American League Central: Real Deal or Major Bust?

The American League Central looks to be a boiling pot of controversy for the 2008 Major League Baseball season. With major trades taking place this summer, some new additions to American League play look to make things interesting. With a lot of hype surrounding some teams, and a lack of it for others, I'd like to point out some keys for the teams in the AL central.

Detroit Tigers

The key for the Tigers is health. With their juggernaut lineup, they should be slapping teams around all year. The major concern should be their pitching in general. With Kenny Rogers coming off injury, I'm concerned that he may not be as effective as some may think. He is still a pretty solid 5th in the rotation, but durability will be the question.

A major factor in the chances of Detroit to be a real contender will be the arm of Justin Verlander. He is the MVP of this amazing Detroit team no matter how one looks at it. If he can have a Cy Young caliber performance this year, I like the chances of Detroit going all the way, not an easy statement for a die hard White Sox fan to admit.

The only weakness of the Detroit Tigers is their bullpen. With two of their key relief pitchers hurt and their closer coming off one of the worst years of his career, the Tigers have some major question marks in their bullpen.

Chicago White Sox

Pitching, pitching, pitching. The White Sox are in a bind just like they had been in the late 90's. Although their lineup seems to be taking shape, their starting rotation looks mediocre to say the least. Hopefully Lance Broadway is ready to hit the majors and start showing his stuff. Otherwise, it looks like the Sox will be sitting in the middle of the AL central looking up.

The downfall has to be the major cap room which Jose Contreas seems to be holding up. This man is a walking loss. I'd credit him with solely dismantling the White Sox 2007 playoff hopes. He lost seemingly every game he pitched with his unreal ERA and lack of control.

Cleveland Indians

They need to continue to be scrappy and produce runs. Their talented center fielder Grady Sizemore looks primed to have a breakout year and Travis "Pronk" Hafner will surely bring his number back up. Look for Cleveland to lead the league in a lot of offensive categories. They seemingly always do.

I think their bullpen, like many of the central teams, will be their downfall. Come the middle of the year, someone will have to step up to try and give the starters reassurance and rest.

Minnesota Twins

The rebuilding Twins will have hope from newly acquired Livan Hernandez and their young phenom Francisco Liriano. If Liriano can be dominant again after coming off of Tommy John surgery, the Twins should be slightly competitive. 

The loss of Johan Santana will ultimately lead to the surrender of the 2008 season for the Twins. It will be nearly impossible for the Twins to compete with the talent of the Tigers, Indians, and White Sox, let alone all the other great teams in the A.L. If the Twins can get to the 65 win mark, that would be a miracle in itself.

Kansas City Royals

A miracle. The Royals are a seemingly hopeless team. With their supposed star third basemen Alex Gordon being a bust, the Royals have little to look forward to in 2008 except seeing some of the premiere teams in baseball beat up on them.

Although I'm trying to come up with positives for all of the teams, I must be frank when it comes to the Royals. This is a very poor team which focuses around a bit of young, raw talent. Unless Gil Meche can somehow make clones of himself, I see little chance of the Royals making any noise in the AL this year.

Their entire team is their downfall. It's a bad year to be a Royals fan unless you just enjoy seeing stars from other teams beating up on your Triple A team.