AL Central

[BigbadB]

I, for one, was not poking fun at them. I know they have a lot of young talent...although I wouldn't expect much from Marte this year. My post was merely criticizing the assertion that they were the best team in that division last year.

 

And FWIW, that rotation is not nearly as good as you make it out to be. It's closer to average than top of the line (like the 10-15 range by my quick estimation).

 

You don't expect Marte to do much? He won't need to do much to outproduce Aaron Boone. .251/.314/.370 isn't hard to match. Marte has 30 HR power.

 

Can you name the 10-15 teams that will have better rotations?

 

Sabathia 3.22 ERA, 139 ERA+

Sowers 3.57 ERA, 125 ERA+

Westbrook 4.17, 107 ERA+

Lee 4.40 ERA, 102 ERA+

Byrd 4.48 ERA, 92 ERA+

 

Last year was Byrd's worst showing in several years. Maybe he's really falling off a cliff. If not, you have a very solid rotation right there.

[Danny82]

No, I don't expect Marte to do much this year. He's young and talented and might have 30 HR power eventually, but it's not there yet. He's never hit over 24 HRs on any level and did not have that great of a year last year in AAA and the majors. Honestly, he will be lucky to have 20 HRs this year.

[rocket]

That is a convetional assumption in sabermetric circles, but not necessarily true. Over the course of 162 games luck plays very little roll in the overall outcome of a season.

 

What was the Indinas' record in 1-run games? Hasn't it been accepted that one's record in 1-run games has a lot to do with luck?

 

I think luck can play a big role in a team's overall record.

[Soul]

Anyone poking fun at Cleveland is in for quite a surprise. Their rotation is just about as good as any other team in baseball with

 

Sabathia

Lee

Westbrook

Byrd

Sowers

 

They beefed up the bullpen in the offseason to protect leads, and it's arguably the best bullpen in the AL Central.

 

The offense will score a lot of runs. Marte, Peralta, Barfield and Garko is as young and talented as it gets. The outfield with Jason Michaels, Trot Nixon, Grady Sizemore, David Delucci and Casey Blake makes for a lot of mix and match for quality results. And I have yet to mention Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez.

 

They scored a lot of runs last year and only replaced the non-productive guys like Aaron Boone, Ronnie Belliard and Ben Broussard.

 

This team will be very good this year. No one will run away with the division. Even the Royals are much better than they were last year.

 

I do like Cleveland. I think the deal is whether 4th place means 4th place.

 

I think it does, though I realize it's likely they will do better this year. And I hope they do-----for some reason I like Cleveland. I went to an Indians ballgame a few years back and just had a lot of fun there.

 

Actually, I shouldn't pretend to not know the reason. I like the Twins too. And the Royals. If you catch my meaning :)

[BigbadB]

No, I don't expect Marte to do much this year. He's young and talented and might have 30 HR power eventually, but it's not there yet. He's never hit over 24 HRs on any level and did not have that great of a year last year in AAA and the majors. Honestly, he will be lucky to have 20 HRs this year.

 

I think he'll have more than 20 HR's this year, but I suppose we'll just have to wait until the season plays out. He's never hit more than 23 in any minor league season, but minor league seasons are approximately 2/3 of a major league season. He's projected to hit 19, but I still think he'll hit 25 at the least. He's going to get a lot of at bats in that Cleveland line up, which will probably have a team OBP somewhere around .355-.360. The opportunities will be there. If Peralta figures out what caused his drop off last year and corrects it, there may not be a single easy out in that line up.

[UMFan83]

How did the White Sox get better this offseason?

 

Gained (ready to contribute):

Erstad (platoon OF)

Hall (backup catcher)

Sisco (hit or miss)

Aardsma (also hit or miss)

G. Floyd (Probably good this year)

 

Lost:

Riske

Cotts

Garcia

Gload

McCarthy

 

Plus you'd expect regression from AJP, Dye and potentially Thome. They might get a boost in performance from Buerhle and Contrares.

 

I see a 87-90 win team there, but in a competitive Central, who knows.

[Danny82]

I wish we knew each other personally because I would bet a case of your favorite beer right now that he doesn't hit 25 home runs. Heck, I would set the over/under at 22.5 even.

[Soul]

That is a convetional assumption in sabermetric circles, but not necessarily true. Over the course of 162 games luck plays very little roll in the overall outcome of a season.

 

What was the Indinas' record in 1-run games? Hasn't it been accepted that one's record in 1-run games has a lot to do with luck?

 

I think luck can play a big role in a team's overall record.

 

How much of it is luck though? For example, hasn't it also been accepted that teams with very good closers will win more 1-run ballgames than those with terrible closers?

[UMFan83]

I just wanted to also add that Pronk can WILL the Indians to the Central title, and will.

[rocket]

That is a convetional assumption in sabermetric circles, but not necessarily true. Over the course of 162 games luck plays very little roll in the overall outcome of a season.

 

What was the Indinas' record in 1-run games? Hasn't it been accepted that one's record in 1-run games has a lot to do with luck?

 

I think luck can play a big role in a team's overall record.

 

How much of it is luck though? For example, hasn't it also been accepted that teams with very good closers will win more 1-run ballgames than those with terrible closers?

 

I don't know to be honest. I am very curious on what their record in 1 run games is though.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I think we can all agree that the Indians, Sox, Twins and Tigers comprise arguably the best division in baseball. Should be a fun battle.

 

Outside of the NL Central, of course. :^o

[CubColtPacer]

That is a convetional assumption in sabermetric circles, but not necessarily true. Over the course of 162 games luck plays very little roll in the overall outcome of a season.

 

What was the Indinas' record in 1-run games? Hasn't it been accepted that one's record in 1-run games has a lot to do with luck?

 

I think luck can play a big role in a team's overall record.

 

How much of it is luck though? For example, hasn't it also been accepted that teams with very good closers will win more 1-run ballgames than those with terrible closers?

 

I don't know to be honest. I am very curious on what their record in 1 run games is though.

 

18-26

[BigbadB]

I wish we knew each other personally because I would bet a case of your favorite beer right now that he doesn't hit 25 home runs. Heck, I would set the over/under at 22.5 even.

 

And likewise on the case of beer. Cleveland will be scoring runs this year like they are going out of style. Marte will definitely want to share in the fun. But, he really doesn't have to be much better than Boone was for this team to win the division. They just need Sowers to continue to be red hot and Byrd to be better than he was last year, and Westbrook and Lee to keep them in games.