Detroit Tigers: These Rankings are Ridiculous

Really? The Chicago White Sox will win the AL Central in 2016? Gabe Lacques at USA Today has some serious issues with his predictions about the AL Central and baseball in general. In his latest piece, he predicts the outcomes for every MLB division. He predicts that the AL Central will be dominated by the White Sox and that the Detroit Tigers will finish fourth. Fourth? With the White Sox finishing….first?

Predicting that the White Sox will be the AL Central champions is a bold move. And, one that will certainly upset a serious collection of fanbases. Predicting that they will be six games ahead of the Kansas City Royals practically guarantees that someone has put a price on his head.

But thinking that the Minnesota Twins will only be ten games back is even more of a joke.

The interleague games will separate the men from the boys in the AL Central. Most of the teams play the Braves, Phillies, Nationals, Marlins, and Mets. This is in addition to the 19 games against each other and the handful of games against other AL opponents in other divisions.

Then, each team has a unique NL opponent.

The White Sox get to play the Cubs. The Royals face the Cardinals. The Twins face the Brewers. The Indians’ opponent is the Reds and the Tigers face the Pirates. The NL competition could create some deeper separation in the AL Central, especially since the Tigers, White Sox, and Royals have the toughest opponents.

Even with the differences in NL teams, it is highly unlikely that the White Sox will win the AL. The White Sox aren’t even sure who their shortstop will be this year.

Strangely, just a few weeks ago, this same USA Today writer published a piece touting the teams that won the offseason. Guess who was on that list? The Detroit Tigers. They were the only AL Central team on this list. He commented on the fact that the Tigers were the only AL Central team that decided to do some serious rebuilding and that they did it well. Yet, the same man decided that the only AL team that won the offseason will perform just above .500 in the actual season. This is a serious lack of consistency without any logical reasoning behind it.

About the only thing that Lacques did was describe the toughness of the AL Central. In the older piece, he called it ” a snake pit” and today’s piece he called it “hell.” The division is tough. Those of us who follow this division knows it. But winning the offseason should put the Tigers higher up in his standings.

Mr. Lacques predicts that 19 teams will have above-.500 seasons. This includes the Cubs, who he predicts will win 101 games (a handful of those will be against the White Sox). These predictions are flattering for many teams and painful for those that are predicted to finish with 100 or more losses, like the Reds, Phillies, and Rockies. Sadly for these losing team predictions, Lacques is probably correct. But, my 12-year-old son could also predict that these teams will lose in 2016. (Can he get a gig at USA Today?)

Next: Detroit Tigers Power Rankings are Wrong

This new insult, along with those from CBS Sports and ESPN, will hopefully encourage the Tigers to demolish their competition to prove the naysayers are full of baloney. The major media outlets and their 2016 predictions are laughable.