The Central is going to be tough division to call ths year. The Indians and White Sox are both extremely qualified contenders, with the Twins and Tigers as able bodied spoilers. The Roylas shouldn’t be as terrible as they were last year either, assuming their pitching comes along. Let’s take a look at these teams.
Cleveland Indians – Last year, when I picked the Indians to finish second, everyone laughed at me. But now they are a proven threat and have the youngest, least likely team to suffer a crippling injury this season, so they are my choice to win the AL Central. From a strictly talent perspective, the Twins have better pitching and the White Sox have better bats, but I really doubt their ability to stay healthy long enough this season to put it together. With the Indians relying on younger guys like Cliff Lee, Jake Westbrook, Grady Sizemore and Victor Martinez, I find it hard to believe that they will be far off the pace if they don’t finish first.
Minnesota Twins – I’ll admit it, I think the Twins are going to finish here mostly because of sentiment. But hear me out. They have improved their pitching through the subtraction of J.C. Romero and Joe Mays, as youngsters Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano are able to step in. The only every day player to move out of Minnesota was Jacque Jones, while the Twins added Luis Castillo, Tony Batista and Rondell White. While the Twins won’t be painting the town red, they will be improved, and shouldn’t fade at the end of the season.
Chicago White Sox – I know that I will catch some flak for putting the White Sox this low, but hear me out. Their pitching didn’t drastically improve with the addition of Javier Vazquez, and Freddy Garcia, Jon Garland and Jose Contreras could, for all we know be one hit wonders (I don’t really believe that for Contreras), and their lineup is dependent on some guys with whom an injury could be devastating. If Konerko or Thome go down, the White Sox are in a lot of trouble, and that’s exactly what worries me about this team. However, if this team stays healthy and they don’t get comfortable, they could just as easily take the division again.
Detroit Tigers – Just think, a few years ago, this team was the laughingstock of the league. Now, they are neither so bad nor good that anyone notices them. Until they can get another good young hitter to step up when Magglio Ordonez inevitably goes down, or a true ace to lead the rotation, the Tigers appear to be stuck in fourth for the next several years.
Kansas City Royals – The Royals lineup actually improved fairly dramatically over the last year, with the addition of Reggie Sanders, and their defense is better with Mark Grudzielanek and Doug Mientkiewicz. David Dejesus and Emil Brown provide promising chips for the future. Unfortunately, they still feature a rotation that has Scott Elarton as the ace. Things are not going to go well out there in Kauffman Stadium this year.
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