Who'll win the American Leage Central?
Question:Anyone who likes baseball knows that the AL Central is arguably the toughest division in baseball. Living in Michigan, I'm not liking that. There are already four teams with 10+wins, ( Tigers, Twins, W.Sox, Indians ) and this is only the beginning of the season. But who will win the central? It's a tough call. X_X
I'd say it will be the Tigers or Indians in the end. The Tigers have one key injury, Kenny Rogers, and they have a lot of slumping hitters such as Monroe, Inge, and Sheffield, but the Tigers have the hitting experience and pitching experience. They also have a great bullpen, although it is somewhat struggling early on. I think it's possible we'll see the Tigers, Indians, W.Sox, and Twins with 90 wins or so by the end of the season. Even if the Tiger's don't win the central, they ( or the team in second place ) will get the wild card, more likely than not.
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GO TRIBE !Minute maid park-Temps with roof closed?
Definitely the Indians they have one of the best starting rotation in the major leagues. Also with one the best bullpens in the American league currently ranked third in era. Their offense has not even heat up this year and they are already five games above .500. Not to mention one of the best center fielders in the game in Grady Sizemore and the best DH in the game in Travis Hafner. Its a done deal the Indians will win the central.Go Tribe!
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I think the Tigers are the favorite, with the White Sox a close second. It will come down to pitching. The Tigers, Twins, White Sox, and Indians can all hit. But even without Kenny Rogers, the Tigers still have the best staff in the AL Central. The White Sox have a good staff too. If John Danks has a good season they're going to look really strong.The Indians SUCK. Who cares if they're in first place after 19 games. The Tigers have a SOLID starting 4. The Indians don't. Jeremy Sowers, Paul Byrd are big question marks. Westbrook has an ERA of 9! Their bullpen also stinks. This is a bullpen that is so bad that the now-retired Keith Foulke, with bum knees, was considered an UPGRADE. Borowski and Hernandez don't scare anyone. Hell, Hernandez has walked 7 and K'ed 4 - nice ratio. The Indians need CC to throw 300 IP to have a prayer in September.
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If the Indians don't get their bullpen in order they will not win this division, and Detroit will. If Cleveland pulls togethr pitching and defense will have to sit and wait for the fun to begin.Maybe the Tigers but I really thinks its going to be the Indians.
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The tigers arguably have the best rotation in the Bigs. I see them winning the division.I am not being biased here,I think the Indians truly will win.Here's why:
Last years record:78-84 4th place AL Central
Projected record:90-72 2nd in AL Central
The Indians were a big dissapointment last year only winning 78 games.Coming off a 93 win season in 2005 they were expected to make the playoffs nad possibly take the division from the White Sox.Little did everyone know that the Tigers would catch fire and take the Wild Card and win the AL pennant.The Indians,allthough below .500,were not as bad as there record.They outscored opponents by 88 runs with the 2nd most runs in the league and had the 6th best ERA.The main problem was the bullpen.The bullpen went from being one of the best in 2005 to being one of the worst in 2006.They also were only the 6th team since 1954 to fall more then 10 games below there projected record using the pathageron triangle(they were projected to win 90 games).Using simulation with the Indians roster they won an average of 90.1 games(10 simulations).
Hitting-If the Indians have any strength it's hitting.They have the greatest lineup you've never heard of.They have possibly the best outfielder in baseball,Grady Sizemore,in center and two platoons,Jason Michaels/David Dullucci in left and Trot Nixon/Casey Blake in right.The infield has Ryan Garko,a prospect,and Casey Blake platooning at 1B while 2B is occupied by Josh Barfield.At short there is Jhonny Perelta who should bounce back closer to his 2005 numbers.3B is no longer Aaron Boone one of the best prosepects will take over,Andy Marte. They scored the 2nd most runs in the majors last year and look to score even more.
CF Grady Sizemore-led league in runs and doubles(290 BA,28 HR,76 RBI)
2B Josh Barfield-Comes to Cleveland from San Diego(280 BA,13 HR,58 RBI)
C Victor Martinez-One of the top catchers in the game today(316 BA,16 HR ,93 RBI)
DH Travis Hafner-Maybe the most underrated player in the league,look at his stats,he missed the last month of the season(BA 308,42 HR,117 RBI)
1B Casy Blake/Ryan Garko-Garko and Blake will split time,Garko will play against left handers,Blake against right.(Blake,109 G,282 BA,19 HR 68 RBI)(Garko,50 G,292 BA,7 HR,54 RBI)
RF Trot Nixon/Casey Blake-Blake will play right against left handers and Nixon will start against right handers.(Nixon,114 G,268 BA,8 HR,52 RBI,Blake shown above)
LF David Dullucci/Jason Michaels-Michaels will start against right handers and Dullcci against right handers.(Dullucci,292 BA,13 HR,39 RBI)(Michaels,267 BA,9 HR,55 RBI)
SS Jhonny Perelta-Had a sophmore slup last year.Expect him to have closer to his 2005 stats.(257 BA,13 HR,68 RBI)
3B Andy Marte-One of the top prospects in the league,is supposed to be a future star.(50 G,226 BA,5 HR,23 RBI)
The only lineup that is better is the Yankees.
Batting=A
Starting pitching-The Indians this year will throw one of the best staffs in the league at opponents.The staff had the 6th best ERA in the league in 2006 and they look to improve on that.Every starting pitcher on the roster,excluding Paul Byrd,is under the age of 30.
Ace-CC Sabathia-Had his best season yet although he record does not show it.Did not get help from the bullpen,blew 7 of this leads.Led the league in complete games and was 3rd in ERA.(12-11,3.22 ERA,172 SO)
Jake Westbrook-Lead the Indians in wins last year.Very consistent.Good sinkerballer.(15-10,4.17 ERA,109 SO)
Cliff Lee-Will start the season on the DL.Will be back by mid-April.Dropped from his 2005 stats but is still a good #3 starter.(14-11,4.40 ERA,129 SO)
Jeremy Sowers-#1 draft pick.Is supposed to be one of the league best starters someday.Did very well last year,in his rookie season.(7-4,3.57 ERA,35 SO)
Paul Byrd-Good #5 starter.Not good against left handed batter but has workedo n that over the offseason.(10-9,4.88 ERA,88 SO)
Good starting pitching.Not great but way above average.
Stating Pitching-B+
Bullpen-This was the weakest sport on the team last year.The bullpen was one of the worst in the league.During the offseason Mark Shapiro fixed it up and now it is retooled.Very few of the pitchers from last year are returning.The closer will be veteran Joe Borowski,he and Roberto Hernandez will supply the veteran leadership the bullpen has needed for 5 years.
LRP-Jason Davis-Was tried as a starter but that failed.Has,probably,the best pickoff move in baseball.Can throw many innings and gets his heater up to 100mph.(3-2,3.74 ERA,37 SO)
MRP-Matt Miller-Has bounced between AAA and MLB.He will start the season in this spot.Will probably not be there the whole year unless he does amazing,prospects coming up.Sidearm windup.(1-0,3.45 ERA,12 SO)
MRP-Fernando Cabrera-Struggled last year.Looks to rebound.Amazing against lefties,they hit just .083.(3-3,5.19 ERA,71 SO)
SU-Aaron Fultz-Not good against righties,great against lefties.One of the oldest players on the team at age 33.(3-1,4.54 ERA,62 SO)
SU-Roberto Hernandez-Oldest by far on the team at age 43.Will bring veteran leadership.Is one of the most consistent and best MLB relievers in the modern era.(0-3,3.11 ERA,48 SO)
SU-Rafael Betancourt-One of the few returning relievers.Very consistent.Neither lefty or righty hit very well off him.(3-4,3.80 ERA,48 SO)
CL-Joe Borowski-Another veteran who should provide leadership.One of the better closers in the league.(3-3,3.75 ERA,64 SO,36 SV)
The bullpen is better but it isn't good.It's average.
Bullpen-C+
The one last factor on this team is the fielding.It was awful last year but with new additions such as Marte and Barfield,who are both great fielders should improve it.
Defense-C-
Also the bench
Bench-D+
Overall the Indians will compete for the division and wild card at that.They are in a tough division but they are one of the best teams in the league,Fox ranks them #2 behined the Yankees.They are also very young and talented.They will be a good team for roughly the next 5 years as long as no one messes it up.Look for the Indians this year!
Overall-A
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This year looks like it's finally the Tribe's year again. Our starting pictching has been very good, and we don't even have Cliff Lee back yet. Our bullpen has been way better than expected...and even though Borowski has blown a couple of saves, he's been pretty clutch. Our lineup is unbelievable...and is only going to get better as the season progresses. If everyone stays healthy, we could win the World Series.Which Major League All-Stars/Hall of Famers Went Through The Minors VERY Quickly?
The Tigers..Pitching Wins and even without Rogers.Their rotation and bullpen destroys everyone else in the division. Oh yeah, their lineup is pretty good too!!Who was the starting pitcher on opening day for the brewers in 1982.?
I agree --Tigers or Indians...lets get it on and see what happens. But this clown who posted that after CC the Indians only have Byrd?? Jeremy Sowers is bad? Cliff Lee has won 15-18 games consistently and he comes off the DL this week. Carmona beat Santana Tuesday night. Westbrook will pull it together clown...the guy has won 48 games in 3 years...3rd most of any active players in that span...then the gem in the minors...ADAM MILLER. He will be up very soon---he has no competition in the minors...the kid is as Bobby Cox put it "Scary, a legit #3 right now on any team--the ball comes out of his hand as good as anyone in MLB"---and Pual Byrd since adding another pitch during the offseason has been nasty...he mowed down Chicago (whom the same poster who put Byrd down, picked to finish above Cleveland)...lets move on though.Tigers pitching rotation with a healthy Rogers is better then Clevelands...and I'm a Tribe fan. BUT Indians pitching will keep it a contest. Now with that said...can Tigers keep the Indians lineup in check? When that lineup starts hitting, and I assure you--they have not began to yet, it's as good as it gets. Hafner is the most feared hitter in the Central,Sizemore,Martinez,Gark... and one of the best benches in the A.L. add to that mix...but Detroits hitters are no slouches either...
Cleveland's bullpen is revamped...doing very well actually. Just to let some naive posters know...not the same pen as last year...wise-up brainiacs.
So to answer the question that was asked by my neighbor up North (Go Buckeyes...ha,ha...had to do it)---I have no clue.
But the Tigers and the Indians will be banging it out on the diamond very soon...and I predict some exciting summer nights...sorry Chicago and Twins...after Santana (Twins) and Buerhle (Chicago) you have no solution for Cleveland's lineup. Sometimes (Tuesday Night) not even Johan will have good enough stuff to hang with the Indians...see you at the top, or near it.
with Jimmy Leland at the helm, the Tigers are a lock, sorry soxs and indians fans, look how he was able to turn the pirates and rockies into winners. no doubt about it.
The Detroit Tigers.
I can tell you with 100% certainity, and for a fact, it WILL NOT be the chicago whiny sux!
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