The AL Central looks pretty open. Not the best division in baseball, but they have a trio of teams that are capable of winning 90+ games if things go right.
The Guardians are the reigning division champs and made a couple moves this winter that strengthened them. The Twins had a really good offseason as well. The White Sox have more talent then both those teams but that talent did not translate in 2022.
Here's how we see this division breaking down in 2023:
First Place, Cleveland Guardians
Lineup: 1. LF Steven Kwan 2. 2B Andres Gimenez 3. 3B Jose Ramirez 4. DH Josh Bell 5. SS Ahmed Rosario 6. 1B Josh Naylor 7. RF Oscar Gonzalez 8. C Mike Zunino 9. CF Myles Straw
Rotation/Closer: 1. RHP Shane Bieber 2. RHP Triston McKenzie 3. RHP Cal Quantrill 4. RHP Aaron Civale 5. RHP Zach Plesac CL: Emmanuel Clase
The Guardians upgraded their lineup this winter with the addition of Josh Bell. They have a nice balance of proven bats mixed with players on the rise. Kwan looks like a potential batting champion, Gimenez was an all-star and JRam is a perennial MVP-candidate. If Naylor and Gonzalez take another step forward then this becomes a lineup without much weakness.
Their rotation is great on the front-end, but has a couple questions at four and five. Civale and Plesac have both shown ability to be plus-starters in this league, they just haven't done so with consistency. If they do that this year then the Guardians should easily find themselves playing in October again. We also can't overlook that bullpen, which may be the best in the game right now.
Second Place, Chicago White Sox (AL Wild Card)
Rotation/Closer: 1. RHP Dylan Cease 2. RHP Lance Lynn 3. RHP Lucas Giolito 4. RHP Michael Kopech 5. RHP Mike Clevinger CL: RHP Kendall Graveman
The White Sox are the epitome of a team with all the talent in the world that just cannot put it together for a full season. They flashed the ability in 2021 but took a terrible step back last season. The lineup, even without Jose Abreu, has more than enough fire power. 25 year-old Robert has legit MVP potential and has drawn comparisons to Mike Trout. Anderson is about as good as they come at short. Benintendi was a solid add that breaks up the chain of right-handed bats in the top of the lineup. I also expect to see Andrew Vaughn break-out at some point. When that happens, look out.
Their rotation is similar to their lineup. A ton of talent, but largely inconsistent last year, aside from Dylan Cease. If Kopech keeps ascending, Lynn can stay on the field and Giolito finds some consistency, they'll have a great starting rotation. The tough loss of Liam Hendricks takes this bullpen down a notch too, but they're still very good. They have the ceiling to be one of the best teams in the AL but the floor to be a sub-.500 ball club.
Third Place, Minnesota Twins
Lineup: 1. CF Byron Buxton 2. SS Carlos Correa 3. 2B Jorge Polanco 4. RF Max Kepler 5. 3B Jose Miranda 6. LF Joey Gallo 7. 1B Alex Kirilloff 8. C Christian Vazquez 9. DH Nick Gordon/Donovan Solano
Rotation/Closer: 1. RHP Sonny Gray 2. RHP Pablo Lopez 3. RHP Joe Ryan 4. RHP Tyler Mahle 5. RHP Kenta Maeda CL: RHP Jhoan Duran
I have a hard time picking between the Twins and White Sox. The Twins were one of the biggest winners this offseason. They wound back up with Carlos Correa and are hoping a change of scenery for Joey Gallo will tap him back into his Rangers' form. Of course, they need Buxton and Correa to stay healthy in order to carry this offense but both look ready to go early on. They're still very high on Kirilloff and need him to take a big step forward this year. They don't have the deepest, most dangerous lineup, but there is upside. Defensively, they're extremely strong, especially up the middle.
Their rotation got a huge upgrade with the Pablo Lopez trade. One of the more underrated pitchers in the game, Lopez could arguably be the ace of this staff. If Maeda returns to form and shores up the back-end, this rotation is about as deep as they come. Then they have one of the best relievers in baseball in Jhoan Duran looming late in games. They have depth throughout their whole pitching staff and that "pitching and defense" model is what they're pushing in 2023.
Fourth Place, Kansas City Royals
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Rotation/Closer: 1. RHP Brady Singer 2. RHP Zach Greinke 3. RHP Jordan Lyles 4. RHP Ryan Yarbrough 5. RHP Brad Keller CL: RHP Scott Barlow/LHP Aroldis Chapman
The Royals are in the midst of their rebuild and are hoping to beat everyone's expectations in '23. Like the Orioles, they have a couple of bright young players in their lineup they're extremely excited about. Witt Jr., Melendez and Pasquantino all made their debuts in 2022 and they are the foundation of what this team is wanting to build.
Their rotation isn't great, but it shouldn't be bad. Singer really broke out last year and they brought in Greinke to help mentor some of their younger arms. Their closer, Barlow, is a good one and they brought in Chapman which should help their bullpen out. KC is headed in the right direction, for sure, but they need at least another year or two of development and a couple of good moves before they can be taken too seriously.
Fifth Place, Detroit Tigers
Lineup: 1. CF Riley Greene 2. DH Kerry Carpentar/Miguel Cabrera 3. SS Javier Baez 4. LF Austin Meadows 5. 2B Jonathon Schoop 6. C Eric Haase 7. 3B Nick Maton 8. 1B Spencer Torkelson 9. LF Akil Baddoo
Rotation/Closer: 1. LHP Eduardo Rodriguez 2. RHP Spencer Turnbull 3. LHP Mathew Boyd 4. RHP Matt Manning 5. RHP Michael Lorenzen CL: RHP Alex Lange/RHP Jose Cisnero
The Tigers are a mess. They're trying to go younger but none of their young guys seem to be making an impact. Hopefully Riley Greene is the one who changes that narrative. The lineup is flat though, not much power and not much average. I'll be watching just to see Miggy Cabrera's farewell tour but aside from Greene and maybe Baez when he's right, there's nobody that moves the needle offensively.
Their pitching is maybe in slightly better shape but still well below league average. Still perplexed why they gave all that money to Eduardo Rodriguez last offseason but they're stuck with him for four more years. Turnbull looked poised for a breakout in 2021 until he got hurt. Other than that, not much else going on. One of the more uninspiring teams in the league and should finish somewhere in the bottom five when it's all said and done.
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