the time is getting near. the posts are becoming much more frequent. what i see as significant. the reason i had to post on this tuesday night, 03/11/08.we lost today, 4-2 to the tigers in 10 innings. the only two runs came via two grady sizemore solo shots. one could be concerned about the offense. it has been a trend. then again, boston and the mets had a 1-1 tie after 10 innings yesterday. i think it is safe to assume both of those offenses have nothing to worry about either.the big news was that someone finally stepped up in the three way 'battle' for the 5th spot in the rotation! i was glad to see the stepper upper was cliff lee. as bad as his season was last year, the game he pitched against anaheim in cali was a reminder of what he was capable of. a gem in an otherwise field of poo that was last year for cliff. the same pitcher who won 46 games in '04, '05, and '06. i like laffey and sowers both. the one thing they share in common (other than their struggles this spring), success as a rookie after a mid season call up. but those 3 years of success mandate cliff's place in the rotation. having him return to his career best form of '05 when he posted 18 W's and a 3.79 ERA while in the 5th spot in the rotation would be a wondrous thing :)pronk has been turning it up at the plate. that is wonderful to see.andy marte is not. plus he made some errors in today's game. i really fear a brandon phillips scenario. we trade him for peanuts, then he blows up for his new team. but what can we do? i would not trade casey blake and hand marte a job just to keep him. that is what happens with a team with alot of talent throughout the roster and throughout the levels. it is a nice situation to be in.i like what i see and read about josh barfield. all that time he put in with derek shelton this winter. his .360 batting average is very encouraging. on the other hand, i think the white sox are doing what they will all year. loose, and loose badly.
spring training has begun! so far, it has not been really good. the offense has struggled. we almost got no hit by the braves! a two out ninth inning single off the wall not only broke up the no no, but simultaneously averted the shut out. but i am not really worried about the offense. i have a feeling DD will earn his contract this year, and make up for some of last year. pronk will be more like his 'old' self. jhonny will be about the same. maybe better, maybe worse. victor is the proverbial 'steady eddy' at the plate. grady has someone in the great lakes vicinity to push him towards further greatness. i can see him maintaining his new found penchant for walks, maintain his huge improvement against lefties, and reestablishing his dominance against righties. casey may drop his numbers some. but he does do surprises. he does not though hit in the clutch with any consistency. i do fear both franklyn and AC faltering. i hope i am wrong. i have a feeling garko will hit; a ton. .330/.340 range. with clutch hits a-plenty. he is due to have that kind of year. the kind where he emerges as an elite first baseman. a .330, 30, 100 guy.
the pitching is what scares me. the pitching is the reason many predict that we will win the AL central. question marks abound. both for the starters and for the relievers. IT IS GOING TO BE A TOUGH YEAR. for the whole central division. it is without a doubt the toughest division in all of baseball. even after the departure of the best pitcher in baseball. to compare by position:
starting pitching
lost: johan, jon garland, carlos silva, matt garza, andrew miller, billy buckner
gained: dontrelle willis, livan hernandez, unproven prospects?
we did loose a 'few good' starting pitchers. i sincerely hope that dontrelle does not have a year that helps soften the blow for the 'gaineds'.
relief pitchers
lost: david riske
gained: koyabashi, octavio dotel, scott linebrink, ron mahay we definitely gained more quality than we lost.
outfielders
lost: torri hunter
gained: delmon young, jose guillen although delmon has great promise, torri is one of the better CF'ers in baseball. i guess the competition was too tough for him. he had to bolt to leave the massive shadows left by grady and grandy. slim advantage to the 'lost' column.
infielders
lost: jason bartlett
gained: miguel cabrera, mike lamb, orlando cabrera, nick swisher, brandon harris, alberto callapso, migeul olivo an overwhelming win for the 'gained' crowd.
the division is tough. that is the point. it seems like the type of year where everything must go right to rise atop of a tough crowd. every team has question marks though. i do think an ALC team will go far in the playoffs, once again this year. i just hope that once again, it is us.
