The projection systems are a little different. Those are simulated applications that come up with numbers. They are based on algorithms. If they are off then their reputation is on the line.

The key is that they're all going to be off. Even a theoretically perfect system will have a standard error of a little over 6 games in either direction. I think most folks think that the gap between the Twins and White Sox is likely no bigger than that. So no one can predict the winner of the AL Central with anything close to any level of certainty. The correct answer to "who is going to win the AL Central" is almost certainly "I don't know."

 

And no one other than maybe God has access to such a system, so the error range is even greater even for the very best at it. So yeah even the Indians and Tigers are both in this.

 

I do think that the AL Central is the only likely path to the playoffs for the White Sox though. The consensus best three teams in the league are all in the same division and that's not good news for the Wild Card hopes of everybody else, particularly since the other two teams in that division are thought to be considerably weaker (and therefore a source of wins for the top three).

No, Jones is our DH, but he has actually played a pretty good OF this spring. He could probably play CF without hurting us. I would personally like to see a Pierre-Jones-Rios OF with Quentin DHing.

Somewhat (very?) off topic, but has anyone seen Jones make any tough plays this spring? I haven't, but I've only seen a handful of games. Has he been tested enough to give him a good evaluation?

Somewhat (very?) off topic, but has anyone seen Jones make any tough plays this spring? I haven't, but I've only seen a handful of games. Has he been tested enough to give him a good evaluation?

 

No, I have not seen him have any real hard plays, but just going on his history, the fact he is back in shape, and the amount of time he has spent in CF, it appears he must be at least adequate out there, and Rios has recently been a RF, so it's not a big change for him. I am in favor of doing anything to keep Quentin out of the field, and I think that Jones can be at least as good as Quentin defensively.

No, I have not seen him have any real hard plays, but just going on his history, the fact he is back in shape, and the amount of time he has spent in CF, it appears he must be at least adequate out there, and Rios has recently been a RF, so it's not a big change for him. I am in favor of doing anything to keep Quentin out of the field, and I think that Jones can be at least as good as Quentin defensively.

 

I am guessing Rios has played more CF over the last couple of years than Jones has.

No, I have not seen him have any real hard plays, but just going on his history, the fact he is back in shape, and the amount of time he has spent in CF, it appears he must be at least adequate out there, and Rios has recently been a RF, so it's not a big change for him. I am in favor of doing anything to keep Quentin out of the field, and I think that Jones can be at least as good as Quentin defensively.

 

Thats how the top CF's are though, for example many considered Brian Anderson one of the best defensive CF's in mlb but how many times did it look like he made a real hard play. When your good, the hard plays look easy

Thats how the top CF's are though, for example many considered Brian Anderson one of the best defensive CF's in mlb but how many times did it look like he made a real hard play. When your good, the hard plays look easy

I guess I framed it wrong, I know it's not really about diving/sliding/whatever, but I just haven't seen him get to a gapper and cut it off or catch a ball particularly far into the alleys. I dunno, I'm slightly underwhelmed. Small sample size, though.

Rosenthal is one of the best in the game. Anyone that calls him an idiot is a dumbass. Same with Gammons, Heyman, Olney, Nightengale, and Kurkijan.

 

And yes, there are a lot of people on fan sites that are dumbasses and rip on good sports reporters because they don't say what they want to say or because the rumor that came out didn't turn out to be true. It's ridiculous.

 

Greatly agreed. It happens in the NBA with everyone hating Ric Bucher for that Kobe report years back. He was simply stating what Kobe's camp told him. If you want to be mad at anyone, be mad at Kobe. A media person can't say, "Kobe and his agent told me this in a dead serious face...but we all know he's lying." If you do that, you think players are going to give you access? Heck no. They're going to go with someone who's willing to give and take.

I am guessing Rios has played more CF over the last couple of years than Jones has.

 

Actually no. Rios has only played 140 games in CF in his whole career, and 124 of those since 2007. Jones played CF over 1700 innings in his career, and 220 from 2007-2008. I am saying though, Jones has only played in RF 5 times over the past 10 years, while Rios has played RF 110 times in 2009 alone. I think having Rios play RF instead of Jones will be a lot easier transition for Rios to make, and since Jones is back in shape, I think he can play a pretty adequate CF.

Actually no. Rios has only played 140 games in CF in his whole career, and 124 of those since 2007. Jones played CF over 1700 innings in his career, and 220 from 2007-2008. I am saying though, Jones has only played in RF 5 times over the past 10 years, while Rios has played RF 110 times in 2009 alone. I think having Rios play RF instead of Jones will be a lot easier transition for Rios to make, and since Jones is back in shape, I think he can play a pretty adequate CF.

 

And of those, zero were last year, and 66 were in 2008. Rios has 76 in the last two years, including 34 last year. So yes, over the last couple of years, Rios has played out there more.

And of those, zero were last year, and 66 were in 2008. Rios has 76 in the last two years, including 34 last year. So yes, over the last couple of years, Rios has played out there more.

 

If you want to say over the last couple years and literally mean the past 2 years, then Rios has played 102 games in CF and Jones has played 66. Jones also weighed a lot more last year and probably couldn't even physically play CF. And again, Rios has played a lot more RF over the past 2 years than CF (203 vs. 102), and Jones has only seen 5 games there in the past 12 years.