particularly yawn-inducing.

I'll watch -- when I'm not working -- but there will be no recording for later viewing. The Phillies will be the only team I care to see win the World Series and there are two teams left I have absolutely no interest in seeing win ... anything ... at any time.

I was going to do another "oldest card," "newest card," for the League Championship Series but I'm not feeling it. Instead, yesterday, I got interested in looking up what former Dodgers were on each of the remaining teams, so let's go in that direction.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

There are three players on the Phillies' 40-man roster who have played for the Dodgers, although only two are on the current roster. Dylan Covey, who played very briefly for the Dodgers this season, is not active. The two who are playing are Trea Turner and Craig Kimbrel.

Most notable Dodger card I have of the ex-Dodgers

The 2022 Archives red foil, numbered to 50, is probably the fanciest Dodger card I have of Turner, edging out the Panini relic up top. I do miss Turner playing for the Dodgers, though I don't miss his occasional defensive missteps.

TEXAS RANGERS

This is the team with the most former Dodgers on it. There are four active players, three of them pitchers. Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney and Josh Sborz all pitched for the Dodgers. I often wonder what the Dodgers could've done with Eovaldi on their staff for the last decade.

The other player is Corey Seager as the Dodgers sure did enjoy shedding themselves of starting shortstops.

Most notable card I have of the ex-Dodgers

Corey Seager is in my top 15 of the players for which I have the most cards. Out of that, just five are Rangers cards. I have more than that in Seager rookie cards alone. But this is my only autograph card of Seager. It's nice and shiny.

HOUSTON ASTROS

The Astros do not have any former Dodgers on their team. People like to bring up that the Dodgers once had Yordan Alvarez, and that's true, and it's true they traded him to Houston for Josh Fields. But Alvarez never played even a minor league game for the Dodgers. He was signed as a free agent out of Cuba in mid-June of 2016 and traded Aug. 1, 2016. That's barely any time to evaluate what you have. But certain classy Astros fans like to bait Dodgers fans to this day.

 

(An alert reader mentioned manager Dusty Baker, which considering the Diamondbacks selection -- see below -- I should note here. I have a later post saved for Baker and was trying to avoid mentioning him this time).

Most notable card I have of the pseudo-ex-Dodger

Remember the hype around this card? What's Aristides Aquino doing these days? It's been only three years and I'm asking that. That's the fleeting nature of prospecting, it's barely anything tangible.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

The Diamondbacks do not have any former Dodgers on their team as far as I can tell -- I didn't go back into any of the lesser-known players' minor league days.

In fact I had to go into the coaching staff to find anyone who played for the Dodgers. I found one guy. The bullpen coach.

Most notable card I have of the ex-Dodger

Mike Fetters pitched for the Dodgers in 2000 and 2001. This MLB Showdown card is the only one I have of him in a Dodger uniform. It might be his only Dodger card period.

 

So there you are. I listed the teams in order of how much I'd like them to win it all.

 

Thanks to all the postseason tweaks over the years, my interest in the playoffs, has faded a bit. The short series may create excitement for the casual fan, but there's a slight feeling of illigitamacy when the teams who were great all through the season get knocked off immediately.

The dupey L.A. Times sportswriters in typical sensationalistic fashion have indicated that the Dodgers' loss to the Diamondbacks may be some fatal flaw in the organization. Doubtful. First, I'm surprised the Dodgers managed to avoid finishing in third place this season. That's where I thought they'd be. To come up with 100 wins, nevermind a World Series title, is wild to me. Second, every team is susceptible to being upended in the current playoff structure. (Well, except for the inhuman Astros).

In other words, I ain't worried.

But I do wish we could end the postseason before November.