AL Central Divisional All-Stars

With the completion of this list, I will be 3/4 of the way through the Divisional All-Stars project. Starting to get a little burned out on the lists? Me too, kind of. When dealing with so many fantastic players, there becomes less and less to say about each one of them in terms of commentary. For the AL Central, I'd like to focus on repeat honorees, folks who were good enough to make the list two years in a row. But first, the raw numbers:

Right away we can see some of the best hitters to appear in this project followed directly by some of the very worst. Not that guys like Jhonny Peralta are bad athletes - he was just rewarded with a new contract from the Tigers - but put him up next to some of his competition (Evan Longoria, Adrian Beltre, Alex Rodriguez, Michael Young), and it's easy to see that we're dealing with one of the weaker divisions in the sport right now.

As far as holdovers, there's only six: three batters, one starter, and two relievers. At the plate, we have Mauer, Cabrera, and Choo, with the supporting cast around them just as lackluster as this year's bunch, minus the DH spot, of course (last year occupied by Michael Cuddyer, spending most of his playing time in right field). On the mound, Verlander is the starter to appear on last year's team, although Danks did headline last year's AL Wild Card starting staff. The two reliever Matt's (Thornton & Guerrier) showed up on both teams.

A weak offense, the loss of both Zack Greinke and Cliff Lee from the rotation; this AL Central is but a shadow of its former self. Consider the WAR of their starting staff: four 4's and a 3, compared to the AL East's four 5's and a 3. The story of Francisco Liriano's comeback is an inspiring one, but great teams are made by great players, not great stories.

I must admit, I'm a little baffled by what makes a high WAR score. If it were strikeouts, Verlander would be way ahead. Pavano has a big lead in complete games. Danks didn't seem to do anything that special. I don't know what crazy algorithm they've got going, but it escapes me. However they're calculated, they sure make the Royals look smart for locking up Joakim Soria for a multiyear deal - as I hinted at last time, he scored the most WAR of any reliever in the game.

While comparing these teams to one another, I found myself wishing that I had access to some fancy simulation software, where I could plug in all these players and their stats, and "watch" what would happen if they faced off in a fictional Playoff situation. Then I realized that such software does in fact exist - in the form of video games on our most powerful consoles!

I haven't played a baseball game regularly since MVP '05 for the PS2... and by regularly, I mean obsessively. Heck, I'd still be playing it, if the lag created by plugging my older system into my schmancy new HDTV didn't make the game unplayable. Maybe if I gift myself a PS3 for Christmas, I'll consider buying one of the new games, adjusting the rosters, and setting in motion a simulated series. I'd feel like Aristotle's Unmoved Mover as I watched the pixelated teams that I created run and jump and swing and slide all over a computer-generated field.

Wouldn't that be exciting? Now I just have to decide which game throw my support behind: the MLB "The Show" series or the 2K_ series. Any suggestions from baseball gamers out there?