2010 AL Central Preview

Happy St. Patty's Day, now here's part 4 of 7 previewing the MLB season. Today, we focus on the AL Central Division.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Definitely an underrated team that won the 2005 World Series, the White Sox has a mix of veterans and young talent players which could do damage to the division. The lineup has A.J. Pierzynski, Omar Vizquel and Paul Konerko (veterans), Gordon Beckham, Alexei Ramirez and Mark Teahan (younger guys). The pitching rotation is also underrated which includes Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, John Danks, Jake Peavy (acquired last July from SD) and Freddy Garcia. Bobby Jenks remains the closer with J.J. Putz added as a setup-man for the team. Gonna be interesting what Ozzie Guillen does with this team this year.

CLEVELAND INDIANS
If you're an Indian fan, sorry this isn't gonna be a good year. New manager Manny Acta struggled during his tenure with the Nationals and in my opinion, the team won't win more than 60 games. The entire coaching staff from last year was also replaced and that probably will not help either. Although the team does have leadership from Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore in the lineup, but they're pitching is weak, which includes Jake Westbrook and closer Kerry Wood.

DETROIT TIGERS
In my opinion, the Tigers have a really good chance to win the division. After witnessing them play in Viera against the Nationals last week, I felt that the Tigers have the talent and pitching they need to make their move in this tight division. With Austin Jackson playing center and leading off, the rest of the lineup looks solid with Johnny Damon, Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen. Their pitching is also young with Justin Verlander (big on K's) and Rick Porcello, but what could worry me is the back-end of the rotation which includes the injury-proned Dontrelle Willis and even Jeremy Bonderman. If their pitching stays healthy and the lineup is productive, they will be a good team.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS
The Royals are team that never gets looked at, mostly due to their poor records in recent years, but they have the talent and keep getting better. Once again it's not a playoff year, but their pitching and lineup continue to break in. The pitching, lead by 2009 Cy Young winner Zach Grineke can be good with Gil Meche, Kyle Davies and Luke Hochevar and if they're consistent, they could be over .500 this year. Although they lost Mark Teahan to free-agency and Alex Gordon for a few weeks, the lineup isn't bad either with David DeJesus, Jose Guillen, Rick Ankiel, Billy Butler, Mike Aviles, Chris Getz and Josh Fields. This could be a surprising team if they played well during the season.

MINNESOTA TWINS
Before Spring Training started, I felt the Twins would win the division, but that changed when Joe Nathan got injured and may wind up missing the entire 2010 season and that leaves the team with a problem...Closer? The pitching rotation is underrated and young, including Francisco Liriaro, Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins and the veteran Carl Pavano. They did contribute alot of wins in 2009 and were good. The lineup features the all-star catcher Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, Alexi Casilla, J.J. Hardy (acquired from MIL) and Denard Span who are underrated, but all had good years last year and will do better this season as well.

My division pick: gonna be a horserace to the finish between the Tigers and Twins, but I have Detroit taking the win at the end.