Justin Verlander says Tigers are ‘still the team to beat’ in AL Central
The AL Central figures to be one of the most interesting divisions in baseball for 2015: The Chicago White Sox made a number of top-flight additions this offseason, the Kansas City Royals are coming off a World Series trip, the Cleveland Indians are a popular “sleeper” pick and the Minnesota Twins, ummmmm, they’ve got cool new wall art.
Then there’s the Detroit Tigers, a team that’s finished atop the division the last four years and has been one of the most feared in the American League all that time. Gone are Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello. But Yoenis Cespedes has arrived and David Price still has another year in Detroit. Miguel Cabrera, of course, is still around and always dangerous. Victor Martinez is back, though hurt right now.
There are two common opinions about the Tigers this season: They’re old and losing their grip on the AL Central, or they’re still potent and the team to beat until someone knocks them off.
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Justin Verlander, as you might expect, lands fully in the latter category. He held court with reporters Wednesday at Tigers training camp, talking for 15 minutes about various topics, but the one he spoke on in the greatest detail was why the Tigers are still the team to beat.
From Chris Iott at MLive.com:
“I talked to Alex (Avila) about this and he said he kind of likes being in a position where everybody’s not picking us to win the division. … I said, ‘Yeah, you know, I think people just like to talk.’ ESPN and MLB Network, all the moves in the AL Central, it’s something to talk about. It’s cool. ‘Look what the Sox did. The Indians are always good. The Royals were the pennant winners last year. What did the Tigers do? They’re aging.’
“But if you had them put a bunch of money on somebody in the division, who do you think they’re taking? It’s easy to talk about, easy to say, ‘Yeah, I will take the White Sox.’ But if you had to put a bunch of money on it, mortgage the future, I think you have to take us. I still believe we are the team to beat. You look around this (clubhouse), I would take us. Obviously I am a bit biased. But look around this locker room. There is a wealth of talent. I think we have just as good a chance as we’ve had in the past. Is the division better? Yeah. But I still think we’re the best team.”
Once again, he’s very much expected to think that. But he’s not alone either. Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projects have the Tigers finishing 82-80, ahead of the Indians by one game in the AL Central. Oddsmaker Bovada put the Tigers’ over/under-mark for wins at 84.5, which is best in the AL Central and, again, ahead of the Indians by one.
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If Verlander’s looking for one of the keys for Detroit in 2015, he only needs to look in the mirror. After going 15-12 with a 4.54 ERA last season, many people are wondering if Verlander has used up all his ace stuff. He arrived in camp this year bulked up, healthier and reports that “everything seems crisper.”
The fans in Detroit sure hope so.
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Mike Oz is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
