|
Been waiting for this thread...happy to see it when I scrolled down this morning!
I had us at 90-72, but for the sake of being different than duncan I'll go with 89-73.
Division will be much tougher this year.
I think everyone (lots of national guys) are somewhat prematurely jumping the Indians into favorites this year. I like their lineup, especially with Gomes emerging as a premier catcher and the addition of a "healthy" Moss. Still think the pitching is not as amazing as the credit it's getting. You would THINK Kluber would have some slight regression from last year. I actually really like Carrasco as well and believe he's finally figured it out. But after that, it's more question marks for me. I do like the back-end of the bullpen with Shaw and Allen. The Indians are who I predict we will be battling for the top of the division with.
I think the Sox are scary and exciting. Shark is overrated in my opinion, but in the same breath I'd say Quintana is way underrated. And Sale. God I freaking hate him. Let's hope Rodon stays in the minors awhile or pitches in the pen if called up...his slider is virtually unhittable when he's throwing it right. I like their offense too. The Melk-Man should be a good 1-2 punch with Eaton in front of him. Abreu and adding LaRoche make this a pretty decent lineup as well. They could come out and make a giant leap and take the division, but that would be a huge step. I see them finishing with around 84-85 wins.
Detroit bores me. Yeah they have Cabrera. And V-Mart. But the rest of the offense doesn't do it for me. Kinsler played out of his mind last year and is aging. No way JD Martinez duplicates his previous year either. And the bullpen/defense is still going to be below average. Throw in losing Scherzer, Porcello and Smyly and their pitching doesn't scare me at all.
The Twins will be the Twins. Should have some fun young guys that might get called up mid-late season, but they will be the doormat regardless.
If I had to guess, there's gonna be 4 teams in this division that finish over .500. Which means that all 4 are gonna be within about 5-7 games of first place down the wire. Should be a fun season...can't wait for Monday!!
|