AL Central Preview
You’d be lying to yourself if you were even 51% confident in any one of these team’s chances to win the World Series. There is no powerhouse and no weak link. This was the one division in baseball that didn’t have a team with less than 70 wins. The White Sox took the division by posting a 44-29 record in the Central. I’ll use some John Madden logic and say the team with the best record in the Central will again have the edge this year.
Minnesota Twins
Ron Gardenhire should just get manager of the year every year. He has this team motivated from day one, and they continuously outperform expectations. Last year they lost the best pitcher in the majors and still put up one heck of a fight. This year the torch is officially passed to Liriano, and he’ll be expected to lead a solid group of starters. The pitching just needs to remain healthy as the bullpen is strong, anchored by one of the most underrated closers in baseball, Joe Nathan. The one thing that will surely test the Twins is a prolonged loss of Joe Mauer. Along with Morneau he’s a clubhouse leader as well as the offensive catalyst. A speedy return by Joe could be the difference between a playoff birth or the division dregs. Besides the catching position the Twins are loaded with depth, especially in the outfield where future studs Denard Span, Carlos Gomez, and Delmon Young roam.
Detroit Tigers
This team was supposed to shatter all sorts of scoring records in 2008 as they crossed a rose petal covered path to the World Series. They fell from the start and failed to get up. This year will be different. They run out the same dominating offense, which is tops in the Central, and as disappointing as it was last year they still finished 5th in runs scored and 4th in HR in all of baseball. The departure of Sheffield probably makes them even better. The question will obviously be in their pitching. I think they’re much better suited for this year than last in that department. Verlander needs to return to form, but Armando Galarraga looked great in the WBC, the Edwin Jackson trade will pay dividends, and my personal favorite for rookie of the year, Rick Porcello, is replacing that deadbeat Dontrelle. Whatever they can get from Bonderman at this point is a bonus, as you can’t count on him if you’re a Tigers fan. The bullpen is the obvious crux of the team, and if Joel Zumaya can get himself in the pen and stay off the DL they might just be alright.
Chicago White Sox
The offense has a nice mix of youngsters and veterans. I wish nothing but continued success for Carlos Quentin, who because of a late season injury missed out on an MVP award. The problem lies within the rotation. The frustrating Vasquez is gone, but he’s replaced with an equally frustrating and vastly obese Bartolo Colon. The burden lies on Mark Buehrle , who was able to turn on the jets in the second half and lead the team into the post season. Danks and Floyd took as many strides forward as Jose Contreras took backward, so that’s at least something. There’s an obvious black hole in two fifths of the rotation, but this team also can brag they have five guys in the pen who were/are considered closers. Bottom line for this team; they can’t fiddle around with Thome, Dye, Konerko all season long without making a move. Either get a solid starter or get younger.
Kansas City Royals
There’s a lot of “experts” picking this team to win the division. Basically because the Rays did it last year, and they like the shock value. I believe they have a shot, but these are after all the royals. I will give them this…out of all the teams in the Central they did the most to address their needs. They actually added a SP with potential (albeit limited) in Davies, a legit CF in Coco Crisp, and a slugging 1B in Mike Jacobs. These were better moves than most people might realize. You take those pieces and add in some improvement from Gordon, Butler, and Greinke mix it up with a stellar bullpen and you might touch the upper side of 80 wins.
Cleveland Indians
This team has a lot of likeable parts, but the offseason didn’t compliment any of them. You can’t rest on the laurels of Cliff Lee, which is what they did by adding DL all stars Kerry Wood and Carl Pavano. Carl does need a new contract and Wood stayed healthy for a season, but then again Wood is on the DL already and Pavano probably has enough money from the Yankees. The offense will certainly get a boost from a healthy Victor Martinez and the new found power bat of Sin Choo (bless you), but Hafner’s bat has left the building. As bad as Hafner has been, Indians fans should expect that by now, what was clearly a disappointment was the performance by Rafael Betancourt. His downfall turned the bullpen into a disaster zone.
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Newsvine
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Technorati
Thanks. Nice article