2011 AL Central Thread
- Thread starter satjay
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The payroll difference does exist and it does give the Tigers an advantage over the Indians. There are just plenty of other teams with an advantage over the Tigers.
There are good teams like the Rays and Indians who have GM's who can win with less money. There are also bad teams with bad GM's who are near the top in payroll and the bottom in the standings.
The Cubs are an example of the rich teams that are no good. They are 2nd in NL payroll and 2nd worst in NL standings. They are 15th in the NL and only ahead of the lowly Astros.
I want to share your optimism...I really do...but every time the starting rotation (other than Verlander) appears to be heading in the right direction, they wind-up tossing batting practice until Verlander takes the mound and settles things down. I love how we're swinging the bats, but without Verlander our team ERA is 27th of 30 teams. Anyway, I'm hoping we continue to "gel" and finish the season 20-games above .500
Speaking of, I was glancing at the standing the other day and the Phillies are almost 40 games OVER .500 and another team is 30 .... WOW.
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All I'm going to say is nobody drinks more beer than the AL Central Division. We're at the very Top of our Game each and every year!!!
Yep, I still say the Tigers have enough talent on the team to be another 5+ games ahead in the standings. I'll be picking-up Green Chicken Curry (extra spicey) on my way home to catch the game.
Interesting Stat: Verlander is making his 26th start of the season this evening with 19 of them coming after a Tiger loss. I hope he pitches equally well with them coming into the game with a win.
Tampa is coming into the game riding a 6-game winning streak.
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Tampa is coming into the game riding a 6-game winning streak.
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Well, we know he pitches incredibly well after Tigers losses (don't remember the stat).
Da dat dah da da da da da. da dat dah da da da da da...Avila! I can't believe I ever compared him to Laird last year. 
Da dat dah da da da da da. da dat dah da da da da da...Avila! I can't believe I ever compared him to Laird last year.
Last year he could have been Laird's brother ....
Talk about a break out year !
Yeah! Verlander delivers another solid pitching performance and wins his 19th game of the season, and the Tigers bats do enough to beat a tough Tampa pither who had won 7 in-a-row coming into tonight.
Just a couple things: I can't believe Valverde was pitching again tonight...he's not 100% and needs a day off; Avila sure takes more than his fair-share of foul tips, and he has caught 16-straight games. I would consider having Inge catch tomorrow night and rest Avilia and Valverde. Never mind, Leyland just said he was going rest Benoit and Valverde tomorrow and he's probably play Avila, but he's not sure.
I couldn't believe they sent Valverde out there with a 4 run lead. I don't think it will come to this but it will really hurt us if we have a slim lead tomorrow and cant use Valverde or Benoit. On the positive side Verlander pitched great again and the offense scored 5 runs against good pitching.
I think were gonna have to put up a lot of runs again tomorrow against Price if we are going to keep the win streak going with Penny out there. Especially since we have to do it without the back end of our bull pen.
Verlander had controls problems this evening, but he "mentally" gets the job done even with his B- game. As for tomorrow...I think Leyland is doing the right by resting some players tomorrow night. Heck, with Perry going against Price I would consider resting all the key players and see how the bench players perform.
He did have a little control issue but he still only gave up 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings. It wasn't quite up to his standards this year but if it was anybody else most people would say that's pretty darn good.
I wouldn't give tomorrow away by benching to many guys. I know Valverde and Benoit need the day off but it shouldn't have come to that with Valverde because he shouldn't have been out there tonight. I would like to see Avila get the day off tomorrow but the rest of the regulars should be out there.
Price is beatable this year. He is only 11-10 with a 3.59 ERA although he has pitched better lately. They can get a win off him tomorrow if penny holds them to 3 or 4 runs and the offense keeps doing what it has been lately. I don't think you can take to many bats away from Penny tomorrow and still expect him to have a chance of winning though.
In regards to aliva, leyland was not sure what he was going to do because i guess victor maritinez is banged up for catcher. They are waiting for September call ups for a third catcher as don Kelly is the "emergency catcher"
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We're hurting. BAD! Some of our main offensive guys are out with injury. Just yesterday, it was announced that Travis Hafner will be heading to the 15-day DL with a strained foot. HUGE LOSS. If you can't hit, it doesn't matter how good your pitching staff is. You still need to score runs in order to win. And right now, we are just running out of capable bats to get the job done.
In other news, there's a rumor floating around that Jim Thome is being sent to waivers by the Twins. Hopefully the Indians will look into picking him up.
Yeah I don't see Martinez catching any time soon. I would like to see Kelly or Inge catch today though. Avila has been getting really banged up lately and he has started 16 straight games.
Yeah, so far the Tigers have avoided the bad injury down the stretch. Guillen and Al Alburquerque are both on the DL right now but that hasn't bitten us yet.
I hate to see the Twins give away Thome to any contender for nothing. The Indians could use him which wouldn't bother me so much but I heard a rumor on ESPN about the Phillies. They are stacked enough already.
