Declaring the offseason champ is a sucker’s bet

Not meaning to pick on Buster here because a lot of people say stuff like this, but …

Here’s why the Tigers are so dangerous: If Verlander, Scherzer, Fister, Sanchez make 125 starts, as part of AL Central, DET will win 100.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 18, 2012

That goes well with the Phillies 2010-2011 offseason championship and the Red Sox in 2011-2012. If I remember correctly, the Red Sox also broke the record for most wins in a season and books were written about the greatness of that four aces Phillies rotation.

Oh, wait. Books were written about those guys. The point still stands.

In any event, this holiday season, please predict responsibly.

Terrible news for Blue Jays pitcher Matt Shoemaker: the MRI he had on his knee revealed a torn ACL. He’ll need surgery and will miss the remainder of the season.

Shoemaker was in the process of holding the A’s scoreless through three innings of three-hit, one-strikeout ball in his start on Saturday. He twisted his leg awkwardly when he ran over and tagged Matt Chapman between first and second base, however, and it was immediately clear that things weren’t right. He was initially diagnosed with a sprain, but the MRI showed that it was worse.

This is a tough break for Shoemaker, who had started off the season pretty fantastically, posting a 1.57 ERA over his first five starts this year.

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