Getty Images/Ringer illustration Why is this World Series matchup so close? Because one of the rosters is so far from full strength. It's traditional, before a World Series starts, to compare and contrast teams, breaking down the rosters piece by piece and pronouncing who has the edge. We could run through that exercise with this season's pennant winners, in advance of Friday's Game 1, but it wouldn't be very revealing. The Dodgers are much more capable baserunners, excel at controlling the running game, and have the better bullpen, probably. (Who really knows about bullpens?) The Yankees boast a stronger starting staff and superior pitch framing and blocking, and their righty-killing bats may match up well with the Dodgers' lefty-less rotation. The lineups (relentless) and defenses (fine)? Too close to call. There's not a lot of daylight between the best teams in their respective leagues; even the projections refuse to take sides, stubbornly sitting on the 50-50 fence. Maybe the mistake is studying the players who are on the roster, rather than those who aren't. In this case, the players who may make the difference don't show up on the depth chart—unless the depth chart lists...