Capsules of American League Central teams, listed in order of finish last year:
2024: 92-69, first place, lost to Yankees in AL Championship Series.
Manager: Stephen Vogt .
Opening Day: March 27 at Kansas City.
He’s Here: 1B Carlos Santana, RHP Luis Ortiz, RHP Paul Sewald, RHP Jakob Junis, LHP John Means
He’s Outta Here: 1B Josh Naylor, 2B Andrés Giménez, CF Myles Straw, RHP Nick Sandlin, LHP Matthew Boyd, RHP Alex Cobb
Top Hitters: 3B José Ramírez , LF Steven Kwan , 1B Carlos Santana .
Projected Rotation: RH Tanner Bibee , RH Ben Lively , RH Luis Ortiz , RH Gavin Williams , RH Triston McKenzie
Key Relievers: RH Emmanuel Clase , RH Cade Smith , RH Hunter Gaddis , RH Paul Sewald , LH Jakob Junis .
Outlook: With Ramírez leading the way on offense and one of baseball’s top bullpens, the Guardians should contend for their sixth AL Central title since 2016. However, there remain concerns about the rotation and the middle of the batting order. Bibee will be the staff’s ace until Shane Bieber returns later this season after having Tommy John surgery last year. The final two rotation spots are questionable after Williams and McKenzie struggled last season. While Ramírez and Kwan provide plenty of offense at the top of the order, the rest of the lineup needs to keep pace. This could be a pivotal year for catcher Bo Naylor, who had 13 home runs but batted only .201 last season.
2024: 86-76, second place AL Central, lost ALDS to Guardians.
Manager: A.J. Hinch
Opening Day: March 27 at Los Angeles Dodgers.
He’s Here: 2B Gleyber Torres, RHP Jack Flaherty, RHP John Brebbia, RHP José Urquidy, RHP Tommy Kahnle, RHP Alex Cobb.
He’s Outta Here: RHP Shelby Miller, LHP Joey Wentz, RHP Alex Faedo, OF Mark Canha, 3B Gio Urshela.
Top Hitters: LF Riley Greene , RF Kerry Carpenter , 1B Colt Keith , OF/IF Matt Vierling , Torres , SS Javier Báez .
Projected Rotation: LH Tarik Skubal , RH Jack Flaherty , RH Reese Olson , RH Jackson Jobe , RH Casey Mize .
Key Relievers: RH Jason Foley , RH Will Vest , RH Tommy Kahnle , RH John Brebbia .
Outlook: The Tigers are expected to contend for a spot in the playoffs, a year after a late-season surge ended a decade-long postseason drought. They kept their top players and made some key additions, signing a two-time All-Star and bringing back Flaherty as a free agent to rejoin a rotation led by the AL Cy Young and Triple Crown winner . Injuries may be a concern in the outfield with Vierling, Parker Meadows, Wenceel Perez and Akil Baddoo already banged up and oft-injured Cobb ailing again. If DH Spencer Torkelson can get in a groove at the plate, it would be a big boost for the lineup.
2024: 86-76, tied for second place, lost to Yankees in Division Series.
Manager: Matt Quatraro .
Opening Day: March 27 against Cleveland.
He’s Here: 2B Jonathan India, RHP Carlos Estevez, INF Cavan Biggio.
He’s Outta Here: RHP Brady Singer, INF Adam Frazier, OF Garrett Hampson, 1B/OF Tommy Pham.
Top Hitters: SS Bobby Witt Jr. , 1B Vinnie Pasquantino , C/1B Salvador Perez , 2B Jonathan India , INF/OF Michael Massey , INF/OF Maikel Garcia .
Projected Rotation: LH Cole Ragans , RH Seth Lugo , RH Michael Wacha , RH Michael Lorenzen , LH Kris Bubic .
Key Relievers: RH Lucas Erceg , RH Carlos Estevez , RH Hunter Harvey , RH John Schreiber , RH Alec Marsh , LH Angel Zerpa .
Outlook: The Royals went from 106-loss laughingstock in manager Matt Quatraro’s first season to 86 wins, a second-place finish in the AL Central and a wild-card series win over Baltimore last year. The biggest reason for the abrupt turnaround was an almost entirely rebuilt starting rotation, which produced All-Stars in Ragans and Lugo and dependability in Singer and Wacha. Singer was traded to the Reds in the deal that landed on-base machine India to play 2B, but the rotation otherwise returns intact with Bubic, Lorenzen and Kyle Wright in the mix for the open job. The Royals failed to land an offensive upgrade in the corner outfield spots, so they will hope incumbents produce more than last season. They can hardly expect more from Witt, who finished second to the Yankees’ Aaron Judge in AL MVP voting while also winning Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards during his All-Star season. The Royals play in a relatively weak division, so they expect to be in the mix for their first title since 2015, when they went on to beat the Mets for the World Series title.
2024: 82-80, fourth place.
Manager: Rocco Baldelli .
Opening Day: March 27 at St. Louis.
He’s Here: 1B Ty France, OF Harrison Bader, LHP Danny Coulombe.
He’s Outta Here: 1B Carlos Santana, RF Max Kepler, OF Manny Margot, INF Kyle Farmer, OF Alex Kirilloff, LHP Caleb Thielbar, LHP Steven Okert, RHP Josh Staumont.
Top Hitters: SS Carlos Correa , CF Byron Buxton , 3B Royce Lewis , RF Matt Wallner , C Ryan Jeffers .
Projected Rotation: RH Pablo López , RH Bailey Ober , RH Joe Ryan , RH Chris Paddack , RH Simeon Woods Richardson .
Key Relievers: RH Jhoan Durán , RH Griffin Jax , RH Cole Sands , LH Danny Coulombe .
Outlook: After losing 27 of their last 39 games to tumble out of a spot in the playoffs, the Twins will try to reset on the field while the franchise remains for sale and fan angst is stronger than it’s been in years. Keeping their best players healthy will be the first place to start, after Correa and Lewis missed long stretches with injuries. Buxton was more available than he’d been in seven seasons, but their freefall in mid-August coincided with him hitting the injured list with hip inflammation. Getting a healthy Ryan back for the rotation would also be a big boost, too, after he missed the last six weeks with shoulder trouble. The Twins were 10th in the major leagues in runs in each of the last two seasons despite the series of injuries to several of their key hitters, and their flame-throwing pitching staff that ranked second in baseball in strikeouts in 2024 and first in 2023 features a reliable group of starters and a potentially dominant late-inning trio with Sands and Jax setting up Durán. There’s plenty of potential in a wide-open division for the Twins to bounce right back in 2025.
2024: 41-121, fifth place.
Manager: Will Venable .
Opening Day: March 27 vs. Los Angeles Angels.
He’s Here: OF/INF Joey Gallo, INF Brandon Drury, LHP Martín Pérez, C Omar Narváez, INF Bobby Dalbec, LHP Tyler Gilbert, LHP Cam Booser, RHP Bryse Wilson, OF Mike Tauchman, OF Austin Slater.
He’s Outta Here: LHP Garrett Crochet, 3B Yoán Moncada.
Top Hitters: CF Luis Robert Jr. , LF Andrew Benintendi , 1B Andrew Vaughn .
Projected Rotation: RH Jonathan Cannon , LH Martín Pérez , RH Davis Martin , RH Bryse Wilson , RH Sean Burke .
Key Relievers: RH Justin Anderson , RH Gus Varland , LH Cam Booser .
Outlook: The White Sox have nowhere to go but up, right? After all, they set a modern major league record for losses last year in GM Chris Getz’s first full season running baseball operations. The team has new leadership in the dugout with Venable taking over for Pedro Grifol, who was fired last August. Venable was an associate manager under Bruce Bochy in Texas for the past two years. Chicago dealt Crochet to Boston at the winter meetings. But the White Sox hung onto Robert at least for now coming off an injury-riddled season. Benintendi was expected to miss four to six weeks after breaking his right hand when he was hit by a pitch during a spring training game in late February, and right-hander Prelander Berroa is out for the season. The White Sox announced last week he would have Tommy John surgery, leaving them without a key reliever. The 24-year-old Berroa had a 3.32 ERA in 17 appearances last season.
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