Hey everyone! I took a look at what each of the 4 other teams in the AL Central were up to this off-season. Once completed, the 4 previews consisted of a lot of words. Really, too many words. Therefore, I split each one up and posted them individually at my blog, Kevin Slowey was Framed!. I thought I would just provide links to each of the 4 previews here, for any who are interested. I swear this was not a ploy to get more pageviews, it was a simple ploy to continue to be lazy even though it is just copy and pasting. I really want to go take a nap.

Anyway, here they are, in order of how I think they will finish. I'm leaving the Twins out due to sadness. Please don't be turned off by the first sentence in each preview. I don't really talk like that. K, brahs? Thx.

Detroit Tigers

Kansas City Royals

Chicago White Sox

Cleveland Indians

For as much as we like to complain about the Twins MI, the White Sox should have cut the cord on Beckam after the last two seasons, in my opinion. And they brought in Keppinger for 3b, that will be... interesting, at best. But, I like their bullpen and starting 5. Their lineup is spotty but everyone's is in this division. KC still doesn't have enough starting pitching to do anything, I think. What a waste of a really strong bullpen. I don't like anything Cleveland's done this offseason. Bauer did nothing for me, in what little I saw of him last year. Tigers are still topheavy, short an arm or two in the bullpen. The divisions up for grabs again, I think.

edit: also, with Scherzer's wild fluctuation in velocity last year, he looks like a possible TJ-type candidate

For as much as we like to complain about the Twins MI' date=' the White Sox should have cut the cord on Beckam after the last two seasons, in my opinion. And they brought in Keppinger for 3b, that will be... interesting, at best. But, I like their bullpen and starting 5. Their lineup is spotty but everyone's is in this division. KC still doesn't have enough starting pitching to do anything, I think. What a waste of a really strong bullpen. I don't like anything Cleveland's done this offseason. Bauer did nothing for me, in what little I saw of him last year. Tigers are still topheavy, short an arm or two in the bullpen. The divisions up for grabs again, I think.

 

edit: also, with Scherzer's wild fluctuation in velocity last year, he looks like a possible TJ-type candidate[/quote']

 

I like Bauer a lot. I think he could develop into something special, but yes, last year he was unimpressive. I think KC's rotation is better, but I'm not sure it is good enough.

 

The Central should be interesting.

Bauer reminded me of Oswalt a little bit. Not as fast, but just as flat

edit: Ok looking at his velo charts he might be as fast. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong about him.

Bauer reminded me of Oswalt a little bit. Not as fast' date=' but just as flat

 

edit: Ok looking at his velo charts he might be as fast. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong about him.[/quote']

 

His fastball is definitely flat, but that is likely due to his height. He has a lot of pitches, and if he can be efficient with his repertoire, he could be excellent. If he nibbles and pitches like Kevin Slowey, he'll be a disappointment. His fastball will look better if he can change speeds and command those off-speed pitches consistently.

I like Bauer a lot. I think he could develop into something special' date=' but yes, last year he was unimpressive. I think KC's rotation is better, but I'm not sure it is good enough.

 

The Central should be interesting.[/quote']

 

No offense, but the Central is open and shut the Tiger's to lose this year. Between a lineup that has Jackson, Cabrera, Fielder and VMart, and a rotation with Verlander, Sanchez, Scherzer and Fister, they have almost as much top-end talent as the rest of the division combined. The only thing that will keep Detroit from winning the Central is injuries.

 

That being said, the Tigers better win soon, because they're about to enter 9 kinds of payroll hell. Verlander only has two years left, at which point he'll want 30m per year, Cabrera only has three years left, and then he'll want 30m per year. The Tigers will have to either let one of those two walk (at least), or in 2016 they'll have 100m tied up in 4 players (Fielder, Sanchez, Verlander, and Cabrera), and that's right around the time Jackson and Scherzer will exhaust their arbitration eligibility. Unless Detroit can re-tool their farm system quick, they will go downhill in a hurry, with no money for free agents, and no prospects to fill holes/trade for needs.

No offense' date=' but the Central is open and shut the Tiger's to lose this year. Between a lineup that has Jackson, Cabrera, Fielder and VMart, and a rotation with Verlander, Sanchez, Scherzer and Fister, they have almost as much top-end talent as the rest of the division combined. The only thing that will keep Detroit from winning the Central is injuries.

 

That being said, the Tigers better win soon, because they're about to enter 9 kinds of payroll hell. Verlander only has two years left, at which point he'll want 30m per year, Cabrera only has three years left, and then he'll want 30m per year. The Tigers will have to either let one of those two walk (at least), or in 2016 they'll have 100m tied up in 4 players (Fielder, Sanchez, Verlander, and Cabrera), and that's right around the time Jackson and Scherzer will exhaust their arbitration eligibility. Unless Detroit can re-tool their farm system quick, they will go downhill in a hurry, with no money for free agents, and no prospects to fill holes/trade for needs.[/quote']

 

I can't disagree with your assessment of 2013, but I felt the same way last year and the Tigers just didn't dominate as I thought they would. Their lineup does look pretty monstrous. I just have an odd feeling about Kansas City. Anyway, that will almost certainly prove to be wrong.

 

Detroit's long-term outlook is really frightening. I don't think they can re-tool their system, unless they get really lucky in the draft. The caps that exist now really limit the ability to spend more money than other teams. Detroit needs to win now, but I don't see them as a World Series team in 2013. I hate their defense, and that has to bite them at some point.