If I was Lou Pinella

[brewcrewreview]

I would rig it so the Brewers have the best possible chance to get into the playoffs. I would do this because the Brewers at this point are easily the worst team out of the themselves, the Phillies, and the Mets. The Brewers' manager has no experience whatsoever, the offense has really been doing nothing for over two weeks, the starting pitching has been a mess with Parra, Suppan, and Sheets (not including how average CC has been of late and Bush doing rather well, plus can you really trust McClung in a post season situation?), and the bullpen is awful to put it nicely.

It would be rather easy for him to do as well. He could start everyone throughout the Mets series and rest people before the Brewers series because he wouldn't want to give his stars too long of a break so they don't stay sharp, but yet give them a break a day or two before the playoffs begin to give them a couple days of rest to refreshen them.

I would think it would be in the Cubs' best interest to see the Brewers in the NL Championship Series rather than the Mets or the Phillies. Also, any "road game" against the Brewers in the NLCS would be more like a 50/50 crowd which is another benefit to the Cubs. To me, the whole thing is a no brainer from the Cubs' point of view.

[patrickgpe]

well if i was pinella i'd try to win all 4 against the mets and tank it against the crew, but not for your reasons. If you assume the cubs are playing the dodgers and brewers play the phillies. If you go by the premise that the brewers are worse than the mets, then it would stand that you would be playing the phillies anyway in the nlcs. Therefore i would only do it because i was a brewer fan.

[brewcrewreview]

But anyone could beat anyone in a seven game series. The Brewers could beat the Phillies, and I'm sure the Cubs would way rather play the Brewers than the Phillies in the NLCS. That's my whole point of the original post.

[owbc]

It's definitely in the Cubs best interest to face the Brewers in the NLCS. The Brewers seem to be the weakest team out of the group besides maybe the Dodgers. Miller Park would also have a significant number of Cubs fans if the Brewers/Cubs played in the NLCS, although the Cubs do travel well everywhere.

 

However, I don't see why Piniella would do anything against the best interests of his team in order to make or break someone else's playoff chances. Playing hard against the Brewers and not the Mets a very bad message to the Mets and goes against the unwritten rule that you have to play hard until the end of the season against other teams with a chance.

 

I think he's doing it the right way--giving his players some rest but not too much, setting up his rotation for the playoffs, and limiting pitch counts.

[crewcrazy]

While I think the Dodgers would be a more manageable first round opponent for the Cubs than the Mets or Phillies, I think there's also the danger of getting the Brewers hot heading into the playoffs. Nearly every year, we see that the hottest team heading into the playoffs usually fares the best -- by sweeping the Cubs (whether it's the Chicago Cubs or Iowa Cubs), the Brewers would be heading into the postseason with a great deal of confidence, especially if they don't have to use Sabathia on three days' rest twice heading into that first round series.

 

For the Brewers series, I'd expect Lou to do the same thing he's done since they've clinched the division -- maybe subbing one or two back-ups per day, pulling his pitchers after 5 or 6 innings, and using the rest of his bench players as subs later in the game. While it'd be nice to see the Cubs field a AAA lineup, it appears the most help we're going to get is Harden and Zambrano being switched around in the rotation so they don't pitch in that final series.

[Ennder]

I think we are about the same as the Mets and Phillies. I don't see how the Cubs really can care about this, they are a step above the other teams and they should just be worrying about getting into the series healthy.

[CheezWizHed]

If the Brewers are the worst team and the get swept in the first round, the Cubs would have to play a well rested NLCS opponent.

[Thurston Fluff]

I agree with Ennder. The Cubs are the best of the bunch and probably don't care who they face. That said I do not agree the Brewers are the worst of the bunch. If the Brewers have the better record they are better. That's the purpose of 162 games.

As far as the Cubs go I think the Brewers are the team they want the least part of. The Brewers are the only team to have a winning record at Wrigley and if not for a 4 run outburst with two out in the ninth would have lost all three series to the Brewers there.

When all is said and done the Cubs will do what it right and play hard in every game. They will not rest starters wholesale in any series or do anything to harm the integrity of the game. As much as I hate the Cubs these are not the same Cubs as the Sosa years. Despite what LaRussa may think there are other managers out there who respect the game. Lou is one of them.

[wisconsinfan47]

If I were Lou Pinella, I would rig last week of the season to help get the Brewers into the playoffs because the Brewers are awesome.

[logan82]

If I was Pinella I would rest my guys against the Mets and play them against the Brewers to get them ready for the playoffs. I would start setting up my rotation for the playoffs last week.

[BREWCREW5]

I would have trouble seeing my shoes with that gut.

[dlk9s]

The funny thing is, baseball is a sport where, even if you put in scrubs, it's still very possible to win. All it takes is a good game by the starting pitcher and/or good games by a couple hitters and a team of bench players can beat anybody.

[Roscoe Chill]

Who wouldn't want 7 home games in the NLCS as a possibility?

 

I agree that the Cubs should want the Brewers in the playoffs.

[BrewCrewForever]

If I was Pinella I wouldn't bat Reed Johnson cleanup every again, unless of course it's against us.