Central Previews

AL Central Preview

The Minnesota Twins have been the king of the division recently, winning 6 of the last 9 division crowns while the Detroit Tigers look to rebound after a disappointing 2010 season, but will have to overpass the Chicago White Sox. Finally, the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals look to start a foundation for the future. 

1. Detroit Tigers-  After being arrested for suspicion of drunk driving a week before spring training, Miguel Cabrera looks to rebound from the incident. Brandon Inge, Victor Martinez and Miguel Ordonez are threats at any time at the plate. Justin Verlander is one of the best pitchers in the league, and Jose Valverde will close out the games for the Tigers.

2. Minnesota Tigers-  Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer and Denard Span lead an offense that is arguably the best in the league. Francisco Liriano is the ace on the staff, but Carl Pavano is extremely inconsistent. Matt Capps and Joe Nathan are fantastic options in the bullpen. This team is definitely a wild-card contender.

3. Cleveland Indians- Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore make up part of an offense threat that will need to be scrappy to win games. Fausto Carmona is a great pitcher, but the Indians have been unable to have a top-notch pitching staff since C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee.  Jason Donald made his debut last year for the Indians at 3rd base and looks to improve this season.

4. Chicago White Sox- Colorful manager Ozzie Guillen is in his 8th year as director of the White Sox. The White Sox have an excellent pitching staff in Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, John Danks and Jake Peavy, but their offense lacks depth beyond Paul Konerko, Adam Dunn and Alex Rios. If the Sox can add a little bit more depth, they can be in the wild-card race with the Twins.

5. Kansas City Royals- The best player on last year's team, Zack Greinke, is now on the Milwaukee Brewers. Offensively, the Royals aren't terrible with Billy Butler at DH, Jason Kendall as the catcher and Alex Gordon as the left fielder, but the starting pitching staff lacks depth. Joakim Soria is by far the best pitcher on this staff. With a pitcher or two in 2012, the Royals might finally come out of the cellar of the AL Central.

NL Central Preview

The Cincinnati Reds won the NL Central last year by five games over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals have an all-world player in Albert Pujols, but the Milwaukee Brewers will also be in the mix since they picked up former Kansas City Royal Zack Greinke.

1. St. Louis Cardinals- The loss of starting pitcher Adam Wainwright hurts the Cardinal's pitching staff, but there are other pitchers, as well as many big bats, that will minimize the season ending Tommy John surgery for Wainwright. Albert Pujols comes into the season not knowing where he will be next year, but Pujols is going to want to do well this season in order to receive a big pay-day. Matt Holliday will be the starting right fielder for the Cards, while Chris Carpenter and Jake Westbrook are the two best pitchers for the team. 

2. Milwaukee Brewers- Zack Greinke helps a pitching staff that needed help with only having the likes of Yovani Gallardo and Shaun Marcum as their top 2 pitchers. Prince Fielder is always a home run threat at the plate, and young guns Rickie Weeks, Ryan Braun and Corey Hart will help the Brewers contend for a division crown or wild card spot

3. Cincinnati Reds- The Reds had players like Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips come up big at the plate while pitchers Johnny Cueto, Edison Volquez and former Red Sox great Bronson Arroyo all did a stellar job on the mound. The Reds didn't do much in free agency, and I can't see them being good for two straight years.

4. Chicago Cubs- This team might have the most potential in the league, but is also one to disappoint the most. Alfonso Soriano, Geovany Soto and Carlos Pena are all outstanding players, but the pitching staff is as streaky as hearing local Plymouth State celebrity Pom yell out "10 MINUTE" in the dining hall. The Cubs will start off the year on fire but will slowly fade away after the all-star break.

5. Houston Astros- The Astros are a team that will be good for 2 years, then off for the following 5. I believe that the Astros will be a good team in a year or two with outfielders Carlos Lee, Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn. The pitching staff beyond Wandy Rodriguez isn't anything to write home about. 

6. Pittsburgh Pirates- It pains me to put the Pirates last in this  division because they have been so bad for the past decade. Andrew McCutchen is a pretty good center fielder with speed while Lyle Overbay will play 1st base for the Bucs. If the Pirates can get a couple of decent starting pitchers, this team has a chance to play near .500 baseball.