FanPost

AL Central Comparative

I don't know what the purpose of this really is. I'm not sure if we can glean any new insight into the state of the Royals, or the AL Central division itself. My working title for it was "JKWard's Big-Ass Table of Comparison". But, I put it together, and it seemed like some fairly interesting information, so there.

Couple of notes first:

1) Information for batters is updated ZiPS projection, followed by their current triple slash, and then their projected WAR for the season. Pitcher information is cumulative stats on the season thus far.

2) Because pitchers are not broken down individually, team starting pitching rank is weighted 5:1; reliever rank is weighted 5:2.

3) Everything is limited to this year's data. So please, don't complain about how Prince Fielder is a better player and has a longer future ahead of him than Paul Konerko, so he should be ranked #1. The table is not about projecting the future; it's about the current state of the teams.

4) The table is not weighted in general, so the fact that one team's shortstop or outfielder is 2 WAR better than the next closest guy counts the same as the team whose second baseman is only 0.3 WAR better. This makes the table far less cool than it could be.

ZiPS (U) Current Proj. fWAR Rank
First Base
Eric Hosmer, KC .257/.317/.420 .218/.287/.370 0.9 4
Justin Morneau, MIN .249/.321/.463 .233/.300/.460 1.3 3
Prince Fielder, DET .295/.391/.502 .311/.390/.498 4.3 2
Casey Kotchman, CLE .247/.312/.371 .228/.290/.351 0.2 5
Paul Konerko, CWS .324/.402/.548 .357/.431/.594 4.8 1
Second Base
Yuniesky Betancourt, KC .260/.286/.414 .258/.291/.474 0.2 5
Alexi Casilla, MIN .255/.307/.339 .252/.294/.327 0.7 3
Ramon Santiago, DET .245/.322/.341 .233/.318/.319 0.4 4
Jason Kipnis, CLE .268/.326/.434 .276/.330/.441 4.1 1
Gordon Beckham, CWS .242/.303/.376 .234/.289/.369 1.0 2
Third Base
Mike Moustakas, KC .274/.330/.452 .273/.341/.468 4.9 2
Trevor Plouffe, MIN .246/.315/.479 .252/.341/.568 2.6 3
Miguel Cabrera, DET .312/.387/.545 .313/.371/.540 6.1 1
Jack Hannahan, CLE .245/.321/.373 .267/.338/.397 1.4 4
Orlando Hudson, CWS .221/.294/.338 .194/.257/.303 0.2 5
Shortstop
Alcides Escobar, KC .284/.325/.380 .295/.337/.388 2.3 3
Brian Dozier, MIN .251/.292/.342 .247/.263/.338 0.2 5
Jhonny Peralta, DET .268/.337/.415 .268/.350/.410 3.2 2
Asdrubal Cabrera, CLE .289/.364/.454 .301/.389/.476 4.7 1
Alexei Ramirez, CWS .250/.285/.340 .230/.255/.285 0.8 4
Left Field
Alex Gordon, KC .267/.359/.424 .258/.359/.396 5.4 1
Josh Willingham, MIN .264/.371/.500 .275/.385/.533 3.8 2
Quintin Berry, DET .337/.409/.434 3
Johnny Damon, CLE .232/.308/.361 .190/.274/.289 0.6 5
Dayan Viciedo, CWS .266/.309/.439 .261/.294/.450 1.2 4
Center Field
Jarrod Dyson, KC .248/.312/.301 .258/.330/.301 0.1 5
Denard Span, MIN .280/.348/.385 .285/.353/.398 3.5 2
Austin Jackson, DET .287/.363/.453 .320/.410/.547 5.2 1
Michael Brantley, CLE .279/.324/.383 .284/.320/.397 1.8 4
Alejandro De Aza, CWS .286/.353/.408 .295/.366/.406 3.4 3
Right Field
Jeff Francoeur, KC .274/.316/.417 .274/.313/.405 1.0 4
Ben Revere, MIN .293/.331/.345 .319/.348/.385 2.2 3
Brennan Boesch, DET .253/.300/.397 .241/.276/.368 -0.7 5
Shin-Soo Choo, CLE .271/.362/.431 .273/.362/.430 2.4 2
Alex Rios, CWS .275/.317/.443 .288/.331/.472 2.6 1
Designated Hitter
Billy Butler, KC .299/.366/.491 .303/.369/.515 3.5 1
Ryan Doumit, MIN .253/.315/.410 .253/.314/.409 0.7 3
Delmon Young, DET .274/.308/.415 .265/.298/.389 -0.1 5
Jose Lopez, CLE .256/.288/.401 .239/.272/.376 0.6 4
Adam Dunn, CWS .219/.359/.510 .225/.369/.559 2.6 2
Catcher
Humberto Quintero, KC .234/.262/.336 .231/.257/.343 0.6 5
Joe Mauer, MIN .310/.403/.435 .314/.415/.427 4.4 1
Gerald Laird, DET .266/.318/.374 .294/.337/.412 1 4
Carlos Santana, CLE .239/.356/.406 .233/.350/.361 3.9 2
A.J. Pierzynski, CWS .282/.323/.462 .285/.330/.509 3.6 3
Team Pitching Starters Rank Relievers Rank
Kansas City 4.86/4.32/4.54 3 3.01/3.48/3.80 1
Minnesota 6.07/5.36/4.46 5 3.69/3.99/4.11 3
Detroit 4.21/3.80/3.66 1 3.96/3.61/3.89 2
Cleveland 4.64/4.48/4.64 4 4.45/3.83/3.96 5
Chicago 4.17/4.11/4.12 2 3.82/4.13/3.96 4
Team Breakdown Avg. Rank Top Pos. Worst Pos.
Kansas City 2.88 RP, DH, LF CF, 2B, C
Minnesota 3.48 C SP, SS
Detroit 2.24 SP, 3B, CF DH, RF
Cleveland 3.67 2B, SS RP, LF, 1B
Chicago 2.73 1B, RF 3B

Quick Observations:

  • The Indians overall rank suffers from having fewer top-ranked players. Also from the fact that their pitching overall is not good. This table would have you believe that it is a minor miracle that they are not wandering around the cellar with the Twins.
  • Detroit is very good. I don't know why they are meandering around right now.
  • Chicago's pitching is carrying them to another 2nd-place finish
  • Not surprisingly. up-the-middle position players are the Achilles' Heel for the Royals. The good news, if you can call it that, is that two of those positions (C, CF) have upgrades coming soon. Also, Irving Falu is back. So.
  • Minnesota's pitching is really, really bad. If it weren't for a semi-competent bullpen, the Twins would be headed towards some historically bad rankings as far as pitching is concerned. To put it more astutely, the Twins would kill for Mazzaro, Mendoza, and Adcock. They are begging to Adcock.

What are your thoughts?

This FanPost was written by a member of the Royals Review community. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the editors and writers of this site.