Jump to content

2023 AL Central Division Thread


caulfield12

Recommended Posts

Twins (48%)

Why it will be them: Because the AL Central is relatively weak – the Guardians are more good than great – and because the Twins made moves this winter to improve their defense, depth and rotation, which could be sneaky good if Pablo López (sweeper) and Joe Ryan (sweeper, splitter) use their new pitches to really take off.

Don’t forget, the Twins did spend 41 more days in first than Cleveland did last year, until they were torpedoed by bullpen and injury woes; no AL team had more injury days missed than Minnesota. Throw in promising reports on swing changes by Joey Gallo and Carlos Correa, the return of Kenta Maeda, and the elite relief of Jhoan Duran, and it’s not that hard to see this team going from 78-84 to October.

Why it won’t: Because they don’t have a true ace and Byron Buxton hasn’t played in 100 games since 2017.

 

https://www.mlb.com/news/losing-teams-from-2022-that-could-make-playoffs

Edited by caulfield12
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Bieber, Quantrill, Civale and Plesac are the usual names remaining for CLE.

McKenzie's their 1A.

 

https://www.coveringthecorner.com/2023/2/7/23576200/guardians-spring-training-battles-fifth-starter

Pilkington and Touissant are memorable names.  About 6-7 more internal candidates for either starter, including X.Curry and Eli Captain Morgan.

Have a wealth of high minors pitching riches as a Top 5 MLB system.

 

Edited by caulfield12
Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Hahaha. Suck it Tribe. Mariners take a 3-0 lead and still batting in the 8th.

Seattle owns them. 

Karinchak also blew the game for them so that makes it even better. 

Edited by chw42
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

But what did Kelenic do?

Gaddis starts Game #2 in McKenzie’s spot.

1/3 with a sharp single and a strikeout. Made a couple running catches in left. I think he either settles into an Avi like career path (so 1-3 WAR player) or he hangs on as a 4th OF. I think you can write him off as a star at this point, he's got some pretty big holes in his game and the athleticism was over hyped. That said, being an average regular is a great career and a way to make 100 million by the time you're 35 so not exactly the worst thing in the world if he can settle into that Avi like zone.

Edited by chitownsportsfan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, chitownsportsfan said:

1/3 with a sharp single and a strikeout. Made a couple running catches in left. I think he either settles into an Avi like career path (so 1-3 WAR player) or he hangs on as a 4th OF. I think you can write him off as a star at this point, he's got some pretty big holes in his game and the athleticism was over hyped. That said, being an average regular is a great career and a way to make 100 million by the time you're 35 so not exactly the worst thing in the world if he can settle into that Avi like zone.

Jeremy Reed was always the comp that came to mind…maybe more power and of course the strikeouts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, fathom said:

Maybe more power?  Kelenic has huge power, Reed had none at all

https://www.milb.com/player/jeremy-reed-430598#stats-block

11 13 13 homer years in the minors.

Kelenic at the big league level always to me projected at 18-22...something like that.

I guess I meant more than he maxed out his physical ability or peaked relatively early in his career.

We shall see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, fathom said:

Maybe more power?  Kelenic has huge power, Reed had none at all

I think my Avi comp is pretty good, looks like Tarzan, hits like Jane. Different batted ball profiles but similar results. Similar to Avi it was assumed Kelenic could handle CF as a prospect but quickly turned into only a corner player at the MLB level. Avi put together a few decent seasons (like 2.5 WAR) but otherwise was basically a 1 WAR true talent type. Not being a real CF hurts both guys quite a bit in value.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...