Who will win the AL central

[timbdp]

Who will win the AL central

[Gerry Bertier]

I am going with the Indians this year. I think they are going to surprise some people. They overachieved last year and this year will be their coming out party.

[gotmilk?]

How about those Tigers? I am going with Detroit to win the east, and why not, this team went 72-90 last season and has really made strides to get competitive again! With there young pitching(Robertson, Bonderman, Maroth, and Johnson) and some very big bats(Pudge, Guillen, Pena, Monroe, Young, Higginson, and Ordonez) I think the Tigers are this years cinderilla team! Not to mention Percival and Urbina in the bullpen! thumb

[muffin]

How about those Tigers? I am going with Detroit to win the east, and why not, this team went 72-90 last season and has really made strides to get competitive again! With there young pitching(Robertson, Bonderman, Maroth, and Johnson) and some very big bats(Pudge, Guillen, Pena, Monroe, Young, Higginson, and Ordonez) I think the Tigers are this years cinderilla team! Not to mention Percival and Urbina in the bullpen! thumb

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Have to go with the Tigers also.

[Opperman]

How about those Tigers? I am going with Detroit to win the east, and why not, this team went 72-90 last season and has really made strides to get competitive again! With there young pitching(Robertson, Bonderman, Maroth, and Johnson) and some very big bats(Pudge, Guillen, Pena, Monroe, Young, Higginson, and Ordonez) I think the Tigers are this years cinderilla team! Not to mention Percival and Urbina in the bullpen! thumb

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1) It hasn't been the East since 1997.

2) I think it's going to be Cleveland or Chicago...Detroit is counting on a lot of old, injury-prone players who are more likely to decline than improve. And their pitching is awful.

[gotmilk?]

1) It hasn't been the East since 1997.

2) I think it's going to be Cleveland or Chicago...Detroit is counting on a lot of old, injury-prone players who are more likely to decline than improve.  And their pitching is awful.

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Average age of all three teams

 

Chicago-28.9

Cleveland-28.4

Detroit-28.8

 

So it doesnt look if age will have much to do with this division, because they are all Fairly young

 

 

Tigers projected opening day starters!

 

Catcher Ivan Rodriguez-batted .334 19 hr, 86RBI last season

First Base Carlos Pena-27 hr, 82 RBI last season(only 26 yo)

Second Base Omar Infante-16 hr, 55 RBI last seaon(one of the bright young stars)

Third Base Brandon Inge-.287, 13 hr, 64 RBI last season

Shortstop Carlos Guillen-.318, 20 hr, 97 RBI last season

Left Field Rondell White-19 hr, 67 RBI last season

Center Field Alex Sanchez-.322, 2 hr, 26 RBI last season(being a full-time starter, he should steal at least 40 bases)

Right Field Magglio Ordonez-.292, 9 hr, 37 RBI in only 52 games last season(only strikes out once about every three games, should hit 35 hr this season)

Designated Httr Dmitri Young-.272, 18 hr, 60 RBI( the gamer who always gets the big hit in the big situation

Starting Pitcher Nate Robertson-12-10 last season and showed great improvement and has some other young arms to compliment him

Closer Troy Percival-we all know what this guy can do!

 

And that is the reason I am taking the Tigers, I just like the style of ball the play and they have a good manager in Alan Trammell, but that can be expected, the man played for Sparky Anderson!

[timbdp]

Detriot

[Opperman]

Average age of all three teams

 

Chicago-28.9

Cleveland-28.4

Detroit-28.8

 

So it doesnt look if age will have much to do with this division, because they are all Fairly young

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That's a little misleading, because it doesn't really reflect who's being counted on. If you look at Cleveland, for example, their best player is 25...next best is 27. Best pitcher is 24. Basically, they've got a bunch of guys from 24 to 28, with only a couple of guys north of 30 years old.

 

Detroit, OTOH...

 

Catcher Ivan Rodriguez-batted .334 19 hr, 86RBI last season

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Only played 130 games twice since 1999. Has been catching in the majors for 15 years now...catchers don't last that long very often. Major injury red flag.

 

First Base Carlos Pena-27 hr, 82 RBI last season(only 26 yo)

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Pena's got a chance to be pretty good, but he's never had an OBP better than 340. He's in good shape to break out this year, though.

 

Second Base Omar Infante-16 hr, 55 RBI last seaon(one of the bright young stars)

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Bright young star? No way. A 317 OBP last year? The 449 SLG was nice, but it's completely out of line with his minor-league numbers.

 

Third Base Brandon Inge-.287, 13 hr, 64 RBI last season

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Good hitter for a catcher, not for a 3B. Most of his improvement last year came in the form of singles, and those are very inconsistent. His HR rate picked up a little, but not by a whole lot.

 

Shortstop Carlos Guillen-.318, 20 hr, 97 RBI last season

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Guillen's a very good player, just short of greatness. But last year was very much out of line with his career, and it's not a season he's likely to repeat. And he's coming back from a torn ACL.

 

Left Field Rondell White-19 hr, 67 RBI last season

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Old, overrated.

 

Center Field Alex Sanchez-.322, 2 hr, 26 RBI last season(being a full-time starter, he should steal at least 40 bases)

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7 walks, 50 strikeouts. Until he learns that the right-handers' batters box isn't in the strike zone, he won't be anywhere near last year's total. 40 steals may happen, but if he doesn't have an OBP of 340 or better, he's useless.

 

Right Field Magglio Ordonez-.292, 9 hr, 37 RBI in only 52 games last season(only strikes out once about every three games, should hit 35 hr this season)

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VERY injury-prone, which is why they were able to get him. Coming off two major knee surgeries. How durable will he be?

 

Designated Httr Dmitri Young-.272, 18 hr, 60 RBI( the gamer who always gets the big hit in the big situation

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Average.

 

Starting Pitcher Nate Robertson-12-10 last season and showed great improvement and has some other young arms to compliment him

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Dude gave up 30 homers last year, in one of the most pitcher-friendly home ballparks there is.

 

Closer Troy Percival-we all know what this guy can do!

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Old. His K rate last year was only half what it was in 2002 and only 2/3 what it was in 2003. That's not encouraging for this year.

[gotmilk?]

That's a little misleading, because it doesn't really reflect who's being counted on.  If you look at Cleveland, for example, their best player is 25...next best is 27.  Best pitcher is 24.  Basically, they've got a bunch of guys from 24 to 28, with only a couple of guys north of 30 years old. 

 

Detroit, OTOH...

Only played 130 games twice since 1999.  Has been catching in the majors for 15 years now...catchers don't last that long very often.  Major injury red flag.

Pena's got a chance to be pretty good, but he's never had an OBP better than 340.  He's in good shape to break out this year, though.

Bright young star?  No way.  A 317 OBP last year?  The 449 SLG was nice, but it's completely out of line with his minor-league numbers.

Good hitter for a catcher, not for a 3B.  Most of his improvement last year came in the form of singles, and those are very inconsistent.  His HR rate picked up a little, but not by a whole lot. 

Guillen's a very good player, just short of greatness.  But last year was very much out of line with his career, and it's not a season he's likely to repeat.  And he's coming back from a torn ACL.

Old, overrated.

7 walks, 50 strikeouts.  Until he learns that the right-handers' batters box isn't in the strike zone, he won't be anywhere near last year's total.  40 steals may happen, but if he doesn't have an OBP of 340 or better, he's useless.

VERY injury-prone, which is why they were able to get him.  Coming off two major knee surgeries.  How durable will he be?

Average.

Dude gave up 30 homers last year, in one of the most pitcher-friendly home ballparks there is.

Old.  His K rate last year was only half what it was in 2002 and only 2/3 what it was in 2003.  That's not encouraging for this year.

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Once again, I will say it, just wait and see! How can you say Infante wasnt one of the bright young stars last season? You dont expect a 22 year old to bash 40 HR his rookie season do you? The guy is a gold glove calibur 2nd baseman! Pena will have a big year, Ordonez injury proned? The man has only played under 145 games once since becoming a full-time MLB player and that was last season after tearing his knee up, Rodriguez DH alot in 2000, and in 2002 he was injured alot, but in the past two seasons, he has played 279 games, Sanchez stilled batted .322 with 107 hits in 79 games, so Robertson gave up 30 HR's in his first full season being a starting pitcher, so what Schilling gave up 37 HRs the year he went 22-6 for the D-backs and won a WS! so what does that mean? NOTHING! Percival, so what he still has only 9 blown saves in the past two years and is still one of the most over powering pitchers in MLB!

 

This team is solid through and through and will make some noise! thumb

Edited March 29, 2005 by gotmilk?

[btowntigers]

ok first....Alex Sanchez plays for TB now.

 

Pudge is a good catcher but he's old and catching for so long will catch up to him. we dont know what Mags will do since he was hurt almost all of last year. Carlos Guillen will likely never match his breakout season from last year.

 

another thing, why is Nate Robertson coming up? he was horrible last year and i didnt see any signs of improvment from him. the Tigers do have a young stud in their rotation its just not Robertson....how about Jeremy Bonderman, he had good stuff after the allstar break and is considered by many to be this years Ben Sheets.

 

the Tigers have no chance of winning this very weak division. im gonna go with the Whitesox if Frank Thomas can get healthy and if not i'll go with the Indians

[gotmilk?]

ok first....Alex Sanchez plays for TB now.

 

Pudge is a good catcher but he's old and catching for so long will catch up to him. we dont know what Mags will do since he was hurt almost all of last year. Carlos Guillen will likely never match his breakout season from last year.

 

another thing, why is Nate Robertson coming up? he was horrible last year and i didnt see any signs of improvment from him. the Tigers do have a young stud in their rotation its just not Robertson....how about Jeremy Bonderman, he had good stuff after the allstar break and is considered by many to be this years Ben Sheets.

 

the Tigers have no chance of winning this very weak division. im gonna go with the Whitesox if Frank Thomas can get healthy and if not i'll go with the Indians

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Once again, just wait and see! thumb

[Opperman]

Once again, I will say it, just wait and see! How can you say Infante wasnt one of the bright young stars last season? You dont expect a 22 year old to bash 40 HR his rookie season do you? The guy is a gold glove calibur 2nd baseman! Pena will have a big year, Ordonez injury proned? The man has only played under 145 games once since becoming a full-time MLB player and that was last season after tearing his knee up, Rodriguez DH alot in 2000, and in 2002 he was injured alot, but in the past two seasons, he has played 279 games, Sanchez stilled batted .322 with 107 hits in 79 games, so Robertson gave up 30 HR's in his first full season being a starting pitcher, so what Schilling gave up 37 HRs the year he went 22-6 for the D-backs and won a WS! so what does that mean? NOTHING! Percival, so what he still has only 9 blown saves in the past two years and is still one of the most over powering pitchers in MLB!

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I don't care about Infante's HR total. I want to know his OBP and SLG, and what will they be this year? His OBP has never been anything special, and his SLG last year is completely out of line from what the rest of his career predicts. It isn't likely to happen again. He's a solid player, but he's nothing special.

 

Pena might have a big year, but his OBP has to come up a good 30 points before he'll be a really good player.

 

Ordonez is coming off a torn ACL. You can't possibly expect him to have zero trouble with it this year.

 

Why did Pudge DH a lot in 2000? He's getting older and more likely to break down.

 

As for Sanchez...batting average doesn't matter. On-base percentage is the important number. And his is not good. It's not awful, but it's not good.

 

As for Robertson and your comparing him to Schilling...1) Comerica National Park is a much more forgiving park for HR's than BOB, so 30 HR in 196 innings for Detroit is MUCH worse than 37 in 256 innings for Arizona. 2) Schilling can get away with allowing a few more homers, because he struck out 293 batters that year...Robertson only struck out 155. Even adjusting for the same number of innings, Schilling is miles ahead. 3) Pitchers don't win and lose games. Teams win and lose games. Schilling actually pitched better (though he wasn't as durable) in 2003, with an 8-9 record, than he did with a 23-7 record in 2002. His teammates didn't score as many runs.

 

Percival is about to drop off a cliff. You heard it here first. He's old, his predictive numbers have really fallen off. He'll probably still be a useful reliever, but he's not going to be even close to a dominant closer this year.

 

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And finally, I completely forgot the team that's actually going to win the division...Minnesota. Cleveland's got a shot to challenge them, but I'm not sure they'll quite be good enough.