Thirty-Two Is A Magic Number For MLB

Plus the fall and rise of the Astros. Plus the fall and rise of the Astros. [View this email in your browser]( The Astros' Fall And Rise You've probably seen the [2014 Sports Illustrated cover]( proclaiming the Astros as 2017 World Series champions more in the past three weeks than in the previous three years. It can feel easy to see this year's World Series appearance as more or less the natural conclusion of a tear-down and rebuild that now seems like ancient history—which makes it easy to forget just how bad the Astros were, and how recently so. It's been almost five years since Dave Cameron wrote a FanGraphs piece titled "[Why I'm Not a Fan of Losing on Purpose]( which noted that what Houston had done here was different than, say, a Jeffrey Loria fire sale: "The Astros decision to blow up the team and start over was almost certainly correct, given the talent base they were starting from... There is a point at which it makes sense to just blow the roster up and start over. But that point is when you get enough long term value in exchange for your short term assets to make the trade-off worth it." Here, then, is a little reminder of where they were starting from, and how they ended up here. Rewind to 2010. The Astros were tied for the worst offense in baseball by wRC+ (at 79, a far cry from this year's best-in-baseball figure of 121). The team's best hitter was [Hunter Pence]( while [Jose Altuve]( was in High-A and [George Springer]( was still a year away from being drafted. The rotation was better off, but dragged down by a weak bullpen, and the farm system lacked much depth. Year by year, all of that changed. Veteran talent like Pence, [Michael Bourn]( [Wandy Rodriguez]( and [Carlos Lee]( were all cashed in for prospects. The draft brought Springer and, the following year, [Carlos Correa](. There was no hesitation to go in quickly and to go all in, which meant that they hit bottom hard but that they could move up quickly. And now, a few years later—they're here. [FanGraphs produces over 400 articles each month, in addition to our ever-growing database of stats and graphs. Support our efforts today!]( Today on FanGraphs: [Thirty-Two Is A Magic Number For MLB]( Take a break from playoff reading by imagining a future where MLB has expanded to 32 teams. Travis Sawchik takes on the task today, and he likes what he sees—a more interesting division alignment that could allow for more heated rivalries and a better postseason. [Subscribe to our Podcasts!]( Catch up on past newsletters or pass along to a friend [here](. Data Visualization of the Day: [How An Ace Performance Impacts Reliever Workloads]( Today on The Hardball Times, Mike Sonne creates "Fatigue Units" to measure a pitcher's muscle fatigue over the course of a game and a season—and applies it to see how much relievers benefit by a starter going long in the playoffs. Excerpt from ["The Yankees' Path Forward"]( by Dave Cameron "But, [similar to the Cubs]( there are some legitimate questions on the pitching side of things, and a winter of inaction while counting on the kids to develop further and carry the team to the 2018 World Series is unlikely. The Yankees are both extremely well positioned for the future, but also need to do some real work this winter." [FORWARD]( [SUBSCRIBE]( Copyright © 2017 FanGraphs Inc, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the FanGraphs Newsletter. Our mailing address is: FanGraphs Inc 1200 N Hartford St. Apt 312Arlington, Va 22201 [Add us to your address book](//fangraphs.us7.list-manage.com/vcard?u=72096bce9a69ba4cbdebbf487&id=0c7da3c69f) Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](