Mariners Moose Tracks, 10/9/20: The Atlanta Braves, Randy Arozarena, and Ha-Seong Kim

Hello everyone and happy Friday! We’re lucky enough to have some more baseball today with the Division Series continuing. Until then, here are some links to keep you occupied.

In playoff news...

• In what turned out to be the least competitive series in the Division Series, the Braves blanked Miami to secure the series sweep.
• The Astros will get the chance to continue their reign as the national villains of the playoffs after a rout of Oakland yesterday.
• The Yankees showed that they weren’t going to go down quietly as they bested the American League’s top seed yesterday to force a Game 5.
• One of baseball’s most exciting teams, the San Diego Padres, were eliminated from the postseason last night following a rout by the Dodgers.

In Mainers news...

• As many pointed out in yesterday’s comments, it appears Brian DeLunas isn’t the only coach being let go by Seattle. A trio of others, including highly-respected former Athletic Trainer Rick Griffin will not be around next year.
• On the 25th anniversary of the incredible 1995 Seattle Mariners team, ESPN put together a great retelling of the season with quotes from all sorts of people who were involved.

Around the league...

• Alex Rodriguez isn’t a fan of the Yankees’ analytical approach.

• Meanwhile, Marc Carig at The Athletic got the Yankees players’ take on what went wrong in Game 2. ($)
• Cleveland faces a crucial offseason with a cash crunch coming up, writes Bernie Pleskoff at Forbes.
• Tyler Kepner wrote about the star turn for Randy Arozarena this fall.
• As the qualifying offer amount continues to go up.

• Major League Baseball’s wild card round saw pretty good ratings, further supporting the notion of keeping the expanded playoff format going forward.
• The KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes are expected to post star shortstop Ha-Seong Kim this winter.
• Was Zack Greinke...trying to throw the series? (This is not a serious allegation)

• Ben Badler at Baseball America reports that MLB is allowing teams to open up their Dominican academies for instructs.