The Tigers are, in my opinion, not a playoff-quality team. Their pitching is very thin - both the starting rotation and the bullpen (what, with Zumaya out for at least the first half and Jones being ancient). The offense will be strong - but the Red Sox and Yankees are arguably on-par (if not stronger) offensively, as well as being better in the pitching department. This, in my mind, means that the Tigers need to win the AL Central to qualify...
The Indians are clearly a far better team in terms of pitching - Sabathia and Carmona are stronger than Verlander, and the bullpens are not even comparable. While the Tigers will likely score more runs I do not believe it to be a terribly stark difference - if Hafner rebounds, Cabrera is anything similar to his cup of coffee, and Peralta continues his surge the offenses will be fairly close.
In the end, I do not think the Tigers can make the playoffs without a great deal of luck with their pitching. They need Bonderman, Robertson, and Rogers to rebound and Willis (in decline for the previous three seasons) to rebound in a tougher league and a tougher division.
The Tigers are, in my opinion, not a playoff-quality team. Their pitching is very thin - both the starting rotation and the bullpen (what, with Zumaya out for at least the first half and Jones being ancient). The offense will be strong - but the Red Sox and Yankees are arguably on-par (if not stronger) offensively, as well as being better in the pitching department. This, in my mind, means that the Tigers need to win the AL Central to qualify...
The Indians are clearly a far better team in terms of pitching - Sabathia and Carmona are stronger than Verlander, and the bullpens are not even comparable. While the Tigers will likely score more runs I do not believe it to be a terribly stark difference - if Hafner rebounds, Cabrera is anything similar to his cup of coffee, and Peralta continues his surge the offenses will be fairly close.
In the end, I do not think the Tigers can make the playoffs without a great deal of luck with their pitching. They need Bonderman, Robertson, and Rogers to rebound and Willis (in decline for the previous three seasons) to rebound in a tougher league and a tougher division.
Thoughts?
I feel that the Tigers bullpen is their only real weakness but I still believe it will perform better than people expect it to, which they would to an extend if they were to remove Todd Jones from the closer's spot. I see D-Train having a good year, and what was once the Tiger's weak spot in the order (Inge) has been filled in with one of the best young hitters in the game (Cabrera). This was more of a hunch really, as I think the AL Central could go either way. You make good points, but I am willing to put money on the Tigers taking the division as my hunches rarely fail me.
Early 2008 Predictions
Early 2008 Predictions
Linear Mode
