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?