We’ve reached the final week of the 2018 baseball season. The playoff teams on display this month have represented a wide variety of composition. At risk of being very reductionist, the Red Sox, Dodgers, Yankees, and Cubs gave us fiscal behemoths. Oakland and Milwaukee sent low payroll options to the table. The Braves made it to the playoffs with one of the youngest teams in the game, while Cleveland survived by keeping their talented core together much longer than anyone else. Every team who made it has excelled using analytics to some degree, but it would be hard to argue that anybody does it as effectively as Houston.
How are Playoff Teams Built, and How do the Cardinals Compare?
