FIP+: American League Central

by R.J. Anderson on Oct 28, 2008 10:57 PM EDT Comment 4 comments

Chicago White Sox

NAME	IP	FIP+
Matt Thornton	67.3	166
Adam Russell	26	136
Bobby Jenks	61.7	136
John Danks	195	128
Javier Vazquez	208.3	121
D.J. Carrasco	38.7	121
Mark Buehrle	218.7	114
Mike MacDougal	17	113
Octavio Dotel	67	112
Ehren Wassermann	19.7	112
Clayton Richard	47.7	112
Boone Logan	42.3	110
Scott Linebrink	46.3	109
Nick Masset	44.7	107
Jose Contreras	121	105
Horacio Ramirez	13	97
Gavin Floyd	206.3	96
Lance Broadway	14	68
Esteban Loaiza	3	68

The strength of the White Sox was their bullpen. Matt Thornton is a huge lefty who throws hard. Octavio Dotel and Scott Linebrink are "outs by air" pitchers who had solid seasons despite pitching in Chicago. Javier Vazquez caught a lot (a lot) of flak for his playoff start, but I'm not so sure Chicago can spare him unless they have a Derek Lowe card in their back pocket, and even then...

Cleveland Indians

NAME	IP	FIP+
Rich Rundles	5	168
Scott Elarton	15.3	168
Jonathan Meloan	2	162
Cliff Lee	223.3	148
Rafael Perez	76.3	134
C.C. Sabathia	122.3	123
Edward Mujica	38.7	104
Anthony Reyes	34.3	102
Juan Rincon	27.3	101
Matt Ginter	21	101
Rafael Betancourt	71	100
Jensen Lewis	66	95
Masahide Kobayashi	55.7	95
Jake Westbrook	34.7	91
Zach Jackson	54.7	91
Craig Breslow	8.3	88
Fausto Carmona	120.7	88
Scott Lewis	24	88
Aaron Laffey	93.7	87
Jeremy Sowers	121	84
Paul Byrd	131	81
Jorge Julio	17.7	80
Rick Bauer	6	78
Bryan Bullington	14.7	74
Brendan Donnelly	13.7	71
Joe Borowski	16.7	68
Tom Mastny	20	65
Brian Slocum	2	25

The good news for Cleveland: they had two of the best pitchers in the league last season. The bad: only one remains. Rafael Perez is a solid lefty who will be a part of the Cleveland resurgence next season. Anthony Reyes was better than Paul Byrd and will not be signing a four year, 41 million dollar extension. Did anyone know that Brendan Donnelly, Bryan Bullington, or Rick Bauer were still in the majors?

Detroit Tigers

NAME	IP	FIP+
Bobby Seay	56.3	139
Clay Rapada	21.3	114
Fernando Rodney	40.3	113
Aquilino Lopez	78.7	112
Justin Verlander	201	105
Jason Grilli	13.7	102
Freddy Dolsi	47.7	97
Zach Miner	118	96
Casey Fossum	41.3	95
Eddie Bonine	26.7	91
Chris Lambert	20.7	90
Gary Glover	20.3	90
Kyle Farnsworth	16	89
Armando Galarraga	178.7	89
Nate Robertson	168.7	88
Jeremy Bonderman	71.3	84
Kenny Rogers	173.7	83
Yorman Bazardo	3	82
Joel Zumaya	23.3	82
Denny Bautista	19	80
Todd Jones	41.7	79
Freddy Garcia	15	78
Francisco Cruceta	11.7	75
Francis Beltran	13	73
Dontrelle Willis	24	53

Detroit finally dumped Todd Jones, the epitome of a results-based closer, but discovered that Dontrelle Willis is pitiful. Only one of the Tigers starters were above average, that being Justin Verlander. Really, just a ton of disappointment from a team that people considered the American League monsters heading into the season.

Kansas City Royals

NAME	IP	FIP+
Tony Pena	1	382
Carlos Rosa	3.3	327
Ramon Ramirez	71.7	169
Horacio Ramirez	24.3	135
Joakim Soria	67.3	134
John Bale	26.7	131
Zack Greinke	202.3	120
Gil Meche	210.3	119
Robinson Tejeda	39.3	118
Leo Nunez	48.3	118
Ron Mahay	64.7	101
Kyle Davies	113	101
Luke Hochevar	129	97
Brandon Duckworth	38	95
Brett Tomko	60.7	87
Brian Bannister	182.7	84
Jeff Fulchino	14	82
Yasuhiko Yabuta	37.7	81
Jimmy Gobble	31.7	76
Kip Wells	10.3	71
Neal Musser	1	70
Joel Peralta	52.7	66
Joshua Newman	7	61
Devon Lowery	4.3	54
Hideo Nomo	4.3	31

I'll ignore the Tony Pena jokes. Horacio and Ramon Ramirez were extremely solid for the Royals, as were a handful of others. This team has seemingly done a nice job putting together solid pieces for cheap, minus Gil Meche. Joakim Soria is awesome and underappreciated by the general fan. I don't know if the Royals will finish in fourth or not next season, but they have some fun young talent.

Minnesota Twins

NAME	IP	FIP+
Jose Mijares	10.3	191
Craig Breslow	38.7	168
Joe Nathan	67.7	152
Dennys Reyes	46.3	114
Pat Neshek	13.3	113
Scott Baker	172.3	107
Jesse Crain	62.7	106
Francisco Liriano	76	105
Kevin Slowey	160.3	104
Boof Bonser	118.3	97
Nick Blackburn	193.3	94
Eddie Guardado	7	91
Livan Hernandez	139.7	89
Matt Guerrier	76.3	86
Glen Perkins	151	79
Bobby Korecky	17.7	78
Brian Bass	68.3	78
Juan Rincon	28	71
Philip Humber	11.7	50

The Twins used a strikingly low amount of pitchers, so much so that I actually had to double check my roster. I then did another check to make sure the FIP+ numbers weren't off. I'm a bit astonished at how average this staff was. Joe Nathan is one of the best relievers in the league, Francisco Liriano showed he's still an above average starter, and Brian Bass is intriguing as a groundball specialist. Oh, and why did this team want Jarrod Washburn again?

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