This is the division last year that produced the AL representative in the World Series… and not much else. This year, the Indians and White Sox hope to have a say in how the division shakes out, and the Twins and Royals could both turn the corner and make a play for a spot. What’s interesting about the Central is that every team except the Royals has multiple division wins since the division was created in 1994. In fact, the non-Royals members have each one at least one division title since 2007, when the Cleveland Indians last took the crown.
Chicago White Sox – Are They Too Old?
The White Sox last season made a run at the division, but faded down the stretch. They were 72-59 at the end of August and had a three-game lead on the eventual AL champion Tigers. However, September and October were disastrous for them, as they went 13-18 after August 31st. The only way a White Sox player got into a playoff game last year was with a ticket. They ended up not even close to making it in with the newly-created second Wild Card slot; finishing fourth, solidly behind those ahead of them.
The White Sox are built to win now, with many of their players reaching the twilight of their careers (or in the case of Paul Konerko, the dead cat bounce, he’s seemingly been baseball old for forever). The White Sox are leaning on many players who are 32 years old or older, including the aforementioned Konerko, but also Dunn, Peavy, Thornton, Alex Rios and Jeff Keppinger. These are all key players at key positions. The White Sox seemingly recognized their aging issue and dumped AJ Pierzynski, letting him sign with the Texas Rangers. They have loads of young talent—masher Dayan Viciedo, Gordon Beckham, and other solid, young contributors. The problem is that they are only contributors. The backbone of this team is aging, and rapidly so.
The aging Sox players have one more good season in them, but this will be their last hurrah. Dunn, Konerko and Peavy make up the retirement community backbone of the club. Konerko is the oldest, but has “old man skills.” He takes a bunch of walks, gets good, solid contact, and mashes the occasional tater or two. The same can be said of Dunn, who has the “three true outcomes” down pat. He seemingly only strikes out, walks or hits a homerun. The plate vision of these two allows them to age gracefully, and prevents a suddenly, precipitous decline of the Sox.
Bold Prediction: The White Sox don’t come apart at the seams in the home stretch this year and take the AL Central. They, unfortunately, don’t have the rotation required to really do damage in the playoffs. Their ceiling is an ALCS loss. After last season, however, they will be happy they didn’t fall apart down the stretch, at least.
Cleveland Indians – Does the Cash Flashing Pay Off?
Last year, the Indians finished 68-94 last season, almost crossing that dreaded 100 loss threshold. It cost Manny Acta his job, and many of their everyday players theirs, as well. They were major players this offseason. They turned the corpse of Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo, Travis Hafner (nicknamed Pronk for half project, half donkey, who should just be nicknamed Donk now as his time as a prospect has passed) and Derek Lowe into Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher, Drew Stubbs, Mark Reynolds and wonder-prospect Trevor Bauer. They also picked up former Red Sox manager Terry Francona to run this new-look franchise.
In one offseason they shed the weight of failed expectations after their 2007 playoff run. They removed the centerpieces of Hafner, Sizemore and Choo and turned them into pieces valuable in other ways. The clear focus of the team is now to build around home-grown players Jason Kipnis, Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana at Second Base, Shortstop and Catcher, respectively. They brought in a speedster in Bourn, veteran contributors in Swisher and Stubbs and a masher in Mark Reynolds. By bringing in Bauer for pennies on the dollar because Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson is a doofus. This gives them a core of Cabrera, Santana, Kipnis and Bauer that should make them seriously dangerous in a few years while contending for the now.
Their defensive outfield is now one of, if not the best, in baseball. It should even make Ubaldo Jimenez look halfway respectable. The Indians are among the teams thanking their lucky stars for the new, second Wild Card spot. They’re up there with the A’s and Blue Jays in contention for that spot.
Bold Prediction: The new-look Indians, behind breakouts from Kipnis and Cabrera, are propelled to the second Wild Card spot, where they lose. However, after last season, that should be enough for the Cleveland fans. Double bold: they finally lose the hyper-racist Chief Wahoo. Yeah, like that would ever happen.
Detroit Tigers – Can They Repeat 2012?
The AL Champions were overwhelming favorites to defeat the Giants in the World Series last year. At the opening of the series, the Fox broadcasters had them outmatching the Giants in nearly every aspect. They famously gave the Tigers two check marks for being so good at starting pitching. This was, of course, before Pablo Sandoval hit three homeruns off of Justin Verlander in game one. The Giants never looked back, sweeping the Tigers en route to their second title in three years. This isn’t the first time the Tigers lost while they were overwhelming favorites to win the series. In 2006, USA Today said, “The Detroit Tigers' biggest obstacle to a championship will be keeping a straight face. The Tigers in three.” They then proceeded to lose to the Cardinals. Tigers writers were very careful to sidestep any sort of “Tigers in three,” nonsense this time around, but expectations were high headed into the series.
Coming back for 2013, the Tigers signed super ace Justin Verlander long-term, giving him the richest contract for a pitcher ever, and deservedly so. Returning this year is MVP and Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, masher Prince Fielder and most of the other parts of their run. They made two major moves in the offseason. First, they declined to resign Delmon Young, turning him into Torii Hunter. Second, they let the tire fire that Jose Valverde became last year walk, turning to a committee of Al Albuquerque, Phil Coke and Jose Villarreal to handle the ninth after young Bruce Rondon proved too wild and not ready for the majors.
Why mess with success? The Tigers did exactly what they needed to this offseason—keep the gang together. They jettisoned unnecessary parts in Valverde and Young. Some people said Hunter’s last year was smoke and mirrors, benefitting from the great bats around him to get pitches (Trout and Pujols). Hitting around Fielder and Cabrera isn’t exactly a step down, and the aging Hunter doesn’t really show signs of slowing down.
The AL Central, while stronger, doesn’t really offer a contender to their crown. The White Sox come closest, but they are aging rapidly and their minor parts don’t add up to those of the Tigers. The Tigers are a shoo-in to repeat for the AL Central title and have a date with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the ALCS this year.
Bold Prediction: Tigers in three. But seriously, a year removed from getting swept, the Tigers finally put it all together at the right time and hoist the World Series trophy. Miguel Cabrera repeats as MVP because the fact that he’s slow and doesn’t really do much on defense doesn’t really matter to sports writers because of ribbies and dingers.
Kansas City Royals – Can anyone name 5 players on their roster?
For the record: Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, James Shields & Billy Butler.
Tied for the youngest roster in the majors, the vaunted Royals farm system of a few years ago is (hopefully) starting to pay dividends. This is a hope, especially since they traded their last few minor league parts worth anything to get James Shields this offseason. They have a lot of young guns in the infield, and their age is buoyed by 75 year-old Miguel Tejada making the opening day roster. Yes, that Miguel Tejada. The problem is that the Royals remain buried at the bottom of the AL Central annually, being the only team to have never won it. They have definite talent, but appear, like the Indians, to be gearing up for the future.
I think the Royals of 2015 will be one of the better teams in baseball, but right now is not 2015. Their rotation, outside of the aforementioned Shields, is a mess. They have Jeff Francoeur manning right, who has never seen a terrible pitch he didn’t want to love. There isn’t a lot to say about the Royals for 2012. They aren’t built to contend now. I am hopeful and eager to see the seasons that Hosmer, Moustakas and Cain turn out for them, mostly in determining what the future will hold for Missouri’s other team.
Bold Prediction: The Royals win it all! Now, that would be really bold. The best case scenario for the Royals is third in the AL Central, and sniffing the conversation for a Wild Card spot. Bold prediction is Mike Moustakas becomes the premier young third baseman in the AL, after posting a .950+ OPS and making the middle of their lineup acceptable.
Minnesota Twins – Joe Mauer and… What?
The Twins are entirely forgettable. In fact, I forgot they existed while I was writing this piece. I only remembered when I went to do the world count and it felt a bit light. This is the plight of the 2013 Minnesota Twins. They aren’t going to contend and they aren’t going to be the worst. They’re going to be comfortably in the middle of baseball this year. If I were to do a ranking from scratch, I wouldn’t be surprised to find the Twins smack dab in the middle at 15/16. They aren’t going to be the best team and they aren’t going to be the worst. Unfortunately, they’re going to be stuck in pointlessness.
They have a roster full of guys who could stick elsewhere, they aren’t really hopeless. The only problem is behind Willingham, Mauer, and if he’s finally back, Morneau, there’s a ton of second and third tier players. Fourth outfielders and utility infielders and third/fourth starters thrust into the limelight. There isn’t a whole lot to say about the Twins. They are baseball’s equivalent of vanilla pudding. They aren’t blowing anybody away and they aren’t going to make any “all-suck” teams.
The question becomes at the All-Star break are the Twins going to be in the hunt for a playoff spot or are they going to be selling off pieces for another team. If Morneau picks up where he was pre-concussion, they could pick up a piece or two that will propel them into the playoffs. At the same time they could be sellers at the deadline, moving expensive pieces like Josh Willingham or Kevin Correia. The Twins are the most throw your hands up and shrug your shoulders team in baseball.
The AL Central this year is the Tigers, then the Indians and White Sox, then a big step down to the Twins, then a huge step down to the Royals. They epitomize the different tiers of MLB. You have the true contenders, represented by the Tigers, then a step down to the Playoff Hunters, which is the Indians and the White Sox. Then you have the Middling Teams, of which the Twins are the most middling. Then you have the worst, which the Royals represent. The top of the division isn’t going to be all that interesting, as the Tigers appear to have a stranglehold on that top spot. The second-tier Indians and White Sox are the true stories, as they will be in the hunt for one of the two Wild Card spots.
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