In 2012, the American League Central  proved to be one of the tighter races for one of the top-three automatic bids for the postseason; however, it was also statistically one of the most lackluster divisions throughout Major League Baseball. As the season came to a close all five teams experienced a significant number of additions and shakeups that will prove to make their quest for a World Series Championship more interesting than in years past.

5. Minnesota Twins

The Twins have finished in last place in the AL Central for back-to-back years, and it’s very unlikely they’ll break the trend this season. The Twins took serious hits to their players in the field after losing Denard Span to the Washington Nationals for a prospect and trading Ben Revere to the Philadelphia Phillies for Vance Worley and Trevor May. On paper, the Revere deal makes a lot of sense, especially since the Twins are putting a lot of faith into former first-round draft pick Aaron Hicks in centerfield. Even though the Twins gained a promising young starting pitcher, they still lack overall depth as Brian Duensing continues to struggle out of the bullpen. Not even highly productive years from Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau can save this team. Maybe Jamey Carroll can.

4. Kansas City Royals

One of the biggest deals to take place during the offseason came in the form of the Tampa Bay Rays sending James Shields and Wade Davis to the Kansas City Royals for Wil Meyers and Jake Odorizzi. Shields will add an excellent veteran arm to an otherwise shabby team, along with the addition of Ervin Santana from the Los Angeles Angels. Pitching has been a storied problem for the Royals who have lived by the Wal-Mart system of buying, selling and drafting players since David Glass joined the management/ownership back in 1993. Alex Gordon has shown significant improvement since moving to left field; however, the bats of Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas have been relatively quiet despite the amount of promise analysts feel they possess.

3. Chicago White Sox

The White Sox suffered a minor collapse at the tail end of the 2012 season which ultimately allowed the Detroit Tigers to pass them in the standings and go home with a division title. Even after a great managerial debut by Robin Ventura it’s hard to see the White Sox making a push for the playoffs without A.J. Pierzynski as their veteran leader. Chris Sale has the potential to repeat the success he had in 2012, but the White Sox cannot solely rely upon his arm. Gordon Beckham, Alexei Ramirez and Alex Rios will need to make up for Adam Dunn's lack of consistency at the plate while Jake Peavy will need to return to the form of his time with the San Diego Padres.

2. Cleveland Indians

For the last two seasons the Cleveland Indians have started out as one of the premier teams in the American League; however, their collapse always seems inevitable by the time the All-Star break rolls around. Not wanting to finish in the cellar again, the Indians fired manager Manny Acta before the end of the 2012 season and decided to roll the dice with two-time World Series champion manager Terry Francona to help them take the next step.

The Indians also made major acquisitions of Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn and Mark Reynolds to help provide a spark of offense the team has been lacking for the past two seasons with Grady Sizemore's constant trips to the designated list causing other to pick up the slack. Veterans Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana will need to pick up their slack as well, as their batting averages and power numbers have been all over the map the past three years. This Indians team has the capabilities to lock up one of the two available Wild Card spots come season’s end.

1. Detroit Tigers

After a rough sweeping in the 2012 World Series the Tigers are looking to retain their ownership of the AL Central title for a third straight year under the wise tutelage of Jim Leyland and the offensive prowess of Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera. The Tigers have all the right pieces in play especially with Victor Martinez coming back from a full season off due to an ACL tear before last season started.

There isn’t much doubt that Justin Verlander will compete for another Cy Young award, but most of their success will have to come from the other unsung heroes of the starting rotation. Doug Fister  and Max Scherzer are both capable of throwing no-hitters anytime they take the mound, but Fister specifically will need to reach deep and get back to the dominant for of his time when he first joined the Tigers after getting traded by the Seattle Mariners in July of 2011. The biggest X-factors at the moment appear to be on Anibal Sanchez, Torii Hunter and Omar Infante. Infante and Sanchez had a mediocre go of things after getting traded to the team by the Miami Marlins last season, and Hunter is looking to stick it to the Angels for leaving him by the side of the road so they could sign Josh Hamilton to an inflated multi-year deal. With revenge being one of their biggest motivators, it’s hard to not pick the Tigers as the overall favorite.