Gird your loins – we’re going to be navigating positions battles in each division. Last week, I covered the NL East. Today I’m talking about the AL Central, which actually looks fairly interesting this year. At first glance, the Tigers should run away with the division. At a slightly closer glance, the Indians, Royals, and White Sox all appear to be trying to contend. Who knows? Maybe Verlander’s arm will fall off after pitching over 1,000 innings across the past four seasons, while Miggy and Fielder enter a 24/7 all-you-can-eat buffet in Vegas and never return. Anyway, here’s some of the position battles to keep an eye on in the AL Central:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Anthony Swarzak
Jason Bay has been terrible. Like Don Mattingly’s wife in a mugshot terrible. In June, J-Bay hit .230 and 4 homers, but he was hitting the cover off the ball in June compared to July. In July, he’s hitting .203 with 1 homer. This month Garrett Jones has hit more homers during REM sleep. The optimist in me says Bay will hit 15 homers and .300 the rest of the way with ten steals. The pessimist in me thinks he’ll be benched in favor of Chris Duncan. The realist looks at all of his splits and sees a guy that has been consistent throughout his career, minus a season (2007) when he was battling knee problems. The surrealist in me thinks Bay will hit a line drive up the middle that will ricochet off the pitcher and shoot to the 1st baseman who will smack the ball into center, then the ball will slowly roll back towards the infield until God tilts the field and the ball rolls towards the 3rd baseman, but God tilts too far and the field freezes causing the ball to roll back towards the catcher. In all likelihood, Bay’s 2nd half should be somewhere in the realist realm (though it would be cool if the surrealist was spot-on). I think Bay can give you 10+ homers, .280 average and a handful of steals. Right now, I’m actively trying to acquire him in one league. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Erik Bedard – Back to the DL. In related news, George Sherrill was an All-Star in 2008, Adam Jones in 2009 and Chris Tillman is about to be called up.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Travis Hafner is coming back. We’re picking him up for our UTIL slot right now…in our 40 team mixed league. Brett Myers, who has been a marginal mixed league starter since returning from a bullpen stint 2 years back, may be out for the year with the latest – or should we say hippest – new injury….the torn labrum in the hip. It’s the new oblique. We had him on the risky list this year, but thought his elbow would be the first to go after throwing so many sliders last year. If any Phillie pitcher was going to get a new hip, we would’ve bet Jamie Moyer. (Incidentally, he’s also first on our list of most likely Phillie pitchers to get a new gall bladder.) Anyway, here’s what else we saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Grady Sizemore – [sarcasm] Huge game for Grady as he went 1-for-3 with no runs or RBIs or steals. Watch out now!
Please, blog, may I have some more?
