David Ortiz and the Red Sox aren't going to the playoffs, but Big Papi has his pick for the "team to beat" this postseason - the rival Yankees.
The designated hitter got an up close and personal view of New York as it finally clinched its first spot in the postseason in three years, notching a wild card berth with a 4-1 win over Ortiz's Red Sox on Thursday. Ortiz believes the Yankees are the team to beat in the playoffs despite the loss of Mark Teixeira and a lineup full of aging stars.
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"Look at the Yankees, and I'll give you my honest opinion; they have a great bullpen and players in the lineup that can do damage, though [Mark] Teixeira is a hard bat to replace," Ortiz told Newsday. "Their starting pitching is OK.
"Anything can happen in the playoffs but they have players that have been in the postseason and won the World Series, [so] they know the way."
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Though Ortiz believes the Yankees are the team to beat, here are three other clubs that have a better possibility of winning it all.
1) Blue Jays
Ortiz may have overlooked the AL East champions when making his Fall Classic prediction, as the Blue Jays have been a force in the second half. David Price was a huge deadline pickup in Toronto and he's flourished as a Blue Jay (9-1, 2.30 ERA).
Troy Tulowitzki (shoulder) is expected to return to a potent lineup that boasts MVP candidate Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, making Toronto a viable threat in the playoffs.
2) Mets
Perhaps Ortiz also should have peaked into the rival borough to see that the Amazin's clinched the NL East and a playoff spot for the first time in nine years. Though New York will have to get through Dodgers' aces Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, it boasts some great young pitching of its own.
2014 NL Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom, a recharged, determined Matt Harvey and flamethrower Noah Syndergaard are waiting in the wings for New York. Yoenis Cespedes, who had a scary hiccup with his hand, has had an unfathomable impact on the Mets' lineup since his arrival.
3) Cardinals
A bolt of lightning can strike the team, and it will somehow move on unfettered. The Cardinals lost Adam Wainwright, who, by the way, will be available out of the bullpen in the playoffs, for most of the season and still managed to win 100 games and clinch the NL Central for the third straight campaign.
Even the loss of Carlos Martinez (shoulder) hasn't killed the Cardinals' drive. The rotation has plenty of depth, spearheaded by Michael Wacha and Lance Lynn, while Matt Holliday, Jason Heyward and Jhonny Peralta shore up the middle of the lineup.
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