I suppose this is where I should tell you that it’s still too early to treat these as gospel and we still have position battles and rosters to finalize, as well as playing time allocation and injuries to deal with, but that doesn’t seem to prevent some people from taking them seriously and insulting my mother anyway, so I won’t.
TEAM W L RS RA Div WC PL W+/- RS+/- RA+/- White Sox 84.3 77.7 718 704 36.1% 5.7% 41.8% -3.7 -25 -41 Twins 82.3 79.7 744 727 26.9% 5.0% 31.9% -11.7 -37 56 Tigers 81.9 80.1 714 697 27.7% 5.5% 33.2% 0.9 -37 -46 Indians 70.6 91.4 711 804 6.2% 1.4% 7.6% 1.6 65 52 Royals 66.2 95.8 658 806 3.1% 0.7% 3.8% -0.8 -18 -39
The previous standings (December 28) were:
TEAM W L RS RA Div WC PL W+/- RS+/- RA+/- Twins 85.7 76.3 752 715 33.3% 6.2% 39.5% -8.3 -29 44 White Sox 84.5 77.5 735 711 28.4% 6.2% 34.5% -3.5 -17 7 Tigers 84.0 78.0 727 712 27.5% 4.6% 32.0% 3.0 -24 -31 Indians 73.9 88.1 728 802 8.2% 2.7% 10.8% 4.9 82 50 Royals 66.9 95.1 678 815 2.8% 1.1% 3.9% -0.1 2 -30
The Sox are up, while the Twinkies and the Tigers are down.
BTW, seems Kenny read the suggestions at that post!
White Sox news, Minor Leagues updates and more 
we can’t count the Indians out anymore, they just signed orlando cabrera and have lots of young potential. the way I see it, even kc can have an above .500 record. truely a stronger division than meets the eye.
Comment by Anonymous — February 11, 2011 @ February 11, 2011 8:07 pm |
I don’t think CLE and KC are going anywhere this year. Orlando Cabrera isn’t someone to fear.
Comment by The Wizard — February 11, 2011 @ February 11, 2011 8:33 pm |
I’m not saying they will win the division, but they usually play us hard. plus cabrera is another one of those people that for some reason gets as hawk would say duck snorts everywhere, as we saw when he was a twin. but I totally agree cle and kc aren’t playoff teams yet but we can’t take them lightly you know.
Comment by Anonymous — February 11, 2011 @ February 11, 2011 9:05 pm |
Both KC and Cle may be historically bad. Especially KC.
Comment by tourist178 — February 11, 2011 @ February 11, 2011 9:17 pm |
does KC have even 5 starting pitchers?
assuming the lefties on the farm don’t graduate
Comment by The Wizard — February 11, 2011 @ February 11, 2011 9:30 pm |
but we can’t take them lightly you know.
absolutely. furthermore, the twins clean the table with those 2.
last year, sox-cle 9-9 and sox-kc 10-8. but, min-cle 12-6 and min-kc 13-5.
Comment by The Wizard — February 11, 2011 @ February 11, 2011 9:28 pm |
that is terrible wizard. it seemed like we could beat everybody but the teams in our own division. I belive that this year will be different. we really need to start beating the twins too. it’s almost unreal how bad the sox were last year in the central.
off subject but wizard, what are the chances we see peavy at the start of the season? you said kc doesn’t have 5 guys, but we don’t either. I don’t trust sale enough yet to let him start, he’s still very young and if not peavy than we will be putting a lot of faith in a 21 year old.
Comment by Anonymous — February 11, 2011 @ February 11, 2011 9:45 pm |
it’s not easy to determine when peavy will be ready since you can’t really trust him:
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/white-sox-observer/2011/02/jake-peavy-will-be-ready-by-opening-day–if-you-actually-still-believe-jake-peavy.html
we will see how he’s doing on spring training. that will be a better gauge. I think if peavy misses 4-5 starts they will give the ball to pena if they can’t find a cheap minor league deal.
humber isn’t a solution, right?
Comment by The Wizard — February 11, 2011 @ February 11, 2011 11:09 pm |
Kenny has stated that Pena won’t be a temporary Peavy replacement and will only do bullpen work.
Humber would an OK option in the short term. He’s the cheap minor league acquisition you mention. And since Marquez and Harrell are both out of options, they could squeeze into the picture by default as a last resort if necessary. And if the Sox don’t want to flip Sale between the starting rotation and the bullpen, it seems Sale will stay in the bullpen all year.
The problem in finding a really good temporary Peavy replacement is that if a pitcher were really that good as a SP, he wouldn’t want to go to the bullpen after Peavy returns. And a really good SP wouldn’t be available in a trade anyway. We’re just going to have to make due with what we have in house… and hope Peavy returns quickly.
Comment by Buford — February 11, 2011 @ February 11, 2011 11:43 pm |
1. oh yeah, I forgot kenny saying that
2. good point about the temporary Peavy replacement. which is why the name Pena popped in my mind!
Comment by The Wizard — February 12, 2011 @ February 12, 2011 2:44 am |
“we can’t count the Indians out anymore, they just signed orlando cabrera and have lots of young potential”
“… even kc can have an above .500 record…”
There are just no words.
Comment by Buford — February 11, 2011 @ February 11, 2011 9:41 pm |
hey, cinncinati wasn’t supposed to be in the playoffs last year but shocked everybody. cabrera seems to end up in the playoffs, so that’s why we play the season. it irritates me when people say it’s between sox, twins, and tigers in this division. you can’t assume they will suck and underestimate them cause all teams start the season 0-0. I’m not rooting for them but come on buford, anything can happen.
Comment by Anonymous — February 11, 2011 @ February 11, 2011 9:53 pm |
Anyone who forms opinions that have a basis of “anything can happen” needs to stop being part of any serious discussions unless the topic is fairy tales.
People make decisions and form opinions in their lives based on what is probable not possible. That’s why juries are instructed to base their verdict on “beyond reasonable doubt” not “possible doubt.”
This “anything can happen” is just as bad as John Heyman’s “You had to be there” which he uses as a reason for or against a Hall of Fame candidate. Both comments are empty and intellectually meaningless. And they are an easy fallback that can used at any time and at any place to “validate” any ridiculous opinion when facts and/or common sense prove otherwise.
I’m sure you have good opinions on many subjects…but baseball isn’t one of them.
Comment by Buford — February 11, 2011 @ February 11, 2011 10:26 pm |
buford your pissing me off. I don’t know why you talk shit to me all the time. the indians are a professional team, which means when I say anything can happen I don’t mean pigs are going to fly or there will be happy endings, I’m saying that they are playing to compete. to count out a team before spring training even starts is just short sited. and if you don’t understand that then fuck you cause there is no way I’m the only person here who takes the indians seriously, they beat us all the time.
Comment by Anonymous — February 11, 2011 @ February 11, 2011 11:35 pm |
“… they are playing to compete…”
Another empty and intellectually meaningless reason.
“… to count out a team before spring training even starts is just short sited…”
Wrong. Unlike you, there are people who comprehend that teams like Cleveland, KC, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Washington are simply not going to win a division title. And if you believe any of these teams can win their division, then in baseball terms, you are saying pigs can fly.
“… they beat us all the time.”
Now you’re into hyperbole.
Finally, becoming overly emotional to the extent that you believe swearing is an intelligent and mature response is just plain sad. This is my final response to you about this or any other topic.
Comment by Buford — February 12, 2011 @ February 12, 2011 12:23 am |
aww my swear words hurt your feelings, buford your a bigger puss than I thought. we will have to agree to disagree I guess. saying that there are teams without a chance when spring training and 162 game season still ahead is stupid. don’t respond to me anymore, it wasn’t like I was talking to you anyways. wizard is who I direct my comments and questions to, not you. and by the way I do get emotional when someone consistantly insults my intelligence about a sport that I love.
GO PITTSBURGH!!! to bad they are already out of the playoff race. haha
Comment by Anonymous — February 12, 2011 @ February 12, 2011 1:18 am |
wizard, is it true that I’m an idiot and that my opinions are stupid? because buford seems to think so. do you agree that there are teams already eliminated from playoff contention with absolutly no baseball played?
Comment by Anonymous — February 12, 2011 @ February 12, 2011 7:45 am |
of course you’re not an idiot. are some teams already eliminated? no. do some teams have a smaller or very smaller shot at the playoffs? yes. here are pecota’s odds for this year:
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/ps_oddspec.php
you don’t see any zeros. but you see 2% and also 70%. but a team at 2% doesn’t have a ‘guaranteed loss’ sign or 2% odds to win when you play against it and you better be careful when you play it. there are no freebies.
Comment by The Wizard — February 12, 2011 @ February 12, 2011 9:20 pm |
good simulation for the most part. I have the sox for the central of course. but also I disagree with the angels finishing third. I picked them to win the west with solid pitching and because they added vernon wells bat. kendry morales will return too. let’s face it, the rangers wont be the same without cliff lee and potentially trading young. some nicks and bumps in my view of that simulation but a pretty good one, thanks wizard. can’t wait untill 4/1/11.
Comment by Anonymous — February 12, 2011 @ February 12, 2011 10:58 pm |
Good-bye
Comment by Buford — February 13, 2011 @ February 13, 2011 12:07 am |
did I say something offensive?
Comment by The Wizard — February 13, 2011 @ February 13, 2011 2:12 am |
no wizard, I don’t think you said anything offensive to me or buford. I don’t know buford personally, but he is acting like a baby. nobody is telling him he is right, even though he isn’t so he is going to stop participating. people are entitled to an opinion, that’s why we have discussions. he knows his stuff, but he was the one being a jerk, I was just defending myself.
Comment by Anonymous — February 13, 2011 @ February 13, 2011 3:22 pm |