Offseason Poised to Make AL Central Most Wide-Open Division in MLB

Quick, who's the favorite in the American League Central? Is it the Detroit Tigers, the reigning division champs? The Kansas City Royals, the reigning AL champs? Or maybe someone else?

It's a tough question, and we won't have a clear answer until this offseason plays out. Even then, the AL Central could easily end up the most wide-open division in baseball.

Consider: Last season, the Tigers and Royals battled down to the wire, with Detroit ultimately claiming the division flag by a single game. But both of 2014's top finishers are poised to lose key pieces. 

Kansas City will almost surely enter 2015 without the services of free-agent ace James Shields, who will command a contract too rich for K.C.'s small-market blood. The Royals have already watched designated hitter Billy Butler, a key man in the clubhouse, sign with the Oakland A's.

The Tigers might also lose their ace in Max Scherzer. The 2013 Cy Young winner rejected a six-year, $144 million offer from Detroit in March, per Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports, opting instead to test the market. Expect him to get much more from someone—CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman recently rekindled the persistent Scherzer-to-the-New York Yankees rumors—and leave a gaping hole in the Tigers rotation.

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Additionally, Detroit has a glaring need in the bullpen, a weakness exposed in its division-series loss to the Baltimore Orioles, and could bid farewell to veteran free-agent outfielder Torii Hunter.

That's not to say the Tigers and Royals are sunk.

Aside from Shields and Butler, Kansas City will bring back the same speedy, slick-fielding squad that streaked through the postseason and into America's heart before losing a hard-fought seven-game World Series to the San Francisco Giants.

Meanwhile, even if Scherzer splits, the Tigers still have an undisputed stud in left-hander David Price, plus a fearsome middle of the order featuring Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez, the latter of whom Detroit re-upped early in the offseason. 

Still, as each team scrambles to plug holes, there could be an opening for another club to slide in. Like, say, the Chicago White Sox, who finished a pedestrian 73-89 last season, but who are making strides this winter toward renewed relevance.

The White Sox have already signed Adam LaRoche, one of the top available bats, to a two-year, $25 million deal. The 35-year-old LaRoche hit 26 home runs to go along with 92 RBI and a career-best .362 on-base percentage for the Washington Nationals last season. He'll likely benefit from a shift to hitter-friendly U.S. Cellular Field and to the American League, where he should see significant time at DH.

Luis M. Alvarez/Associated Press

Inking LaRoche—along with left-handed reliever Zach Duke, who's coming off a career year with the Milwaukee Brewers—unambiguously indicates Chicago is shifting into win-now mode.

Don't ask us, though; ask White Sox Executive Vice President Kenny Williams, who told CSNChicago.com's Dan Hayes, "The only message we want to send at the end of the day is when our roster is complete, that people can dream again." 

Fans may also be dreaming in Cleveland, where the Indians finished 85-77 last year, just three games off the playoff pace. Heck, even the Minnesota Twins, basement-dwellers in 2014, could sneak into the picture.

Don't mistake parity for weakness. As ESPN.com's Buster Olney notes (subscription required), the AL Central has placed a pair of teams in the postseason each of the last two years, and Detroit advanced at least as far as the American League Championship Series from 2011 to 2013.

"The division’s reputation for weakness has probably been built on its payrolls, besides that of the Tigers; the Indians, Royals and Twins typically operate with modest budgets, and the White Sox went through cuts in recent seasons," Olney postulates. "But, no matter how the perception was built, it is changing because the AL Central is evolving into something better."

Which squad winds up on top of arguably baseball's most balanced division remains to be seen. What we do know is that there's no clear favorite—a recipe for big questions...and bigger intrigue.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.