AL Central
Detroit Tigers
Hard not to love what the Tigers did this offseason. They got Tarik Skubal’s contract situated for this year, and he’ll be hungry pitching for a deal again. They added Framber Valdez, who I see as a low end ace or a high end number two, and they brought in Kenley Jansen and Paul Sewald to fix a bullpen that was a mess last year.
This team, led by AJ Hinch, feels like the clear class of the division to me. They’ve got the best starter in the division, they added more real pitching behind him, and they addressed an obvious weakness late in games. I think Detroit runs away with the AL Central and earns itself a bye out of the Wild Card round.
Kansas City Royals
Checking in second, I’ve got the Royals. They had a very encouraging 2024 and looked like they had something real building, but then 2025 fell apart with injuries to key guys like Cole Ragans and the whole thing lost momentum.
They added Matt Strahm, Lane Thomas, Starling Marte, and some other depth pieces, which should at least help stabilize things. And oh yeah, Bobby Witt Jr. is a complete superstar. One of the best players in baseball and a guy who can single handedly carry stretches of a season. I think Kansas City does enough to stay relevant and compete with the Yankees for that second Wild Card spot in the American League.
Cleveland Guardians
Here’s the drop off. Cleveland had a quiet winter. Their additions were mostly depth and bullpen arms like Colin Holderman, Shawn Armstrong, and a flier on Rhys Hoskins. They lost Lane Thomas, Sam Hentges, Jakob Junis, John Means, and Triston McKenzie.
It also looks like Emmanuel Clase has thrown his last pitch as a big leaguer. This still feels like a team betting, no pun intended, on continuity and internal development instead of actually getting better. I’ve got Cleveland finishing a pretty underwhelming third in the division.
Chicago White Sox
Chicago kept building in weird and interesting ways. The headliner is Munetaka Murakami, and they also added Seranthony Dominguez, Jordan Hicks, Austin Hays, and the non switch hitting Luisangel Acuña.
This is still not a polished contender by any stretch, but it is at least a more watchable team than the version people were clowning last year. They’ve basically gone from sucks to stinks. I think they land somewhere in that 70 to 75 win range and finish fourth.
Minnesota Twins
The Twins added Victor Caratini, Josh Bell, Taylor Rogers, Anthony Banda, and some veteran depth, but the bigger story is the direction of this team. They brought in former Pirates scapegoat Derek Shelton after a disappointing 2025, and the whole thing just feels stuck.
This team is not rebuilding, not really competing, and not particularly exciting. Just there. Royce Lewis has completely free fallen in the eyes of MLB superstardom and looks like he’s on his way to becoming a future Dodgers reclamation project. The Twins do absolutely nothing for me and finish last in the AL Central.
AL Central Prediction
Tigers
Royals
Guardians
White Sox
Twins
