Wednesday, December 5, 2007

So begins the AL Central arms race

The Detroit Tigers just acquired innings-eater Dontrelle Willis and the second best right-handed hitter in the National League, Miguel Cabrera, giving them this awe-inspiring lineup for 2008:

Curtis Granderson, .302/.361/.552 (2007)
Placido Polanco, .341/.388/.458
Magglio Ordonez, .363/.434/.595
Miguel Cabrera, .320/.401/.565
Gary Sheffield, .265/.378/.462
Carlos Guillen, .296/.357/.502
Edgar Renteria, .332/.390/.470
Ivan Rodriguez, .281/.294/.420
Jacque Jones, .285/.335/.400

Basically, they dropped their three worst sluggers from last year's starting lineup -- Sean Casey (.393), Brandon Inge (.376) and Craig Monroe (.373) (Pudge was the next lowest, at .420) -- and replaced them with guys who slugged .565, .470 (in the seven hole) and .400 (batting ninth). Is this sort of upgrade allowed? More relevantly, how will the Indians respond? How will the Twins respond? How will the Royals respond?

The forecast from Royals Review is exceedingly dour and could go unsaid, though that doesn't diminish its truth: the AL Central is going to make it hard on the Royals for many years to come.

No comments:

Post a Comment