We Hit Dingers: AL Central Preview

Monday, March 20, 2017

Projected Standings

Cleveland returns basically the same team as the one that won the A.L. Pennant last season and even upgraded in key positions. Edwin Encarnacion will help their lineup quite a bit as he is an even better hitter than Mike Napoli is. They should also get Michael Brantley back and any production they get out of him is a surprise. Their elite pitching rotation will also enter the season fully healthy and they'll have one of the best bullpens in baseball once again. Any shortfalls they experience this season they'll surely address and pull from their quality farm system to make their major league roster better. They should run away with the division and be one of the best teams in all of baseball.

Detroit just missed out on the playoffs last season but I think they will turn it around and get back to the playoffs as a Wild Card team. This could be their last chance at a deep run with their current roster group before their core gets too old. I think that Justin Verlander has proven that he is an ace once again and they have depth behind him. The team certainly has plenty of question marks, including the back end of their rotation and their bullpen, but these can be addressed throughout the season. However, if things start off rocky, I think that they will begin the process of selling off players.

The Royals may have had one of the briefest rises and falls of a franchise in recent memory. Just two seasons ago the Royals won the World Series and now it looks like they may be on the cusp of a teardown and rebuild. I'm not certain if the team's front office believes that the roster is good enough to make the playoffs again, but I certainly don't think they are. They have a weak starting rotation, a decent lineup, but one that is on the verge being broken up due to free agency. I think that the team should consider letting go of players including Eric Hosmer, Alcides Escobar, and Lorenzo Cain to begin the process of rebuilding their stripped down farm system.

The Twins are going to be really bad again in 2017 and only the White Sox plan of rebuilding will keep Minnesota out of the divisional basement. The Twins have a terrible rotation and a weak lineup that has the chance to be decent with all of their young players and the franchise is playing for the future.

GM Rick Hahn has made all of the right moves so far by selling off Chris Sale and Adam Eaton in order to rebuild for the future. He got quite a haul in return including two of the top prospects in all of baseball including Yoan Moncada and Lucas Giolito. In order for the team to truly go all-in on a rebuild Hahn needs to trade away Jose Quintana and Todd Frazier. The White Sox won't be competitive in 2017 but that's okay, they aren't even trying to be.