{"id":469032,"date":"2025-12-24T15:02:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T15:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/469032\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T15:02:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T15:02:12","slug":"al-central-roundtable-who-will-triumph-in-the-race-to-83-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/469032\/","title":{"rendered":"AL Central roundtable: Who will triumph in the race to 83 wins?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dan Hayes, Cody Stavenhagen and Zack Meisel<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for offseason action, Hot Stove storylines, an arms race, cutthroat competition, bloodthirsty executives \u2014 well, the AL Central is not for you. That doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s not interesting, though. This division has racked up four postseason series wins the last two years, and someone has to represent the group next October. Right now it just seems like that division winner might only need, oh, 83 wins or so.<\/p>\n

The Tigers are obviously contenders, though Tarik Skubal\u2019s status clouds everything<\/a> in the Motor City. The Guardians are back-to-back AL Central champions, even if they rarely act like it in the winter. The Twins are keeping together their core \u2013 you know, the pieces left over from a summer flash sale. The Royals want to win. The White Sox want to escape the basement.<\/p>\n

Who says this division doesn\u2019t have intrigue?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the talk of the Central. Skubal could shape everything.<\/p>\n

Cody Stavenhagen:<\/strong> Well, the Tigers certainly have some Hot Stove storylines. It\u2019s just unclear whether the results will match all the hoopla. The Tigers have made clear they are willing to listen to offers on Tarik Skubal. That, to paraphrase president of baseball operations Scott Harris, is more a reflection of their open-minded philosophy that it is a desire to trade Skubal.<\/p>\n

Despite all the noise, I think the chances of the Tigers dealing Skubal remain slim. That\u2019s interesting, though, because the Tigers could certainly make a bid to blow 83 wins out of the water if they really wanted. They have the best pitcher in the American League and young hitters they expect to keep getting better. If this were the AL East, there would be greater incentive to add to that core, to sign an Alex Bregman or a Bo Bichette or even add a real No. 2 behind Skubal.<\/p>\n

But this is the AL Central we\u2019re talking about. Is there actually reason to believe the Guardians could win this division again?<\/p>\n

Zack Meisel:<\/strong> You could cling to the usual platitudes. They always have the pitching. They\u2019re always hanging around in the end. They have the league\u2019s fourth-best record over the last 10 seasons (behind the Dodgers, Astros and Yankees). Yada yada yada.<\/p>\n

If you squint, you can see it. Their rotation was electric in September, which fueled their historic comeback to win the division. Their bullpen somehow ranked first in ERA after Emmanuel Clase got busted<\/a> in late July. The lineup \u2014 well, it stunk. But that made the offseason agenda a straightforward one and so far they have \u2026 not touched the lineup.<\/p>\n

They added Colin Holderman, Peyton Pallette, Shawn Armstrong and Connor Brogdon to their bullpen and surely you\u2019ve heard of at least one of them, right?<\/p>\n

Stavenhagen:<\/strong> Hey, even though the Tigers don\u2019t seem too interested in bolstering their lineup via free agency, they at least upped the ante by signing a player most baseball fans have heard of. Kenley Jansen is fourth all time in saves and will join what\u2019s historically been a no-roles bullpen under A.J. Hinch. They also signed Kyle Finnegan, who was quite good after they traded for him last season (don\u2019t ask how the other trades went).<\/p>\n

Dan Hayes: <\/strong>When the Twins signed Josh Bell on Monday, it was their earliest free-agent signing since December 2022. It\u2019s hardly big news, but Bell can hit for power with manageable strikeouts and he brings a veteran presence. It also means the front office really wants to build around Joe Ryan, Pablo L\u00f3pez and Byron Buxton versus trading them.<\/p>\n

What does any of this amount to? Your guess is as good as mine. Fangraphs<\/a> had the Twins\u2019 initial roster pegged for 82 wins because the starting rotation projects well. Hitting that mark requires a lot of young players to perform. Basically, the Twins are saying they think winning the AL Central is attainable by enhancing what\u2019s left of the roster after the Trade Deadline Gutting of 2025\u1d40\u1d39.<\/p>\n

Meisel:<\/strong> Cleveland\u2019s fortunes lie in the hands \u2014 really the hamstrings and feet and obliques and hamate bones \u2014 of Chase DeLauter and Travis Bazzana, a couple of blue-chip prospects the club is banking on emerging in 2026. They\u2019re also relying on some breakouts from a group that includes George Valera, C.J. Kayfus, Angel Mart\u00ednez, Bo Naylor, Brayan Rocchio and Juan Brito. And they need those new horses in the rotation, like Gavin Williams, Joey Cantillo and Slade Cecconi, to keep chugging along.<\/p>\n

Foolproof plan? Hardly. There are significant injury concerns. There are the customary challenges of learning the big leagues for the first or second time. There\u2019s a lot of risk here, more risk than, say, spending a little cash on a free agent or prospect capital on a trade acquisition to shore up the lineup. That could change, of course. It\u2019s December, and the Guardians have been quietly snooping around a couple of markets. Their payroll would sit at about $70 million if the season started tomorrow, which should enrage everyone in and out of Cleveland.<\/p>\n

So far, it\u2019s been another cold, silent winter on the heels of another thrilling September and (early) October. The Guardians will presumably enter 2026, externally, with low expectations once again. If anything, maybe that helps Stephen Vogt\u2019s bid for an unprecedented third consecutive Manager of the Year Award.<\/p>\n

Dan Hayes:<\/strong> It\u2019s surreal that the Bell signing and news the Twins want to hang onto their top guys \u2014 which seems like the bare minimum a team should do \u2013 qualifies as good. But that\u2019s where the Twins are.<\/p>\n

Twenty six months ago, Twins fans were riding high after their first playoff success since 2002. Then came the $30 million payroll cut, which ownership later described as \u201cright-sizing\u201d the payroll. Then the 2024 team collapsed after a 70-53 start. A week after saying the front office had what it needed to compete in 2024, ownership announced the exploration of a sale. Then the 2025 Twins went on a massive trading spree, including a Carlos Correa salary dump. Two weeks later, the sale was off. What a mess. Fans have been kicked in the shin over and over and over.<\/p>\n

Offering this hope at long last is a small, but necessary step. Are the Twins crazy for thinking Bell and a few bullpen pieces might be enough?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n In Byron Buxton and Co., the Twins boast high-end talent despite flaws in other areas. (Ed Zurga \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Stavenhagen:<\/strong> You joke, but is a bounceback out of the realm of possibility? In some strange world where Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis remain healthy, the Twins arguably have more high-end positional star power than either the Tigers or Guardians. I\u2019m not so sure about a playoff run, but why tear things totally down to the studs when no one else is raising their hand to claim the division?<\/p>\n

Last year the Royals were my pick to win the Central. They\u2019ll have Cole Ragans back atop their rotation, they locked up Maikel Garc\u00eda, and Bobby Witt Jr. is probably the best player in the division. They should be right here in this race to 83, 84, 85 or even \u2014 gasp \u2014 86 wins.<\/p>\n

Meisel:<\/strong> I love Kansas City\u2019s pitching. They\u2019ve added Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas to an outfield that was pitiful in 2025, with a league-worst 73 wRC+. They still need another bat, but they could be sneaky good.<\/p>\n

Stavenhagen:<\/strong> And let\u2019s not forget about our friends the White Sox. They still have a long way to go, but everyone loves Will Venable as manager, the team\u2019s overall brand of play improved greatly throughout the course of last season and they picked up Munetaka Murakami<\/a>. They\u2019re still a clear fifth in this division, but I wouldn\u2019t be shocked if they become sneaky interesting sooner than most people expect.<\/p>\n

Hayes:<\/strong> Kind of feel like the AL Central is akin to one of my favorite lines from \u2018The Firm.\u2019 \u201cIt\u2019s not sexy, but it has teeth.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Dan Hayes, Cody Stavenhagen and Zack Meisel If you\u2019re looking for offseason action, Hot Stove storylines, an…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":469033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1274,1282,1885,1284,1287,1266,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-469032","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-chicago-white-sox","9":"tag-cleveland-guardians","10":"tag-detroit-tigers","11":"tag-kansas-city-royals","12":"tag-minnesota-twins","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115775153897923304","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}