AL Central Smack Talk

[Fountain City Blues]

Jimenez had a 2.61 ERA from April 29 to Sept 29, spanning 28 starts and 165.2 innings.

/selectiveendpoints

I like Kluber and Salazar a lot. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they had one of the best rotations in the AL (maybe all of MLB) this year.

I am just hoping KC's rotation can hold the fort until the reinforcements in Ventura and Zimmer arrive.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Jimenez had a 2.61 ERA from April 29 to Sept 29, spanning 28 starts and 165.2 innings.

/selectiveendpoints

I like Kluber and Salazar a lot. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they had one of the best rotations in the AL (maybe all of MLB) this year.

Yeah, he ended up with a 3.30 ERA. I thought it was higher . But hopefully these young guns can takeover

 

[navamind]

Yeah, he ended up with a 3.30 ERA. I thought it was higher . But hopefully these young guns can takeover

Well, he did have a 10.06 ERA after his first four starts. And his ERA did sit at 5.03 after his start on June 7. Can't say I blame you for thinking that way.

But he pitched very well down the stretch, especially in September (1.09 ERA in 41.1 innings in 6 starts, Indians were 6-0 in those starts), helping the Indians grab one of the WC spots.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

I'm interested to see what KC does this year. They suprised everyone last year, but how can they repeat that season??

Well, the flukiest part of last season was the 2.2 fWAR from total scrubs in RF. Fortunately, we got Aoki to leadoff (forces Gordon down the order where his RBI opps would go way up) to counterbalance this; perhaps even an upgrade over last year in RF production.

Another thing to look for is Billy Butler posting better power numbers (posted a career low ISO last year) and should be a force again with his OBP and bat.

Hosmer continues to progress with the bat. He had a Wrc+ at or above 130 every month after May. Including a month over 140.

Moose bounces back with the glove and/or bat. His DRS fell by -17 last year. I am expecting the defense to be better, the bat I am more impatient.

Perez increases his power and/or BB%. His defense was Molinaesque with an 11 DRS (Molina was at 12 in the same sample size) but the offense was average. Good average though...

Escobar regresses to his mean offensively, from terribad, to bad offense would be nice. If he hits like 2012 with the 2013 glove, he is a good player. Problem is betting on both seems dubious. I'll just settle for the mean.

Duffy, Ventura, and Zimmer: Rotation once you go beyond the era is pedestrian outside of Shields. Vargas is satisfactory, but Guthrie and Chen are not legitimate starters in a contending rotation. These young guys need to replace and exceed their production which shouldn't be too terribly difficult considering Guthrie and Chen are well below average.

Defense needs to remain dominant. It posted a 93 (or 95 depending on where you look) which was easily tops in the AL and best in baseball. In fact, it was nearly double the next AL team.

Bullpen needs to hold up, historically, it is very difficult to be as good as the Royals have been the past two years (in fact, if I recall, nobody in the history of baseball has had a bullpen put up 7 WAR or better in a two season span except the '12-'13 Royals) however, there is a ton of depth so regression and bad luck should be cancelled out.

 

[Nosferatu]

By the way, isn't it a rule to lock a thread once it hits 10,000 posts?

YES

 

[Nosferatu]

You underestimate the suck of the Twins and White Sox right now.

Hey, come on man! We could actually win 73 games this year.

 

[dougplayer]

No talk about. Andy dirks?

I see him having a great year for the TIgers. Just as valuable for the TIgers as B GArdner of the Yankees. Which the Yankees just gave new contract,.
Andy dirks will be a steal in the late rounds in fantasy baseball.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

No talk about. Andy dirks?

I see him having a great year for the TIgers. Just as valuable for the TIgers as B GArdner of the Yankees. Which the Yankees just gave new contract,.
Andy dirks will be a steal in the late rounds in fantasy baseball.

Sure... Guy being platooned with Rajai Davis is going to be a beast.

Brett Gardner: 3.2 fWAR
Andy Dirks: 1.7 fWAR




In fact, I would argue Gardner is twice the player Dirks is right now.

 

[Nosferatu]

No talk about. Andy dirks?

I see him having a great year for the TIgers. Just as valuable for the TIgers as B GArdner of the Yankees. Which the Yankees just gave new contract,.
Andy dirks will be a steal in the late rounds in fantasy baseball.

It's going to be so fun being in the same fantasy baseball league as you...

 

[navamind]

No talk about. Andy dirks?

I see him having a great year for the TIgers. Just as valuable for the TIgers as B GArdner of the Yankees. Which the Yankees just gave new contract,.
Andy dirks will be a steal in the late rounds in fantasy baseball.

Dirks is Gardner without the defense, baserunning, and on base ability. Dirks is average.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Doug why do you still think Dirks is good?

I thought last year would have shown you enough.

 

[broncosmitty]

No talk about. Andy dirks?

I see him having a great year for the TIgers. Just as valuable for the TIgers as B GArdner of the Yankees. Which the Yankees just gave new contract,.
Andy dirks will be a steal in the late rounds in fantasy baseball.

I see him platooning with Davis. Then soon I see him sitting and watching Davis play left and steal bases.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Should be an interesting season regardless in the Central. We have three good teams. Let's see what they can do.

 

[broncosmitty]

Three?

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Three?

Yes, Cleveland didn't take THAT big of a hit to their roster.

 

[Tigertowner68]

I see him platooning with Davis. Then soon I see him sitting and watching Davis play left and steal bases.

Rajai Davis swiped two bags today... if he can hit .260 and draw some walks, Dirks will be spending a lot of time riding the pine.

 

[broncosmitty]

Egh, but they were they good in the first place? I like The SouthSiders to take third tbh.

 

[broncosmitty]

Rajai Davis swiped two bags today... if he can hit .260 and draw some walks, Dirks will be spending a lot of time riding the pine.

I was listening when he got his second one. Looking forward to Davis and his base running A LOT! (He had 9 more swipes than the Tigers did last year. And I think he'll have more this season than he did last year.)

 

[Fountain City Blues]

I just hope Yost isn't a moron and puts Duffy in the bullpen in order to give Wade Davis the job....

 

[Howie115]

Brett Gardner: 3.2 fWAR

Andy Dirks: 1.7 fWAR

Dirks is Gardner without the defense, baserunning, and on base ability. Dirks
is average.

I would settle for "average" from Dirks, because he was below average last season -- especially with men on base. But the coaching staff said after the season that Andy played almost the entire year with a variety of nagging injuries. You didn't hear about it because Andy is a gamer who wants to be out on the field. The .322 he hit in 2012 was clearly a fluke, but if healthy, I see no reason he can't get back to .280 -- especially if he faces primarily right-handed pitching and Rajai faces the lefties.

And though Dirks has a couple of very noticeable bonehead plays in the outfield, he's a better defender than those few plays suggest. He was a finalist for the Gold Glove in left (with Alex Gordon and Yoenis Cespedes). Dirks also had 7 outfield assists to Gardner's 5, despite Andy starting 35 fewer games.