Baseball Preview - AL Central

On to the boys in the AL Central starting down south in KC -

The boys in the blue unis (and their fans) have suffered a long time - and it's not going to get much better this year, but the club may finally be moving in the right direction with the continued development of their farm system. Minor Leaguer of the Year (and fellow Husker alum) Alex Gordon takes over at 3B, moving another talented young bat, Mark Tehan, over to RF, along side CF David DeJesus and LF Emil Brown. Another young bat lies with 1B Ryan Shealy, and Mike Sweeney is again the DH. The only regular position player you have probably even heard of is 2B Mark Grudzielanek, and that's just because of his unusual name and the fact he used to play for the Dodgers, although the club has Reggie Sanders on the bench as probable trade bait. The team spent $55 million bringing former Team Starbucks SP Gil Meche in to lead the staff. The rest of the rotation is NL cast-offs Odalis Perez and Brandon Duckworth, homegrown (and hopefully future ace) Zach Greinke, and no-name Jorge De La Rosa. Octavio Dotel was signed to close but has already hit the DL, leaving former Injun David Riske finishing games. I see 90-100 losses, but they might be a little better than that shortly with the talent in the farm system.

The White Stockings, 2005 WS champs, are looking for the magic of that year to return. Power sticks reside in 1B Paul Konerko, DH Jim Thome, LF Jermaine Dye, and 3B Joe Crede. Speed is provided with LF Scott Podsednik, 2B Tadihito Iguchi, and SS Juan Uribe. The club also boasts a deep bench with 1B/OF Darin Erstad and IF Alex Cintron, both former starters for their old clubs, letting manager Ozzie Guillen get to play matchups. The staff has some great arms, notably Mark Buehrle, Jose Contreras, John Garland and Javier Vazquez, with newcomer southpaw John Danks rounding out the starters. Bobby Jenks shuts things down in the ninth while former KC closer Mike McDougal set up. This team looks pretty good, but the division is pretty formidable.

Moving east along Lake Erie, the Injuns have a bunch of young talents in the batter's box as well. C Victor Martininez, 1B Casey Blake, and CF Grady Sizemore, along with DH Travis (Pronk) Hafner and newcomer Trot Nixon, allow the club to mash, while 2B Josh Barfield provides some wheels at the top of the lineup. The rotation is fairly solid, with ace CC Sabathia, Jake Westerbrook, crafty vet Paul Byrd, and newcomer Jeremy Sowers, but prize lefty Cliff Lee starts the season on the DL, so it's likely that bullpen sinkerballer Jason Davis will fill in. Former Little Bear Joe Borowski closes things out for the team. The team can hit, the pitching is pretty good, but they may not have enough, particularly given its poor defensive play and weak bullpen. Still, there is enough talent here to be pretty competitive, but it's a damn tough division.

Moving on to out nation's northern border, the defending AL champ Tiggers plan to repeat the feat in '07, when manager Jimmy Leyland's outfit snuck up on a lot of people. No way this year, and while the club has mostly stayed pat, they did add a huge bat: Gary Sheffield. A number of other fellas on the club can swing the wood as well - vets like C Ivan Rodriguez, RF Mags Ordonez and 1B Sean Casey, along with younger guys like SS Carlos Guillen, and LF Craig Monroe. However, the strength of this club is in the rotation, with young starters Jeremy Bonderman, Justin Verlander, Mike Moroth and Nate Robertson. The outfit will use Chad Durbin to fill in while the Gambler, Kenny Rogers, recovers from injury. Todd Jones closes for now, keeping the seat warm for fireballer Joel Zumaya.

Traveling further north to the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes, the Twinkies also believe that they have the stuff to take the division as well. This club also has some talented young batters, including AL MVP Justin Morneau and C Joe Mauer, along with veterans Rondell White and long time Twink and multi-Gold Glover Torii Hunter. Former CY winner Johan Santana leads a revamped staff, with Boof Bonser, Carlos Silva and recent acquisitions Ramon Ortiz and Sidney Ponson rounding out the rotation. Uber closer Joe Nathan shuts things down in the ninth.

Another tough call to make in this division, with probably four teams in contention. While I really like the way Jimmy Leyland runs his clubs, it's hard to root against the boys in Lakeland, who have some of the most talented guys in the league on their roster . The Stockings could also certainly take the pennant as well. Injuns might be on the outside looking in, but if the pitching, particularly in the pen, ever develops they'll also be dangerous. KC is at least a year or two away, and that's if everything goes perfect for them like it did for the Tiggers last year.