SixFourThree

Quasimodo's hunch is not so hidden.

Two weeks ago, we took a gander at the National League front-runners and the little things that are going under the radar that will help them clinch their respective divisions and achieve postseason success.

Now on to the lesser league, with their designated hitters, home run parks and players named after Japanese cars.

American League East

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New York Yankees

Hidden Hunch: Look at the Gaudin numbers!

It’s going to take a mountain of momentum and offensive production to unseat the New York Stock Exchange – I mean Yankees – from atop the AL East. They have the best team money can buy. Literally. Except for their fifth starter, one Sergio Mitre, who’s barely a strikeout pitcher anymore. Since joining the Bombers July 21, he’s gone 3-2 with a 7.02 ERA and a 1.76 WHIP, and those aren’t hard-luck numbers, either; his career numbers are right in line. And limiting Joba Chamberlain’s starts doesn’t mean we’ll be seeing less Mitre.

So who’s going to step up? It has to be my man Chad Gaudin*, who’s had decent success as a Yankee – 3.42 ERA, 1.61 WHIP – but the real gem in his stats is he’s posted a .253 BAA in 23.2 IP. Now, you clearly don’t need a guy like Gaudin as anything but a middle reliever in the postseason because you can switch to a three-man rotation in October, but there are a handful of starts between now and then, and they could end up being important ones. He’s already a spot-starter, but instead of toying with Gaudin’s time off the mound, just make him the fifth starter and send Mitre back to the minors to bring in some young talent. Joe Girardi should only have to ask himself one question: Does the beard make the man, or is it the other way around?

 *  Note: Chad Gaudin is not, nor has he ever been, my man. It just couldn’t pass up the potential to rhyme.

It is rumored that Gaudin the Man also has a plan.

American League Central

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Detroit Tigers

Hidden Hunch: O Magglio, where art thou?

Woe is the Tigers’ 2009 season. Only in the weak AL Central could a .534 team be in first place with a four-game lead. The Tigers went 16-13 in August, averaging 5.75 runs in their wins and 2.62 runs in their losses – that’s an unkind disparity. What they need is a bat to step in, one that’s been absent all year, and one that they used to be able to count on, but has since diminished into offensive obscurity.

Of course we talk of Magglio Ordoñez. Okay, so it’s not exactly “hidden” that Maggs hasn’t produced at his expected level in 2009, but who says all my hunches have to be earth-shatteringly original? The Tigers, believe it or not, have the all the “intangible” pieces in place to put together a nice post-season run: a decent rotation, reliable bullpen, good defensive players and a great manager in Jim Leyland, crazy codger that he is. The one thing they’re missing is the .300 hitting and 20+ HRs of Maggs. I think they can get going without him producing like he used to, but a return to form would strengthen their case as a postseason dark horse in the AL.

American League West

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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Hidden Hunch: Defense, defense, defense

What’s up with everyone being down on the Halos this year? This club has put together a great season with young talent and smart coaching. People have been giving flack to their rotation for allowing so many runs, but it’s not the pitchers’ faults. It’s the defense. The Angels have good pitchers that run into stacked AL lineups and are backed by a poor defense.

The Angels’ defense have an ErrR (error runs) rating of 10.3, good for last place in the American League. Consider it this way: Each Angels fielder has been responsible for an average of about 10 runs each this season. Compare that to the best team in the AL in this category (the Mariners), who have combined to each take away an average of 14 earned runs. The numbers of unearned runs the Angels defense has allowed has been the difference for them, and if they want to compete this postseason, they need to shape up or they’re going to be shipped out.

American League Wild Card

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Boston Red Sox

Hidden Hunch: Locking ‘em down

You know what no one talks about when they talk about Boston being this great team? Their middle relievers. All we hear about is Jonathan Papelbon and his ice-cold nerves. We never hear about how the Boston bullpen (in total, to be sure) has combined for the lowest ERA by an AL bullpen, the second-fewest home runs allowed, the third-most strikeouts and the fewest total runs allowed.

They’ve got young guys in there, for the most part. Papelbon, Ramón Ramírez, Manny Delcarmen, Daniel Bard – they all complement Hideki Okajima quite well. They’ve got vigor and command on their side, and they’ve each got good “stuff,” whatever that means. Now with Billy Wagner in there, they’ve got a bullpen that can lock down a postseason race, the same kind of thing we saw with the Tampa Bay Rays last year. If their starters can give them 6-7 quality innings each night, this is a high-caliber, consistent bullpen that can shut games and opposing offenses down.

- Kaplowitz