Just pluggin' along here on a Saturday afternoon, and what's this?
The poll on ESPN's homepage is Tribe related?
Which team will win the AL Central in 2008?
Tigers = 73%
Indians = 17%
Twins = 5%
White Sox = 3%
And in case you care, even in our own state, we hold a slim 55% to 43% lead over Detroit.
Here is the link, in case you wish to vote for Detroit, as judging by the poll on this page, you do.
**results as of 2:01 P.M. on 12/22
I wonder if Detroit hadn't made its monster trade.....or if Cleveland actually signed Haren or Bedard....
My guess...MUCH CLOSER!
Gooooooooooooooooooooo Tribe!
Cheers!
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5 comments:
since when does the collective opinion of espn.com readers have any bearing on reality?
how many people expected the tribe to win the central this year?
the casual fan is still enthralled by the cabrera/willis to detroit move. they don't realize that the indians will probably PECOTA out at 96+ wins next season, and could likely win more, especially if sizemore and hafner get their power numbers back on track. they don't realize that guys like granderson, polanco, and ordonez are not going to repeat their 2007 campaigns, and that the tigers' age will catch up with them at some point. they don't realize that willis is essentially a #4 or #5 pitcher in the american league, or that cabrera will experience some drop-off coming to the AL central (although i still expect him to put up monstrous numbers).
we play the games for a reason, people. . . detroit=paper champions right now, and that's just a maybe.
Jack,
I certainly agree wholeheartedly that the games must be played. By no means should a poll such as this matter much in the grand scheme of things.
Heck, even Paul Hoynse picked us to finish 4th in our own division last season.
All that said, while I love your optimistic outlook, it seems you sure are hoping/expecting a lot to fall our way.
I'd love for Haf to come around, but aside from a couple flashes last year, he never really put together a string of good games for any significant period of time.
Grady, I would love to see his power turned into more 2Bs and 3Bs, and way less Ks.
Many are sold on Cabrera at 2B and Gut in RF, but the fact remains that they are still unproven and could quickly go south.
The black hole in LF remains.
Our 3,4,5 are nothing to right home about. Mediocre and overrated in my opinion.
C.C. contract is still not resolved.
Even if Granderson, Mags, and P.P., don't repeat, there is a ton of talent up and down the lineup to pick up the slack if necc.
Willis had one bad year. One. I hope it is a sign of digression, but he is their #4.
The Tigers aren't getting any younger, this much is true, but they are not ancient yet.
Overall, I'm depressing myself just responding to this. I wonder if I'm being too hard on the Tribe or being realistic.
It is probably a result of the quiet off season for us and noisy ones for our competitors.
I'm not jumping off the ship by any means and certainly hope all of your optimism to come true.
But to the Post at hand, my point is simply, what would the results be immediately following the season...or even if we had made some significant moves...?
Much Different I think.
Thanks again for the comments.
Cheers!
regression. lmao.
not trying to be a dick here, but willis had one GOOD year in 2003, and one decent year in 2005 when he got his K/BB ratio up a little bit. the rest of his career has shown a horrid downward trend, marked by increasing walk rates and a steadily decreasing K/9 rate. look here: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=5470 . he's a good back-end of the rotation guy, but what detroit really needs is a good frontline starter to go along with verlander.
my point is that every team has question marks at positions. there's not a single team in this league that is 100% sure its young talent will pan out, its pitching staff will stay consistent, or that guys won't get hurt. this is not a unique phenomenon.
Jack,
I took a look at Dontrelle and you make some excellent points. Lets hope that his downward trend continues. I would agree that he is not a front end type, but again, I would take him as a 4 or 5 any day. And quite frankly, Detroit already had solid pitching. It is that lineup that scares me.
While Detroit had done some good things this offseason, it is the holes that I see in our lineup that scare me more. Anything happens to C.C. or Fausto, and this team is average in a heartbeat. I'd prefer to patch up LF, 3B, and/or a solid starter to offset this vulnerability to losing one of our aces.
Overall, I've got a lot of time to cheer up between now and April, so bear with me.
Thanks again for the comments. Keep em comin'. You have a lot of insight to add to the blog.
Cheers!
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