2024: AL Central Thread

[WhiteSox2023]

22 minutes ago, greg775 said:

Guys, the Royals talent is not good. Why them and not us?

I can explain the difference between the Royals and Sox with one player — Bobby Witt Jr.  The Sox are terrible at scouting position players in the draft and can’t even luck into a player half as good as Witt.   And then, even if they did luck into drafting a guy like Witt, JR would be too cheap to give him an 11-year, $288.7 million extension and we would watch as he was eventually traded to the Dodgers or Yankees.

Also, the Sox apparently hired away all of the Royals terrible front office people and coaches, which probably gave them a boost.  🤣

Edited August 28 by WhiteSox2023

[greg775]

49 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

I can explain the difference between the Royals and Sox with one player — Bobby Witt Jr.  The Sox are terrible at scouting position players in the draft and can’t even luck into a player half as good as Witt.   And then, even if they did luck into drafting a guy like Witt, JR would be too cheap to give him an 11-year, $288.7 million extension and we would watch as he was eventually traded to the Dodgers or Yankees.

Also, the Sox apparently hired away all of the Royals terrible front office people and coaches, which probably gave them a boost.  🤣

And that is why greg is always in favor of the traditional way of having a good team. Draft guys, make some trades, whatever, but never have to gut your whole roster in "tanking." What if Robert was as good a hitter as Witt? What if we had Sale and Crochet on the same staff, on and on. Wonder if the Bears' new QB is football's equivalent of Witt.

[southsider2k5]

8 hours ago, greg775 said:

Guys, the Royals talent is not good. Why them and not us?

Because we are the worst team in the history of modern baseball.  Hope this helps.

[caulfield12]

https://www.mlb.com/news/michael-lorenzen-exits-with-injury-against-guardians?partnerId=it-20240828-10889170-mlb-1-A&utm_id=it-20240828-10889170-mlb-1-A&lctg=34656683

 

But at the end of the night -- just before Tuesday turned into Wednesday -- the Royals moved into a tie with the Guardians for the American League Central lead with a 6-1 win at Progressive Field.

And by clinching the season series -- 7-2 with four more games to play -- Kansas City also owns the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Guardians had held a lead in the division since April 13. On June 25, the Royals were 10 games out of first place.

Edited August 28 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

Massey has been solid too for KC...772 ops would lead the White Sox.

Freddie Fermin at 761 as well.

[southsider2k5]

 

[oldsox]

On 8/30/2024 at 12:16 PM, southsider2k5 said:

 

Vinnie would make the Sox all-opponent team.

[southsider2k5]

 

[WhiteSox2023]

On 8/30/2024 at 11:16 AM, southsider2k5 said:

 

Too bad the deadline is over.  Maybe they would want Vaughn?  😶

[caulfield12]

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/how-mariners-andres-munoz-and-clevelands-emmanuel-clase-became-baseball-brothers/

 

Well, at least half Central-related, with Clase.

One of the reasons that Preller might get fired (if he misses out on the Wild Card) is these two relievers are better than Suarez (certainly in recent days), but Clase is pretty much unarguably the best closer in baseball today.

[caulfield12]

Biggest surprise

Last year, the Kansas City Royals lost 106 games. Over the winter, they guaranteed around $100 million to sign seven free agents: right-handed starters Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, outfielder Hunter Renfroe, utilitymen Garrett Hampson and Adam Frazier and relievers Will Smith and Chris Stratton.

Today, the Royals are 82-70. They are firmly in possession of the second wild card in the AL and have an outside shot at overtaking Cleveland atop the Central division. They will play in the postseason for the first time since winning the World Series in 2015. They are the perfect example of what can happen when a team -- regardless of its market size -- has an owner commit to winning and backs it up with savvy front-office maneuvering.

In addition to urging general manager J.J. Picollo to add via free agency, Royals owner John Sherman greenlit the $288 million contract extension for Witt over the winter as well as a midseason budget expansion to acquire more talent at the trade deadline and via the waiver wire. The Royals have operated with a sense of urgency rarely seen among lower-revenue teams.

And their targets have hit. Lugo was among the best signings of the winter and Wacha not far behind. Cole Ragans, acquired for Aroldis Chapman in June 2023, is a top-of-the-rotation starter. Witt is a superstar, Salvador Perez is bolstering his Hall of Fame case by the year and Vinnie Pasquantino is a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat (who they very much miss). And with the work Matt Quatraro is doing in the dugout, the Royals could pull off the rare Manager of the Year/Executive of the Year double.

The Royals might be a surprise, but they're certainly not a fluke.

 

espn.com

[Kyyle23]

On 9/12/2024 at 1:03 AM, caulfield12 said:

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/how-mariners-andres-munoz-and-clevelands-emmanuel-clase-became-baseball-brothers/

 

Well, at least half Central-related, with Clase.

One of the reasons that Preller might get fired (if he misses out on the Wild Card) is these two relievers are better than Suarez (certainly in recent days), but Clase is pretty much unarguably the best closer in baseball today.

You think Preller is going to get fired for a trade he made 5 years ago?

[Quin]

On 8/28/2024 at 2:10 AM, greg775 said:

And that is why greg is always in favor of the traditional way of having a good team. Draft guys, make some trades, whatever, but never have to gut your whole roster in "tanking." What if Robert was as good a hitter as Witt? What if we had Sale and Crochet on the same staff, on and on. Wonder if the Bears' new QB is football's equivalent of Witt.

I hope you know that if the 2018 White Sox lost 5 more games they'd have Bobby Witt Jr.

[southsider2k5]

5 minutes ago, Quin said:

I hope you know that if the 2018 White Sox lost 5 more games they'd have Bobby Witt Jr.

Assuming they picked him and he didn't get Getz'd like the rest of our hitter top picks.

[greg775]

3 hours ago, Quin said:

I hope you know that if the 2018 White Sox lost 5 more games they'd have Bobby Witt Jr.

How do we know they'd be smart enuf to take Witt? The draft is a crapshoot. Five wins is a lot as the Cubs are finding out. The ain't gonna catch the Mets.

[Quin]

5 minutes ago, greg775 said:

How do we know they'd be smart enuf to take Witt? The draft is a crapshoot. Five wins is a lot as the Cubs are finding out. The ain't gonna catch the Mets.

Cause industry consensus was Adley #1, Witt #2.

#3 was where it got murky because Vaughn had an extremely well liked bat until the White Sox got their grips on him, but he's a first baseman.

[greg775]

1 hour ago, Quin said:

Cause industry consensus was Adley #1, Witt #2.

#3 was where it got murky because Vaughn had an extremely well liked bat until the White Sox got their grips on him, but he's a first baseman.

Sox and other teams need scouts who can accurately figure out if a college kid's skills at the plate translate to hitting MLB sliders and fastballs. Or if a guy will be completely overmatched. Since the goal of all hitters seems to be HR or K, analyze whether they got the HR potential or not with the wooden bats.

[Quin]

9 minutes ago, greg775 said:

Sox and other teams need scouts who can accurately figure out if a college kid's skills at the plate translate to hitting MLB sliders and fastballs. Or if a guy will be completely overmatched. Since the goal of all hitters seems to be HR or K, analyze whether they got the HR potential or not with the wooden bats.

Well a big problem is that lots of players come to the Sox and suddenly their skills die like they were embraced by Ursula from The Little Mermaid.

[southsider2k5]

4 hours ago, Quin said:

Well a big problem is that lots of players come to the Sox and suddenly their skills die like they were embraced by Ursula from The Little Mermaid.

Poor Unfortunate Souls seems like a good theme song for 2024 Sox fans.

[kitekrazy]

I'd like to see the Tigers spend money next year.

[greg775]

How dumb am I? The Royals problem I figured out after forgetting is they stopped playing the Sox. Every time they played the Sox they rolled and brought their season back on track. What about a month ago the teams were finished playing. And predictably the Royals after getting back on track vs Chicago went in the tank. Royals always stay hot maybe 5 days after mopping up the Sox then start to play/pitch lousy. Hilarious.

[flavum]

Tigers and Twins have the same record with 9 left. Twins have the tie breaker.

Min- at Bos, vs Mia, vs Bal

Det- at Bal, vs TB, vs Sox

[chw42]

6 minutes ago, flavum said:

Tigers and Twins have the same record with 9 left. Twins have the tie breaker.

Min- at Bos, vs Mia, vs Bal

Det- at Bal, vs TB, vs Sox

At least the Tigers can bank on at least 3 wins.

[Milkman delivers]

4 hours ago, flavum said:

Tigers and Twins have the same record with 9 left. Twins have the tie breaker.

Min- at Bos, vs Mia, vs Bal

Det- at Bal, vs TB, vs Sox

Man, that’s about as equal as you can get for the final 3 games. The same team, two teams separated by one game, and two of the very worst.

May the best team win.

EDIT: Actually, the two worst teams period.

Edited September 20 by Milkman delivers

[caulfield12]

In the 50 games since that final Flaherty outing, no rotation has thrown fewer innings, with a gap of 15 fewer than the White Sox, and 45 fewer innings than any team not on pace to set the Modern Era record for losses. In those 50 games, Detroit has used 11 different starting pitchers. They’ve also had the most wins in the American League, and allowed the fewest runs in baseball, and now they are tied with the Twins for the third AL Wild Card berth (although Minnesota owns the tiebreaker between the two teams).

 

You’d expect performance like that to be the result of a whole team contributing, and the lineup has certainly shown signs of life now that Parker Meadows, Riley Greene, and Kerry Carpenter are healthy and producing. That said, the offense has been more OK than great – just 15th in runs scored since the start of August. It’s about the pitching.

It helps, of course, to have Tarik Skubal, who is all but certain to win the AL Cy Young Award. Yet he’s been the lone established starting pitcher in this group, which is the best run prevention unit of the second half, and one of the best pitching staffs in Tigers history. It’s not exactly how you’d plan it. But it’s working.

How? And who are these guys who have led them back into the thick of the playoff race? (All numbers below are through Wednesday's games.)

 

 

Tigers games started, since July 25

• 10 // an ace (Skubal)
• 10 // an inconsistent rookie (Keider Montero)
• 10 // an opener (Beau Brieske)
• 5 // a since-demoted opener (Alex Faedo)
• 5 // another opener (Holton)
• 4 // a former No. 1 pick working back from injury (Casey Mize)
• 2 // another opener (Brenan Hanifee)
• 1 // another opener (Mason Englert)
• 1 // a rookie making his MLB debut (Ty Madden)
• 1 // a rehabbing starter limited to short outings (Olson)
• 1 // a spot starter (Brant Hurter)

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