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2011 AL Central Catch-All Thread


Balta1701

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QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 21, 2011 -> 08:39 PM)
Doug Fister is not a good pitcher. Brad Penny isn't either. I don't think they'd stand a chance in hell getting past Boston.

 

I didn't know Boston and the Yankees had solid rotations either? It should be all about the offense in the AL postseason, as there's some fantastic offensive talent in the Yanks/Red Sox/Rangers/Tigers

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QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Aug 21, 2011 -> 04:00 PM)
Me thinks the Rockies knew something about Ubaldo.

With the fact that he hasn't been the same this year in general and the fact that his velocity was down, it seems like everyone has suspected whatever the Rockies "knew".

 

That said, if he's not actually hurt, then the guy with the 98 mph fastball that broke like a slider is still in there somewhere.

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 21, 2011 -> 03:05 PM)
With the fact that he hasn't been the same this year in general and the fact that his velocity was down, it seems like everyone has suspected whatever the Rockies "knew".

 

That said, if he's not actually hurt, then the guy with the 98 mph fastball that broke like a slider is still in there somewhere.

 

The velocity dip is obvious. You just get this, "Hey, there's something wrong with this guy. We need to get him the f*** out of here!" kinda vibe.

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QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 21, 2011 -> 02:44 PM)
I didn't know Boston and the Yankees had solid rotations either? It should be all about the offense in the AL postseason, as there's some fantastic offensive talent in the Yanks/Red Sox/Rangers/Tigers

 

The Tigers team ERA is 4.17, which usually isn't all that bad, except this year, when offense is down all over the game, and it's tied for 7th worst in the majors. The Yankees are at 3.59 and the Red Sox at 3.91. Both of those teams are also better offensively than Detroit is.

 

Detroit has the best pitcher on the planet right now, and they have a fantastic hitter in Cabrera. Just having those two alone will give them a chance in any series. But Boston has Beckett (who has been absurdly good this year) and New York has Sabathia, and both teams have more than enough on offense to cover the difference between them and Detroit. And quite frankly, Detroit still has to win the division too.

 

The playoffs do appear to be shaping up to be incredible though. As boring as this season has been - at least for me - there are some incredibly intriguing postseason matchups on the horizon.

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QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Aug 21, 2011 -> 02:23 PM)
The velocity dip is obvious. You just get this, "Hey, there's something wrong with this guy. We need to get him the f*** out of here!" kinda vibe.

Especially when you then consider that the Rockies were refusing to share their medical records for Ubaldo with the Indians.

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QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Aug 21, 2011 -> 03:00 PM)
Me thinks the Rockies knew something about Ubaldo.

 

Hes not a great pitcher.. dude has one great year surrounded by decent/solid years and hes like some huge frontline starter.. hes not

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It's amazing that the Rockies got 4 prospects, including 2 very good prospects, for Jimenez when his career has really been defined by that 14 game stretch to start last season.

 

In his first 14 starts, he went 13-1 with an ERA of 1.15, and he threw 101.1 innings over that span. That's the equivalent of 7.1 IP a start. The only game he lost, he gave up 2 runs - 1 of them unearned - and the Rockies were shutout by the Dodgers. In his next 19 starts, he went 6-7 with an ERA of 4.34 over 120 IP. He was averaging a full inning less per start over that stretch.

 

Throughout the entirety of his career, he's been a pitcher with exceptional talent and, aside from that 14 game stretch, the output of a guy you'd prefer to be your 2nd best starting pitcher.

 

I think this could very well be Exhibit A as to why you don't go for it all unless you are either certain of a playoff spot or are very close to getting there. Pomeranz and White could very well be Exhibits B and C as to why you don't as well.

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Heck, if you could take Gavin Floyd's best streaks from 2008-2011, and stick one of them at the start of 2012...he might have the same acclaim as Jimenez.

 

But Gavin's already been there, done that because of his age and busted status position...and not quite having the "big" fastball in the mid to upper 90's.

 

 

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QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 05:14 AM)
It's amazing that the Rockies got 4 prospects, including 2 very good prospects, for Jimenez when his career has really been defined by that 14 game stretch to start last season.

 

In his first 14 starts, he went 13-1 with an ERA of 1.15, and he threw 101.1 innings over that span. That's the equivalent of 7.1 IP a start. The only game he lost, he gave up 2 runs - 1 of them unearned - and the Rockies were shutout by the Dodgers. In his next 19 starts, he went 6-7 with an ERA of 4.34 over 120 IP. He was averaging a full inning less per start over that stretch.

 

Throughout the entirety of his career, he's been a pitcher with exceptional talent and, aside from that 14 game stretch, the output of a guy you'd prefer to be your 2nd best starting pitcher.

 

I think this could very well be Exhibit A as to why you don't go for it all unless you are either certain of a playoff spot or are very close to getting there. Pomeranz and White could very well be Exhibits B and C as to why you don't as well.

 

 

Yeah, but Ubaldo is signed for at least two more years to a very team-friendly contract. So it's not like they went "all in" for a guy who will become a FA this year. That being said, I can't argue with any of the other evidence that maybe that 14 game stretch overrated him.

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QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 08:18 PM)
How is Verlander not the sure-fire Cy Young? At this point, he deserves MVP votes.

 

I was just coming to this thread to basically post the same thing.

 

I'm not big on pitchers winning the MVP, but I would vote for him in this particular year. He's carried that team, and they're going to the playoffs.

Edited by flavum
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QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 08:18 PM)
How is Verlander not the sure-fire Cy Young? At this point, he deserves MVP votes.

 

I was at SOSH and a lot of the fans there are hoping Cleveland or the Sox win the division simply because they don't want to see Verlander. They better stop hoping and get on their knees and pray.

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QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 08:52 PM)
I was at SOSH and a lot of the fans there are hoping Cleveland or the Sox win the division simply because they don't want to see Verlander. They better stop hoping and get on their knees and pray.

 

It's almost an incentive to lose the division. That's a major flaw in the playoff system. They really need to make that first round best-of-7. But the first step is to shorten the season by a week...especially if they add another playoff team.

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www.ranyonroyals.com (Why the Frenchy deal for Royals makes less sense since Cain is blocked now and Cabrera shouldn't be in CF)

 

 

Cain and Francoeur both bat right-handed, while Cabrera is a switch-hitter. If the Royals commit to Cain in center field and trade Cabrera, the Royals will have six right-handed bats in the lineup almost every day next year, with little hope that the ratio will balance out in the near future. (Incidentally, this is one of the main reasons why I think the Royals would be foolish to let go of switch-hitting Brayan Pena as their backup catcher.)

 

 

Francoeur is the only one of the three who could neither play good defense in center field nor bat from the left side. The obvious solution for the Royals was to promote Cain, move Cabrera to right field (or possibly to left field, with Gordon switching corners), and to wave Francoeur good-bye. That would have upgraded their outfield defense while maintaining the platoon advantage in at least four spots in the lineup.

 

 

By re-signing Francoeur, the Royals put themselves in a difficult decision. Maybe they are able to trade Cain for a starting pitcher, in which case they’re stuck with a bad defender in a crucial up-the-middle position. Maybe they can turn Cabrera into prospects, in which case they’re going to be eaten alive by tough right-handed pitching. But the Royals have created a situation where, no matter which way they go, they’ve left the 2012 team with a significant tactical weakness.

 

 

Maybe the Royals get really creative here, and trade both Cain and Cabrera in order to open a spot for Jarrod Dyson (which honestly isn’t as crazy as it sounds). Or maybe they trade Butler and DH Cabrera (which is as crazy as it sounds, as I don’t think the Royals can get fair value for Butler). But as it stands now, bringing back Francoeur is the first domino in a chain reaction that, whichever way it goes, doesn’t end well for the Royals.

 

 

I hope I’m wrong. I hope that, between now and Opening Day, the Royals come up with an outfield arrangement which maximizes their chances of winning in 2012. The problem is that they already had such an arrangement at their fingertips, and let it go rather than relinquish their precious Francoeur. Re-signing Frenchy certainly isn’t a crippling move along the lines of the Jose Guillen contract; it doesn’t clearly make the Royals worse like the Mike Jacobs trade did. But the Royals spent a fair amount of money on a player who doesn’t have a long track record of success, and who the Royals didn’t really need in the first place.

 

 

There were better ways to spend that money. Love may be blind, but it ain’t cheap. If Dayton Moore’s love is requited, this contract won’t hurt the Royals. Unfortunately, “not hurting the Royals” is about the best we can hope for.

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