Sportsrageous

The first half of the Major League Baseball season has seen the Pittsburgh Pirates take the division lead, the four-ace rotation of the Philadelphia Phillies dominate opposing hitters and the American League East continue to be baseball’s best division.  In the next few days, we’ll look at how each division stacks up to others and what contenders in each division need to do to reach this year’s Fall Classic.

Today we’ll look at the AL Central.

Contenders: Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins

Cleveland Indians

The Indians might be the third most surprising team this year after the Diamondbacks and the Pirates.  This time last year the Indians were sitting dead last in the AL Central with a record of 41-55.  This year they’re in a fight for the division lead with a mix of decent pitching and decent hitting.  Their team ERA of 4.02 is good for ninth in the AL, and they’ve scored the seventh most runs in the league putting them near the middle of the pack in both respects.

As we near the deadline, there are a few names that dominate the rumors and one of those is Tampa Bay Ray’s center fielder B. J. Upton.  Being near the middle of the AL in both hitting and pitching while playing for the division title makes the Indians sellers for any type of upgrade they can find and Upton has peaked their interest, according to MLBTradeRumors.com.  In addition to Upton, the Indians also have interest in Los Angeles Dodgers’ starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, according to this MLBTradeRumor.

Even as I’ve written this, the Indians have fallen from the top of the AL Central but by no means are they out of it.  Their proving that the hot start they had was no fluke and will continue to fight down the stretch, though ultimately they may not have enough to hang on against the more talented Tigers or White Sox.

Detroit Tigers

When one thinks of the Tigers’ first 100 games, there’s only one name that comes to most people’s minds.  And it’s not Miguel Cabrera this year.  That player is ace pitcher Justin Verlander who has been one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball so far this season.  Unfortunately for the rest of the Tigers’ staff, even Verlander’s sparkling 2.24 ERA can’t keep them out of the basement in terms of pitching.  Their team ERA of 4.23 ranks in the bottom four in the AL which, given their standing, makes them buyers as well, especially for pitching.

In the same Kuroda trade rumors, the Tigers are listed as one of the three teams most likely to land the starter.  Given how close the Indians and Tigers remain in the standings, the team that lands Kuroda or a top talent could wind up taking the division.

For the rest of the season, the Tigers will rely on their bats and Verlander’s flame-throwing arm to propel them into the playoffs.

Chicago White Sox

The White Sox went into the season as the favorites to win the AL Central and still remain many people’s choice despite being four and a half games back.  Great pitching has kept them competitive as their 3.72 ERA is good for sixth in the AL, however the hitting has been a great disappointment.

After the off-season signing of Adam Dunn, the Sox undoubtedly thought the Dunn-Paul Konerko-Carlos Quentin triplet would do enough damage to give their pitchers and team some wins, but that hasn’t been the case to this point.  Dunn is on pace for one of the worst offensive seasons in a while, batting .163 and reaching base less than 30 percent of the time.  It will take a major turnaround for Dunn to keep the Sox offense competitive which leads me to believe, despite only being three games under .500, the offense and strength of their pitching staff is why MLBTradeRumors is listing the White Sox as sellers at the trade deadline.

Minnesota Twins

The Twins’ first half has seen the team, once a leading candidate to win the AL Central, at the bottom of the Majors’ standings only to come back and sit five games back of the lead.  Injuries have hurt the Twins more than almost any team over the last year or so as their two MVP candidates, catcher Joe Mauer and first basemen Justin Morneau, have made extended stays on the DL.  Nearly every major player for the Twins has spent time on the DL this season and the team’s chances at the playoffs have taken a hit accordingly.

The Twins rank 12th in hitting and 10th in pitching in the AL which doesn’t seem to indicate any promise of salvaging a division title.  However, the fact remains that at 47-53, the Twins are very much in the AL Central race and, given some help from teams ahead of them and the trade deadline, they may well find themselves in a better position come the end of the regular season.