Well, how long will Beckett be out to start the year? I am thinking the Tigers can win 100 games, they will score over 1000 runs with their explosive lineup. I mean just take a look at it for yourself:
Beckett isn't injured, as ESPN would have you believe. He had minor back spams, he'll be ready to go by Opening Day without a doubt, much more likely he'll be back sooner then that.
1. Granderson (Hit .300 last year w/ 20+ HR, 3B, SB and 30+ 2B, better than Ellsbury)[/quote]
I won't disagree with you that Granderson is solid, but you can't exactly say he's better then Ellsbury when Ellsbury has never had a full year in the majors. This guy was hitting over .400 for most of his entire stint last year with the Sox, which all together was probably around 30 games last year. His speed is even better then Grandersons if you've ever seen him run, and with his great bat he'll easily be able to crank out numbers like Granderson's, though minus some of the power.
At the end of this season, then I think we could judge who's the better player, when they've both had a full year under their belts.
2. Polanco (so underrated, has hit around.340 the last 2 seasons and had 1 error last year)
Great player as well. But he's starting to age, and has virtually zero power and isn't a big run producer. Great player though obviously.
3/4/5: Not sure how they'll arrange these 3.
Ordonez (breakout year last year and looking to keep it up, will bat .325 prob not .360 like last year but will drive in 100+ and hit around 25 or 30 HR)
Again, can't disagree here.
Sheffield (who knows what he'll do, when he's playing well he is one of the MLB's best DHs hopefully he stays healthy)
Sheff is iffy IMO. He's still got some power, but he's started to completely lose his stroke as a hitter, and probably won't be going above .280 for the rest of his career. But he provides some good run support for sure, so can't argue with you that he's a valuable player. Just wish he would keep his damn mouth shut and stop acting like an idiot.
Cabrera (he's already dropped some weight and I can see a new team jolting him, I smell an MVP season with the lineup around him)
He's solid as hell and you're a lucky team to have such a great young talent, but I'm not seeing an MVP season. Not with A-Rod in the same league as him. Also, don't forget that when a player comes to a new team, more often then not he struggles rather then excels. Us Red Sox know all about that (Lugo, Drew, Renteria)
6. Guillen (he'll once again hit .320 w/ 20 HR and close to 100 RBI like he has the last 2 years, and the move to 1B means less chance of being injured)
Yet another guy who's starting to get real old as well. His hitting has been in decline as well, but I can see something along the lines of a .290/20/80 season.
7. Renterria (a major upgrade for the Tigers getting rid of Sean Casey, he and Polanco will be stellar up the middle)
Another guy who's getting up there in age. Big upgrade over Sean Casey, that's agreed. But he's mediocre at this point really. His last few years on offense have been piss-poor. Very overrated player.
8. Pudge (yeah that's right Pudge Rodriguez will bat 8th in this lineup! I think he still has one big year left in him, hopefully this will be it)
Meh. Perhaps Pudge does have another big year left in him, but I really don't think so. He's really getting up there now and his last few seasons have been more mediocrity. Still one of the best game managers in baseball though, so a big asset in that department.
9. Jacques Jones or Brandon Inge (both are terrific fielders, but not excellent batters, depends on where they decide to play Cabrera (3B or LF))
Meh, two more mediocre at best players. But then again, every lineup has 'em, right?
Plus Marcus Thames can be a fill in player and is capable of 15-20 HR in that role.
What? 15-20 HR in a utility role? Thats pretty ridiculious.
I just don't see how they are not better than Cleveland or Boston or LA.
Boston seems to be aging and Manny seemed to not care last year. Cleveland I felt we were better than last year we were just injury laden all season (Bonderman, Rogers, Sheff, Zumaya, Rodney). And I don't know too much about LA but I'll say we'd beat them too.
The Tigers are just too explosive throughout the lineup for a team to beat them in a 7-game series.
Allow me to present my case, just as you did yours. I'll start with the pitching staffs.
Red Sox clearly have the edge there.
The Sox have Josh Beckett, Dice-K, Jon Lester, Clay Bucholz, Tim Wakefield, Curt Schilling, and Bartolo Colon all as potential starters. Thats a fantastic staff, and one that is much better then the Detroit starting 5.
Beckett is easily capable and very likely to get 20 wins, Dice-K should be better this year now that he's used to the American baseball schedule, and should easily rack up 15 wins atleast, Lester is a big inning eater and gets a ton of ground balls and is also capable of 15 wins, but is more likely to get around 12, Bucholz is the best young pitching prospect in all of baseball and has the potential to be an ace, but will probably only get limited time as a 5th starter, Wakefield had 18 wins last year and is capable of doing the same this year, Schilling when he gets healthy would be capable of winning 8-10 games depending on when he returns, and if Bartolo Colon keeps getting healthy and better like he has been all spring, he could very well be a solid asset. Probably not ever going to revert to his Cy Young days, but could still be capable of winning 10-12 games.
The starting 5 for the Red Sox is much deeper and much better then the very overrated starting 5 for the Tigers, which consists of two has-beens in Kenny Rogers and Dontrelle Willis.
I'll go into why I think the Red Sox lineup is better then the Tigers lineup as well if you'd like, no problem.
), Meh, I don't expect much, never have since 04 really. Our top half of the line up is solid, everything else is just either crap or average. Our rotation is the same ol' you would expect from Texas. Anytime you have Millwood as your ace, not really anything to gloat about. Luckily the A's are terrible, and we'll come away with yet another 3rd place win probably while losing at least one big player due to a trade because it seems to happen yearly now.