LOS ANGELES — Of all the non-competitive nonsense of the last few years, the blatant tanking was not the most odious. Teams such as the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates did not hide their strategy. They were not trying to win, and they were so good at being bad that one player would not have made a difference.
No, the most distasteful strategy went something like this: We could spend some prospects or dollars in trying to win a wild-card spot, but all that for a one-game playoff? Lose, and we’re done. Win, and we face the Dodgers, and then we’re all but done.
Let’s deconstruct that: We are in position to make the playoffs, and one player could make a difference, but why bother? We’re probably not going to last very long in the playoffs even if we get there, and then we’re out the prospects or dollars.
