Playoff teams on the fringe can point to one key player that let them down. In the American League, two teams are trailing in the chase for the last playoff spot. Each one of them has one key contributor that could have kicked it up a notch to bridge the gap. See what each of them made this year and examine where their vulnerability lie in this edition of APEX Baseball Betting.
Overpriced Angel
With all the bloat and collapse going for the Angels, one high priced player is escaping most of the wrath that should be poured out onto him. Jered Weaver gets a hefty eighteen million per year for someone in the golden years of his on field effectiveness. 6-10 with a 4.78 ERA stings in the middle of this playoff race. The silver lining to this crowd is that he is almost done with his five year deal and he clearly produced during the first three years of his tenure. Still a break even record would not have LA trailing both the Twins and the Astros for the second wild card spot.
Joe Mauer Tanks the Twins
It is difficult to call someone a major disappointment when this team was not expected to be in the middle of it in September. With all the young men coming through, it is the veteran that is tailspinning the Twins. .267 is bad enough but with a puny power number of seven home runs and there is little return on the hefty $23M he is absorbing this year.
These players are at least on contenders. Justin Verlander and his heavy contract through 2019 barrels the Tigers in for quite a while. Meanwhile, why is there not more discussion about a batter who has a .283 on base percentage that cashes a $25 million contract. That would Ryan Howard eating all that money up for the Phillies. Once he went down the Philadelphia franchise crashed with him. So there you have it. The worst culprits who got paid kingly sized sums of money and dashed the dreams of fans in their cities. Check in next time here at Apex Baseball Betting as we go over projected playoff brackets.
