The AL Central is considered a division that is completely up for grabs. The Twins, Tigers, and White Sox are favored, but it wouldn’t take a lot for the Indians and Royals to find themselves in contention. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the AL Central.
Chicago White Sox — For the White Sox to contend in 2010, they’ll need to rely heavily on their starting pitching. Lucky for them, they have one of the best rotations in baseball. With Jake Peavy and Mark Buehrle leading the charge, and Gavin Floyd, John Danks, Dan Hudson, and Freddy Garcia holding down the back end of the staff, the White Sox should be in good shape.
They are going to need all of the good pitching they can get, because the Sox revamped offense may have trouble scoring runs. Mark Teahan takes over at third base for the Sox. Will this be the year he finally reaches his potential? He didn’t do it with the Royals, but maybe a change of scenery will do him good. Alexei Ramirez, Gordan Beckham, and Paul Konerko make up the rest of the infield. If the Sox are going to contend, Beckham is going to have to step up and be the superstar he is projected to be. Konerko enters his contract year with something to prove. He’d like to re-sign with the Sox, but the Sox have been luke warm toward him.
A.J. Pierzynski will handle the catching duties again in 2010. The veteran backstop will be 35-years old in 2010. He’ll be backed up by the 34-year old Ramon Castr0. Some young blood behind the plate might do the White Sox some good.
Juan Pierre is the new face in left field. He’ll assume the “speedster role,” while Alex Rios and Carlos Quentin play center and right respectively. Veterans Andrew Jones and Mark Kotsay will be the 4th and 5th outfielders for the White Sox. The Sox fortunes may rest on the health of Quentin. If he’s healthy, the Sox will do fine on offense. With him out of the lineup, the entire complexion of the offense changes.
The White Sox bullpen boasts a lot of experienced arms. Achored by closer Bobby Jenks, the Sox also have Scott Linebrink, Tony Pena, Matt Thornton, and newly acquired J.J. Putz. If Jenks slips, the Sox have experienced arms to take his place.
Cleveland Indians — Does it seem like the Indians are giving up even before the season begins? I doubt if the Indians feel that way, but a lot of pundits are already writing them off. Here’s why:
Over the past couple of seasons, the Indians have traded away C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Victor Martinez, and Mark DeRosa. They fired their manager, Eric Wedge, and brought in Manny Acta. If the Indians are going to win in 2010, they’ll have to count on their youngsters to carry them.
Fausto Carmona and a resurgent Jake Westbrook head up the Indians starting rotation. Carmona has gotten rave reviews this spring. Westbrook is trying to regain the swagger he had prior to an injury that forced him to miss the 2009 season. The remainder of the Indians rotation is a question mark. Justin Masterson, David Huff, and whomever ends up the #5 starter (probably Allen Laffey) will have to step up their game for the Tribe to be successful.
Behind the plate, Lou Marson is young (he’ll turn 24 in June) and inexperienced. He’s played just 25 games at the major league level. Asking an inexperienced catcher to guide a less that stellar pitching staff to victory is asking a lot. Minor league catcher Carlos Santana is not too far away, but he has even less experience than Marson.
The bullpen will not be good. Kerry Wood has seen better days, but he appears to be one of the strengths in the bullpen for Clevelend. Problem is that Wood is injured and may not see action until June.
According to some experts, the Indians have the worst infield in the major leagues. Jhonny Peraltra will play third, Asdrubal Cabrera short, Luis Valbuena second, and Russell Branyan first.
The battle for left field will be determined in Spring Training. Rookies Matt LaPorta and Michael Brantly will fight it out for a starting position. Gardy Sizemore will man center field, while underrated Shin-Soo Choo will handle the right field duties. The outfield is definitely the Indians strength.
The DH duties will fall to Travis Hafner, with Andy Marte also looking for at-bats.
Detroit Tigers — The Tigers are a difficult team to read. On the one hand, it seems that they should run away with the AL Central. On the other, they always seem to be teetering on the brink of disaster.
It seems to me that 2009 was their year and they blew it. Trading Curtis Granderson almost certainly didn’t make them better. Even so, they still have reason to be hopeful. Magglio Ordonez is getting older, but he’s not over the hill yet. Miguel Cabrera appears to have gotten his personal life under control and is an offensive juggernaut. Adding Johnny Damon may turn out to be the catayst this team needs.
Starting pitching should be strong for the Tigers. With superstar-in-waiting Justin Verlander, young Rick Porcello, and newly acquired Max Scherzer leading the way, the rotation should be better and deeper than last year. The Tigers bullpen should hold their own, with Jose Valverde handling the closing duties.
Weak points on offense include Brandon Inge (unless he can correct his swing), Adam Everett (who still plays stellar defense), and catcher Gerald Laird. Can the big sticks of Ordonez, Cabrera, and DH Carlos Guillen pick up the slack?
Kansas City Royals — The Royals have become the punchline to a bad joke. They are perennial underachievers who never seem to be able to get on track. That’s sad because it wasn’t that long ago they were a proud, well run franchise. My, how times have changed. The Royals won the World Series in 1985 and haven’t been back to the post season since.
I wish I could fully explain to you what the Royals plans are for the future. At one moment they appear to be following a draft well-get younger-build for the future template. But the next day, they sign aging free agents like Jason Kendall, Rick Ankiel, and Scott Podsednik. They insist on giving at-bats to shortstop Yuniesky Bentancourt, arguably the worst hitter in baseball, and they toy with the idea of making Kyle Farnsworth into a starting pitcher.
And yet, there are some rays of hope coming from the Kansas City Royals. Their starting pitching should be pretty good. Led by 2009 Cy Young-winner Zach Grienke, the Royals rotation includes Gil Meche and Brian Bannister. That’s not a bad top three pitchers. Luke Hochevar runs hot and cold. One game he’s unhittable, the next game he’s throwing batting practice. If he can become consistently good, the Royals will have one of the better starting rotations in the AL.
The bullpen isn’t great, but it is anchored by a very good closer in Joakim Soria. Juan Cruz has seen better days, but can shine at times.
The Royals also have some bright spots in their batting order. Billy Butler had a good 2009 and much is expected of third baseman Alex Gordan. Alberto Callaspo has had a good spring and could make a push for a starting position in the infield along with Mike Aviles.
As bad as the Royals are, it is conceivable that they could contend. They will have to fire on all cylinders and ride their starting pitching for all it’s worth, but it is possible that in 2010, the Royals could shock the world.
Minnesota Twins — The Twins recently locked up Joe Mauer for the next eight years. It was good news for a team that just days earlier lost their excellent closer, Joe Nathan to injury. Nathan is gone for the year and the Twins are still trying to figure out what they are going to do to replace him.
The Twins won the AL Central last year in dramatic fashion, and appear to have improved their club this off season. Their revamped middle infield includes Orlando Hudson at second base and J.J. Hardy at short. Joe Crede is gone at third base, replaced by Brendan Harris. He’ll be better with the glove that Crede, but likely won’t hit as well. Former MVP Justin Morneau rounds out the infield at first base.
In the outfield, the Twins have budding star Denard Span, power hitter Michael Cuddyer, and Delmon Young. Young is looking for a breakout year in 2010. The impressive Jason Kubel will handle the DH duties and be a 4th outfielder. Jim Thome will also be available at DH.
The Twins starting pitching staff is solid, if unspectacular. They don’t have a big name ace, but likely won’t embarrass themselves. Scott Baker and Kevin Slowey head the list along with Carl Pavano, Nick Blackburn, Brian Duiensing, and Francisco Liriano. There’s only room for five of these guys, so someone will end up being the odd man out. Rumor has been that Liriano may be asked to substitute for Nathan as the Twins closer.
The Twins bullpen should be strong, led by Matt Guerrier and Jesse Crain, but the big question mark is, What is Minnesota going to do about a closer. The aforementioned Liriano could be the answer, but the Twins have also been linked to the Padres Heath Bell and the Blue Jays Jason Fraser. What they do could determine the effectiveness of their bullpen this year.
My predictions for the AL Central in 2010 are:
- Minnesota Twins
- Chicago White Sox
- Detroit Tigers
- Kansas City Royals
- Cleveland Indians
Next post, I’ll be taking a look at the AL West.
