As the 2018 season inches ever closer, the AL Central appears to be one of the more lopsided divisions in the Majors. Given the recent dominance of the Cleveland Indians, it's difficult to envision any of the other teams, all in various stages of rebuilds, finding a way to the division crown.
1. Cleveland Indians
Once again, the 2016 AL champs are the choice to win their division and contend to end the longest active World Series drought in MLB. Corey Kluber, the defending AL Cy Young award winner for the second time in his career, will once again anchor a solid rotation that features a renewed Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer. On the offensive side, Francisco Lindor represents one of the game's premier young stars, while Edwin Encarnacion provides the veteran power and experience needed for this team to make a Postseason run.
2. Minnesota Twins
Easily the biggest surprise package of the 2017 season, the rebuilding Minnesota Twins stormed out of the gate and somehow maintained their performance all the way to a Wild Card berth. However, despite the growth and development of young stars such as Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton, this team massively overperformed a year ago, and therefore are poised for a massive letdown in 2018. At best, expect this team to be on the fringe of the AL Wild Card picture, and at worst, they should be the best of a truly terrible cellar in this division.
3. Detroit Tigers
It's a stretch to say this team is third-best in any MLB division, but here are the Tigers. It was extremely difficult to pick between the Tigers and the two teams that will follow them at the bottom for this spot, but at the end of the day, despite absolutely gutting a former AL-Championship roster, they still have enough talent to best the Royals and White Sox. Miguel Cabrera, despite his age, is easily the best player of any on these teams when healthy, and Michael Fulmer and Mike Fiers will provide rotation stability better than either of the other two teams have. Don't expect much outside of a 70-75 win season here at best.
4. Kansas City Royals
The era of the World Champs is finally over. After getting the band back together one last time with Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Alex Gordon, and Salvador Perez in 2017, this team has finally given up on the idea that this team could hit the heights of their two consecutive AL Championships from 2014-15. Cain and Hosmer have bolted for Milwaukee and San Diego, respectively, and the Royals do not have anywhere near the firepower to contend, nor do they have the elite staff needed to carry a poor-hitting team, so this team should languish toward the bottom of the Central as a full rebuild gets underway.
5. Chicago White Sox
This team has been through one year of a full rebuild, and year two won't yield many different results on the field. Just hold on Chicago fans, in five years, this division could be completely on its head as the window for contention will open again sooner than we all may think.
