MLB Playoffs 2017 Predictions Amid Baltimore Orioles Withdrawal
By Nate Wardle
The MLB playoffs have arrived without the Baltimore Orioles, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the Fall Classic as baseball crowns a new champion.
The 2017 MLB playoffs are upon us, a time of year unlike any other, even for fans of teams who have already been eliminated.
No, the Baltimore Orioles didn’t make the 2017 MLB playoffs, so no heroic postseason plays from Orioles All-Stars Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop or Zach Britton in the 2017 MLB playoffs.
Hold your jokes on Britton.
But, that doesn’t mean that Orioles fans don’t have a rooting interest (or more like teams to root against).
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are automatically out, right? If they would face each other, I’d be rooting New York, but I know many others would root for the Sox. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.
I’d also be willing to venture you won’t find many Oriole fans rooting for the Washington Nationals.
No love lost between the two fan bases.
Other than that, the Cubs have a strike for (Arrieta) and against (Maddon – although I don’t know what Oriole fans have against him,). The Indians and Astros are fun teams to watch, and the Diamondbacks can score runs in bunches.
But, regardless of rooting interest, with the wild card games completed (not precisely surprising results), here is one person’s prediction at how the rest of the MLB playoffs play out.