Friday, August 3, 2012

Trade Reactions - Anibal Sanchez


Now tell me why the Tigers are going to win the AL Central.

So far this season the Tigers offense has put up a .326 wOBA, while the White Sox have put up a .321. That's not very far off. If you prefer wRC+ the Tigers are at 103 while the White Sox are at 97, so again... not much of a difference.

Even if you look at what those teams have done with the bats the last 30 days there's little difference. The Tigers wOBA in the past 30 days is at .343, while the White Sox have a 328. What about wRC+, you ask... Tigers - 114, White Sox - 102.

Looking at the run prevention side of the coin though, you start to see where I'm coming from.

Is run prevention "heads" or "tails"?

In 2012 the Tigers' pitching has put up a FIP of 3.81, while the White Sox pitchers have a FIP of 4.15. Even if you try and see if one team has been hotter than the other, the nod goes to Detroit. The Tigers, in the past 30 days, have a FIP of 4.05, while the White Sox are at 4.45.

But what about the run differential? That has to mean something?

Sure it does. The fact that Detroit's is only at +9, while Chicago's is at +61, made it tough for me to pick the Tigers. But I have to believe that a team led by hitters like Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder will do better than a team led by Alex Rios and Paul Konerko.

I'm not saying Konerko isn't a hell of a hitter, as it's more an indictment on what I think Rios can do. Alex's BABIP is kind high at .325, so I can see his stats coming down a bit.

Thankfully his swing is better looking than his shirt.

And when I look at their pitching rotations I tend to trust the trio of Justin Verlander, Doug Fister, and Anibal Sancez, than I do Jake Peavy, Chris Sale, and Jose Qintana.

I'm confused, so where are we at for the postseason so far?

Perhaps if you touch your nose a hundred times a minute the daze will be lifted.

Oh, I'm as confused as anybody, and I'm the guy writing this stuff. Freakin' 2nd wild card team!

So, since the White Sox will beat the Rangers in the wild card round, they will face the Yankees in the division series. Meaning the Tigers will face the Angels in the other AL division series.

Can the Tigers beat the Angels?

Being that it's a 5-game series I think Detroit has a good shot. Justin Verlander will have a chance to get his team 2 wins, while they only need 3 to move on. Meaning either Scherzer will have to beat Wilson, Sanchez will have to beat Greinke, or Fister will have to beat Haren. The problem is that each of those 3 match-ups favor the Angels. And it's not like Jered Weaver can't beat Justin Verlander either, so it's not a given Verlander can get the team 2 wins.

So if I have to pick a winner, I'm going with the Angels.

So this is yet another trade that won't affect the Yanks?

Precisely.

Not even the trade deadline was a bigger waste of time than this film.

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