|
|
|
| ||
Are the Twins the Favorites In the AL Central?by Ricky O'Donnell on February 8 at 1:31PM
For most the winter, the assumption around here was that the White Sox were the preseason favorites in the AL Central. It makes sense: a full-year of Jake Peavy + a full year of Lord Bacon + maybe a full-year from Q? + Alex Rios isn't really this bad, right? + holy hell, look at that starting pitching! should be enough to take one of baseball's weakest divisions. It's not like the Sox are playin' in the AL East here: the Tigers lost their second best starting pitcher (Edwin Jackson) and second best hitter (Curtis Granderson). The Twins will have Joe Mauer's contract situation hanging over the franchise like a black cloud until it's resolved. The Indians closer is Kerry Wood. The Royals remain the Royals. So: White Sox. Easy, right? Of course not. It's baseball, and baseball is goofy and never easy. In fact, due to some recent savvy moves, the Twins may have taken the offseason champs crown from the White Sox before spring training even begins. In its latest bargain basement pickup, Minnesota added Orlando Hudson, signing the second baseman this weekend to a one-year, $5 million deal. I know what you're thinking: "but wait, Orlando Hudson looks nothing like Nick Punto. Can this be?" The answer, unfortunately, is yes.  Totally not Punto.Twins bloggers are pumped about this, as they should be. It's a low risk, high reward move. It also bolsters Minnesota's lineup enough for me to say that they have a significant advantage in hitting over the Sox. When coupled with everything else the Twins have done since last season ended (moved out of the Metrodome, signed Jim Thome, traded for JJ Hardy, made strides in the Mauer negotiations) I'll begrudgingly admit that Minnesota should probably be the preseason favorites to win the AL Central. Is Minnesota a juggernaut? It's doubtful. Their starting pitching still has tons of question marks, and you can't win anything without a solid rotation. The Mauer negotiations aren't a done deal yet, either. He could still be wearing a Yankees uniform by the trade deadline. The Sox are for sure still in the mix here, they just need a lot of things to go right. So do the Twins. The Central has ended in a play-in game each of the last two seasons. Yeah, this division is still going to be tightly contested. One thing is certain: this rivalry isn't dying out any time soon. Who's ready for some baseball? |
SearchFollow Me Blogs In The Network
Network Partners
Recent Comments
Latest Posts
From The Network
Monthly Archives
Buy Chicago Bears Tickets and Chicago Bulls Tickets at TicketCity, your source for Chicago White Sox and Chicago Blackhawks Tickets! Let's see a Sox game or trudge through the snow to see the Bulls play. OnlineSeats has great deals on everything, from Jersey Boys seats to hated Cubs tickets. So catch the next Bears game with us. Casino Slots Download Test Your PotentialDo you know everything about our Windy City sports teams? I bet you do. So bet yourself at this online sports betting site.Have you tried online bingo? Maybe try using a bingo bonus code and benefit from a no deposit bingo bonus at recommended online bingo sites and online bingo operators. Alternatively why not try online casinos as a change from the norm? |
86-win division champs are always fun. It is interesting to watch the Twins change strategy a bit with there new stadium. Less speed and D for more power. PS Bill Smith is probably the most underrated GM is the bigs.
Bill Smith is probably the most underrated GM is the bigs.
Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett for Delmon Young and Brendan Harris. Didn't get much for Johan.
You really want to break down one random trade with Kenny's record? Kenny has done some dumb shit too, but that is his thing. High risk, high reward. Plus, at the time Delmon Young was supposed to be the SHIT. Didn't pan out. However, their system is outrageous good. They produce good talent all the time. Or at the very least, very useful parts.
Two random trades!
And of course Kenny fucks up too sometimes, but I really don't think he ever got egg on his face as bad as the Garza-Bartlett for Young deal. I get Young was highly touted, but man, that's is a huge misfire. It's not like Garza wasn't highly touted as well.
And look what they got for Santana, the best pitcher in baseball at the time. Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra. I get Minnesota had to trade him, but that's still a fairly shitty haul. I think it's certainly fair to criticize Smith for that one.
That's fair. It's just hard to totally bash the guy. They keep winning with no $ (until now, apparently). Pretty cool, I think.
with THEIR new stadium, dick. learn to write words.
I was always under the impression that Orlando Hudson was supposed to be a really good defensive 2B. After looking at his stats, he's really not. Also, who's playing CF for them?
Nevermind. Span, duh. Really only weak at 3B offensively, but man that's gonna be some brutal outfield defense, and their pitching is very mediocre.
I was really surprised to see O-Dog's UZR was so bad the last two years. Still, I think he's at least average defensively. How much do we really trust UZR? I don't think it's a be-all-end-all stat. It seems like guys take wild jumps from one year to the next (case in point: Juan Pierre) somewhat frequently.
I don't know. A lot of what I have seen indicates that it has it's flaws, but there's not much else out there as far as defensive metrics go. It kind of flies in the face of how we think of defense. Guys with good gloves when they come up seem like they're able to keep that tag for their entire career (or at least until they reach their mid 30's), and the same for bad defensive guys. As it's been explained to me, the fluctuation is a reflection of the fact that players' defensive ability isn't as static from year to year as we like to think. Just like Paul Konerko can have a year where he hits .234/.305/.399, a good defensive player can have a year where they lose a handle on their defensive mechanics, or a little minor nagging injury doesn't allow them to get to as many balls or throw as well or whatever the case might be.
So yeah, basically people smarter than me have said it's a combination of some flaws in the stat and actual fluctuations of performance. And since pretty much all defensive stats suck, I've been looking at UZR lately just because it's the popular one to look at.
Since when do the Twins have payrolls of nearly $100 million? Crazy. And Joe Mauer's contract status is not going to affect the Twins' performance this year.
I've predicted the Sox to finish in second by 2 games. And in the interest of full disclosure, that's where I have the Cubs as well. That Sox offense is just a Quentin injury away from being really, really bad, which is pretty scary.
Also, weak shot at Kerry Wood. He kind of pulled it together by the end of the year. Can't you at least blame their atrocious starting pitching?
The Sox offense could be good, but they for sure need a lot to go right. Quentin needs an '08ish season, Rios at least needs an '08ish season (.800 OPS) coupled with good defense, Pierre needs to be around as good as last year, Beckham needs to take a big jump, and Paulie and AJ can't regress.
At least they have good pitching...
It's the lack of power that I would find especially alarming. Even if everything else goes right (Pierre, AJ, Beckham - I guess it depends on how big of a jump we're talking - Rios), if Quentin goes down that leaves you with Konerko as the only consistent home run threat. But, like you said, they have the pitching, and maybe in this division you'll only need to be very good at one side of the game to get by.
Also, while looking at Konerko's stats, I thought this was kind of interesting. For his career, Konerko has batted .277/.352/.491. Last year, he batted .277/.353/.489. That's not significant in any way, shape, or form, but I would have to imagine coming that close to your career line across all three slash stats this far into a career is kinda rare.