MLB: Three Playoff Teams That Won’t Repeat in 2017

3. San Francisco Giants

Now I could base the entirety of my argument on the fact that 2017 isn’t an even year. Odd years seem to be their Achilles heel, as the last time they made the playoffs in an odd year was 2003. However, using this as my basis for argument is really trivial, so that’s just a bonus point. The reason the Giants will fail to repeat in 2017 has a lot to do with their second half performance last season, and that the opposition keeps getting better.

First, the fact of the matter is that the NL West is the Dodgers’ to lose. Yes, Los Angeles can’t put together a deep run in October like San Francisco has three times this decade. But as four-time repeating NL West champions, this is the Dodgers’ division to lose and every offseason they are always bringing in new pieces to ensure that. The Wild Card isn’t going to be a walk in the park either, as both the Mets and Cardinals will surely have better 2017 campaigns, even with the Braves potentially in the mix. The Mets’ young pitching staff will be healthy, and the Cardinals seem to be gearing up to make a splash this offseason.

Not only does the competition seem better, but the Giants finished the season horribly this year. San Francisco went 30-42 after the All Star break. A big reason was their league-leading blown saves, and although they are in the market for one of the big three closers, that may not be enough.

Their pitching staff is good, but if one arm goes down they are in trouble. Matt Moore is a roller-coaster of a pitcher, throwing gems and throwing disasters. Jeff Samardzija is going into his age-32 season, so question marks will be circling around him. It’s not that the Giants will be bad. I’m sure they will get very close to being in October. However, their competition seems to narrowly outmatch them once again in an odd year.