Vance Law Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 There is always the talk of how stacked the AL Central is right now, but I wonder how much (or whether or not they are) better the top 3 in the Central vs. the top 3 in the East are. Is Toronto that much worse than the 3rd place team from the central? Looking at their offense last year, they were seriously unlucky. Of the top 10 teams in OPS last year, 9 were in the top 10 in runs scored and all within 3 positions of their OPS ranking. Toronto was the one that wasn't; they were 2nd in OPS and 12th in runs scored. They had 5 guys with an OPS over .865 last year, and to that they added Dr. OPS, Hank Thomas. Assuming they aren't as unlucky as last year, and everyone doesn't have a bad year, they should score more runs. Their pitching is more a question mark, esp. with the loss of Lilly, and depends a lot on if Burnett stays healthy. But if one of their younger guys steps up, they've got an ace, a strong #2, and an above league-average starter, plus an absurd closer, that's pretty good. Where do folks think they would rank compared to the top 4 in the Central? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 The AL Central won't be the best division in baseball again this year, as I am seeing the AL East taking it this year. The Twins pitching is a bit weaker, I expect the Tigers to regress a little bit (largely due to their offense, not their pitching), but I expect the Indians to improve with the Royals being a 90-95 loss team. I see the AL East having the best offense, and if Boston can stay healthy, the second best offense too, along with another top 5 offense with Toronto. Baltimore is in the second year of Mazzone, so I expect their pitching to improve a little bit, and then there is Tampa who is in the same boat as the Royals. Basically, the AL East is top heavy, whereas the AL Central is pretty solid throughout without an elite team. Toronto compares favorably to all, but their pitching needs to perform. Their offense is good, without question. Come 2008-2010, the AL Central should be the best division in baseball regarding depth and overall talent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenksismyhero Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 15, 2007 -> 06:22 PM) The AL Central won't be the best division in baseball again this year, as I am seeing the AL East taking it this year. The Twins pitching is a bit weaker, I expect the Tigers to regress a little bit (largely due to their offense, not their pitching), but I expect the Indians to improve with the Royals being a 90-95 loss team. I see the AL East having the best offense, and if Boston can stay healthy, the second best offense too, along with another top 5 offense with Toronto. Baltimore is in the second year of Mazzone, so I expect their pitching to improve a little bit, and then there is Tampa who is in the same boat as the Royals. Basically, the AL East is top heavy, whereas the AL Central is pretty solid throughout without an elite team. Toronto compares favorably to all, but their pitching needs to perform. Their offense is good, without question. Come 2008-2010, the AL Central should be the best division in baseball regarding depth and overall talent. I think it's still the Central. I find it hilarious that the Yankees are still considered the favorite. They've got a ridiculous line-up again, for the 6th straight year. But yet again, their pitching blows. Didn't they learn their lesson two years ago? They're hoping that Pettite (who hasn't been good in a long, long time) and Pavano can lead them to the title again. Hmm, two old and withering pitchers. Where have we seen that before? Oh yeah, the Yankees the last few seasons. If they get Clemens then perhaps they should be the favorites in the East. But I personally believe Clemens is overrated at this point in his career. He hasn't been unhittable since his first year in Houston, and as we saw in the playoffs in 05 he's prone to give up big hits and lots of runs. Boston looks ok from a pitching aspect, but is that lineup really that good? JD Drew? Come on... Toronto should be an 80 win team, but still not enough to make the playoffs. In the Central you have four teams capable of making a run, but IMO only three, the Sox, Tribe and Tigers have a real shot. All three will score a ton of runs and play good defense. As always though it'll come down to pitching. Will Detroits young pitchers keep the pace from last year? Or will they have tired arms from the post-season run. Will Clevelands bullpen be able to stop ANYONE from scoring? And for the Sox will Buerhle show up (my vote yes since it'll be a contract year) and will the #5 be adequate? I just don't see the dominance from Boston and New York that was there 3-4 years ago. But thats why they play the games, we'll see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLAK Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Head to head, the Central went 86-86 V the East in 2006. Minnesota………22-13 Detroit……………16-17 Chicago……………17-17 Cleveland………19-14 Kansas City…12-25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vance Law Posted January 18, 2007 Author Share Posted January 18, 2007 QUOTE(TLAK @ Jan 18, 2007 -> 06:07 AM) Head to head, the Central went 86-86 V the East in 2006. Minnesota………22-13 Detroit……………16-17 Chicago……………17-17 Cleveland………19-14 Kansas City…12-25 Geez, who the heck did Detroit beat last year? The didn't beat the AL East, they didn't beat us. Apparently they beat everyone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 QUOTE(Vance Law @ Jan 18, 2007 -> 12:48 PM) Geez, who the heck did Detroit beat last year? The didn't beat the AL East, they didn't beat us. Apparently they beat everyone else. KC - 14-4 MIN - 11-8 CLE - 13-6 NL - 15-3 That would be over half of their wins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygoat Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 AL central by far. thats not even a question, its a battle of old has been vs. young studs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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