(That's a cheap knockoff of a "Daily Bugle" headline. Substitute "Spider-Man" for "Cleveland Indians.")
So, did the Tigers really improve themselves to get better than the Indians? Will the White Sox turn back the clock to 2005? Can the Twins sell their souls to the devil for a World Series berth?
Well, I'd say the Tigers are better than last year, but maybe not as much as everyone thinks. Dontrelle Willis hasn't been as dominant as in years past, and even though the Tigers' lineup looks awesome, Gary Sheffield will probably get hurt and somebody else will probably slump unexpectedly. The Tigers' rotation wasn;t that great last year and they have had a lot of injuries to their relief pitchers, too. I suspect the bullpen will be OK by mid-season , though. Jim Leyland always seems to be able to put together a good bullpen somehow. I bet they are better than last year, but their pitching can't keep up with the Indians.
The White Sox are still a good team and could sneak up on the American League Central. The Orlando Cabrera trade was a good one, and they have some other good young players, notably at third base and in center field. Nick Swisher is a good player, but not so far a great one. My guess is they still suffer from a weak pitching staff and can't keep up with the Indians.
If the Twins tried to sell their souls to the devil for a World Series title, he'd probably insist they throw in some cash to make the deal even out.
The Indians have a really good pitching staff, and a coaching staff that has done a great job of keeping their arms healthy for the last few years. My guess is they will probably dump Joe Borowski from the closer's spot at some point and switch to someone with a power arm who doesn't make the fans go through a couple of rolls of Tums in the ninth inning.
It's interesting to note: Since Hank Peters was hired as Indians General Manager in 1988, the Indians are the logical heir to the old Baltimore Orioles teams from the 1960s and 1970s. Much moreso than the current Orioles are, anyway. Peters, a former Orioles GM, begat John Hart who begat Mark Shapiro. The Indians approach has, since Peters, generally remained one focused on developing its own talent. The team even has consistently used a home-grown coaching staff.
Hart, during his tenure, favored the Earl Weaver three-run home run type of power hitters. Shapiro seems to favor power arms in the mold of a Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar et al. rotation.
It might be interesting to compare the old Orioles to the Indians since 1988 in more depth. It's more of a similar philosophy than similar results. But, like the Orioles, since their initial rise in 1994, the Indians have generally been a good team with home grown players. (From 2002-2004, they weren't very good, because they were developing a new core for the team. However, even the 2004 team was better than people might give it credit for. If the bullpen hadn't been so downright awful, they'd have been a lot closer to first place all year long.)
(Here's some more Hank Peters stuff by me from October, in case you missed it or have forgotten it.)
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