American League Central Offseason Grades And Predictions

When you land a player by the name of Prince Fielder you will automatically assume Division champs, but when you mix in an already MVP candidate in Miguel Cabrera, and throw in MVP/CY Young pitcher Justin Verlander this team is poised for a deep October run. This team is solid from Austin Jackson all the way to Delmon Young. Their bullpen is deep with the signing of Octavio Dotel, and supported by Joaquin Benoit, and the closer Jose Valverde who did not blow one save last season. They are manged by a great coach in Jim Leyland. The only question I will have is who bats third and fourth? Fielder or Cabrera? I see this team running away with the Division before August, and the only team in the American League I can see who could beat this team is either Texas Rangers or the Angels. Tigers still need another great pitcher to go along with Verlander, look at them to sign Roy Oswalt, or trade for a pitcher during the season.

They are only going to get better, but still not enough talent to keep up with the Tigers, and with the false age cloud hanging over Fausto Carmona will hurt this team, yet this team has great talent with Ubaldo Jimenez, and Carlos Santana, and Asdrubal Cabrera. They added World Series winner Derek Lowe, but still injuries will tell what kind of season the Indians will have. If Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner can stay healthy then this team could compete with the Tigers, but I see this team one more year away from competing. But if the extra Wild Card team gets added this year, keep your eye on the Indians who could sneak into the play-offs that way. Still need some help on the bases, and some pitching question marks, but they pass the off season grades

You lose Mark Buehrle, Your offense is getting old and you lose your manger, nothing can go right for this team. I see the Sox somewhere at the bottom of this Division, and a few years away from ever being relevant again. Be prepared to see a fire sale with the Sox, when this team plummets in the standings watch for Paul Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski, Alex Rios all get traded. This team has no money, and will need to shed some money in order to rebuild. Look for 2014 for the Sox to be in contention again. You can not expect to pass when you let your ace leave for South Beach.

Watch for the Royals to make some noise this year. With a deep farm system full of talent, and the signing of Jonathan Broxton, Kevin Kouzmanoff, and pulling off a trade for Jonathan Sanchez. Ned Yost has this team on the upswing, and with the 2012 All Star game being played in K.C only good things will keep coming for this team. I still think a few more years away from a championship team, but keep an eye out for a possible wild card team. This team is stocked with talent, and this is no longer the old Royals we all used to know. They still need starting pitching which is why they do not have a higher grade.

The reason I put question marks is because the whole team is a question mark. We are coming off the worst season under manager Ron Gardenhire. We lost Joe Nathan, Jason Kubel, and Michael Cuddyer. We traded away Kevin Slowey. We did however sign Josh Willingham(which is smart because he is the same player as Cuddyer but a lot cheaper). We signed an almost 39-year-old shortstop in Jamey Carroll. Terry Ryan stepped in to run the front office which is good news for the Twins, because it was Ryan who brought the Twins back to relevance; but with $23 million a season locked up to Joe Mauer we have no money to spend on free agents. We don't know the health of Mauer and Justin Morneau, which is why I can not give a grade. If Mauer and Morneau return to their MVP day's then watch out Tigers, but we have a lot of question mark players like Fransisco Liriano, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Matt Capps, and Scott Baker. If somehow these players get back on track with their careers then we might actually have another Division Championship team, but if injuries happen again, and Mauer and Morneau are not on the field, watch for Gardy to get fired, and this team fallow in the footsteps of the White Sox.