AL Central

The AL Central is one of the weaker divisions in baseball, for a lot of reasons. The Indians lack offense, while the Twins and White Sox have a whole myriad of problems. The Royals will once again be the victors of the division, and who really knows what the Tigers are doing.

• Kansas City Royals (95-67): The Royals obviously had a great year last year, as they became the 2015 World Series champions. Their second World Series appearance in two years was capped by an explosive offense, as well as one of the best bullpens in baseball. The Royals will continue their dominance this year, as they play in one of the weaker divisions in baseball. Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain did well last year, and will continue to in the 2016 season. Ian Kennedy was a nice pickup, but I’m still a bit concerned about the rotation, which is definitely going to be the Royals’ weak spot. The bullpen will once again be one of the best, but I’m not so sure about the mega-signing of Alex Gordon. The Royals have been winning because of their young players and their solid defense, not because of superstar signings like they did with Gordon. However, I’m still picking the Royals to win the division.

• Minnesota Twins (83-79): The Twins had a breakout year last year, but after an offseason where they hardly made any moves, I don’t think history is going to repeat itself. Their ace, Phil Hughes, has been doing well in Minnesota, while their closer Glen Perkins also had a great year. However, I’m not convinced that the offense can produce again this year, especially when it looks like they’ll be competing with the AL West teams for a wild card position. Miguel Sano will definitely be one to watch, because he shaping up to like the next David Ortiz (no, really; right down to how they swing the bat. It’s eerie, to be honest). This is a team that’s fun to watch play, especially with the likes of 2015 All Star Brian Dozier and veteran Joe Mauer, but it’s a team that isn’t going to do much in the 2016 season.

• Cleveland Indians (81-80): The Indians had an okay year in 2015, finishing one game over .500. Their strength is obviously their young pitching staff, with the likes of future stars Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar and current ace Corey Kluber, who had a clunker of a season last year. Their real problem is offense. They’ve brought in Mike Napoli, which is a good move; they’ve also got Michael Brantley and the young Francisco Lindor. Beyond that, there isn’t much, though. It’s going to be hard to get a wild card spot (which is what the Indians will be gunning for) when you can’t produce runs. No matter how good your pitching staff is, if you can’t score runs, you aren’t winning ball games–a lesson that they should’ve learned from the 2015 Indians.

• Chicago White Sox (76-86): The White Sox are honestly one of the weirdest teams in baseball. They’ve got all the pieces to be great–a stellar ace in Chris Sale, a good closer in David Robertson, solid offensive players in Melky Cabrera and Adam Eaton, and a power guy in Jose Abreu–and yet they still manage to finish fourth in the division. The problem is this team just isn’t clicking; when they’ve got pitching, they can’t get offense; when they’ve got offense, Chris Sale’s on the bench. I really like the moves they’ve made this season, acquiring All Star third baseman Todd Frazier from the Reds and Brett Lawrie from the A’s. However, I still don’t think it’s going to be quite enough. This is one team that I’ve certainly got on my radar, though, as they have the potential to shake up this division. I just don’t think they’re there yet.
• Detroit Tigers (74-87): Here’s the thing about the Tigers: They trade away the majority of their main pieces (David Price, Yoenis Cespedes) and then they go out and spend nearly $140 million dollars on new main pieces (Jordan Zimmerman, Francisco Rodriguez, Justin Upton). Their infield has so-so depth, with Miguel Cabrera and Jose Iglesias being the highlights. The outfield won’t be enough in a division which boasts the likes of the Royals’ outfield, even with J.D. Martinez in right and the acquisition of Cameron Maybin from the Braves. The rotation will have Zimmerman, but Justin Verlander certainly isn’t the pitcher that everyone wants to believe he still is, and you don’t know what you’re going to get from Anibal Sanchez after a shaky 2015, in which he pitched in 25 games and had an ERA of nearly five. But the worst part of this Tigers team has to be the bullpen. Rodriguez may be an excellent closer, but the Tigers are desperately lacking solid setup men. Because of the recent upgrades that they’ve made, a lot of people are predicting good things from this team. The problem with the upgrades that they’ve made is that they’ve got a lot of flashy pieces, but not a lot of guaranteed success. The same exact thing happened with the Boston Red Sox last year: They made a lot of big purchases (Hanley, Panda) and those players, not able to mesh with the team, did terribly, and the result was another last place finish. The pieces that the Tigers have added are a bit jagged in my opinion, and, much like the Red Sox, I predict they’ll flounder in the 2016 season.

Overall Standings

1.) Kansas City Royals
3.) Detroit Tigers
3.) Chicago White Sox
4.) Minnesota Twins
5.) Cleveland Indians