AL Central Preview

Who finishes second seems like a better question at the beginning of this season. The World Series Champs look to defend there throne as the rest of the AL Central looks to make strides from last year. There are a lot of moving pieces in this division that anyone not named the Royals could finish last and everyone could contend if everything falls the right way.  Do the Tigers turn things around this year? Do the young Twins take the next big step? What does the other team in Chicago do? Lets start at the top and go from there.

Kansas City Royals (2015 Record 95-67) 

The Royals are still at the top of this division. They have a wide margin this year again, but it could be shrinking if they cant stay healthy. They have proven the last 3 years that they can be a team to be reckoned with in April and are still there at the finish in September. The Royals made it a point to resign Salvador Perez who will now anchor this teams offense for the next few years. Perez clubbed 21 HRs in 2015 and looks to increase his career .279 average. The rest of the offense has not changed that much in the offseason. Alex Gordon came back and Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas hold down the infield corners.

Now that bullpen. Still the envy of many MLB front offices and  continues to be the blueprint for teams going forward (see New York Yankees). Wade Davis will burn you, as will just about everyone else. The big loss for this team will end up being its starting rotation. When Ian Kennedy is your big splash in a deep free agent class, you missed the boat. Not only that but most baseball people all feel that they over paid for what looks to be a third starter. When Detroit is looking to take back its place at the top and adds Jordan Zimmerman and you get Ian Kennedy, you can tell who missed on this one.So now you have to bank on Edison Volquez and Yordano Ventura to anchor this club and pray that the amazing bullpen can keep you safe to go with the offense wearing people down.

Detroit Tigers (2015 Record 74-87) 

The Tigers finished in last place last season. They were hampered by injuries all season and they sold away some big pieces late with David Price going to the Blue Jays and Yoenis Cespedes to the Mets at the deadline last year. This year will hopefully be different. They have added some big pieces with Zimmerman as a solid #2 starter in the rotation. If Justin Verlander can harness some of the magic he found last season and stay healthy, he will be reliable. Reliable is the best you can say for someone who has been on a decline in the last two years. There rotation will never over power other teams but Bruce Rondon has been clocked in the 100s this spring so here is hoping he can get some confidence going into a season where

they need him to be strong. The Tigers have brought in the veteran Francisco Rodriguez to close games after he has seemed to find something with the Brewers last year.

Justin Upton surprised a lot of people by finding his way to the Tigers. He is coming off of an awful year in San Diego and is looking for a fresh start in an offense that wont pressure him to much. Its not every day a manager gets to put down Upton, Miguel Cabrera, and Victor Martinez every day. The big question coming out of spring training will be who comes North with the club at catcher. James McCann should be a lock at starter but Bryan Holiday is beating the crap out of the baseball every chance he gets. He took Stephen Strasburg  deep this spring and has the potential to add some pop to the lineup.  Time will tell if the Tigers can get back to the post season this year, but its really hard to bet against an offense this good to finish last in back-to-back seasons.

Chicago White Sox ( 2015 Record 76-86)

With a rotation like that, the White Sox have to be good, right? Chris Sale and Jose Quintana are as formidable a one-two combination out there. Last season, this duo struck out 451 batters, mostly thanks to Sale’s 274Ks in 208 innings of work.  Carlos Rodon in his rookie campaign, was better then most people had expected. The 23 year old, pitched in 26 games If he can repeat last season, this will be a trio that no one wants to face. The bullpen is a different story. David Roberston is good, but he doesn’t leave you shaking as you head into the bottom of the ninth. The motivating factor for this bullpen: not blow gems from there your starters.

That being said, this team will need help on offense to win some more games this year. Jose Abreu was a monster last year and will need to keep pace with last seasons 30 HRs and 101 RBI. The White Sox went out and acquired Todd Fraizer at third base where the look to add some more pop. Jimmy Rollins brings a veteran (old?) presence to the middle of the infield when he is healthy. Rollins is just not the same player he was in Philadelphia in its heyday. Brett Lawrie is looking to get back to his days with Toronto and is hoping Chicago is the place to do it. Over all if this team stays healthy, they have a chance. If not, things could get ugly really quickly.

Minnesota Twins (2015 Record 83-79)

If you had picked Minnesota to finish second in this division, you would have won a lot of money. But since you probably did not, you were just as suprised by the young Twins team as they made a run for a Wild Card spot last season. For me this team looks to regress this year a little bit. They dont have a ton of depth in their rotation and the thing that hurt them the most was sitting still this offseason. They were the suprise winner of the Byung Ho Park bidding war, but other then that, they sat still while teams around them added pieces. Maybe the front office views what they have as a let see what happens year.

This new Twins team will need Joe Mauer  to lead the way. Second year outfielders Miguel Sano and Eddie Rossario are back and are looking to build off of what was an impressive rookie campagin. Sano hit 18 HRs in just 279 ABs while Rossario added another 13 HRs. The young core is great but they need a repeat performance from Kyle Gibson. Last year, Gibson fanned 145 batters while managing to pitch in 194.2 innings. Ervin Santana and Phil Hughes and Tommy Milone has to get healthy or this team will have a hard time taking the next step this season. I just do not see this team going as far as they did last season.

Cleveland Indians (2015 Record 81-80)

This could be a long year in Cleveland. They made some great strides last season, but they have set themselves up for a hard pull.  On Opening Day there is a strong chance of having backups in two of three outfield positions. Michael Brantley is out till April or May with a sore shoulder and Abraham Almonte is out 80 games because of testing positive for a banned substance. Jason Kipnis is steady as ever at second. Kipnis had a career year last year hitting .301 and crossed home 86 times. Hard part for this Inidans team will be how can the get Kipnis to score more the 86 runs. When he is on base as often as he is they will have to capitalize on it. The Indians signed free agent third basemen Juan Uribe in the hopes of more inspired play, but that could be hard to find after bouncing around to three different teams last year. Terry Francona has his work cut out for him this go round.

We can all agree that Corey Kluber is still a beast. With 249 strikeouts no one will argue with you.The Indians have some nice pieces in place to strike a ton of people out just like the White Sox. Carlos Carrasco was solid adding 219 Ks to the campaign. If Danny Salazar can do more then just strike people out then they have a chance to do some things, but he hasn’t consistently proven that he can keep runners off the base path. The bullpen is a mystery. The Indians signed Tommy Hunter and Criag Stammen who were injured all of last year and now it looks like neither of them will be ready for Opening Day. This team will need to keep its head above water until mid season when they get healthy. If they sink early, they will be to far behind to catch up.

 Featured Image from Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports