2014 should be much like 2013 was in the American League Central. The Detroit Tigers will be considered heavy favorites, while the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals will chase American League Wild Card spots and look to challenge Detroit for first place. The Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox will once again be locked in a ferocious battle for last place.
Every team has needs: Detroit wants to go that extra step, Cleveland and Kansas City want to become more serious contenders, and Minnesota and Chicago are looking to speed up their respective rebuilding phases.
Here’s a quick preview of each AL Central team’s offseason.
Detroit Tigers
For the third year in a row, the Tigers came up empty-handed in their quest for Detroit’s first World Series title since 1984.
The offseason has already been exciting in Detroit, as skipper Jim Leyland stepped down and the younger Brad Ausmus took his place as head of the team.
Detroit’s 2013 season will be remembered by their ALCS loss to the eventual World Champion Boston Red Sox and how two grand slams surrendered by the bullpen ended the Tigers’ season early.
One of those grand slams was given up by Jose Veras, who the Tigers acquired from the Houston Astros just before the trade deadline. Veras is currently a free agent, and it looks like he will not be returning to Detroit. The other grand slam was given up by closer Joaquin Benoit. Benoit is also a free agent and will be pursued by many teams. It is unclear, however, if Detroit will try to bring him back.
The Tigers’ bullpen struggles continued last year after GM Dave Dombrowski did not address the issue last offseason. That will not be the case this year.
There are plenty of names that Dombrowski could go after to help bolster the bullpen, including Joe Nathan, Eric O’Flaherty and Joel Hanrahan.
One name that has popped up in rumors is former Oakland Athletics closer Grant Balfour, who was involved in an altercation with Tiger designated hitter Victor Martinez in Game Three of the ALDS.
Balfour and Benoit were fairly similar in 2013. Both started out looking untouchable but struggled down the stretch.
Another issue for Detroit is that shortstop/left fielder Jhonny Peralta will not be returning, and second baseman Omar Infante may be headed elsewhere as well.
The Tigers can afford to lose Peralta since they traded for Jose Iglesias, even though they may miss Peralta’s clutch bat. Losing Infante, on the other hand, would leave a gaping hole at second base that would need to be filled.
Detroit may also address the weakness at the left field position. Don’t be surprised if Dombrowski goes out and grabs former Tiger Curtis Granderson.
Also, rumors have been swirling about Cy Young favorite Max Scherzer, whose contract expires after the season.
Cleveland Indians
The Indians made a surprising push to the playoffs last season, claiming the top AL Wild Card spot before getting their season cut short by the Tampa Bay Rays.
The biggest reason for Cleveland’s success was offense. The Indians were near the top of the American League in several important hitting categories, most specifically in the power category.
The Indians finished just one game behind the Tigers, who dominated them all year. If they could have squeezed out just one more rare win against Detroit, 2013 could have been a different story.
Cleveland’s weakness, however, was pitching; both the rotation and the bullpen. Justin Masterson had a terrific season and the young Danny Salazar turned heads in his rookie season, but the rest of the staff had trouble preventing runs.
The rotation was one of the worst in baseball, nearly finishing dead last in quality starts. While Cleveland pitchers struck out opposing batters at a very high rate, they trailed only Houston in total walks. This means that the team has to improve the starting pitching and throw less pitches in order to give the bullpen a rest.
The Indians need to sign or trade for at least one starting pitcher, especially with Ubaldo Jimenez unlikely to return.
Luckily for Cleveland, starters are fairly deep in this year’s free agent class. Bartolo Colon, A.J. Burnett and Ricky Nolasco could be definite possibilities that Cleveland could acquire for fairly low prices, but Matt Garza and Masahiro Tanaka are also available if GM Chris Antonetti wants to open up his wallet.
The next concern is the bullpen. Cleveland as a whole had one of the worst save percentages in baseball, and former closer Chris Perez was just dropped from the team.
The Indians have to pick up some relief pitchers in one way or another. They could either be in a tight race with the Tigers for Nathan or Balfour, or they could pick up a handful of cheap, effective relievers.
As far as position players go, the Indians are in decent shape. The only hole is third base, as Lonnie Chisenhall has not produced as much as expected so far in his young career. The Indians may keep platooning him and Mike Aviles, as the third base market is extremely weak this year. The only way they would be able to upgrade would be by trade.
Speaking of trades, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera may be on the block. His contract ends after the 2014 season, and he likely will not be returning as highly-touted prospect Francisco Lindor is waiting in the wings.
Kansas City Royals
After years and years of disappointment, the Royals finally took a big step forward in 2013 by contending for a playoff spot halfway through September.
A big reason for the turnaround is what happened last offseason. They needed pitching more than anything else, and they went out and grabbed James Shields, Ervin Santana, Jeremy Guthrie and Wade Davis; drastically improving the rotation.
The rotation payed immediate dividends and proved to be one of the better ones in baseball, tied for third in quality starts. Unlike Cleveland, this allowed the bullpen to rest and turn in decent performances throughout the year.
In free agency, however, the Royals could lose one of their important starting pitchers in Santana. Bruce Chen, who spent some time in both the rotation and bullpen, has also hit the open market.
Kansas City will likely add a cheap starter like Colby Lewis or Jason Vargas in order to maintain their rotation’s depth.
Overall, the Royals are one of the fastest teams in baseball, leading the Major Leagues in stolen bases last season and boasting an incredibly speedy outfield.
As far as hitting is concerned, though, the Royals’ major weakness last season was power. Kansas City was ninth in baseball in overall batting average, but finished nearly dead last in home runs.
Nelson Cruz would be a perfect addition, as he could provide some serious pop in the lineup. The issue, however, is that signing Cruz would create a logjam in the outfield. Alex Gordon is one of the better outfielders in the division, while Jarrod Dyson and Lorenzo Cain are youngsters with all sorts of talent looking to prove themselves worthy of starting jobs.
Nevertheless, Cruz would be a big spark to the team’s offense and either Dyson or Cain may need to sit or be traded for the greater good of the team.
If Kansas City cannot sign Cruz, it would not be too surprising to see the veteran Carlos Beltran return to the place where he started his career.
The team could also look at Jhonny Peralta or Juan Uribe to play third base, but Mike Moustakas has the potential to be a consistent starter despite underperforming in 2013.
Minnesota Twins
The Twins are in a full-out rebuilding situation and have two of the best prospects in baseball in third baseman Miguel Sano and outfielder Byron Buxton.
Especially after Aaron Hicks significantly underperformed last year, Buxton could see a fair share of big league action in the Minnesota outfield this season once (if) the team falls out of contention.
Sano may have to wait a little while since Trevor Plouffe has established himself as the starter at the hot corner for the Twins. Plouffe, however, could be traded at some point this season or next for some more prospects, opening the door for Sano to get some experience.
Another name on the trade block could be Josh Willingham. He has been one of the few positive marks on a very quiet Twins lineup, but could be shipped off in order to open up an outfield spot for Buxton as well as bring in some more youth.
Minnesota’s number one concern is pitching. The Twins ranked dead last in baseball in many categories; such as batting average against, strikeouts and quality starts. They also finished second-worst only to the Houston Astros in total runs and total bases surrendered.
Since nearly all of Minnesota’s prospects are position players, expect them to wheel and deal for some pitching prospects this offseason. They may also sign a starter or two just to keep the rotation from reaching embarrassing levels, but even vastly upgrading the rotation will probably not be enough for the Twins to make a playoff push.
Chicago White Sox
The Boston Red Sox went from last place to a World Series in one year...can their partners of the white variety do so?
Stop laughing!
Well, this story is a little different than Boston’s. Like the Twins, the White Sox are in full rebuilding mode.
They already made a big splash this offseason, though, signing Cuban first baseman Jose Abreu to a six-year $68 million contract. If you’re good at math, it’s not tough to figure out that Abreu will be getting over $11 million a year, which might be a risk for a player who has never stepped on a Major League field.
Nevertheless, Abreu showed great signs of potential in his time in Cuba, posting absolutely huge numbers. The issue with the signing is that it could potentially create a logjam at the first base/designated hitter position with Adam Dunn already on the team and the possibility of longtime first baseman Paul Konerko coming back for one more year.
Konerko is a free agent, but he has made clear that if he decides not to retire, 2014 will be his last season? What is unclear is whether or not he would be with the White Sox in 2014.
If Konerko is signed by the Sox, expect him to split the starts at first base with Abreu.
One of the only positive storylines to come out of the South Side last year was the utter dominance of Chris Sale on the pitcher’s mound. However, where there are positives with this team, there are also negatives.
Sale got so little run support and had such bad luck when leaving games with leads that his record was a misleading 11-14 despite having some of the best stats of any pitcher in baseball.
The White Sox will be trying to get some more offense this offseason, at the very least to just help Sale have a little run support.
With a fairly weak outfield, Chicago native Curtis Granderson could ink a deal with the Sox and give them some added pop in the lineup. They already traded for the young Avisail Garcia before last year’s trade deadline, but another outfield spot open up when they dealt Alex Rios to the Texas Rangers.
While he doesn’t hit for average too well, Granderson has above-average speed in the outfield and on the basepaths while also becoming one of the better power hitters in the game during his time with the New York Yankees.
Chicago will mostly be looking for prospects this offseason, but adding a player like Granderson or another pitcher in order to shore up a rotation that is dismal after Sale would not be a surprise in the least.