The 2011 All-Division Team, Part 3: AL Central

AL Central SS: Asdrubal Cabrera, one of baseball's
best surprises on the surprising Cleveland Indians

This six-part series resumes with the AL Central.

C Carlos Santana, CLE
I can now say with surprising certainty that Santana is the best catcher in the American League.  Here in his first full season at age 25, Santana dazzled with the bat and should have been an All-Star.  His .239 average is nothing special, but 27 home runs, 97 RBIs and walks (good for a .351 OBP, fantastic for a catcher and highest on his impatient team) confirm his star status.  The Indians remain a team with little power on the roster but Santana by himself can produce runs with the best of catchers.  Competition: A.J. Pierzynski (CWS), Alex Avila (DET), Matt Treanor (KC), and Drew Butera (MIN).

1B Miguel Cabrera, DET (2nd)
It was an oddly quiet season again for Cabrera, who won the AL batting title at .344 and the AL OBP title at .448.  But Cabrera easily could have been the MVP of the league if this wasn't the hardest year to win the AL MVP in who knows how long.  Cabrera finished fifth in the voting.  He 'only' hit 30 homers and 105 RBIs, which might explain the lack of MVP love.  But he did set a career high in walks for the second straight year, finishing second in the AL with 108 and only 89 strikeouts.  Of the 24 players who hit 30 homers in 2011, only Jose Bautista, Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, Ian Kinsler, and Cabrera walked more than they struck out.  Talk about elite company.  Competition: Paul Konerko (CWS), Justin Morneau (MIN), Matt LaPorta (CLE), and Eric Hosmer (KC).

2B Alexi Casilla, MIN
In an awful, awful AL Central class of second basemen, Casilla is the best, but that doesn't say much.  This race was more about who hurt their team less than helped their team more.  Failed prospect Gordon Beckham and ever-impatient Orlando Cabrera actually hurt their teams with terrible seasons.  Ramon Santiago is a no-offense utility man and Chris Getz needs to use all the muscle he has when he wants to hit it far; for him, that's in shallow center.  Casilla was second the Twins with 15 steals had a good contact rate.  For lack of a better option, I'll take it.  Competition: Beckham (CWS), Cabrera (CLE), Santiago (DET), and Getz (KC).

3B Danny Valencia, MIN
Third base is another weak spot in the division.  Valencia takes the title with 15 home runs and 72 RBIs.  Despite a bad walk rate, Valencia managed a mediocre season in probably the worst hitters' park in the Majors now in Target Field.  He even hit nine of his home runs there, a rare accomplishment so far in the ballpark's two-year history.  No third baseman in the division even managed to hit above .270.  Competition: Brandon Inge (DET), Brent Morel (CWS), Jack Hannahan (CLE), and Mike Moustakas (KC).

SS Asdrubal Cabrera, CLE
Cabrera's role in MLB seemed to be defined heading into 2011; he was an average hitting shortstop with little power and a bit of speed.  That was until he redefined his entire career in his age 25 season of 2011, hitting 25 home runs after never hitting more than six in a season and making his first All-Star team, winning his first Silver Slugger, and even gaining MVP votes.  Cabrera was the biggest individual reason in how the Indians, a projected cellar dweller, rose to first place with an incredible 20-6 start to the season.  His outburst kept Cleveland in contention for the summer until his former teammate Jhonny Peralta and Tigers surpassed them late.  Competition: Peralta (DET), Alexei Ramirez (CWS), Tsuyoshi Nishioka (MIN), and Alcides Escobar (KC).

AL Central LF: Alex Gordon

LF Alex Gordon, KC
It was hard not to feel bad for the highly-touted Gordon, who was supposed to be the next big thing in Kansas City.  In the mid-2000s scouts deemed Gordon would be the best thing to happen to the Royals since George Brett.  Unfortunately Gordon was a bust his first few seasons, but he put it all together in 2011 with a .303 average, .376 OBP, 23 home runs, 87 RBIs, and 17 steals.  His .502 slugging percentage led the team and his swing is one of the nicest to see.  I see now why scouts liked him so much.  Although he is already 27, better late than never.  The Royals are going to be a great team very soon and this is the guy to build around.  Competition: Juan Pierre (CWS), Brennan Boesch (DET), Michael Brantley (CLE), and Delmon Young (MIN).

CF Melky Cabrera, KC
Actually a year younger than his next-door teammate Gordon, Cabrera surprised everyone with an elite season in center.  It seemed his career was on a downtrend after already being shipped out of two franchises upon arrival in KC, but he had by far the best season of his career.  The most interesting part of it, however, is how he did it.  Cabrera has always been a good contact hitter although not necessarily a patient one.  In 2011, though, his walk rate dropped lower than usual and his strikeout output was over 40% of his normal total, and yet he batted .305 with 18 homers, 87 RBIs and 20 steals.  A repeat performance is unlikely, but if there were one, I'd be a fan.  Competition: Alex Rios (CWS), Austin Jackson (DET), Grady Sizemore (CLE), and Ben Revere (MIN).

RF Michael Cuddyer, MIN
I have him listed here as a right fielder, but every day Cuddyer seems to be playing somewhere different. In the last two seasons, he has played at first base, second base, third base, center field, right field, and he even pitched once.  Injuries were the bread and butter of the problems facing the 2011 Twins, but Cuddyer was one of the few that avoided the plague.  He was pressed into duty all over the diamond but still produced offensively at a high level and now has landed himself a real nice contract with the Colorado Rockies.  The 32-year-old also expanded his market in 2011, reaching double digits in steals for the first time and getting his first trip to the All-Star Game.  Even though Jeff Francoeur of the Royals actually had a better individual season, Cuddyer was the only thing that kept the inept Twins from insanity.  Competition: Francoeur (KC), Shin-Soo Choo (CLE), Magglio Ordonez (DET), and Carlos Quentin (CWS).

AL Central DH: Victor Martinez

DH Victor Martinez, DET
To see how much of Martinez's role in his first year with Detroit played, reread Miguel Cabrera's summary above.  Even though Martinez didn't flash power he normally does, he still batted .330 and was clutch for sure, driving in over 100 runs for the fourth time in his career.  Cabrera's intentional walk total dropped 10 from 2010 to 2011, a seemingly small but notable difference.  Martinez was able to drive in all the runs Cabrera couldn't and this made the Tigers offense a triumphant unit all season long.  It's hard to get numbers that certify the value of his lineup protection, especially because a lot of that effect is mental for a pitcher.  But he's there alright, and making a difference.  Competition: Jim Thome (MIN), Travis Hafner (CLE), Adam Dunn (CWS), and Billy Butler (KC).

SP Justin Verlander, DET (2nd)
Best in the division and best in the league according to the baseball writers, who handed Verlander the Cy Young and MVP trophies in a season for the ages for this tall 28-year-old.  He had the best pitching season of anyone since Randy Johnson was doin' his thing in the desert, I think.  The wins continued to pile up in the 24-5 season with 250 strikeouts in 251 innings pitched; Pedro Martinez-type numbers.  There's not much else to be said.  Competition: Mark Buehrle (CWS), Luke Hochevar (KC), Carl Pavano (MIN), and Justin Masterson (CLE).

CP Jose Valverde, DET
'El Papa Grande' entered a realm of his own this season.  The 33-year-old Papa, playing with his third team in five years and going slightly under-the-radar entering this season despite domination to show for his entire career, saved 49 games for Detroit and blew none, earning his second straight All-Star selection.  His antics put a smile on even the toughest of his teammates' gamefaces while infuriating opponents.  A truly dominating closer like Valverde gets into the hitter's mind with the game on the line in the tightest of situations.  He wasn't perfect, but he was as close to it as a closer gets.  Competition: Sergio Santos (CWS), Chris Perez (CLE), Matt Capps (MIN), and Joakim Soria (KC).

Road Trip Analysis: Cincinnati, Florida, Boston

Record: 3-4
Final Record: 20-25

The Cubs made their first trip to Cincinnati this season when they headed there last week for the first of the two scheduled two-game series on the Cubs schedule this season.  I'm not going to sugar coat it; the results of the trip to Cincinnati were catastrophic.  Two winnable games, which had we had won we would now be mere percentage points below .500, were thrown away by lack of effort and the worst defense you will see in the Major Leagues.

The first game was winnable by all means.  The Cubs had a 4-0 lead until the 6th, when Carlos Zambrano began his regularly scheduled blowup inning.  But he remained out there, and the Reds continued to hammer him while the bullpen struggled to get warm.  Zambrano had been carrying a three-hit shutout through five innings.  A walk, five hits, four earned runs with more to come on the bases with just one out later, Zambrano was relieved by Marcos Mateo.  But the damage was already done, as threw a wild pitch to score the go-ahead run and then a two-run homer to Jonny Gomes.  It wasn't just the ill-timed decision making that cost the Cubs this game; it was the lack of effort and the sense that they had given up.  Too many times I see this team sulking and just going down without a fight.  This is exactly what happened here, as if the Reds coming back was inevitable.

Just when it looked like it couldn't get any worse, of course, it did.  The Cubs came out the next night and the pitching staff, led by the starter that night Matt Garza, shut out the Reds.  In earned runs, at least.  The futile Cubs defense allowed the Reds to literally tie and win the game with seven runs, all of which were preventable by not throwing the ball away!  An error in the 4th by Carlos Pena was magnified after Garza hurriedly whipped the ball into the dugout throwing it home to get a runner.  That scored all three runs to tie the game.  Then in the 8th, the Cubs held a 5-3 lead, which Kerry Wood blew when he threw Ryan Hanigan's sacrifice bunt down the left field line trying to aggressively get the force at third.

I've only seen one other play like this one before, and it was in Game 5 of the 2006 World Series when Justin Verlander threw David Eckstein's bunt into left field trying to do the same thing.  But unlike that play, the ball this time got all the way down the line and to the wall.  Two more runs scored and the game was tied again.  Watching this play live, it's hard to describe the frustration that a Cubs fan feels when watching this stuff.  Dominique Wilkins of the Atlanta Hawks was known as 'The Human Highlight Reel' for his stunning ability to light up a highlight reel.  The Cubs as a team basically create the Human Incompetence Reel.

These two games should have been won.  They were key division games early in the season and the weather nullified much of the home field advantage.  This is a series the Cubs needed to win if they are going to get back into the NL Central mix.  They put together wins here and there this season, but they aren't going to win anything if they ever have another game like this (photo, left) or allow seven unearned runs.

After all of this, the Cubs headed to South Beach for their last series ever at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens.  Surprisingly, the Cubs won both games there in efficient fashion.  Not so surprisingly, it was their first sweep of the season, albeit a two-game series.  The Cubs did not commit an error in either game.

This led to the Cubs' first trip to Fenway Park in Boston since the 1918 World Series.  News of this World Series came up recently, when a report stemming from a document released by the Chicago History Museum suggested that the Cubs blew the Series for money, much like the White Sox did a year later.  I don't know the truth to this document, and it very well could just be the Sox player hassling the Cubs indirectly about something else.
 
Marlon Byrd was interviewed by Comcast SportsNet on Thursday night after the win against Florida and, when asked on his outlook for the Boston series, he replied, "Sweep Caroline."  I agree that the whole Sweet Caroline tradition at Fenway is really annoying, but hearing this stuff out of him gets tiring to be honest.  Last season, Byrd guaranteed the playoffs in May when the team was falling out of contention.  Well, you saw how that turned out.

The Cubs seemed overwhelmed by an American League offense in the first round on Friday night.  All three games were on national television, with WGN, FOX, and ESPN handling the games, respectively. After an uneventful 15-5 loss Friday, the Cubs bats woke up in the 8th inning of the game Saturday night, and the Red Sox collapsed which was reminiscent of the Cubs' defense collapses.  In a stunning change of momentum, the Cubs put up eight in the 8th and won 9-3.  As the Cubs closed out the bottom of the 9th, the huge contingent of Cubs fans that had traveled to Boston were chanting 'Let's Go Cubbies' at Fenway Park, an action pretty much unprecedented.  Every game at Fenway Park since April 2003 has been a sellout, so it's always full of Red Sox fans.  But Cubs fans took over Fenway late on Saturday.  Although that was nice, it was the only win in the series loss.

The Cubs were quietly shut down by knuckleballer Tim Wakefield on Sunday night.  Such a loss can be expected from the Cubs, as this is one of those games I notice where they just give up at a certain point.  The indifference of the group makes them less interesting to watch for sure, and this is the primary factor in the Cubs attendance struggles of this season.  But either way, this road trip was very up and down.  Mostly down, though, and the Red Sox-Cubs series generated nothing more than publicity for historical content, not a key turning point like it could have been.

Believe it or not, I have faith in the Cubs coming up in the next few weeks.  A nice, long homestand against three bad teams in the Mets, Pirates, and Astros is the perfect time to get into a groove, especially as the ivy will be grown, the weather will be nice, and the fans will be there.  And they'll need to get into a groove, because they then play 20 straight games against teams who had winning records last year.  But I have faith they will, because this team has hung in there despite slow starts from Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena, who are both hitting very well now.  Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner will be huge to this team, as the Cubs will no longer have to deal with immediate five-run deficits by way of James Russell every fifth day.  Hopefully, the Cubs will get lucky for once.
 
  

Opening Day Aces

13 games, 26 teams, 26 aces.  Those are some stats, but I have some much better: 1,922.  That is the total number of wins from today's Opening Day starters combined.  2,430 is the number of games in a season.  If 1,922 is about 4/5 of 2,430, imagine every game of last season excluding September.  All of those games have been won by one of these starters.  The leader of the group is Roy Halladay, whose 148 wins beats Derek Lowe's 141.  John Lannan of the Nationals has only 20 career wins, lowest on the list narrowly beating Yovani Gallardo's 22, Shawn Marcum's 24 and Scott Feldman's 24.

A few notable starters:
-Jon Garland, now the ace in San Diego, makes the Opening Day start.
-The A's hand the ball to Ben Sheets who hasn't pitched since 2008.
-The Indians give the start to Jake Westbrook who hasn't pitched since May 2008.
-Vicente Padilla starts for the ace-less Dodgers.

The matchups for today (bold games are the matchups I suggest watching):
All times CT, TV listings for Chicago area (if applicable)

Indians (Jake Westbrook)
at White Sox (Mark Buehrle)
1:05 PM  ESPN2, CSN

Phillies (Roy Halladay)
at Nationals (John Lannan)
12:05 PM

Marlins (Josh Johnson)
at Mets (Johan Santana)
12:10 PM

Cardinals (Chris Carpenter)
at Reds (Aaron Harang)
12:10 PM  ESPN

Dodgers (Vicente Padilla)
at Pirates (Zach Duke)
12:35 PM

Blue Jays (Shawn Marcum)
at Rangers (Scott Feldman)
1:05 PM

Tigers (Justin Verlander)
at Royals (Zack Greinke)
3:10 PM

Rockies (Ubaldo Jimenez)
at Brewers (Yovani Gallardo)
1:10 PM

Cubs (Carlos Zambrano)
at Braves (Derek Lowe)
3:10 PM  ESPN, WCIU

Padres (Jon Garland)
at D-Backs (Dan Haren)
4:10 PM

Giants (Tim Lincecum)
at Astros (Roy Oswalt)
6:05 PM  ESPN2

Twins (Scott Baker)
at Angels (Jered Weaver)
9:05 PM  ESPN2

Mariners (Felix Hernandez)
at A's (Ben Sheets)
9:05 PM