Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 10/4/18

FanGraphs | Craig Edwards: If the Cubs had won the World Series, then you could seriously talk about this team as a dynasty. But that didn’t happen, obviously, and that’s OK. This is still an exciting group of players to watch, and there are plenty of exciting teams that never took home hardware.

Baseball Prospectus | Russell A. Carleton: Jacob deGrom is the most valuable player by WAR, obviously, and it’s not really that close to Christian Yelich, either. But what makes him even more valuable is actually that he consistently goes into games deeper than more pitchers of his era, allowing the bullpen to be, on average, better as a result. This results in a lower runs allowed total for the game so probably underrates how important he is.

The Athletic | Eno Sarris ($): Not all postseason bullpens will be rested the same, so teams like the Athletics and Rockies, for example, will have more fatigue on their relievers than teams like the Dodgers or Astros.

The Ringer | Zach Krom: It’s a shame that the magical Athletics didn’t get further, but we shouldn’t pretend this team ran into a buzzsaw, because this team definitely wasn’t an “underdog” in the traditional sense. Players like Matt Chapman, Khris Davis, Roman Laureano, and Blake Treinen form a core as formidable as any in baseball, despite their early lack of notice until their second-half tear.