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Jeff PassanJeff Passan

October baseball is a complete crapshoot

October baseball is a complete crapshoot... What that suggests to teams is October baseball is a complete crapshoot... You don't have to be great, right? You just have to be competitive and get to October and then once October comes, anything really can happen.

The recent success of low-seed wild cards (Phillies, Diamondbacks) supports this claim.

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Apr 3, 2024
#4772
Big CatBig Cat

Paige Bueckers might be the women's basketball GOAT

Paige Bueckers might be my goat. Yeah. We love women more than any other podcast in America.

Bueckers is an all-time great but hasn't surpassed the hardware of players like Breanna Stewart or Maya Moore.
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Apr 3, 2024
#4773
Big CatBig Cat

UConn will beat Iowa because Gino Auriemma has a better game plan for Caitlin Clark

I actually, I think UConn's gonna beat [Iowa] though, because I think Gino, like, if you watch the second game, Gino had a game plan for Juju Watkins that Kim Mulkey just didn't have for Caitlin.

Iowa beat UConn 71-69 in the Final Four on April 5, 2024.
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Apr 3, 2024
#4774
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Quarters are a better format for basketball than halves

I think I like the format of the women's game better. The quarters. I like the quarters. fouls reset... my one knock against the NCAA tournament on the men's side, is that down the stretch... it just turns into a foul fest.

This is a subjective preference for basketball formatting.

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Jeff PassanJeff Passan

The Dodgers vs. Brewers series is a proxy war for the future of baseball's economic system

This is not just the Brewers versus the Dodgers. This is the future of baseball as we know it in a proxy war because whoever ends up winning this series, the other side will use this when the MLB goes to a lockout and fights for a salary cap.

Postseason outcomes are frequently used as talking points in CBA negotiations.
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Jeff PassanJeff Passan

The impending MLB lockout will be the defining story of baseball next year

This is going to be the defining story of baseball next year. So hopefully people understand that this is gonna be a big deal... owners essentially lock players out, say you cannot report to work. And then it just becomes a staring contest.

The current CBA expires after the 2026 season; Passan is predicting a lockout-heavy 2026.
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Jeff PassanJeff Passan

The Cincinnati Reds are a sleeper team that could win the NL Central

I think people are sleeping on Cincinnati a little bit. Elly De La Cruz has a chance to be a super duper star... I like a team that has some youth on its side... the Reds feel like they could be that team this year.

The Cincinnati Reds did not win the NL Central in 2025. While they competed for a wild card spot (and narrowly edged out the Mets for the final spot), they did not win their division.