henrichsj

So knee jerk in the comments section... The Indians are hot right now because they've only played one team above .500 in their last 7 series: The Twins! And they lost that series. The Twins in the meantime, have played Tex, Oak (2x), Cleveland, and NYY. All teams above .500. The tables will turn and Cleveland will hit their tough stretch. They won't be beating teams like Oakland, NYY, and Boston either and the Twins will have their chance against bottom feeders like Cleveland just has. Twins are winning this division. I would almost predict winning it running away.

Minnesota Twins 92-70 (#1 AL Central) Offensive Player of the Year: Joe Mauer Most Home Runs: Miguel Sano Starting Pitcher of the Year: Jose Berrios Relief Pitcher of the Year: Addison Reed Twins Rookie of the Year: Mitch Garver I'm confused by some predictions I'm seeing on other blogs and websites. Well, I'm not actually, no one usually cares about Minnesota. Funny how no one cares about Dozier and now suddenly he's going to become a free agent and it's top story on ESPN. Like you have to be willing to leave MN to get some notice. But I digress. Anyway, sheer math, tells me that many people's predictions are off. Bleacher Report for instance, claims the Yankees will win the AL East with close to 100 wins and the Red Sox will be right behind. They predict the Blue Jays to win a Wild Card spot with 85+ and the Orioles to be in the thick of things as well. How is that even mathematically possible?!? The majority of their games are going to be against each other! Do people really think the Blue Jays and Orioles are going to clean house against every other non-AL East team they play? I seriously doubt it. Meanwhile, the Twins became BETTER on paper than they were last year, and will play in a division where 3 of the 5 teams have already thrown in the towel. And most writers have us lucky to win a few games over .500! We won 85 games last year with a worse rotation and a worse bullpen... How are we going to struggle to win 80 this year? Despite what others seem to think, I forecast the Indians to take a serious step back this year. Their window seems to be closing albeit for the simple fact that they aren't really adding any pieces to their current team, and losing or aging players that have been part of their success. They are nowhere near the Astros and I would even argue Yankees or Red Sox. We will compete with them all year, I believe 92-95 wins could win the division. I see Mauer having a career season, then taking a massive pay cut to remain a Twin. I see Sano staying healthy when everyone least expects it and mashing close to 50 homers. I see Berrios breaking out and anchoring our rotation like Johan used to. I see Buxton becoming a Star. I see our bullpen improving this season similar to how our team defense improved last season. Fun time to be a Twins fan!

I agree with this! I don't understand what people still see in the Indians. I think they are still good, but not the same class as Houston as people imply. They lost Santana and their bullpen is aging. Bullpens' window of dominance are 2-3 years. Cleveland is at the tail end of that. I predict that people will be surprised by their performance this year. They will NOT run away with the AL Central. We will compete hard with them. Websites like ESPN and Bleacher Report are downplaying the additions we've made.