AL Central At A Glance

Detroit Tigers: The odds on favorite to win the World Series, the Tigers aren’t just a big fish in small pond, they’re like a shark in a puddle. It took them a while in 2012 to remember they’re the Tigers, only overtaking the White Sox in late September and spending 33 days in first place, but one of those was October 4th, and that’s all that counted. Victor Martinez is back to add a “5” to the best 3-4 combination in baseball. Justin Verlander will assuredly finish in the top 3 for the Cy Young. Max Scherzer is established now and Austin Jackson is ready to break out. There’s a little bit of a closer issue, but if the Tigers won with Jose Valverde in 2012, I wouldn’t worry too much.

Chicago White Sox: Chicago is the only team that can offer the Tigers any real competition. They also have a dangerous middle of the order in Paul Konerko, Adam Dunn and Alex Rios. They have a deep bullpen. They have a young ace in Chris Sale and dependable starters behind him in Gavin Floyd and the durable Jake Peavy, who came back from a career-threatening injury to log more IP and three fewer starts in 2012 than he did in 2010 and 2011 combined. He also had his best ERA since 2008 and the best WHIP since 2007. If John Danks can get healthy in his return from surgery, they have a very solid rotation. The acquisition of Jeff Keppinger gives them a capable top-of-the-order bat. They will compete for a Wild Card till the end, but not have quite enough to get them there.

Kansas City Royals: There’s a lot to like about the Royals’ young offense. Billy Butler is a legitimate star. Salvador Perez is ready to break out in a big way and become one of the league’s top catchers. Did you know that the only three catchers with a higher OPS than Perez in as many plate appearances by age 22 (his 2012 age) was Brian McCann, Joe Mauer and Johnny Bench? That’s it. Salvador Perez is fourth on that list. Also on an impressive list is Alex Gordon. He’s fifth behind Robinson Cano, Cabrera, Ryan Braun and Albert Pujols for extra-base hits since the start of the 2011 season. Lorenzo Cain is very highly touted, and Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas, though disappointing last season, still have All Star potential. The Royals have a solid bullpen and added Wade Davis and James Shields to their rotation. I wasn’t a fan of the trade, as James Shields has an unimpressive 4.67 career ERA pitching in open-air stadiums. But if I knew that, I’m sure Dayton Moore did, and he still pulled the trigger, so it would seem it doesn’t concern them. The Royals aren’t ready to really compete, but a couple of steps forward for their young players and another piece or two and this could be a different article in 2014.

Cleveland Indians: Lucky for them the Twins are miserable. The Indians made a splash in the offseason, adding Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, both on the wrong side of 30, to a 94-loss team with a terrible farm system and no help on the way. I guess you can sum up the rotation with two facts: their Opening Day starter is Justin Masterson and their fifth starter could very well be Scott Kazmir. Trevor Bauer will see big things, but not immediately. Ubaldo Jimenez, he of the 5.40 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in 2012, round out the rotation. They also acquired Mark Reynolds and Drew Stubbs to go along with Swisher and Bourn, so those four guys will hit .235 and strike out 700 times. Awesome. On the flip side, Carlos Santana is close to being a star and this should be the year Lonnie Chisenhall gets some recognition. The brightest aspect of the 2013 Indians besides Bauer should be Jason Kipnis approaching Dustin Pedroia-type status at second base. He’s a real player. I don’t think the Indians will “Marlins” themselves and turn everyone over in year one, but I certainly expect a much different lineup on Opening Day 2015.

Minnesota Twins: There was a lot of turnover in the rotation for the Twins, but nothing you’d really want to hang your hat on. Scott Diamond and Liam Hendricks (career 5.71 ERA in 20 starts) are the only pitchers to have made semi-regular starts for the 2012 Twins that figure to do the same for the 2013 version. Added to the fray are Vance Worley, Mike Pelfrey, Rich Harden and Kevin Correia. There are holes in the middle infield. The positives aren’t much, but they’re there. Joe Mauer is still an elite hitter and Justin Morneau finally seems full healthy from a series of concussion-related DL stints, however, he’s in the last year of a hefty contract and is prime trade bait. Trevor Plouffe is emerging at third base and Aaron Hicks tore up the Grapefruit League and will likely force himself into the starting lineup. Hopefully Hicks can maintain a level of interest from the fan base, otherwise Oswaldo Arcia, who just made the High-A to AA jump in 2012 might be forced into the major league outfield a little prematurely.

Projected Standings

XtreemIcon: Tigers, White Sox, Royals, Indians, Twins

Jessep: Tigers, White Sox, Indians, Royals, Twins

Joe D: Tigers, White Sox, Royals, Twins, Indians

Top Sleeper

XtreemIcon: Salvador Perez, Kansas City

Jessep: Dayan Viciedo, Chicago

Joe D: Mike Moustakas, Kansas City

Top Rookie

XtreemIcon: Trevor Bauer, Cleveland

Jessep: Trevor Bauer, Cleveland

Joe D: Bruce Rondon, Detroit

Top Pitcher

XtreemIcon: Justin Verlander, Detroit

Jessep: Justin Verlander, Detroit

Joe D: Justin Verlander, Detroit

Top Hitter

XtreemIcon: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit

Jessep: Prince Fielder, Detroit

Joe D: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit

Up Next: American League West

Longoria, 23, is in the second year of a contract that could run for nine years and cost the Rays about $45 million. Rodriguez, 33, is in the second year of a contract that will run for 10 years and could cost the Yankees $305 million.

I don’t know how many of you have had the chance to watch Evan Longoria, but he is probably one of the most exciting players to come up since Ken Griffey Jr..

We got a glimpse of his potential last season during the post season when he set a record as the first rookie to homer in his first two post season at-bats.

He is currently hitting .368 with 10 homeruns and 39 RBI’s, and his defense is Gold Glove caliber.

After winning last season’s AL Rookie of the Year award, the young thrid baseman now has his sights set on the American League MVP award.

Last night the greatest closer in baseball history, Mariano Rivera, gave up back to back homeruns for the first time in his career and it was Longoria who tagged him with that second homerun following up his teammate Carl Crawford. It was the second of his two homeruns in the game for Longoria.

I have to hand it to the Tampa Bay Rays for locking this kid up to a nine year $45 million dollar deal.

What a steal.

80s’Joel writes: “the mets need to trade that choke artist David Wright for a a left fielder and move Dan Murphy to 3rd base he might not have the power of wright but he hits average and IN THE CLUTCH. We should trade wright while he still has some value. I would trade him for Longoria straight up and you could most likely get a prospect or two for him as well. The mets should do this while they still can.”

Let’s dissect this, shall we?

1. David Wright is a choke artist? On what planet? Wright is a .309 hitter through four-plus seasons, with a 30-homer, 113-RBI average per season. Or as Will P commented on the original post, Wright’s .300 batting average with runners in scoring position is SIXTY points higher than Longoria’s.

2. You want to move Daniel Murphy to third base and trade Wright? I love Murph but he has a grand total of 136 major league at-bats. And hey, what do you know? Murphy has the same lifetime batting average as Wright, .309.

3. You want to trade Wright for Longoria straight up? First of all, see #1. Then look at last year, Longoria’s ONLY season in the major leagues….he hit .272 with 27 homers and drove in 85 runs. Wright hit .302 with 33 homers and 124 batted in. Am I missing something?

4. The Rays would trade Longoria and “a prospect or two” for David Wright? I don’t think they would even make the trade straight up for fear that Wright was suddenly damaged goods. If I’m the Rays’ GM, that’s certainly how I would look at that.

Further, as another person commented, David Wright is the face of the Mets’ franchise and should be for the next fifteen years, just like Derek Jeter is for the Yankees. Maybe Longoria will blossom into a great player, but in my opinion, he has quite a ways to go and has to prove it for at least four years the way Wright has so far.

I’m quite sure you all agree, but this was just too much fun not to post about and poke holes in. What are your thoughts?