Today we move westerly in the American League and take on the Central, where it appears we'll have three teams battling it out for most of the season...
The Favorite: Minnesota Twins
I don't know if you can officially call any of the Twins, White Sox, or Tigers the "favorite", but the way I see it, this team has finished first the past three years (though technically they were tied with the White Sox in 2008 and lost the one game playoff), and are the favorites until someone else proves otherwise. After eight months Justin Morneau has finally seen live big league action, and assuming he can make a full recovery, I think you have to project this team slightly ahead of it's competitors. Remember, they did it last year without any help from Joe Nathan and only half a year from Morneau.
The Neglected: Kansas City Royals
The Royals have finished 4th or 5th in the AL Central for seven straight years. They just traded away their ace. They signed Jeff Francoeur and Melky Cabrera in the offseason. Recipe for a turnaround? No. But everyone knows what the Royals are playing for, and that's 2013 and beyond. As for 2011, fans will have to be content with battling for 4th place and having a Yuni-less infield.
Most Likable Team: Chicago White Sox
The Twins are very likable. Small market. Down-to-earth face of the franchise catcher. But I'm going with the White Sox here because they hit a lot of homeruns, and I think Adam Dunn and Mark Buehrle are two of the more interesting guys in baseball. Having seen a lot of Adam Dunn in Cincinnati, he really is one of the funniest players I've heard talk. And seriously, doesn't Buehrle seem to do something awesome and bad ass pretty much every year (see here for proof). Besides all that, I live in Chicago, and it's always good to support the hometown team (even if I don't live on the south side).
Least Likable Team: Cleveland Indians
This is probably more of a personal thing rather than a widespread sentiment. They just seem like a team of no consequence that really isn't doing much of anything. And it makes me sad. I mean, what happened to Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner and Matt LaPorta and Fausto Carmona (speaking of, who on earth assembled that rotation). And I feel bad for Shin-Soo Choo because he really is one of the ten best outfielders in baseball and doesn't get much credit for it. Hard to say when they'll become relevant again.
Potential story line:
The easy answer here is Miguel Cabrera, and it's my blog so I'm going with the easy answer. I hope the guy can get back on track, because he is good at hitting a baseball, and it'd be a shame, both for him and for us, if that talent was wasted in any way.
Overall Result:
Twins 87
White Sox 85
Tigers 82
Indians 69
Royals 67
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