Wow no posts in over a week!?!? I guess it must be because I am hitting the spring training wall. Not so for the White Sox though, they've played much, much better this week than they did in the first part of the month, and bless their souls, even beat the Cubs again to move their record against the most optimistic team coming off a 95+ loss season in major league history to 2-0 this spring.
Meanwhile, the most significant development this week has been that it looks like John Danks will open the season as the much-discussed fifth horseman in the Sox rotation.
Gavin Floyd is making the Freddy Garcia trade look like a potential disaster, but the Brandon McCarthy deal really is looking like a stroke of genius right now. Danks is a big 21 year old left hander who, if things break right, could be the Sox' ace as early as 2009. The other pitcher in the trade, Nick Masset, is expected to be a big contributor in the bullpen this season, and probably will be a rotation member by 2008.
So now that we are up to speed, at let's continue our survey of ourselves, and our competition by looking at what probably will be the starting outfielders for each of the AL Central teams when we open up in a couple of weeks.
SOX
LF- SCOTT PODSEDNIK .262 AVG/3 HR/45 RBI/40 SB/.685 OPS
CF- DARRIN ERSTAD .221 AVG/0 HR/5 RBI/1 SB/ .607 OPS
RF- JERMAINE DYE .315 AVG/44 HR/120 RBI/7 SB/ 1.007 OPS
Jermaine Dye just had a frigging insane season last year, and unless he is making a late-career charge towards Cooperstown, there is no way he is putting up numbers like that again this year. Yes, stranger things have happened, but when I look at Jermaine I do not see a giant, wobbling head on top of his shoulders, so I don't think he's been chasing sweet lady HGH, which means he may come back to Earth this year.
The other two outfield positions are a disaster area. Darrin Erstad has had a nice spring, but if you're counting on him to be the #1 center fielder (which, judging from the never ending stream of Aaron Rowand rumors, the Sox aren't), that's a problem. Podsednik is in danger of losing his starting job as well if he doesn't produce immediately, as the Sox have a long list of outfield prospects (Josh Fields, Jerry Owens, Ryan Sweeney, and the apparently resurrected Luis Terrerro) itching to take his spot.
TWINS
LF- RONDELL WHITE .246 AVG/7 HR/38 RBI/1 SB/ .641 OPS
CF- TORII HUNTER .278 AVG/31 HR/98 RBI/12 SB/.839 OPS
RF- MICHAEL CUDDYER .284 AVG/24 HR/109 RBI/6 SB/ .866 OPS
White is a horrible person to have in your starting outfield at this point in his career , but Hunter and Cuddyer more than make up for that. The 28 year old Cuddyer had by far the best season of his career last year, and if it wasn't a fluke, then the Twins have themselves a good right fielder. Hunter (along with Johan Santana) has been the bane of the White Sox' fan's existence during this decade. The good news for us is that he's playing out his option this year, and is as good as gone after this season, maybe even, dare I say, gone to the South Side of Chicago (he's a Chicago native after all)??
TIGERS
LF CRAIG MONROE .255 AVG/28 HR/92 RBI/2 SB/.783 OPS
CF CURTIS GRANDERSON .260 AVG/19 HR/68 RBI/8 SB/.773 OPS
RF MAGGLIO ORDONEZ .298 AVG/24 HR/104 RBI/1 SB/.827 OPS
None of these guys are far above league average for their positions, but they are all solid. Monroe is probably the most dependable offensive producer of the 3, having stepped up his RBI totals from the 70s to the 80s to the 90s in the last 3 seasons. Granderson is a defensive whiz who has overtaken Torii Hunter as the best defensive centerfielder in the division, and Magglio had a nice bounceback year in 06 after combining for 17 home runs total in injury plagued 04 and 05 seasons. Marcus Thames is the 4th outfielder and he can mash, don't forget about him either.
INDIANS
LF DAVID DELLUCCI .292 AVG/13 HR/39 RBI/1 SB/.899 OPS
CF GRADY SIZEMORE .290 AVG/28 HR/76 RBI/22 SB/.908 OPS
RF TROT NIXON .268 AVG/8 HR/52 RBI/0 SB/.642 OPS
I'm really not understanding all the Cleveland love I've been hearing about this spring. I guess all you have to do is horribly underachieve one year to make yourselves the sexy pick to go the World Series the next. I'll tell you this, with their bullpen and suspect rotation, they'll need to be solid at every single position on the field to contend, and I'm not sure David Dellucci and Trot Nixon fit that definition.
ROYALS
LF MARK TEAHEN .290 AVG/18 HR/69 RBI/10 SB/.874 OPS
CF DAVID DEJESUS .295 AVG/8 HR/56 RBI/6 SB/.810 OPS
RF EMIL BROWN .287 AVG/15 HR/81 RBI/6 SB/.815 OPS
Pretty damn solid if you ask me. The Royals have a nice little group of position players, and it's really too bad for them that their pitching rotation is so eternally atrocious, otherwise they'd probably be the best team in the National League, if they played in the National League, which they don't.
RANKINGS
1. TIGERS (MONROE, GRANDERSON, ORDONEZ)
2. TWINS (WHITE, HUNTER, CUDDYER)
3. ROYALS (TEAHEN, DEJESUS, BROWN)
4. INDIANS (DELLUCCI, SIZEMORE, NIXON)
5. SOX (PODSEDNIK, ERSTAD, DYE)
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