Gut Response: Are the Royals Better than the Indians?

Royals fans feel good. 90% of respondents to our very unscientific poll believe the Royals are better than the Twins and 86% believe the Royals are better than the White Sox. And we always hear that people are too negative here at Royals Review!

Now, we turn our attention to the Indians. The Tribe shocked baseball in 2011 by spending 85 days in first, holding onto an early season lead all the way until July 20th. On May 23, their high point, the Indians were 30-15 and had a seven game lead in the division. It didn't last, but like the Royals, the Indians are team thought to be on the upswing.

Indians in a Box: 2011 record: 80-82. Additions: Jeremy Accardo, Russ Canzler, Casey Kotchman, Andy LaRouche, Fred Lewis, Derek Lowe, Felix Pie, Kevin Slowey, Robinson Tejeda, Dan Wheller. Losses: Jim Thome, Chad Durbin, Kosuke Fukudome, "Fausto Carmona" in multiple senses, any idea that Ubaldo Jimenez is elite

Basically, the Indians added Kotchman, Lowe, and then had a lot of low-level, low-impact roster churn. Grady Sizemore was brought back, then got hurt anyway.