Twins spell trouble for Tigers
I thought coming into the 2009 season there was one team potentially better than the Tigers:
The Minnesota Twins.
I still believe it. In fact, I still expect the Twins to win the American League Central Division. I expect it even more because of the way Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau can break up well-pitched ballgames, which is the variety Minnesota gets on most occasions, at least from its starters.
I expect it because Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel are also potential sticks of dynamite every game in which they're in the lineup.
That a team with all this cement and steel has Joe Nathan as its closer is one more reason the Twins will probably win the division.
I can see the Tigers overtaking them in two ways:
1. Dontrelle Willis and Armando Galarraga provide a sustainable string of innings and solid efforts the rest of the way. Those are big dreams, in my estimation, for Tigers fans, which is why Jeremy Bonderman could be a key wild card if he is ever able to rebuild sufficient strength in his arm and return in 2009. Again, that may be closer to a dream for Tigers followers.
2. The Tigers swing a deal for a big bat -- sooner rather than later. They have overall strong pitching and defense, but the pitching will be taxed unless the above points about Willis-Galarraga are fulfilled during June and July.
That still leaves the issue of manager Jim Leyland's batting order. It needs help -- soon. It needs somebody to drive the ball, which is what Carlos Guillen was supposed to be doing, not to mention Marcus Thames. Neither of them is showing promising signs of recovering fully from injuries. It's also questionable whether Guillen, if healthy, can return to his old form. He has seriously aged during the past two years.
That's why swinging a deal for a strong bat -- Luke Scott of Baltimore? -- is in order. The Tigers will need someone in the middle of the lineup who can drive a ball up the gap.
No longer is Magglio Ordonez that kind of hitter. Curtis Granderson should pull out of his funk -- should -- but it's past the one-quarter point of the season, and Granderson is doing nothing to show that he's back on track.
There are fundamental differences at the moment in how the Twins and Tigers stack up. I think those differences favor the Twins. And I suspect those differences could easily manifest themselves in a torrid June for a Minnesota team that is looking at a lovely June schedule, filled with softies.The Twins spell trouble for the Tigers, which is not a negative overview.
It's fact. And facts generally reveal themselves in time to be just that.
