With Cleveland having gone through a rough patch, at this point the only team with a winning record in the Central is the Detroit Tigers. Despite a so-so .571 winning percentage the Tigers lead by six games. The other four teams are clustered around each other. The Twins trail Cleveland by a game and a half and Kansas City by a full game. They lead Chicago by only one game.

 

The only other division that has a similar separation is the NL East, where the Braves lead handily and all the other teams have sunk below .500.

The division is terrible with the exception of Detroit, which isn't exactly free of its own problems. Detroit didn't look great early last year either, then ended up in the World Series. Their starting pitching depth, barring injury, gives them a clear advantage.

 

It was mentioned on G & G that while they're only "5 games under .500", they're not all that far from the worst teams in the league (except Houston and Miami), and Gardenhire clubs that aren't clearly in the pennant race after the ASB don't exactly tend to "finish strong".

The Twins are closer to winning the Division outright than they are to winning a wildcard spot. In other words, only the Indians and Tigers separate the Twins from not only making the playoffs, but also having a first round bye.

The Tigers have the 2nd best run differential in baseball. They are a very good team that we will not be catching even if the rest of our division is bad. At some point the Tiger's bad luck will turn into good luck and they'll approach their expected wins/losses which right now is 41-23.

Our division is a joke. I think we have a very good chance of finishing in 2nd.

The Tigers have the 2nd best run differential in baseball. They are a very good team that we will not be catching even if the rest of our division is bad. At some point the Tiger's bad luck will turn into good luck and they'll approach their expected wins/losses which right now is 41-23.

 

The Tigers are the most talented team but they have some good candidates for regression. Peralta, Hunter, Tuiasosopo mainly. Anibal has a sore shoulder. Scherzer is always a question mark healthwise.

 

If the Twins can somehow sweep the Tigers next week (at TF), they'll cut the lead in half.

 

This is why the league moved to unbalanced schedules after all, to keep things interesting deep into the season.

Getting Deduno and Walters in there, in replacement of Worley and pitchers X, Y, Z, has helped the team a lot. Somehow the offense needs to improve also. I think there is upside for Wllingham and Morneau, and not many that can play worse than they have. I do think they could stick around 72-76 wins, which is slightly better than I thought.

 

Most of the games this year have been easier to watch/listen to than last year. But I don't have any belief this team is "good". I can enjoy a better team, but still not expect a good team. I'd enjoy it even more if the young guys would step up, and give me more hope about 2014. I hope for Hicks/Arcia to look like legit MLB players by year end. That would make the year more fun for me. YMMV, of course.

After the 2011 season the Twins had the 2nd pick in the draft.

After the 2012 season the Twins had the 4th pick in the draft.

 

I'm not arguing that the Twins are a great team, but there are 10 teams with a lower winning % than the Twins this morning.

 

Not my happiest definition of competitive, but better than I had expected.