American League Central: Indians and White Sox, a Two Team Race

The rest of their rotation is pretty set, with Justin Verlander, their ace, (18-6) last year and Kenny Rodgers, who is hoping to log more than the 63 innings he pitched last year, at the top of the rotation.  Nate Robinson and Jeremy Bonderman had some pretty hefty ERA’s last year (4.76 and 5.01 respectively) so they will need every bit of the run support they will get from the hitters.

Todd Jones closes, but he is by no means automatic.  He saved 38 games in 2007 but he had and ERA over 4.00.  I count this as a weakness.  They have young and untested arms in their bullpen as well.  Yorman Barzado had an ERA of 2.28 last year, but he only pitched 23 innings.  Bobby Seay and Zach Miller are the most consistent relievers they have that are healthy, but there is not much after that. 

Denny Bautista will get a chance to be the set up man until Fernando Rodney comes back from injury, which is not a positive in my book.  Joel Zumaya is also injured, recovering from shoulder surgery.    Until then, it will be hit and miss with their bullpen.  Edge, Cleveland. 

If Dontrel Willis can be effective, it makes their rotation a very good one.  I don’t think it is as good as Cleveland’s though.

Along with Cabrera and Renteria, Jacque Jones came over from the Cubs and has been under the radar.  There are no easy outs in this lineup.  Maglio Ordonez will try to duplicate his all star season of last year, while Carlos Guillen will be his usual productive self.  Gary Sheffield’s challenge will be to stay healthy and play more than 133 games this season.  Detroit has plenty of difference makers in the lineup, but that doesn’t always translate into playoff appearances.

To start the season, Detroit will be minus Curtis Granderson due to injury, but as their lineup is so stacked, they will not miss him.

At least starting out, Detroit’s bullpen will be their weak point.  To the extent they overcome that, will determine how far they go this year.

Projected finish - 2nd place.

Chicago White Sox

The White Sox will be looking to rebound from a disappointing 2007 season where they finished in 4th place in the division.  They have made changes in the off-season in an attempt to sure up a leaky bullpen, and to inject life into a team that looked like they were sleepwalking last year.

Chicago added Octavio Dotel and Scott Linebrink to stabilize their bullpen.  It remains to be seen what Dotel has left because of the myriad of injuries he has had the last couple of years.  Linebrink has always been a steady performer out of the pen with Milwaukee and San Diego, and his addition will definitely help.

Orlando Cabrera comes over from the Angels and will make an immediate impact.  He scored over a hundred runs and hit over .300 as well.

Jose Contreras needs to have a repeat performance of his 2006 year for this team to contend.  He needs to be that solid number 2 behind Buehrle to make their starting rotation formidable.

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