Between the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals, last year proved to be interesting. When all was said and done in the 2014 "regular season" the Tigers would nip the Royals by one measly game to claim the AL Central Division crown.
It was said the Tigers "owned" the Royals during their head to head match-ups, and that point was valid. Indeed, when facing each other, Detroit posted a 12-6 record over KC. Obviously, a 6 game differential.
But remembering the Tigers only finished one game ahead of the Royals means KC was 5 games better against all the rest of the competition over the year.
In the post-season, the Tigers would be quickly broomed by the Balimore Orioles, while the Royals would go on to the World Series, finally succumbing to the San Fran Giants in a back and forth thrilling seven game series.
Head to head results aside, there can be little doubt which team had the more successful season.
In 2014, the Tigers (and their media) boasted of Detroit having the "best starting rotation in baseball". Perhaps they did, though a few other teams likely disputed such a claim. The Tigers had a few sluggers that could pound the ball all over the park. Those were both good things.
But Detroit's defense was mediocre at best, they lacked team speed to say the least, and their bullpen was a definite liability. Those were all bad things.
Conversely, the Royals had decent starting pitching, lots of speed, their defense was stellar, and a "lights out" bullpen. Good things. Not an abundance of heavy hitters. A bad thing.
Fast forward to 2015. The Tigers lost Cy Young winner Max Scherzer to free agency, Justin Verlander is on the shelf with a mysterious injury, David Price has a tweaky hamstring issue, and a couple new guys they plugged into the rotation started off hot, but opposing hitters seem to be figuring them out more and more as the young season progresses.
In addition, Detroit has added a couple other new position players that few baseball fans were aware of before. But they play well defensively and have some speed. The bullpen? Well..... still pretty much a crapshoot.
On the other hand, the Royals have added some punch to their batting lineup. They can still play "small ball" but now they have a little more "meat" in their lineup. They're still relatively fast, better than average defensively, and the bullpen? Well.... pretty much still reliable.
Some teams will be better than others every year, but no team ever " has it all". Great starting pitching, sluggers galore, team speed, outstanding defense and a shut-down bullpen have their mutually exclusive limits. A guy like Miguel Cabrera is fearsome with a bat in his hands, but he's slow on the basepaths and won't be winning a Golden Glove any year soon. A trade-off. Besides, if all the players were THAT good, despite the technical lack of a salary cap (and that pesky cha-ching luxury tax for going over the "threshold"), the owners couldn't or wouldn't pay them the whopping salaries they would command to stay on the team. Add in free agency and other suitors offering big bucks and something's got to give.
It's interesting when one thinks about it. The typically old school Tigers have tried to "modernize" their roster a bit. Given they haven't won a World Series in over 30 years, it probably couldn't hurt. They even hired a manager last year, one Brad Ausmus, with zero previous experience running a club.
The Royals went out and got a couple sluggers, but likely sacrificed some defensive prowess while doing so.
So far this year, the Tigers and Royals are neck and neck in their division, with the Royals having won 4 out of 7 in head-to-head matchups.
Back to the original title question. Who's the best team overall?
Answer. Forget winning the division. Like last year, it doesn't mean squat as long as both teams qualify for the post-season.
Bottom line answer to who's better. We'll all find out in October when it matters.
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