2012 AL Central Catch-All thread

[LittleHurt05]

Jose Bautista owns Target Field

 

And Boom Goes the Dynamite again. That's 9 homers in 37 at-bats in that awful pitchers park.

[Kyyle23]

Twins havent cracked 10 wins yet, that is nuts

[southsider2k5]

Buster Olney ‏ @Buster_ESPN

 

Justin Verlander has had 50 consecutive starts of at least six innings, longest among active pitchers and sixth-longest in the Expansion Era

[LittleHurt05]

The AL Central is the only division where every team has a negative run differential.

[Quin]

The AL Central is the only division where every team has a negative run differential.

 

BUT THE TIGERS ARE THE BEST TEAM EVER, TWINS ARE THE BEST RUN FRANCHISE IN THE HISTORY OF SPORTS, ROYALS HAVE THE GREATEST FARM EVER, AND THE INDIANS DON'T HAVE KENNY.

 

I'm done.

[southsider2k5]

The Tigers were under .500 through 51 games last year, and within 4 games of .500 after 94. I'm really not worried about Detroit. They have the three best players in the AL Central. If they are all healthy, they will get it going.

[Steve9347]

The Tigers were under .500 through 51 games last year, and within 4 games of .500 after 94. I'm really not worried about Detroit. They have the three best players in the AL Central. If they are all healthy, they will get it going.

UH JAKE PEAVY BRAH

[LittleHurt05]

Danny Duffy diagnosed with a torn UCL. He is seeking a second opinion, but Tommy John surgery appears to be in his future. That whole "This is finally the Royals year to break out" thing may have been delayed once again.

[southsider2k5]

Danny Duffy diagnosed with a torn UCL. He is seeking a second opinion, but Tommy John surgery appears to be in his future. That whole "This is finally the Royals year to break out" thing may have been delayed once again.

 

Not a surprise at all with the way he was looking at his elbow when he left the game.

[caulfield12]

Matt Capps rears his ugly head again in Minnesota.

 

Twins had rallied for 3 to tie in the bottom of the 8th and Capps gave up the tie-breaking run with 2 outs (after a wild pitch moved the runner over) to Choo.

[High Mileage]

Danny Duffy diagnosed with a torn UCL. He is seeking a second opinion, but Tommy John surgery appears to be in his future. That whole "This is finally the Royals year to break out" thing may have been delayed once again.

Losing Duffy is a huge blow, but only because the rest of the rotation is so s***ty.

 

Hopefully this means we'll finally see Aaron Crow start, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them give Luis Mendoza a few starts. We've got a trio of lefties showing promise in Triple-A; Mike Montgomery, Ryan Verdugo, and Will Smith.

 

Royals top Texas tonight, 3-1.

[iamshack]

Losing Duffy is a huge blow, but only because the rest of the rotation is so s***ty.

 

Hopefully this means we'll finally see Aaron Crow start, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them give Luis Mendoza a few starts. We've got a trio of lefties showing promise in Triple-A; Mike Montgomery, Ryan Verdugo, and Will Smith.

 

Royals top Texas tonight, 3-1.

What is the story on Odorizzi?

[LittleHurt05]

Matt Capps rears his ugly head again in Minnesota.

 

Twins had rallied for 3 to tie in the bottom of the 8th and Capps gave up the tie-breaking run with 2 outs (after a wild pitch moved the runner over) to Choo.

 

Ramos torn ACL aside, that's one of the worst trades ever. Matt Capps was always one of the worst closers in baseball, why you would want to add him to your bullpen for a top prospect is mind-blowing.

[chw42]

Ramos torn ACL aside, that's one of the worst trades ever. Matt Capps was always one of the worst closers in baseball, why you would want to add him to your bullpen for a top prospect is mind-blowing.

 

The worst trade they made was Hardy for Hoey and some other no-name bullpen guy.

 

Then you have Garza and Bartlett for Delmon Young. Then that Ramos for Capps deal.

 

[southsider2k5]

The worst trade they made was Hardy for Hoey and some other no-name bullpen guy.

 

Then you have Garza and Bartlett for Delmon Young. Then that Ramos for Capps deal.

 

The Twins really went through a stretch where playing the twins way was more important than being talented.

[LittleHurt05]

Twins just got shut out by Derek Lowe's corpse

 

Tristan H. Cockcroft ‏ @SultanofStat

Derek Lowe is the first player in more than a decade to throw a shutout without recording a strikeout. (Scott Erickson, 4/28/02.)

 

 

[caulfield12]

Twins just got shut out by Derek Lowe's corpse

 

Tristan H. Cockcroft ‏ @SultanofStat

Derek Lowe is the first player in more than a decade to throw a shutout without recording a strikeout. (Scott Erickson, 4/28/02.)

 

 

Ironic then that he did it against the team that Erickson pitched for most of his career.

[High Mileage]

Oh some s***ty Twins trades.

 

Who can forget Johan Santana to the Mets for Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey, Carlos Gomez, and Delois Guerra?

 

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/10994...-since-the-deal

[caulfield12]

Santana trade

Young for Garza/Bartlett

Hardy trade to Orioles

Ramos for Capps

 

Signing Nishioka didn't help matters much, either. And gutting 75% of the bullpen from 2010 (Rauch, Guerrier and all their lefties) and having no good internal candidates to replace them. Train wrecks at 2B/SS/3B over the last couple of seasons. Traded Delmon Young to divisional competitor. Revere and Valencia fell flat compared to the impacts they needed out of both those youngsters. They couldn't afford Nathan and had to stubbornly hold onto Capps to justify the Wilson Ramos trade.

 

Then you have the albatross contracts of Morneau, Liriano and Mauer, to name a few.

 

Letting Kubel and Cudddyer go....Terry Ryan did find a great replacement (so far) in Willingham, but they're an abysmal 10-26 and have the worst record in baseball now.

 

 

 

 

[caulfield12]

Looks like the Royals prophecies of Greg are close to coming true.

 

After tonight's victory over the Rangers (two in a row in Arlington), they'll only be one game behind the Sox in the standings.

 

They've done all this despite:

 

1) Losing 12 games in a row at one point

2) Losing 10 consecutive home games, and sporting a cumulative 4-11 home record

3) Losing Soria for the season

4) Having Eric Hosmer with just a .176 BA

5) Losing Danny Duffy for the entire season

6) Losing projected starting catcher and long-term contract extension signee Salvador Perez

7) Losing projected CFer Lorenzo Cain (Greinke trade) to a torn hip flexor

 

It would be the White Sox equivalent of losing Chris Sale, AJ, DeAza and Addison Reed.

 

 

Edited May 16, 2012 by caulfield12

[High Mileage]

This is also a team that starts Chris Getz/Yuniesky Betancourt, Brayan Pena/Humberto Quintero every day.

 

Melky Cabrera was huge for us last year, and he's still hitting in San Francisco. I was sad to see him go, especially for one year of Sanchez, who has been s***ty and is now on the DL. I've never been sold on Cain. Time will tell.

 

Alex Gordon also got off to a terrible start. Francoeur looks like pre-'11 Failcoeur so far. His time with the Royals is running out, Wil Myers be in the big leauges this year. He's been playing all three outfield positions, as well as 1st and 3rd. The Royals drafted him as a catcher. The 21 year old is crushing Double-A with a .346/.419/1.165 line, 11 doubles and 13 homers in 34 games.

 

I'm pretty happy to be 15-20 overall and 12-5 since the losing streak.

[DirtySox]

What is the story on Odorizzi?

 

 

Kansas City Royals prospect Jake Odorizzi is on a roll for Double-A Northwest Arkansas. In his last three starts for the Naturals, he has a 26/4 K/BB ratio in 20.1 innings, with a 1.77 ERA and just 11 hits allowed. How soon could we see him in KC?

 

Odorizzi was originally drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the supplemental first round in 2008, from high school in Highland, Illinois. A tremendous athlete, he was a shortstop/pitcher as a prep and was also a star as a wide receiver. He passed up the University of Louisville to sign with the Brewers, performing well in rookie ball (3.48 ERA, 19/9 K/BB in 21 innings) and again in the Pioneer League in '09 (4.40 ERA but a solid 43/9 K/BB in 47 innings) as the Brewers brought him along slowly. They bumped up his workload with good results in 2010, resulting in a 3.43 ERA with an excellent 135/40 K/BB in 121 innings in the Low-A Midwest League.

 

Odorizzi was traded to Kansas City as part of the December 2010 Zack Greinke deal. He thrived at High-A Wilmington in the first half last year, posting a 2.87 ERA with a 103/22 K/BB in 78 innings (note the exceptional K/IP ratio), but had some rough spots after moving up to Double-A, where he posted a 4.72 ERA with a 54/22 K/BB in 69 innings, giving up 13 homers.

 

Returned to the Texas League to begin 2012, he's been quite good so far, with a 3.48 ERA but a 40/9 K/BB in 31 innings overall, with just 21 hits and two homers allowed. As mentioned above, he's been extremely impressive in his last three starts, with two 11-strikeout performances.

 

Odorizzi is a 6-2, 185 pound right-handed hitter and thrower, born March 27, 1990. His overall level of athleticism is quite high, and he has an easy delivery that should help him stay healthy. He can hit 95 MPH but usually works in the 90-94 range; the fastball has very good movement, but he also throws strikes. His secondary pitches have gradually but steadily developed and he has a complete arsenal, with a curve, slider, and changeup. The curve and change are ahead of the slider. A fly ball pitcher, he showed some vulnerability to gopher balls last year but has kept that under control this season.

 

Odorizzi reminds observers of a young Greinke with his athleticism, easy delivery, and strike-throwing ability. His stuff isn't as good as Zack's and he doesn't project as the same kind of ace, but Odorizzi has a good shot at developing into a mid-rotation starter. He should reach Triple-A later this year and could be in line for a September major league trial if he continues to pitch well.

 

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/5/7/30...sas-city-royals

[High Mileage]

Ramos torn ACL aside, that's one of the worst trades ever. Matt Capps was always one of the worst closers in baseball, why you would want to add him to your bullpen for a top prospect is mind-blowing.

Capps was an All-Star that year and Mauer was having a career year.

[DirtySox]

What is the story on Odorizzi?

 

Also, the Royals organization knows very much they need pitching, particularly of the advanced variety. They coveted all of Cole, Hultzen, Bauer, and Bundy in the 2011 draft but they were selected 1 through 4 unfortunately. Not that ending up with Bubba is a bad thing, but he doesn't fit an immediate need. (Though he still has crazy upside, he's just pretty far away) Once again for the 2012 draft they really want a college or advanced prep arm that can contribute relatively soon. Fully expect them to end up with one of Appel, Gausman, Zimmer, or possibly Wacha. They need to get some pitching into the window that is starting to open as all of their position players arrive and develop. Though if they wanted, the Royals could assuredly deal Wil Myers for young, cost controlled, high upside pitching.

Edited May 16, 2012 by DirtySox

[caulfield12]

This is also a team that starts Chris Getz/Yuniesky Betancourt, Brayan Pena/Humberto Quintero every day.

 

Melky Cabrera was huge for us last year, and he's still hitting in San Francisco. I was sad to see him go, especially for one year of Sanchez, who has been s***ty and is now on the DL. I've never been sold on Cain. Time will tell.

 

Alex Gordon also got off to a terrible start. Francoeur looks like pre-'11 Failcoeur so far. His time with the Royals is running out, Wil Myers be in the big leauges this year. He's been playing all three outfield positions, as well as 1st and 3rd. The Royals drafted him as a catcher. The 21 year old is crushing Double-A with a .346/.419/1.165 line, 11 doubles and 13 homers in 34 games.

 

I'm pretty happy to be 15-20 overall and 12-5 since the losing streak.

 

 

Except they just signed Francouer to that contract extension through 2013 last summer. Doubt they'll start pondering the eating of that contract until next June/July.

 

Plus, Cain being out for the next couple of months gives them a chance to look at Dyson. The problem is that they really won't know what they have in Cain if he only ends up playing half a season, and it's done while recovering from a serious injury for an outfielder.