2008 MLB Preview: American League Central Predictions

1. Cleveland Indians:

    The Indians welcome back most of their team from 2007.  The Indians will yet again depend on a very good lineup and a very good pitching staff that will try to get them over the hump this year into the World Series.  Sabathia and Carmona will look to be the major 1-2 punch in the division to go along with Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd.  The bullpen will be strong again with Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez locking down the 7th and 8th innings as they try to get to mediocre but somehow reliable Joe Borowski.  The Indians don't have very many weaknesses with their lineup with Grady Sizemore being one of the better leadoff hitters in the game, and Hafter, Martinez, Peralta, Garko hitting behind him.  This is a deep squad that intends to be playing deep into October once again.

2. Detroit Tigers:

    There is no question the Tigers might have one of the best lineups in all of baseball.  With Curtis Granderson being a major threat at the top of the order, he will create havoc on the basepaths as opposing pitchers try keeping him off the bases before power guys Ordonez, Sheffield, Guillen, and offseason acquisition and MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera come up.  The Tigers certainly wont have any trouble scoring runs, their main problem will lay solely in the pitching department.  The bullpen is in a major flux right now as Zumaya and Rodney open the season on the DL as Zumaya may not be back til after the all star break.  The starters will have problems too after ace pitcher Justin Verlander.  Bonderman struggled last year, Kenny Rogers whom was out a lot of the season and is pushing age may be vulnerable to a lot of short outings and putting a lot of pressure on a less than stellar bullpen.  The Tigers certainly will be in contention all year long, but if they don't solve the pitching issues, it could be another year without postseason baseball in Detroit.  

3. Minnesota Twins:

    The Twins will open the season without Torii Hunter or Johan Santana, but that doesn't mean this squad wont be trying to make it back to the playoffs after a 1 year absense.  The Twins will need to depend heavily on their bullpen, and hope for consistency out of a very young rotation, which will be led by veteran Livan Hernandez who hopes to be a good mentor for the young staff.  The Twins bullpen will be one of the best in baseball, and getting leads for that bullpen will be a big time factor in how far this team can go.  The offense which is led by Mauer and Morneau will get added help from new young studs Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez, to go along with adequate RF Michael Cuddyer as the Twins will be solid at the top of the batting order.  If the Twins want to contend deep into the summer it is important that the starting pitching pitches well and that the Twins do better in timely hitting situations...something that they lacked a year ago.

4. Chicago White Sox:

    The White Sox come into the 2008 season off a terrible '07 campaign where they were the worst offensive team in the AL last season in terms of average, and near the bottom of the league in E.R.A.  The white sox made key acquisitions in the offensive side acquiriing Nick Swisher from Oakland, Orlando Cabrera from the Angels, and Carlos Quentin from Arizona.  The White Sox pitching staff once again might not be strong enough to make a run for the division this year.  The top of the rotation will be pretty good with Buehrle and Vazquez holding down the top 2 spots, but 3-5 will be hard compressed for consistency.  Jose Contreras will need to have a lot better season if the White Sox want to contend, along with Danks and Floyd, 2 youngsters that battled through rough times in the bigs a year ago.  The bullpen will be shaky other than closer Bobby Jenks, and if the Sox tend to contend, they may need to hit their way to doing so.  It will be one of the more powerful teams hitting homeruns, but with lack of speed and consistency to get on base and create havoc on the basepaths, they will have to rely on the long ball, which doesn't win championships.  It will come down to getting good work out of the bottom of the rotation, and getting huge improvements out of a futile bullpen.

5. Kansas City Royals:

    The 2008 Royals are improving, as they did a year ago, but being in a tough division, and just a tough league altogether might be too much for the Royals to crack the sellar this year.  The Royals will look for a breakout year out of a couple players such as Alex Gordon, and starter Zach Greinke as he will begin the season a part of the rotation.  The lineup will look to get more power with the signing of Jose Guillen, but there still aren't enough quality type hitters to be expecting anything huge this year.  The starting pitching 1-3 will be pretty good with Gil Meche leading the way and Bannister/Greinke leading charge behind.  The bullpen will be anchored by closer Joakim Soria, a rule 5 pick a year ago that surprised a lot of people last year.  The bullpen will be shaky and a lineup that is still a little on the light side after Gordon, Guillen, and underrated outfielder David Dejesus, but if they want to make any run this year, they will need breakout years from just about everyone involved.