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The American League Central is going to be one of the tightest divisions in baseball. Four of the five teams have a very good chance of coming away victors.
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With the Detroit Tigers only making a few changes over the offseason so far, they expect Joakim Soria to step up and be a quality setup man in front of Joe Nathan, and a possible replacement if Nathan continues his 2014 struggles.
Soria made 13 appearances for the Tigers after being acquired by the Texas Rangers. During mid-August, he had an oblique injury that wiped him out for about a month. The right-handed pitcher held a 3.25 ERA over 26 appearances between the Rangers and Tigers in 2014. He dominated with a 0.992 WHIP, while gibing up just 0.4 home runs per nine innings. However, with just the Tigers he put up a 4.91 ERA, with a 1.364 WHIP. Soria, a Mexico native, struggled during the back-end of this season, but he needs to step up big if the Tigers even what a chance to make the playoffs. Soria needs to carry the bullpen and give help when needed. He has the talent, but Detroit is just waiting for him to show it to the world. -Evan Petzold Atlanta Braves right-hander Shae Simmons underwent Tommy John surgery on Thursday to fix the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow. The Braves have lost multiple players to this same injury. Last offseason, they lost Kris Medlen, Brandon Beachy, Jonny Venters and Cory Gearrin. After undergoing the surgery, they moved on from the Atlanta organization. Mark Bowman of MLB.com reported that Simmons began feeling the discomfort in his right elbow about a week ago. During 2014, Simmons pitched in 26 relief situations. He held a 2.91 ERA with 23 strikeouts over 21.2 innings.
-Evan Petzold Milwaukee Brewers catcherJonathan Lucroy will miss four-to-six weeks with a mild right hamstring strain, as the team announced on Wednesday. It was not made clear how the All-Star suffered the injury, bit it was diagnosed on Monday and then by another doctor on Tuesday. Gord Ash, the assistant general managers, said that Lucroy will not be shut down fully. He will be able to work on multiple aspects of his game. However, he must refrain from running at all costs.
Lucroy had a breakout 2014 season. He held a .301 average, with 13 home runs and 69 RBI's. He led the National League in doubles with 53 and the catcher finished fourth in MVP voting. -Evan Petzold After tons of trade rumors involving Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. claimed that he expects the Hamels to take the mound on Opening Day.
"I would expect him to be in spring training with the Phillies," Amaro told ESPN's Jayson Stark. "And I would expect him to be our Opening Day starter. I don't know that for sure. That could change in a phone call or two, just like with anyone else. But I would expect him to be in camp." "As long as he's still with us, there's a chance something could happen," Amaro said. "I can't really handicap it. It certainly seems likely he'll be in camp with us, but it can change. Guys get hurt in spring training a lot. Teams can have different assessments of where they are as they begin to look at their club. There's a whole slew of different circumstances that could affect how teams view their club. So maybe somebody could change course." Hamels, 31 has a no-trade clause to a few teams that are in discussion with the Phillies. Hamels would have to agree with Amaro to be traded. Trading the left-handed pitcher probably will not be an easy thing to do. "Cole is a unique situation. (To acquire him) requires talent and money," Amaro said. "So it's a totally different dynamic than it would be for someone to acquire one of the free agents. So I'm not really sure what the direct impact is, or whether there is a direct impact." The San Diego native strung together a record of 9-9, while adding a 2.46 ERA over 30 games in 2014. He has been very healthy; pitching 200-plus innings in six of his nine MLB seasons. -Evan Petzold Victor Martinez underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair his torn left meniscus and the report is that the surgery was successful. The Detroit Tigers are also optimistic that the designated hitter can come back to start the regular season. "We are happy the surgery went well and that Victor will be ready to compete for the start of the 2015 season," Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said in a statement. Dr. James Andrews preformed the procedure in Florida. He told the team that he can resume activites to their fullness in four-to-six weeks. "I would say based on Dr. Andrews' assessment that this is about as good of news that we could have hoped for," said Tigers manager Brad Ausmus. He will stay on crutches until the swelling goes down and he gets motion in his knee, according to Jason Beck of MLB.com. "Vic was in great shape prior to the surgery," Tigers athletic trainer Kevin Rand told reporters. "That should really bode well for his rehab."
The 36-year-old had his best season of his long career during the 2014 season. He launced a career-high 32 long balls and tallied 103 RBI's. He also led the majors with a .409 OBP. The 12-year veteran played in 151 games and took 561 at-bats. -Evan Petzold Just hours after signing James Shields to a four-year deal, the San Diego Padres are reportedly going be working very hard to get another top free agent. Cuban prospect Yoan Moncada is working out for the Padres on Monday and the team is expected to be highly aggressive in pursuit of the young infielder, according to Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan. Moncada was granted free agency about a week ago and is considered the top international prospect at this point in time. He is looking to sign with a team for about $40-50 million. The switch-hitter has announced that is goal is to sign with a team soon.
The 19-year-old has also worked out for the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. -Evan Petzold James Shields is a step closer to signing with a team, most likely the San Diego Padres. The Padres have offered Shields a four-year, $72-80 million contract, sources tell Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. The contract from San Diego is their best and final offer, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego union-Tribune. After being on the market for quite some time, Shields' value has dropped. Originally, he was hoping for a five-year deal worth $110 million. As you can tell, the Padres offer is not near what he was looking for back in the beginning of the offseason. The Chicago Cubs are highly interested in the free-agent. The St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins are also apparently in on the 33-year-old.
Over 34 starts last season with the Kansas City Royals, Shields posted a 14-8 record with a 3.21 ERA. -Evan Petzold James Shields was born and raised in San Diego, California. It seems like he may get the opportunity to pitch in his hometown for the next few years. According to Buster Olney of ESPN, there is a growing sense among people involved in contract discussions that the veteran will end up with the San Diego Padres. He has a strong preference to sign on the West Coast. He makes San Diego his offseason home. Ron Fowler, Padres chairman, indicated that his team's payroll could increase over $100 million on Opening Day. He claimed that "things could change quickly" under new general manager A.J. Preller.
-Evan Petzold The Kansas City Royals agreed with Danny Duffy on a one-year deal to avoid arbitration, the team announced on Friday. The lefty will make $2.425 million during the 2015 campaign, as reported by Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star. The 25-year-old went 9-12 during the 2014 season with the Royals. He owned a 2.53 ERA over 31 games; 25 of them started. Duffy added a 1.112 WHIP and gave up just 0.7 home runs per nine innings.
-Evan Petzold |