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Originally Posted by S2000ManiaC  |
I feel they could surprise a few.
sox didn't improve.
Twins honestly I feel Mauer will not repeat the amazing season he had, yes i know he played like 130 games.
Cuddyer will not repeat that. The twins rotation is way behind the tigers.
meh just my guess. central is always a crapshoot.
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Both the White Sox and Tigers lineups took a few hits, but Chicago at least brought in a few decent replacements and get Quentin back. Detroit did nothing, but downgrade their lineup thus far.
Short term....Scherzer is a downgrade from E.Jackson and Valverde is a downgrade from Rodney. Jackson didn't finish well last season, but he had an amazing first half and was a key cog in Detroit getting out to a lead in the Central. Rodney has had his ups and downs with Detroit, but I believe he only blew a single save last season. I highly doubt Valverde matches that save % this year. Also, middle relief was a bugaboo for Detroit and they lost Lyon who was probably their most reliable setup man last season. I'll give Detroit this though, they really stockpilled lefties, which can be important against 'sota.
Chicago adds Peavy and has one of, if not the best, rotations in the AL. Better bullpen as well.
Twins have a better bullpen than Detroit, potentially one of the stronger in AL. Their rotation is as deep if not deeper, just not as top heavy. Aside from Verlander, I don't think anyone from Detroit stands out as being THAT much, if any, better then what the Twins have. Porcello has that kind of upside, but lets see if he can replicate/improve upon last season over 200 innings. I don't mean to sound like I am hating on Porcello though.
Twins return the best lineup in the Central and actually have legitimate middle infielders this go around in Hardy and Hudson. Aside from Orlando Cabrera in the 2nd half of last season, the Twins have rarely been able to say that. I believe Hardy is an upgrade over Cabrera defensively and Hudson, at the very least, replaces Cabrera in the 2 hole offensively. Hudson is an upgrade from Harris/Casilla defensively and probably similar defensively as Punto. Hardy, hitting at the bottom of the lineup instead of Casilla/Punto/Harris is also an upgrade.
A third base platoon of Harris/Punto (and Valencia in Triple A) remains an area of weakness, but they should be solid defensively...and hey, somebody has to hit 9th.
Thome, who I don't expect to get too many ABs, is still a major upgrade over Brian Buscher and Jose Morales...who were the previous primary bats of the bench. The only way Thome gets many ABs, barring injury of course, is if Delmon struggles and Kubel is moved from DH to LF. With that said, Delmon has reportedly spent the offseason working with Morneau and others and is down 30 pounds. Hopefully, his September last year was a sign of things to come for Delmon.
Cuddyer won't match last season, but he shouldn't have too.
I know every team is going to be dealing with getting some players back from injury, but I can really only accurately speak on the guys the Twins have returning...Justin Morneau, Pat Neshek, and Kevin Slowey...
Slowey- Bottom of the rotation pitcher. Actually, depending on his health, he actually has some competition to make the rotation. It wouldn't completely surprise me if he either started on the DL (thus some rehab starts) or started in Triple A Rochester...either way to get a few starts under his belt after the layoff.
Neshek- I actually have very tempered expectations for Neshek after missing most of the last 2 seasons. He is another candidate to not even necessarily make the opening day roster. However, before the injury, he was turning into a dominant set up man. We'll have to wait and see...not holding my breathe though.
Morneau- Obviously this is the big one.
The only real question mark for the Twns seems to be the rotation. I can understand that, but I don't believe it is necessarily an area of alarming weakness.
Pavano nearly reached the 200 innings plateau in what was really his first full year pitching since '04. He had a pretty disastrous April (understandably) which could help explain the high ERA a bit. He posted a pretty impressive K-BB rate.
He seemed to really settle in when he got to Minnesota and had a very calming veteran influence on the rest of the staff. The Twins went 8-4 in his starts. He made 7 quality starts. For the most part, he gave the Twins chances to win even in his bad outings. His 3 worst outing were...
-7 innings 5 runs (keeps them in the game)
-4 innings 5 runs (not great, but the Twins actually won this game)
-4.2 innings 7 runs (the only game in which he really didn't give the Twins much of a chance)
He also was specifically very successful against the AL Central. Basically, I liked what I saw from Pavano as a Twin and I am personally pretty happy with his return to the ballclub this season.
Baker got hurt during ST and missed part of April. He clearly wasn't right when he got back and got rocked pretty good through May. Once the summer rolled around though he was pretty solid.
Blackburn has been one of the more consistent starters for the Twins the last 2 seasons and has kind of developed into a big game pitcher of sorts for us. He is the 3rd pitcher to be a lock in our rotation.
The final 2 spots have a lot of competition. Slowey, Perkins, Liriano, Duensing, Swarzak, and Manship. Jarrod Washburn is another name that won't go away and could potentially be a late add in ST. It will almost certainly come down to 2 of the 3...Duensing, Liriano, and a healthy Slowey.
Liriano could be one of the biggest xfactors in the entire American League. He dominated winter ball in the Dominican and reports say he is in shape and refocused. His fastball hitting 95-96 with his slider 88-89, and his location is back. Basically, he has some hinting that he may have finally regained his '06 form. Admittedly, its a big "if", but if he can translate any of the success he had in winter ball to our season then Liriano pitching out of the 5 spot with ace stuff poses huge upside for the Twinkies rotation. Fingers crossed.
Kind of turned into a Twins Preason Outlook
, but its only because I am very excited for the season to begin. Anyway, I like the Central as follows...
1. Twins...I don't think its really even a homer pick, they won it last year and actually made additions for once.
2. White Sox...on the strength of their rotation.
3. Detroit...a slight step back, but I don't think they'll fall off completely or anything. If they do end up adding Damon and some of these returning guys can bounce back like a Willis and/or Bonderman and it could become a 3 team race again.
4. KC...they still stink, but I am sure they'll somehow end up being the sexy pick again this year.
5. Cle...I actually wouldn't be surprised if they win more games than KC.
MLB 2010 predictions 
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