2010 AL Central Catch-All

[Jordan4life_2007]

You say your not respecting the Twins cause of the same number of playoff appearances as us, yet you put Tampa in the discussion whose had only 1 playoff appearance (albeit a W.S. appearance) in the last 5 years. I'm going to assume you meant Boston. I know damn well I'm respecting a team who has beaten us and the Tigers for the division (not to mention always stays competitive) in the past whose overall talent was much superior over the years. They have earned that right even with the non scare factor.. they do their thing. Not saying they are gonna win this thing, but it wouldn't shock me if they did especially with that offense and Liriano looking real good early. (still think he'll have a b****in year, ala 3.50-3.75ish, just won't be as sexy with the Ks per 9 like he used to be) Still wouldn't put it past them to acquire a SP or even a BP guy (or a 3B) by the deadline.

 

I said I respect the Twins. But Milkman used the word "afraid." They just don't scare me like a NY or Tampa (yes, I meant Tampa) would. TB is one of the top 4 teams in baseball, IMO. If they were in the central, it'd be a wrap. I just think the Twins slurping around here is getting out of hand a little. It's like some do it intentionally just to take back-handed slaps at the Sox. I'd bet (I can't prove this obviously, as it's a hypothetical) that if we were to switch rosters with them, 90% of the board would be complaining that we have an awesome lineup and average pitching.

Edited April 16, 2010 by Jordan4life

[Benchwarmerjim]

for anyone that is wondering, Target Field seems to be playing 'big' in this early season. The Power alleys are death traps for long outs. You can seem to carry the ball a little down the extreme left field foul pole area. The BoSox players crushed a few balls and they turned into out. Delmon Young has hit about 5 balls hard into power gaps all outs (Although Scotty Pods made a pretty good play tonight to rob Delmon of a hit)

[greg775]

Man, Zack has KC really concerned. He's not pitching well.

 

[BigSqwert]

No team with Scott Baker and Jon Rauch as their #1 starter and closer is going to run and hide from anyone.

Baker with another impressive victory last night. The Royals have been hitting this year and he shut them down.

[caulfield12]

The thing that really sucks is not only can the Twins now outspend us, they have a much better farm system. The only area that we can argue superiority is the bullpen.

 

Well, as they say, it's always darkest before the dawn. Things can shift and change very quickly in baseball.

[Disco72]

The thing that really sucks is not only can the Twins now outspend us, they have a much better farm system. The only area that we can argue superiority is the bullpen.

 

Well, as they say, it's always darkest before the dawn. Things can shift and change very quickly in baseball.

 

Wait? The Twins are outspending the Sox? I think the Sox are spending about $10 million more this season than the Twins. They've closed the payroll "gap," but let's see where it goes from here.

[Milkman delivers]

You say your not respecting the Twins cause of the same number of playoff appearances as us, yet you put Tampa in the discussion whose had only 1 playoff appearance (albeit a W.S. appearance) in the last 5 years. I'm going to assume you meant Boston. I know damn well I'm respecting a team who has beaten us and the Tigers for the division (not to mention always stays competitive) in the past whose overall talent was much superior over the years. They have earned that right even with the non scare factor.. they do their thing. Not saying they are gonna win this thing, but it wouldn't shock me if they did especially with that offense and Liriano looking real good early. (still think he'll have a b****in year, ala 3.50-3.75ish, just won't be as sexy with the Ks per 9 like he used to be) Still wouldn't put it past them to acquire a SP or even a BP guy (or a 3B) by the deadline.

 

And yes J4L, I've been messin with you a bit lately it seems.

 

Exactly.

[Milkman delivers]

I said I respect the Twins. But Milkman used the word "afraid." They just don't scare me like a NY or Tampa (yes, I meant Tampa) would. TB is one of the top 4 teams in baseball, IMO. If they were in the central, it'd be a wrap. I just think the Twins slurping around here is getting out of hand a little. It's like some do it intentionally just to take back-handed slaps at the Sox. I'd bet (I can't prove this obviously, as it's a hypothetical) that if we were to switch rosters with them, 90% of the board would be complaining that we have an awesome lineup and average pitching.

 

On the other hand, you're responding to other people's posts as though there is no reason to think the Twins are a threat with statements like "No team with Scott Baker and Jon Rauch as their #1 starter and closer is going to run and hide from anyone." I'm saying that they most definitely deserve to be taken seriously, especially with their track record in the division and specifically against us. Sorry if the word "afraid" changed the entire meaning of what I was getting at.

[Melissa1334]

Wait? The Twins are outspending the Sox? I think the Sox are spending about $10 million more this season than the Twins. They've closed the payroll "gap," but let's see where it goes from here.

arent the twins at 97 and the sox at 99?

[jphat007]

Jim Thome with another HR.

[Big Hurtin]

Jim Thome with another HR.

 

That was CRUSHED, dead center.

 

[Disco72]

arent the twins at 97 and the sox at 99?

 

CBS Sportsline (data from the AP) has the ALC teams as follows:

Tigers: $122.9

Sox: $108.3

Twins: $97.5

Royals: $72.3

Indians: $61.2

 

This is pretty close to Kalapse's number for the Sox of 107.075 (before cash considerations bring the "actual" cost of the team down to about 99.575).

 

Cots has the Sox at $103.1 and the Twins at $97.6.

 

So, there seems to be at least a $5M gap depending on the source, which refutes my previous post as that's not a very big difference at all. It'll be interesting to see how much the Twins can raise the payroll or if this year's boost in payroll of ~$30M factors in expected attendance increases due to the new stadium...especially with Mauer's salary almost doubling next season to what would be nearly 1/4 of the team's current payroll.

 

 

[jphat007]

It's amazing how much better the twins are than us for about hte same money spent. We have too much money locked up.

[Disco72]

It's amazing how much better the twins are than us for about hte same money spent. We have too much money locked up.

 

If their pitching holds up, that's the difference. Other than Nathan and Pavano, they're not paying much of anything for their pitching. I'm not convinced their pitching is going to hold up over a full season.

[fathom]

It's amazing how much better the twins are than us for about hte same money spent. We have too much money locked up.

 

They're just a really good team. They play with a ton of confidence as well. No reason they don't win the AL Central by 7 games.

[caulfield12]

If their pitching holds up, that's the difference. Other than Nathan and Pavano, they're not paying much of anything for their pitching. I'm not convinced their pitching is going to hold up over a full season.

 

 

They're kind of in the same situation we are with Danks/Floyd.

 

Blackburn just signed a $14 million/4 years, Slowey wants the same deal, essentially. Then you have Baker and Liriano hitting arbitration as well.

 

But they don't have the big deals like we do with Buehrle, Peavy, Jenks and Linebrink. And all that said, they can easily sustain that payroll if they want because Pohlad has very deep pockets and wants to differentiate himself from his dad IMO.

 

FWIW, we'd be much better off with Thome/Hudson (Beckham could have stayed at 3B) and SAVED money compared to what we have now with Teahen, Pierre, Vizquel and Kotsay. Hudson could have hit 1st, Beckham 2nd.

 

Hudson/Rios

Beckham

Quentin

Konerko

Thome

Jones

Rios

AJ

Ramirez

 

That line-up would score 50-100 more runs IMO than our present line-up.

 

Thome, Jones, Rios and Quentin would get 90-95% of the OF/DH ab's, with Kotsay as the 4th OF/1B/DH and DeAza 5th.

 

Heck, you could argue De Aza might be a better option than Pierre based on what we've seen for two weeks.

Edited April 17, 2010 by caulfield12

[ThunderBolt]

You people are crazy. Had we signed any of those guys we'd never be able to rotate the DH and find at-bats for guys like Vizquel and Kotsay. Yikes.

[caulfield12]

It's frighteningly obvious...I don't know what KW was thinking, maybe that they really wanted to move Beckham to 2B as his most natural position.

 

But you don't trade for Teahen and then sign him to an extension when he hasn't proven he can consistently put up corner infield numbers. I don't like Beckham at 3B, but having Hudson/Ramirez/Beckham (wherever they play) to me gives you more speed/athleticism and a better overall infield defense than what we have now.

 

 

ANKIEL with two bombs...but still, trailing 5-3 and not looking good since the Royals' bullpen is Soria, (Sain) and pray for Rain.

 

Farnsworth's current fastball is making Jake Peavy's look like Zumaya, amazing.

Edited April 17, 2010 by caulfield12

[ThunderBolt]

Pods with an RBI single to tie the game, then gets picked off of first. Suprise!

[caulfield12]

At least Pods can actually drive in a run, unlike Pierre.

 

And he's got six stolen bases. Well, the odds of him lasting the entire season are about 10-15%.

[ThunderBolt]

Hudson homers to put the Twins on top.

[The Gooch]

Pods with an RBI single to tie the game, then gets picked off of first. Suprise!

 

Good thing we got Pierre because he never gets picked off. Although he does spend significantly less time on the bases than Pods so far...

[jphat007]

Another day, another save for Jon Rauch. Twins are going to destroy this division.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Another day, another save for Jon Rauch. Twins are going to destroy this division.

 

How many different ways are you going to say the same f***ing thing?

[jphat007]

How many different ways are you going to say the same f***ing thing?

 

How dare that I be pissed off that the Twins created a team much better than us while we wasted our money away this offseason and last year. I can't see any reason to be upset at the fact that the Twins are significantly better than us. YOu are right, I apologize.