Friday, February 5, 2010

AL Central Preview

With the Twins signing of 2nd baseman Orlando Hudson last night to a 1 year 5 million dollar contract it appears the Twins are pretty much done for the offseason. All that still needs to be done is to finalize the Joe Mauer contract and I am very confident they will get that done before spring training. With that I think it would be fun and interesting to take a look at the AL Central and am doing an unscientific way to evaluate the division. So here is how it is going to work I will rank 1-5 for every position with 1 being the best and 5 being the worst. At the end I will add up all the numbers and the team with the fewest points is the favorite to win the 2010 AL Central. Point totals are pretty simple in that 1= 1 point, 2= 2 points, and so on. So give me some feedback on this to let me know what you think. You can either send me an email at travis_aune@yahoo.com or leave a comment in the comment box. With that lets get started.


  • Catcher
  1. Joe Mauer(MN)- .365 avg 28 hr 96 rbi's .444/.587/1.031
  2. AJ Pierzynski(CH)- .300 avg 13 hr 49 rbi's .331/.425/.756
  3. Gerald Laird(Det)- .225 avg 4 hr 33 rbi's .306/.320/.626
  4. Jason Kendall(KC)- .241 avg 2 hr 43 rbi's .331/.305/.636
  5. Lou Marson(Cle)- .246 avg 0 hr 4 rbi's .347/.361/.708
  • 1st Base
  1. Miguel Cabrera(Det)- .324 avg 34 hr 103 rbi's .396/.547/.942
  2. Justin Morneau(MN)- .274 avg 30 hr 100 rbi's .363/.516/.878
  3. Paul Konerko(CH)- .277 avg 28 hr 88 rbi's .353/.489/.842
  4. Billy Butler(KC)- .301 avg 21 hr 93 rbi's .362/.492/.853
  5. Matt Laporta(Cle)- .254 avg 7 hr 21 rbi's .308/.442/.750
  • 2nd Base
  1. Gordan Beckham(CH)- .270 avg 14 hr 63 rbi's .347/.460/.808
  2. Orlando Hudson(MN)- .283 avg 9 hr 62 rbi's .357/.417/.774
  3. Alberto Callaspo(KC)- .300 avg 11hr 73 rbi's .356/.457/.813
  4. Luis Valbuena(Cle)- .250 avg 10 hr 31 rbi's .298/.416/.714
  5. Scott Sizemore(Det)- .308 avg 8 hr 33 rbi's 10sb .378/.473/.851 in minors
  • Shortstop
  1. Asdrubal Cabrera(Cle)- .308 avg 6 hr 68 rbi's 17sb .361/.438/.799
  2. Alexei Ramirez(CH)- .277 avg 15 hr 68 rbi's 14sb .333/.389/.723
  3. J.J. Hardy(MN)- .229 avg 11 hr 47 rbi's .302/.357/.659
  4. Yuniesky Betancourt(KC)- .245 avg 6 hr 49 rbi's .274/.351/.625
  5. Adam Everett(Det)- .238 avg 3 hr 44 rbi's .288/.325/.613
  • 3rd Base
  1. Brandon Inge(Det)- .230 avg 27 hr 84 rbi's .314/.406/.720
  2. Mark Teahen(CH)- .271 avg 12 hr 50 rbi's .325/.408/.734
  3. Alex Gorden(KC)- .232 avg 6 hr 22 rbi's .324/.378/.703
  4. Jhonny Peralta(Cle)- .254 avg 11 hr 83 rbi's .316/.375/.690
  5. Nick Punto(MN)- .228 avg 1 hr 38 rbi's 16sb .337/.284/.621
  • Left Field
  1. Carlos Quentin(CH)- .236 avg 21 hr 56 rbi's .323/.456/.779
  2. Carlos Guillen(Det)- .242 avg 11 hr 41 rbi's .339/.419/.757
  3. Delmon Young(MN)- .284 avg 12 hr 60 rbi's .308/.425/.733
  4. Scott Podsednik(KC)- .304 avg 7 hr 48 rbi's 30 sb .353/.412/.764
  5. Michael Brantley(Cle)- .313 avg 0 hr 11 rbi's .313/.358/.707
  • Center Field
  1. Grady Sizemore(Cle)- .248 avg 18 hr 64 rbi's 13sb .343/.445/.788
  2. Denard Span(MN)- .311 avg 8 hr 68 rbi's 23sb .392/.415/.807
  3. Juan Pierre(CH)- .308 avg 0 hr 31 rbi's 30sb .365/.392/.757
  4. Rick Ankiel(KC)- .231 avg 11 hr 38 rbi's .285/.387/.672
  5. Austin Jackson(Det)- .300 avg 4 hr 65 rbi's 24sb .354/.405/.759 in minors
  • Right Field
  1. Michael Cuddyer(MN)- .276 avg 32 hr 94 rbi's .342/.520/.862
  2. Shin-Soo Choo(Cle)- .300 avg 20 hr 86 rbi's 21sb .394/.489/.883
  3. Alex Rios(CH)- .247 avg 17 hr 71 rbi's 24sb .296/.395/.691
  4. Magglio Ordonez(Det)- .310 avg 9 hr 50 rbi's .376/.428/.804
  5. David Dejesus(KC)- .281 avg 13 hr 71 rbi's .347/.434/.781
  • DH
  1. Jason Kubel(MN)- .300 avg 28 hr 103 rbi's .369/.539/.907
  2. Travis Hafner(Cle)- .272 avg 16 hr 49 rbi's .355/.470/.826
  3. Jose Guillen(KC)- .242 avg 9 hr 40 rbi's .314/.367/.681
  4. Clete Thomas(Det)- .240 avg 7 hr 39 rbi's .324/.385/.709
  5. Andruw Jones(Chi)- .214 avg 17 hr 43 rbi's .323/.459/.782
  • Bench
  1. Chicago White Sox
  2. Minnesota Twins
  3. Detroit Tigers
  4. Cleveland Indians
  5. Kansas City Royals
  • #1 starter
  1. Zach Grienke(KC)- 16-8 2.16 era 229.1 inn 242 k's 1.07 whip
  2. Justin Verlander(Det)- 19-9 3.45 era 240 inn 269 k's 1.18 whip
  3. Jake Peavy(Chi)- 9-6 3.45 era 101.2 inn 110 k's 1.12 whip
  4. Scott Baker(MN)- 15-9 4.37 era 200 inn 162 k's 1.19 whip
  5. Jake Westbrook(Cle)- 1-2 3.12 era 34.2 inn 19 k's 1.15 whip in 2008
  • #2 starter
  1. Mark Buehrle(Chi)- 13-10 3.84 era 213.1 inn 105 k's 1.25 whip
  2. Rick Porcello(Det)- 14-9 3.96 era 170.2 inn 89 k's 1.34 whip
  3. Carl Pavano(MN)- 14-12 5.10 era 199.1 inn 147 k's 1.37 whip
  4. Gil Meche(KC)- 6-10 5.09 era 129 inn 95 k's 1.57 whip
  5. Fausto Carmona(Cle)- 5-12 6.32 era 125.1 inn 79 k's 1.76 whip
  • #3 starter
  1. Gavin Floyd(Chi)- 11-11 4.06 era 193 inn 163 k's 1.23 whip
  2. Kevin Slowey(MN)- 10-3 4.86 era 90.2 inn 75 k's 1.41 whip
  3. Brian Bannister(KC)- 7-12 4.73 era 154 inn 98 k's 1.37 whip
  4. Armando Galarraga(Det)- 6-10 5.64 era 143.2 inn 95 k's 1.57 whip
  5. Justin Masterson(Cle)- 4-10 4.52 era 129.1 119 k's 1.45 whip
  • #4 starter
  1. John Danks(Chi)- 13-11 3.77 era 200.1 inn 149 k's 1.28 whip
  2. Nick Blackburn(MN)- 11-11 4.03 era 205.2 inn 98 k's 1.37 whip
  3. Max Scherzer(Det)- 9-11 4.12 era 170.1 inn 174 k's 1.34 whip
  4. Aaron Laffey(Cle)- 7-9 4.44 era 121.2 inn 59 k's 1.62 whip
  5. Kyle Davies(KC)- 8-9 5.27 era 123 inn 86 k's 1.53 whip
  • #5 starter
  1. Francisco Liriano(MN)- 5-13 5.80 era 136.2 inn 122 k's 1.55 whip
  2. Jeremy Bonderman(Det)- 0-1 8.71 era 10.1 inn 5 k's 2.32 whip
  3. Freddy Garcia(Chi)- 3-4 4.34 era 56 inn 37 k's 1.21 whip
  4. Luke Hochevar(KC)- 7-13 6.55 era 143 inn 106 k's 1.49 whip
  5. Jeremy Sowers(Cle)- 6-11 5.25 era 123.1 inn 51 k's 1.51 whip
  • Closer
  1. Joe Nathan(MN)- 2-2 2.10 era 47 saves 68.2 inn 89 k's 0.93 whip
  2. Joakim Soria(KC)- 3-2 2.21 era 30 saves 53 inn 69 k's 1.13 whip
  3. Jose Valverde(Det)- 4-2 2.33 era 25 saves 54 inn 56 k's 1.13 whip
  4. Bobby Jenks(CH)- 3-4 3.71 era 29 saves 53.1 inn 49 k's 1.28 whip
  5. Kerry Wood(Cle)- 3-3 4.25 era 20 saves 55 inn 63 k's 1.38 whip
  • Bullpen
  1. Minnesota
  2. Chicago
  3. Detroit
  4. Kansas City
  5. Cleveland
  • Manager
  1. Minnesota
  2. Detroit
  3. Chicago
  4. Kansas City
  5. Cleveland
  • Final Totals:
  • Minnesota 37 points
  • Chicago 41 points
  • Detroit 54 points
  • Kansas City 66 points
  • Cleveland 72 points

  • After doing this unscientific experiment based totally on my opinion things turned out how I felt they would going in. The Twins and White Sox are going to battle all year long for the division title in my opinion. The Twins have a superior offense, while the White Sox have a better starting rotation. I have Detroit a step below with all the inexperience that they will send out there on a daily basis. I have Kansas City and Cleveland battling to stay out of the cellar this year so it should be exciting. Did I mention lately it is 15 days until pitchers and catcher report to spring training. I would like to get some feedback on this experiment so let me know what you think.