16 March 2010
Baseball Preview: Part 2 of 6
Written by: Rob Lazlo
AL Central Predicted Order of Finish
Minnesota Twins
Detroit Tigers
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Kansas City Royals
MINNESOTA TWINS
SEASON OUTLOOK: Serious Division contender
I changed my pick for the AL Central three times while writing this piece, finally settling on the Twins, even though the status of Joe Nathan, one of the games best closers, is very much in doubt. The Twins lineup, however, is simply the best in the Central. Joe Mauer is baseball’s best player, a well deserved MVP, and actually overshadows the many talented bats the Twins sport 1 through 9. The outfield is loaded: Michael Cuddyer, Denard Span and Jason Kubel have all come into their own. The addition of free agent 2B Orlando Hudson is an upgrade over last season’s musical chairs at 2B. Finally, 1B Justin Morneau would get superstar press almost anywhere else, but not on the same team as Mauer.
Joe Mauer
The Twins pitching can’t match their hitting, and the bad news is that their best pitcher, closer Joe Nathan, may have to have season ending surgery. That’s bad news for a starting staff that doesn’t have a lot of arms that can depended upon to eat up innings. The Twins will be hoping, instead, to get rebound years out of mid-season acquisition Carl Pavano and Francisco Liriano, who a long time ago was one of the reasons the Twins didn’t fret about not being able to keep Johan Santana. Still, if the Twins can get decent seasons out of their young top duo, Scott Baker and Kevin Slowey, the lineup will deliver plenty of performances that won’t require the pitching to be pitch-perfect.
Hit the jump to continue reading the outlook for all the AL Central teams in 2010....
DETROIT TIGERS
SEASON OUTLOOK: Serious Division contender
It’s easy to forget that the Detroit Tigers have never won the Central since the leagues went to the three division format in 1994. That’s because the Tigers made the World Series as wild card a few years back and lost last year’s play-in game with the Twins, who the year before lost a play-in game to the White Sox. Either way, the AL Central is likely to be another wild race to the finish, and this year, the Tigers could find their way to the top.
Led by one of baseball’s all-time great managers, Jim Leyland, Detroit’s lineup has plenty of ingredients to produce runs, specifically, a cadre of productive contact hitters surrounding masher 1B Miguel Cabrera. There’s not a lot power besides Cabrera, though, and the Tigers may struggle trying to score runs in bunches. The addition of former Yankee and Red Sox outfielder Johnny Damon will help fill the void left by the departure of Curtis Granderson and the Tigers have especially high hopes for rookie OF Austin Jackson, who has hit well this spring. Of greater concern is how the Tigers replace all-around good player Placido Polanco, gone for Philadelphia. Rookie 2B Scott Sizmore has struggled in the spring, and is bothered by ongoing ankle problems.
Skipper Jim Leyland
On the mound, the Tigers rotation is strong at the top, with bona fide ace Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello. It gets more dicey after that: while young Arizona import Max Scherzer is expected to man the three spot capably, the Tigers are hoping for some sort of return to form by either Jeremy Bonderman or Dontrelle Willis. If not, veteran Nate Robertson is the insurance policy at the back of the rotation. Newly acquired closer Jose Valverde, formerly of the Astros, figures to be a small upgrade from the departed Fernando Rodney.
Detroit Tigers Pitcher Jeremy Bonderman
CHICAGO WHITE SOX
SEASON OUTLOOK: Division dark horse
Led by the majors’ most colorful manager, Ozzie Guillen, the White Sox certainly have a chance to contend in the tight AL Central. To do so, however, they’ll have to overcome the loss of DH Jermaine Dye. Andruw Jones won’t cut it in that spot, so the pressure on 1B Paul Konerko and RF Carlos Quentin to step up their numbers from last season. The addition of former Dodger Juan Pierre is a calculated risk that should pay dividends at the top of the order. Pierre has a nose for getting on base and the feet to make trouble for the opposition once he does. Still, the run production will have to come from somewhere and the White Sox will need an unexpected burst from a player like second year 2B Gordon Beckham or Kansas City transplant Mark Teahen to keep up with the big sticks ahead of them in the Central.
Paul Konerko
While their hitting may have some catching up to do, the White Sox pitching staff is probably the best in the Central, and certainly has the potential to outperform both Detroit and Minnesota. Led by a terrific 1-2 of Mark Buehrle and Jake Peavy, the Sox starters should give them plenty of starts to get to a solid bullpen, with a good potential lefty-righty set up combo of Matt Thornton and J.J. Putz. If the Sox find their way to the top of the division, it will start with the pitching staff.
White Sox closer Bobby Jenks
CLEVELAND INDIANS
SEASON OUTLOOK: Rebuilding year
It’s not all bad news in Cleveland, where CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez have all been traded away. The Indians still have some pop in their line up, such as DH Travis Hafner, OF Shin-Soo Choo and 1B Russell Branyan. The Indians are going to need CF Grady Sizmore to rebound from a disappointing 2009 and get production from players like C Lou Marson, acquired in the Cliff Lee deal. If all cylinders are firing, the Indians lineup can still be one that makes opposing pitchers break a sweat.
Lou Marson
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the Indians pitching staff, the worst in the division. There is not one starter in the rotation to get excited about, although the most optimistic Indians fans can hope that young pitchers like Justin Masterson and Aaron Laffey will make surprising breakthroughs. Even the bullpen isn’t much, with reclamation project Kerry Wood holding the closers role (until he gets hurt). The Indians will need to rebuild this staff more or less from scratch before they contend again.
Kerry Wood
KANSAS CITY ROYALS
SEASON OUTLOOK: Time to start over
Projecting the Indians not to finish last was a tough call, but even after Cleveland’s fire sale, the Royals are worse. Candidly, their lineup is just awful. Their homerun leader from last season, Miguel Olivo, has gone to Colorado, leaving Billy Butler and his 21 HRs as their primary RBI man. Not that there will be anyone on base to drive home. The Royals just don’t have a whole lot of bats in their order other than Butler. This is a patchwork lineup with aging players like Jason Kendall and Jose Guillen in it that isn’t going to win anything.
Billy Butler
The news is a little better on the pitching side, but not that much. Zack Greinke is a great starter, but it would be nice if the Royals could feature one more starter who posted an ERA under 5.00 last year. Sadly, they can’t. Joakim Soria is a decent closer, but you have to wonder how many leads (other than games Greinke starts) the Royals will have in the late innings to hand to him. Moreover, the future remains bleak for Kansas City fans as speculation has already begun about when Greinke will have to be traded to avoid the big contract his performance will justify.
Zack Greinke
Related Reading:
AL West Preview: Changing of the Guard
