Billy Beane is on the record that his #### doesn’t work in the playoffs. His words, not mine. And he’s right. You can build the best team possible for 162 games, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you will be able to do much in the postseason, where there is far less margin for error over a 1-game, 5-game or 7-game series. One good pitcher can allow David to slay Goliath. One bad call can turn victory into defeat. Players who were afterthoughts for months can become heroes for October, while the best of the best can suddenly become ineffective holes in the lineup.

For reasons suck as this, to predict October is a fool’s errand. That said, here are my predictions:

Wild Card Round:
Rangers over Orioles

Braves over Cardinals

League Division Series:

Giants over Reds in 5

Nationals over Braves in 4

Yankees over Rangers in 5

Tigers over Athletics in 4

League Championship Series:

Yankees over Tigers in 7

Nationals over Giants in 6

World Series:

Yankees over Nationals in 7 (But if Strasburg had been pitching, it’d be Nationals over Yankees)