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jj-cyclones

jj-cyclones

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2007
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I know there are a lot of fans of teams in the AL central on here.

So, how do you think it was shake out this year?

I'm an Indians fan, not a good start and the season doesn't start until tomorrow for them! Sizemore will begin the year on the 15 day DL.

As an Indians fan, two things I'm looking for is consistancy out of Travis Hafner and big things from Matt LaPorta...

The Twins (as much as it pains me to say it) are going to be tough!
 
Three team race between the Twins, Tigers, and White Sox (like usual). The White Sox, according to I want to say it was Buster Onley or Jason Stark on Mike and Mike this morning, have both the best upside and the greatest ability to fall apart at the same time if Peavy doesn't get healthy and those players don't mesh. The Twins are going to be tough, especially if they get the back end of their rotation and bullpen figured out, and the Tigers have a lot of bats.

My biased opinion says it's going to be the Twins are going to win this division again, but objectively this is going to be a three team race all the way to the end - again.
 
The Royals will suck. Really bad. There is my hard hitting analysis. The pitching staff will be gawd-freaking awful (Hochevar as your opening day starter?) outside of Soria. Soria is one of those guys that just has no chance to have too much success in his prime as a closer for the Royals. I hope they trade him so he can have a chance to win.

Their lineup consists of has-been's and never was', outside of their extreme youth. I keep hearing about how good their farm system is and that is outstanding if you are an Omaha Royals fan. However those of us interested in KC get to see Alex Gordon batting THIRD after some spring training fools gold. I do give the bats a chance to be decent, but that is about 1000 "ifs" all end up being true.

The life of a Royals fan.
 
BryceC said:
The Royals will suck. Really bad. There is my hard hitting analysis. The pitching staff will be gawd-freaking awful (Hochevar as your opening day starter?) outside of Soria. Soria is one of those guys that just has no chance to have too much success in his prime as a closer for the Royals. I hope they trade him so he can have a chance to win.

Their lineup consists of has-been's and never was', outside of their extreme youth. I keep hearing about how good their farm system is and that is outstanding if you are an Omaha Royals fan. However those of us interested in KC get to see Alex Gordon batting THIRD after some spring training fools gold. I do give the bats a chance to be decent, but that is about 1000 "ifs" all end up being true.

The life of a Royals fan.
Click to expand...

Did I read somewhere that the Royals AA team is playing their AAA team after the game opening day? That game might be better than the MLB game!
 
I know the CWS are the sexy pick (yet again), but I think it is the twins or the tigers. I'm leaning towards the Tigers because they have a solid ace (Verlander) and a #2 with a lot of upside (Scherzer). Mauer is going to fall off a cliff in offensive production one of these years, it's just a part of being an every day catcher, and Morneau is a big ??. I still don't have a lot of faith in Liriano as a #1 guy, Pavano will probably be consistently slightly above average again. Who knows about Baker and the back end of the rotation? Also, will Nathan be himself again? It's just damn hard to win a Division three years in a row, especially one as tight as the AL Central.
 
Pretty much every media outlet has the White Sox winning the Central this year, mostly based on Peavy being healthy. It's then the Tigers and Twins being 2-3 games back at the finish, but who knows. It's gonna be a nutty year in the Central again.
 
RayShimley said:
Mauer is going to fall off a cliff in offensive production one of these years, it's just a part of being an every day catcher.
Click to expand...

Two points- Mauer is not, nor has ever been an everyday catcher. He's more of a 2 out of 3 days catcher. Hopefully that gives him a bit more durability.
Secondly, I don't think that Mauer will see a huge reduction in his offensive production like other catchers with power. Mauer may lose some power over time, but it is his eye and patience that makes him so special. I personally think that his average will only go up as he gets older.
 
BryceC said:
The Royals will suck. Really bad. There is my hard hitting analysis. The pitching staff will be gawd-freaking awful (Hochevar as your opening day starter?) outside of Soria. Soria is one of those guys that just has no chance to have too much success in his prime as a closer for the Royals. I hope they trade him so he can have a chance to win.

Their lineup consists of has-been's and never was', outside of their extreme youth. I keep hearing about how good their farm system is and that is outstanding if you are an Omaha Royals fan. However those of us interested in KC get to see Alex Gordon batting THIRD after some spring training fools gold. I do give the bats a chance to be decent, but that is about 1000 "ifs" all end up being true.

The life of a Royals fan.
Click to expand...

Royals - best spring training record in the American League. You can't take that away!
 
White Sox take it this year. AL pick to go to the series as well.

Phillies in the NL... and the Fightin' Phils to win it all.
 
Bewilderme said:
Two points- Mauer is not, nor has ever been an everyday catcher. He's more of a 2 out of 3 days catcher. Hopefully that gives him a bit more durability.
Secondly, I don't think that Mauer will see a huge reduction in his offensive production like other catchers with power. Mauer may lose some power over time, but it is his eye and patience that makes him so special. I personally think that his average will only go up as he gets older.
Click to expand...

I respectfully disagree. I couldn't find how many games Mauer missed to injury last year, but even if I leave those in he still started in 130 games at catcher, which is more like 4 out of 5 days. Also, catching is as much a psychological drain as it is a mental one. Add on the pressure of being the only consistent offensive production on the team (If Morneau can't bounce back) and he is just going to ware down.
 
Cytom5 said:
How they Have no pitching they are a joke. their magic has to run out at some point. and now playing at target field they have no home field advantage
Click to expand...

Good lord, did you type that by slamming your head against the keyboard?

The lack of a bullpen is concerning, but our pitching wasn't fantastic last year either. Also, please explain the 'no home field advantage' thing again...
 
RayShimley said:
I respectfully disagree. I couldn't find how many games Mauer missed to injury last year, but even if I leave those in he still started in 130 games at catcher, which is more like 4 out of 5 days. Also, catching is as much a psychological drain as it is a mental one. Add on the pressure of being the only consistent offensive production on the team (If Morneau can't bounce back) and he is just going to ware down.
Click to expand...

As far as my memory goes, Mauer DIDN'T miss any time last year due to injury (at least not significant if there was). It was Morneau that bit the injury bug. And Mauer does take every few days off, especially when Pavano pitches (I think he's the guy).

edr247 said:
Cytom5 said:
How they Have no pitching they are a joke. their magic has to run out at some point. and now playing at target field they have no home field advantage
Click to expand...

Good lord, did you type that by slamming your head against the keyboard?

The lack of a bullpen is concerning, but our pitching wasn't fantastic last year either. Also, please explain the 'no home field advantage' thing again...
Click to expand...

Stereotypical White Sox fan. Probably wears his Cubs gear underneath his White Sox jersey just to give him something to cheer for. Probably thinks the Twins still played in the Metrodome last year, when the rest of us with a brain realize that they played in Target Field last season and were "fairly" dominant (53-28, good enough for the 3rd best home record) - seems to me that "The Twins are going to miss their Metrodome-field advantage once they move outdoors" was nothing more than typical gum-flapping by idiots who continue to refuse to give the Twins organization any credit whatsoever, and it seems we're developing NEW home field advantages at the Bullseye...
 
RayShimley said:
I respectfully disagree. I couldn't find how many games Mauer missed to injury last year, but even if I leave those in he still started in 130 games at catcher, which is more like 4 out of 5 days. Also, catching is as much a psychological drain as it is a mental one. Add on the pressure of being the only consistent offensive production on the team (If Morneau can't bounce back) and he is just going to ware down.
Click to expand...

The only consistent offensive production on the team? What team are you looking at? The Twins have a bunch of guys who are consistent offensively. You don't average .273 as a team, third best team average in the Majors, without having consistent offensive players. The Twins were also 6th best in the Majors in runs scored. If the Twins have anything in spades, it's consistent offense.
 
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RayShimley said:
I respectfully disagree. I couldn't find how many games Mauer missed to injury last year, but even if I leave those in he still started in 130 games at catcher, which is more like 4 out of 5 days. Also, catching is as much a psychological drain as it is a mental one. Add on the pressure of being the only consistent offensive production on the team (If Morneau can't bounce back) and he is just going to ware down.
Click to expand...

30 of his game appearances last year came as a DH or as a late game pinch hitter. (from game logs). He caught 107 games in 2010.
 
jtd9046 said:
30 of his game appearances last year came as a DH or as a late game pinch hitter. (from game logs). He caught 107 games in 2010.
Click to expand...

I believe you, the stats I looked at must've been wrong or misleading then. Did he sit out any games due to injury last year?

Either way, I stand by my prediction (which is all it is). His power has already dropped off, his AVG will be next.
 
RayShimley said:
I believe you, the stats I looked at must've been wrong or misleading then. Did he sit out any games due to injury last year?

Either way, I stand by my prediction (which is all it is). His power has already dropped off, his AVG will be next.
Click to expand...

He may have sat out a few games here and there due to injuries. Don't think it was like 2009 though, or whatever it was that he missed like a month and a half of the opening portion of the season.

As for his power dropping off, from 2004-2008, he had 44 total homeruns (average of 8.8 or ~9/season). In 2009, he had a monster 28 HRs (16 of which came at the Dome). Last year, however, he had 9 HRs. One could argue that last year, ignoring Target Field's rep for being a hard place to hit HRs, he returned to his normal deep threat power. /shrugs
 
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