AL Central LONG Run

[jackie hayes]

Minnesota has 2 terrifying starters in Liriano and Santana, and a stud closer in Nathan.....but other than that, I don't see a damn thing about them that scares me. 2 stud horses and a closer can win you some games, but that's not enough in this division.

That's the base. (Though, I don't know how long Nathan will be there.) But you also have Mauer at catcher. And I can't believe Morneau isn't better than this.

 

Yes, there are holes. But if your rotation sports 2 CY candidates, I think you can't be too far off. Liriano's not that yet, but still, omfg.

[whitesoxfan101]

That's the base. (Though, I don't know how long Nathan will be there.) But you also have Mauer at catcher. And I can't believe Morneau isn't better than this.

 

Yes, there are holes. But if your rotation sports 2 CY candidates, I think you can't be too far off. Liriano's not that yet, but still, omfg.

 

Mauer is a hell of a hitter, but he still hasn't shown much of any power....and I want to see him stay healthy. And Morneau needs to hit more than .240 as well.

[chitownsportsfan]

I'm not worried about the Twins at all. Their lineup stinks, and two aces and 3 scrubs only works in the playoffs, which they won't even sniff.

[Wedge]

For now, Minny's window is closed. Yes, they have the 2 stud lefties and the closer and Mauer, but they have nowhere near as complete a team as the White Sox or Tigers right now, which will cost them some games. Plus, they don't have that ridiculous luck any more like they used to have.

[NYSox35]

I'm not worried about the Twins at all. Their lineup stinks, and two aces and 3 scrubs only works in the playoffs, which they won't even sniff.

 

Boof Bonser is an ace

[jackie hayes]

Mauer is a hell of a hitter, but he still hasn't shown much of any power....and I want to see him stay healthy. And Morneau needs to hit more than .240 as well.

Huh? Mauer's slugging .526 this year. It's not all about hr.

 

About Morneau, yeah, I agree. He's been a huge disappointment for them. On his potential, that's jmho, based on seeing him play and his minor league stats.

 

If they could just figure out that Cuddyer's a decent player, that would give them 3 pieces, plus the pitching. I watched the Sox last year win the WS with great pitching and a mediocre offense. I see no reason why the Twins could not eventually do the same.

[Hangar18]

Both Teams are scary to me. The Indian Bullpen is very good, and their hitting is going to wake up sooner or later. The Tigers are just like the SOX of 05 (but theyre getting press), and will only make themselves better next year. I told some Tiger fans last nite, they should be proud of their team and this division,

its going to be very competitive for years to come

[NYSox35]

Both Teams are scary to me. The Indian Bullpen is very good, and their hitting is going to wake up sooner or later. The Tigers are just like the SOX of 05 (but theyre getting press), and will only make themselves better next year. I told some Tiger fans last nite, they should be proud of their team and this division,

its going to be very competitive for years to come

 

Agreed...but I see us winning it this year and in '07.

Then again, I'm not what you'd call impartial

[Balta1701]

Both Teams are scary to me. The Indian Bullpen is very good, and their hitting is going to wake up sooner or later. The Tigers are just like the SOX of 05 (but theyre getting press), and will only make themselves better next year. I told some Tiger fans last nite, they should be proud of their team and this division,

its going to be very competitive for years to come

The Indians bullpen is 3rd worst in the AL with an ERA of nearly 5, and their offense is #2 in baseball.

Edited June 8, 2006 by Balta1701

[ZoomSlowik]

Huh? Mauer's slugging .526 this year. It's not all about hr.

 

About Morneau, yeah, I agree. He's been a huge disappointment for them. On his potential, that's jmho, based on seeing him play and his minor league stats.

 

If they could just figure out that Cuddyer's a decent player, that would give them 3 pieces, plus the pitching. I watched the Sox last year win the WS with great pitching and a mediocre offense. I see no reason why the Twins could not eventually do the same.

 

The Sox had much better pitching depth though, and the Twin's offense isn't mediocre right now, it's in the bottom 3 in the AL. They don't have anyone that is even close to as big a threat as Konerko last year, and a lot of their guys aren't really threats at all. They lack 3 and 4 type hitters, and only Mauer and Morneau really have the ability to step into those roles. Mauer can hit, but he still needs some power. Your 3 hitter can't finish with less than 15 homers if you want to succeed. He's really more of a 2 or 5 hitter right now. They need at least two other hitters to step up, and it'd help a lot of one of them was Morneau. Their average and OBP are a little better than ours was last year, but they also are on pace to hit only 134 homers compared to our 200. That won't cut it unless you're hitting around .280 or you've got 3 or 4 Cy Young candidates.

Edited June 8, 2006 by ZoomSlowik

[jackie hayes]

The Sox had much better pitching depth though, and the Twin's offense isn't mediocre right now, it's in the bottom 3 in the AL. They don't have anyone that is even close to as big a threat as Konerko last year, and a lot of their guys aren't really threats at all. They lack 3 and 4 type hitters, and only Mauer and Morneau really have the ability to step into those roles. Mauer can hit, but he still needs some power. Your 3 hitter can't finish with less than 15 homers if you want to succeed. He's really more of a 2 or 5 hitter right now. They need at least two other hitters to step up, and it'd help a lot of one of them was Morneau.

I agree that they probably won't threaten much this year. But in the long run (say, in 2 years) they are as frightening as anyone, as 2/5 of their rotation could be flat-out unreal, and they have some of the pieces for the order. Dominant pitching is the hardest thing to find, and it appears they may have that. All imo, of course.

[NYSox35]

I agree that they probably won't threaten much this year. But in the long run (say, in 2 years) they are as frightening as anyone, as 2/5 of their rotation could be flat-out unreal, and they have some of the pieces for the order. Dominant pitching is the hardest thing to find, and it appears they may have that. All imo, of course.

 

So are we in agreement the Sox make it a 3 peat from 05 to 07?

[jackie hayes]

So are we in agreement the Sox make it a 3 peat from 05 to 07?

[ZoomSlowik]

I agree that they probably won't threaten much this year. But in the long run (say, in 2 years) they are as frightening as anyone, as 2/5 of their rotation could be flat-out unreal, and they have some of the pieces for the order. Dominant pitching is the hardest thing to find, and it appears they may have that. All imo, of course.

 

They've got a few pieces, but they'll need more. Right now, Santana, Liriano, Nathan, Mauer, and Hunter are fairly solid. Even if you assume they'll all be around and performing in two years, they still need at least one more starter and one more solid hitter, preferrably more. MAYBE Baker, Cuddyer, Morneau, and Kubel fill that, but that requires a lot of things going right. However, Hunter appears to be on his way out, and Santana will be nearing the end of his contract by then. They might not be able to keep him.

 

Unless they pull a few more gems out of their farm system, I don't see them being a real threat to us in the next few years. We've got a lot more financial resources than them right now, and unless Pohland sells the team that probably won't change.

 

I'm personally more worried about Detroit and Cleveland in the long run. They're not quite so financially challenged, and they have more pieces in place already.

Edited June 8, 2006 by ZoomSlowik

[Colorado Sox Fan]

Definitely Cleveland. Their lineup is better and their pitchers should do better than they've been doing so far.

[Rowand44]

Detroit is better then Cleveland this year, no question.

[BobDylan]

Offense doesn't win championships, every Sox fan on this board should know this. If Detroit's pitching staff keeps at a clip of 3.67, they're in it for the long haul. Everyone notices Cleveland's big bats, but it's like nobody has seen that 5.00 team ERA up from last year's 3.61. Like Cleveland last year, Detroit is pitching at the top of the league. As far as I've seen, Cleveland sucks and at best they'll be like the White Sox teams of past years...all offense, no bite.

Edited June 8, 2006 by BobDylan

[GoodAsGould]

I have to say Detroit because besides us they seem like the only team willing to spend money. And they will have a lot of money to spend when Percival and Pudge come off the books.....Not 2 mention all those young studs in Bonderman, Verlander, Zumaya, and now Miller. Also Rodney looks like a beast out of the bullpen and I think is the real deal.

 

Also Ive always been a Mike Maroth fan and while he might not be as good as he was b4 getting hurt I think he is a pretty good pitcher.

[ZoomSlowik]

Offense doesn't win championships, every Sox fan on this board should know this. If Detroit's pitching staff keeps at a clip of 3.67, they're in it for the long haul. Everyone notices Cleveland's big bats, but it's like nobody has seen that 5.00 team ERA up from last year's 3.61. Like Cleveland last year, Detroit is pitching at the top of the league. As far as I've seen, Cleveland sucks and at best they'll be like the White Sox teams of past years...all offense, no bite.

 

Offense definitely helps you in the regular season though and can counter-act poor pitching. Just look at the Yankees and Red Sox last year. We're not arguing playoffs, so it could be a concern.

 

I don't see Cleveland winning more than about 88 though unless their offense gets red-hot or their pitching gets better, which means they aren't really a threat to us.

[BigSqwert]

Just look at the Yankees and Red Sox last year.

They had better pitching than Cleveland does this year. Come on, Bob Wickman?

Edited June 8, 2006 by BigSqwert

[ZoomSlowik]

They had better pitching than Cleveland does this year. Come on, Bob Wickman?

 

I really don't think so. Boston's rotation was brutal and their pen was worse. Their top 4 was Wells-Clement-Arroyo-Wakefield, and Miller and an ailing Schilling filled in the 5 spot. Their ERA at the end of the season was 4.74. The Yankees were throwing every pitcher with a pulse out there. Some of them performed okay, but it's pretty clear that they weren't very good judging by the playoff results and the performance of most of those guys thus far this year. Cleveland's pitching has been bad, but I doubt that it ends up with numbers quite that ugly. At least they have some talent in their rotation, which is more than you can say for Boston and New York last year outside of an aging Big Unit.

 

Even assuming they were better a bit better, they're still not exactly stellar rotations.

 

Plus if you haven't noticed, Wickman has pitched pretty well the last two years.

Edited June 8, 2006 by ZoomSlowik

[jenksd]

the white sox

[Jordan4life_2007]

the white sox

 

I like this answer. I still feel we're clearly the most talented team in the division. If we play like we're capable, something we clearly haven't done this year, will be fine.

[Baines3]

I am also more concerned about the White Sox. We are loaded with talent, now if we can play to our full ability.

[JackTalkThai]

I like this answer. I still feel we're clearly the most talented team in the division. If we play like we're capable, something we clearly haven't done this year, will be fine.

 

Just asking, what do you see as Chicago's rotation, three bullpen arms and closer three years or so down the road? With the assumption that all of the arms come from within the organization. I know the Sox have a few pretty impressive arms down in the minors.

 

For the Tigers my staff is looking like:

 

1. Justin Verlander

2. Jeremy Bonderman

3. Joel Zumaya

4. Maroth or Robertson

5. Andrew Miller

 

Bullpen 1- Fernando Rodney

Bullpen 2- Humberto Sanchez

Bullpen 3- Wilfredo Ledezma

 

Closer- Kevin Whelan (possibly Zumaya if he gets pigeon-holed as a closer)