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2011 AL Central Catch-All Thread


Balta1701

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QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 15, 2011 -> 10:14 PM)
Zumaya is constantly a ticking time bomb. The Tigers should be thankful for anything they get from him this year. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if he didn't throw a meaningful pitch.

That whole story on him hurting his shoulder from a box falling on it while moving just reeked of cover up.

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QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Mar 22, 2011 -> 10:28 AM)
The Twins are having a pretty fantastic Spring statistically. With the exception of Liriano their starters are lights out so far.

 

What's their planned rotation look like?

 

I've found this today:

 

jonmorosi Jon Morosi

#Twins have made Kevin Slowey available. #Brewers and #Mariners need a starter. But trades aren't easy: http://bit.ly/f2HO3l @Ken_Rosenthal

 

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QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Mar 23, 2011 -> 02:40 PM)
What's their planned rotation look like?

 

I've found this today:

 

jonmorosi Jon Morosi

#Twins have made Kevin Slowey available. #Brewers and #Mariners need a starter. But trades aren't easy: http://bit.ly/f2HO3l @Ken_Rosenthal

 

I assume it has to be Pavano, Liriano, Baker, Duensing, Blackburn with Slowey to the pen.

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QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Mar 23, 2011 -> 12:40 PM)
What's their planned rotation look like?

 

I've found this today:

 

jonmorosi Jon Morosi

#Twins have made Kevin Slowey available. #Brewers and #Mariners need a starter. But trades aren't easy: http://bit.ly/f2HO3l @Ken_Rosenthal

Slowey's having a great spring, too. Nathan...seems like the usual recovery from that injury. I imagine Capps will be closing before long.

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if you are wondering, it looks like the Twins bullpen will be Nathan, Capps, Slowey, Mijares, former Royals bullpenner Dusty Hughes, Glen Perkins, and Jeff Manship/Jim Hoey (got him from the Orioles in the JJ Hardy trade). Perkins, Hughes, and Mijares are lefties. Hoey throws 95 but has no control. Manship is more of a long reliever and Slowey I think will be kind of a set up guy (at least that how he has been being used as during spring training, but its ST who knows what the plan is)

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I think the Twins finally just die this year.

 

Also, f*** Morneau. I don't care if he's concussed, I hate that guy more than any player in the MLB. I wish he could play 100% just so they could wipe any smirks that f*** has off his face.

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QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 12:38 PM)
Indians OD Lineup:

 

Brantley LF

Cabrera, A SS

Choo RF

Santana C

Hafner DH

Cabrera, O 2B

LaPorta 1B

Kearns LF

Hannahan 3B

 

Sox will face Carmona, Carrasco, and Masterson.

 

I will never understand how you can bat Matt LaPorta and freaking OC ahead of Austin Kearns. It just seems so...illogical.

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QUOTE (Benchwarmerjim @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 10:39 PM)
Nathan said the other day that his slider isnt quite back yet, so I think tonight he was trying to tune that up

How are you feeling about your team this year? Just curios to get your take. Lots of question marks, like most every team I suppose.

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I think the Twins will be ok...but it will be a battle in the AL Central as always. I mean, it wouldnt shock me if the Twins Sox or Tigers win it.

 

I think the lineup will be fine. The one player I look forward to is Nishioka. He has had a good spring, and adds speed to the lineup. Maybe the combo of Span and Nishi will finally be the combo that breaks through and gets on base constantly for Mauer and Morneau. Rotating DH of Thome/Kubel/Mauer/Morneau seems to be in the works

 

The starting pitchers dont worry me. The Twins seem to have some depth there, with Slowey in the bullpen and Kyle Gibson in AAA Rochester. The bullpen is a huge worry. Nathan bouncing back from injury means that he wont pitch back to back days right away. A lot of the pen has been overhauled, with no Guerrier and Crain...its going to be weird for a while. But, the Twins have done this before and its worked out.

 

Bottom line: I am more confident in this team than in years past. But, with the additions the Sox have made (mainly, Adam freaking Dunn who is going to kill Twins pitching), I cant fully say the Twins will win the division.

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QUOTE (Benchwarmerjim @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 11:19 PM)
I think the Twins will be ok...but it will be a battle in the AL Central as always. I mean, it wouldnt shock me if the Twins Sox or Tigers win it.

 

I think the lineup will be fine. The one player I look forward to is Nishioka. He has had a good spring, and adds speed to the lineup. Maybe the combo of Span and Nishi will finally be the combo that breaks through and gets on base constantly for Mauer and Morneau. Rotating DH of Thome/Kubel/Mauer/Morneau seems to be in the works

 

The starting pitchers dont worry me. The Twins seem to have some depth there, with Slowey in the bullpen and Kyle Gibson in AAA Rochester. The bullpen is a huge worry. Nathan bouncing back from injury means that he wont pitch back to back days right away. A lot of the pen has been overhauled, with no Guerrier and Crain...its going to be weird for a while. But, the Twins have done this before and its worked out.

 

Bottom line: I am more confident in this team than in years past. But, with the additions the Sox have made (mainly, Adam freaking Dunn who is going to kill Twins pitching), I cant fully say the Twins will win the division.

Thank you, sir. That's exactly what I was looking for.

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QUOTE (Benchwarmerjim @ Mar 29, 2011 -> 11:19 PM)
I think the Twins will be ok...but it will be a battle in the AL Central as always. I mean, it wouldnt shock me if the Twins Sox or Tigers win it.

 

I think the lineup will be fine. The one player I look forward to is Nishioka. He has had a good spring, and adds speed to the lineup. Maybe the combo of Span and Nishi will finally be the combo that breaks through and gets on base constantly for Mauer and Morneau. Rotating DH of Thome/Kubel/Mauer/Morneau seems to be in the works

 

The starting pitchers dont worry me. The Twins seem to have some depth there, with Slowey in the bullpen and Kyle Gibson in AAA Rochester. The bullpen is a huge worry. Nathan bouncing back from injury means that he wont pitch back to back days right away. A lot of the pen has been overhauled, with no Guerrier and Crain...its going to be weird for a while. But, the Twins have done this before and its worked out.

 

Bottom line: I am more confident in this team than in years past. But, with the additions the Sox have made (mainly, Adam freaking Dunn who is going to kill Twins pitching), I cant fully say the Twins will win the division.

 

Peeking in, I think the biggest two issues with the Twins will be getting the ball to Nathan/Capps and the middle infield. You seem pretty confident in Nishioka, and I assume like most Japanese players he is a non-flashy, good fundamental player (like most Twins players anyways). I assume Alexi Casilla has to concern you a bit. He's been weird in the past, with like one or two good runs of play and otherwise very mediocre. Perhaps he'll be better with very few expectations put upon him. And that bullpen is going to struggle initially, though there's still enough talent in there to make it work. Gardenhire, though he tends to micromanage at times, is the best bullpen manager in the entire game, so if there is anyone that can find some success with that group, it's him. It will be a lot of mixing and matching early in the year getting to the back end of it, so that is going to be the biggest struggle by far.

 

This is also the second time you've mentioned that you think Dunn is going to be an absolute Twins killer, and I do agree. Dunn has never had a weakness towards any pitch and isn't afraid to swing the bat (but has no problem holding back). The Twins mantra over the past decade has been all about location and not nearly as much about stuff, though Liriano can obviously bring it. That type of pitcher just seems to be the exact type of pitcher that Dunn will crush.

 

Lo and behold, that's exactly right. Dunn's power vs finesse splits

 

Power - .217/.362/.458/.820

Avg P/F - .245/.381/.505/.887

Finesse - .280/.394/.583/.977

 

For comparison's sake, here are Konerko's

 

Power - .263/.354/.480/.834

Avg - .262/.342/.465/.807

Finesse - .299/.364/.527/.891

 

Power is defined as top third in BB + K, finesse as bottom third of BB + K. I'm assuming that, generally, because the Twins focus on location and getting hitters to get themselves out, that most "Twins pitchers" are considered finesse pitchers, aside from Liriano. Those would be the exact type of pitchers that Dunn has almost put up a 1.000 OPS against in his career.

 

As I alluded to in another thread, I think the Twins are a more talented team than the White Sox. I also said that I think a hell of a lot more can go wrong with the Twins than can with the White Sox, namely both middle infielders, Morneau's head, Mauer's knee, Thome's back, Valencia and Young's bats, the back end of the rotation, Pavano in general, the middle bullpen, and the back end of the bullpen. I could honestly see the Twins anywhere between below .500 to 95 wins. It's really tough to get a handle on them.

 

 

Oh, and I don't think the Tigers have a chance in hell at winning the division. They seem to be a 78-86 win team, nothing more, nothing less.

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