Al Central Quarterly Report

Prediction: Minnesota, Kansas City, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit
Actual:Chicago/Minnesota (T1), Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City

On the surface, this division isn't looking too good for me. Minnesota is seven games over .500, but they have allowed 10 more runs than they have scored, which is not a good way to keep winning (though KC followed that route last season). The Twins have been plagued a bit by injury, with Corey Koskie, Torii Hunter and Joe Mauer all missing time with injuries. Doug Mientkiewicz has struggled with the bat, Luis Rivas continues to not justify his starting role, and for some reason Jose Offerman getting in the lineup, but Lew Ford has been a nice surprise and Jacques Jones has exceeded expectations. Brad Radke has pitched well and Carlos Silva has defied gravity, but both Johan Santana and Kyle Lohse have struggled. The Twins bullpen has been strong, and Joe Nathan (1.25 ERA, 13 saves) once again sets aside the notion that you need a "proven closer" to succeed. The White Sox hitters have been mashing, led by Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez, and...Juan Uribe? At only 24 years old, maybe Uribe is coming into his own, but if not any decline will likely be offset by an improvement from Joe Crede, struggling with a .651 OPS. The rotation of Buehrle, Loaiza, Garland and Schoeneweis (a difficult bunch to spell) has been solid, and the bullpen has "gotten by". Detroit has been the (good) surprise of the division. The offense, behind new additions Pudge Rodriguez, Rondell White and Carlos Guillen (seriously, the Mariners got rid of him to make room for Rich Aurilia?) has hardly missed the bat of Dmitri Young. The pitching has been bad, but Jeremy Bonderman is turning into a good pitcher. This team will still probably finish last, but it's been fun for them so far. Cleveland has been impressive. The offense isn't great, but is built around promising youngsters Gerut, Hafner and Martinez, and Matt Lawton's on-again, off-again career is apparently on again. Sabathia, Lee and Westbrook are a good core of starters, but going to the bullpen has been, shall we say, risky. Finally, the Royals. For the life of me, I can't explain why I thought they would contend this year. The offense hasn't been good, other than Beltran and the surprising Ken Harvey. Rookie of the Year Angel Berroa has stunk it up to the tune of a .573 OPS (though he has shown signs of life lately). And speaking of stinking, the pitching.