American League 2008: Is This the Year for the Central?

It is pretty much common knowledge now among baseball fans that the American League is no longer the “junior circuit” to the National League.

The American League has won seven of the last 10 World Series and has not lost an All-Star game in 11 years.

In a word, that is called dominance.

The leader in this charge has been the AL East with the Yankees and Red Sox diving deeper and deeper into their pockets to constantly one-up each other, but over the last few seasons, a change has been occurring.

Many are saying the the AL Central has found a way to catch and possibly have passed the East as the “best overall division, in the best league” in baseball.  Let’s take a look.

AWARDS

For starters, as for awards won over the past four years, the Central has collected the majority of them. The following AL awards have come from the Central: 

-         3 Cy Young ’07, ’06, ‘04

-         3 Manager of the Year ’07, ’06, ‘05

-         MVP ‘06

-         Rookie of the Year ‘06

-         5 out of the 9 Gold Gloves in ‘07; 4/9 ’06; 1/9 ’05; 2/9 ‘04

-         2/9 Silver Slugger Awards in ‘07; 4/9 ’06; 0/9 ’05; 2/10 ‘04

East winnings:

-         2 MVPs ’07, ‘05

-         Rookie of the Year ‘07

-         1/9 Gold Gloves ’07; 2/9 ’06; 4/9 ’05; 2/9 ‘04

-         5/9 Silver Slugger ’07; 4/9 ’06; 6/9 ’05; 5/10 ‘04

The majority of this success has come over the past two seasons, especially with sweep of the four major awards in ’06. 

RECORDS

Looking at the Central versus other divisions as far as records go, it has caught and passed the West, been winning Interleague games against the NL, but has not been as competitive against the East. The Central has only had a winning record against the East once over the past four years and the majority of the damage has come from where you’d expect, Boston and New York, who are a combined 63 games above .500 over the four year span against the Central. But in this case we're looking at the whole division top to bottom and if it weren't for that dominant top, the bottom is way behind.

 
STATS

I was unable to find definitive Division A vs. Division B stats to compare with how they competed against each other as compared to inside of their own divisions. I did look at combined numbers of teams by division for comparison. However, I found this to be an inadequate method of comparison since half of a team's games are inside of the division.  From this, stats become skewed.

For instance, the AL East teams combined to have the highest OPS over the past 4 years, but also having the highest ERA, WHIP, and so on for pitching.  Was it because of poor pitching or great offense or both?

For the record, in ’06, the Central did pass the East in BA and SLG before the struggles of many of the Central sluggers last season. The Central also split the pitching categories with the West until last season when the Central finished tops in ERA, WHIP, Opponents’ OBP and K/BB ratio.

These stats did follow up with how the awards have gone. The East has the offense and the Central has the pitching.

2008 OUTLOOK

The Detroit Tigers have made a big splash this off-season with the blockbuster deal at the Winter Meetings in December, acquiring Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to a roster that won 88 games. They also have acquired the services of veteran shortstop Edgar Renteria and outfielder Jacque Jones to solidify their potent offense.

They may have closed the gap between them and the Indians, leaving a very interesting looking race ahead this summer that is sure to continue the developing Cleveland-Detroit Rivalry.

The Indians, while much quieter, have not lost any key components to their team that tied the Red Sox for the most wins in the majors and have added arguably the best relief pitcher from this year's market, Masahide Kobayashi, to an already potent bullpen setup committee in Cleveland. This compliments their already-excellent starting pitching.

The Tigers and Indians may be the class of the division, but by no means are the Twins, White Sox, or Royals pushovers. 

Assuming the Twins don’t trade Johan Santana or Joe Nathan, along with a healthy Joe Mauer and Francisco Liriano, along with newly acquired Delmon Young, they can still compete at a high level and have a potential playoff push in them. Not to mention, they just locked up their big bats Michael Cuddyer and former AL MVP Justin Morneau to contract extensions.

The White Sox are definitely not as bad as they looked last year, and should rebound with the additions of Orlando Cabrera, Octavio Dotel and Nick Swisher. Their pitching is still solid as well, anchored by returning ace Mark Buerhle.

The Royals are a very exciting young team to watch and are really getting better this time around with players like Alex Gordon, Mark Teahen, Joakim Soria, and David DeJesus.

However, no one is going to deny the AL East also has its share of dominant talent.

In the East, the Red Sox have had a very quiet winter, as they have not had to change the roster from last years’ championship run. They are the most balanced team in baseball and will be tough to beat again this year.

The Yankees are hoping that the young pitching talents they have been grooming will be the addition they need to straighten things out and compete with the Sox again. They have added a solid setup man, LaTroy Hawkins, to aid in the ‘pen.

The Jays have been really the only team bringing in new players into the East with the additions of former Cardinals Scott Rolen and David Eckstein. They are an improving team that could start contending for the division's crown. Toronto has arguably one of the most dominant starters in all of baseball in Roy Halladay and potentially two five-tool outfielders in Vernon Wells and Alex Rios.

The Rays are an exciting young team that is starting to show some promise and have added a young arm, Matt Garza, to the rotation, as well as closer Troy Percival.

In Baltimore, things may look the bleakest as more players may be traded out and a full-rebuilding mode looks like its coming as soon as yesterday.  

Overall there seems to be a greater gain of talent by the Central as compared to the East this offseason. This may offset the divisional won-loss records as discussed before to a positive for the Central in the very near future.

CONCLUSION

All things considered, it looks as though the Central is in a dead heat with the East and is on the verge of passing it as the best division in baseball. They have been winning the awards with young players that continue to stay inside the division.

Add in the lack of incoming talent into the East as compared to the Central this off-season and the Central should pick up after a small drop last year and continue its pursuit in catching and passing the East as the best division in the best league in baseball. 

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