Predicting the AL Central

First I shall start by analyzing the offseason moves, then I shall predict how the teams will finish, who will come out on top.

Twins: The Twins got Carl Pavano, Jim Thome, Orlando Hudson, and J.J. Hardy, which strongly improves their offense, but the Pavano re-signing was a terrible one, he is very mediocre and has been known to be a toxin in the clubhouse, which is not worth 7 million. Since Thome was acquired so cheap, the two balance each-other out. And since Carlos Gomez was the only thing they traded away, it was a very successful offseason (Except they lost Joe Nathan too). Overall the Twins have a good offense, good rotation, and a below-average bullpen.
Verdict: They look strong, but the question to ask is if they have good chemistry? We'll see.

Tigers: Next up is Detroit a.k.a. Motown. The Tigers acquired Max Scherzer, Johnny Damon, and Jose Valverde. They lost Curtis Granderson, Fernando Rodney, and Edwin Jackson. Going from Jackson to Scherzer is a wash, from Rodney to Valverde is an improvement, and from Granderson to Damon is a de-provement, because Damon is aging, and he won't have that classic Yankees lineup behind him. They also got Austin Jackson who should struggle in his first season. Overall the Tigers have very good pitching, a good bullpen, and an above average offense.
Verdict: This is an aging team, but also a young team, look for a very solid season. If Miguel Cabrera can improve his SB% and Austin Jackson can do as well as he did in the minors, then watch out, this could be the team to beat. (But if is just if)

White Sox: They signed alot of bench players, Putz is the most likely to make an impact. They also acquired Juan Pierre and Mark Teahan. Pierre hits for very good average, and Teahan should be an average third baseman. They lost Podsednik, which makes getting Pierre a wash and they lost Dye and Dotel and Getz and Carrasco. Overall they have an average offense, good pitching and bad bullpen.
Verdict: If Quentin can swing like 2008 that'd make the offense a beauty. Also Beckham will be the best 2B in the bigs, mark my words.

Indians: All they got was Russell Branyan, which is good, but not enough to make anyone scared. Soppach is the only player of importance that they lost. Overall, they have an offense with potential coming out the wazoo, a pitching staff that's quite unimpressive, and a bullpen that is to be feared.
Verdict: A team that has good potential, but is most likely will lose 100 games due to lack of pitching.

Royals: The Royals acquired Scott Podsednik, Rick Ankeil, Jason Kendall, Chris Getz, and Josh Fields. They lost Mike Jacobs, Teahan (Making Fields a wash), Coco Crisp (Making Podsednik a wash) and John Buck who was better than Kendall. Overall they only have two good players in Grienke (Who I actually believe was a fluke) and Butler who I love.
Verdict: There is no upside here, they are going to have to get very lucky.


The Prediction


1. Tigers
2. White Sox
3. Twins
4. Indians
5. Royals

Best hitter: Gordan Beckham
Best Pitcher: Justin Verlander
Best Defense: Orlando Hudson


The Central is shaping up to be pretty interesting. I hope this was informative to you my readers, have a nice day, and remember to check my blog every day for updates.