World Series Complete Preview

Coming into September, the Tigers, Mariners, A's, Royals, Pirates, Angels, Cardinals, Braves, Brewers, Giants, Dodgers and Marlins were all fighting for a spot in the playoffs, perhaps in the Wild Card. Besides the Nationals and the Orioles, those are all of the teams in baseball who could have been picked to win the World Series. People speculated that a Wild Card team would win it all.

The Wild Card games showed tons of promise. On Tuesday, the Royals and A's had an amazing game, both throwing their aces, James Shields and Jone Lester, respectively. The Royals came back from behind and forced the game into extras. They prevailed, and went on to face the Angels. On the other side of the circuit, the Giants asserted their dominance as a force, with their own ace Madison Bumgarner shutting down the Pirates and their offense exploding for eight runs.

We thought that was the end of the Giants and Royals. They were about to run into arguably the two best teams in baseball, the Nationals and the Angels. Somehow, they both took from Los Angeles and Washington in their own cities, and then were able to shut them down at home. Baltimore and St. Louis looked like roadblocks, but the hot Royals offense and the Giants' shut down pitching sent them into the World Series.

So now, it is inevitable. We will see a Wild Card team win the World Series this year. Just the second time in ten years and the first time in the two Wild Card era. It shouldn't be a surprise though. The Royals were fighting for the AL Central title until the final day of the regular season, and the Giants held tough with the Dodgers all season long.

The Giants and the Royals also have two of the most complete rosters in baseball. If you were to look at the five key components of baseball, defense, offense, pitching, coaching and executive performance, these teams have been showing strengths at all of those components. Let's look and see where they stand compared to each other. *We will not look at Executive Performance in a series.

Offense

Line-ups: 

Giants - CF Gregor Blanco, 2B Joe Panik, C Buster Posey, 3B Pablo Sandoval, RF Hunter Pence, 1B Brandon Belt, SS Brandon Crawford, LF Travis Ishikawa DH Mike Morse
                
Royals - SS Alcides Escobar, RF Norichika Aoki, CF Lorenzo Cain, 1B Eric Hosmer, LF Alex Gordon, C Salvador Perez, 2B Omar Infante, 3B Mike Moustakas, DH Billy Butler

This is perhaps a very tight competiton. Giants have more power in their line-up, but the Royals more speed. The Giants have a valid DH in Mike Morse, and the Royals' line-up can live without Billy Butler. Positionally, the Giants have 4 advantages (C, 2B, 3B, RF), the Royals have 3 (1B, LF, CF), and then two push positions (SS, DH). I would rather take the Giants line-up right now, with more potential stacked in their line-up. If Morse hits 6th, then 3 through 7 are all perennial power hitters. Giants get the advantage here.

Advantage - Giants

Defense

Look above for who is playing where, but this should be a landslide. Having one of the best outfield defenses in the league, not even Jason Heyward and the Braves would have the advantage of the Royals. At catcher, a slight advantage goes to Perez on pure defense but Posey has a better command over his pitchers. Eric Hosmer is one of the best first baseman in the league and despite missing over a month will still probably win the Gold Glove. SS and 2B are probably push, but Moustakas at 3rd has a clear advantage over Sandoval.

Advantage - Royals

Pitching 

Rotations:
Giants - SP Madison Bumgarner, SP Jake Peavy, SP Tim Hudson, SP Ryan Vogelsong

Royals - SP James Shields, SP Yordano Ventura, SP Danny Duffy, SP Jason Vargas

Bullpens:

Giants - CL Santiago Casilla, RH Sergio Romo, RH Hunter Strickland, RH Yusmeiro Petit, RH Tim Lincecum, RH Jean Machi, LH Javier Lopez, LH Jeremy Affeldt
                  
Royals - CL Greg Holland, RH Wade Davis, RH Jason Fraser, RH Kelvin Herrera, RH Jeremy Guthrie, LH Tim Collins, LH Brandon Finnegan

On paper, this is easily favored to Giants, rotation wise. Bumgarner is arguably a better ace than Shields, and then Peavy, Hudson and Vogelsong are equal to Ventura, Duffy, and Vargas skill wise but have tons more experience. The late inning advantage will probably go to the Royals, with their dominance of Herrera/Davis/Holland, probably the best in the league. Still, the Giants bullpen isn't bad, with Casilla, Romo, Affeldt and Strickland, so they still get the advantage here.

Advantage - Giants

Coaching

Ned Yost will probably win AL manager of the year. He took a team like the Royals, who had potential, and turned them into a playoff team. Lloyd McClendon started with more talent but still didn't get into October, and Bob Melvin's A's fell apart in the second half of the season. On the other hand is Bruce Bochy, who has won two Championships in the past four years, and has been coaching since 1995. He has been with the Giants for the past 8 years, and has asserted dominance as one of the best coaches in the league. It's not a landslide, but the Giants pull ahead in this one.

Advantage - Giants

Overall

Despite the Royals currently riding a nine game winning streak, the Giants and their experience will prevail and shut down the recently explosive bats of Kansas City. The Giants have been scrapping all postseason and should continue it for the upcoming week or so.

Prediction - Giants in 6

Schedule:

Game 1: Tuesday 8:07 @Kansas City (Shields vs Bumgarner) FOX
Game 2: Wednesday 8:07 @Kansas City (Ventura vs Peavy) FOX
Game 3: Friday 8:07 @San Francisco (TBA vs Hudson) FOX
Game 4: Saturday 8:07 @San Francisco (TBA vs Vogelsong) FOX
Game 5*: Sunday 8:07 @San Francisco (TBA vs TBA) FOX
Game 6*: Tuesday 8:07 @Kansas City (TBA vs TBA) FOX
Game 7*: Wednesday 8:07 @Kansas City (TBA vs TBA) FOX

* - If necessary