Two wild card teams came out of this division last season and the Twins who didn’t make it were right there until a late season collapse. One thing they all had in common? As you would expect, they beat up on the White Sox.
The Royals and Twins were both 12-1 against baseball’s doormats, The Tigers were 10-3. Kansas City was under five hundred vs the rest of MLB. The White Sox look just as bad for the upcoming season.
Chicago White Sox
Catcher Kyle Teel was the most MLB ready player aquired in the deal that sent pitcher Garrett Crochet to Boston, he’ll try to win the job over Korey Lee and Matt Thaiss. Edgar Quero is also on the way, so catching looks solid for years to come.
Brooks Baldwin is pencilled in at short but former first rounder Colson Montgomery has already put in a full season at Triple A.
Josh Rojas just signed and looks to get the early third base at bats. Nick Maton hangs around and Miguel Vargas will get at bats somewhere (OF/DH)
Without a trade the outfield looks set. Andrew Benintendi/Luis Robert/Mike Tauchman
Pitching still very much in flux. Martin Perez was brought in to eat some innings. The young stud to watch our for fits the recent White Sox mold of Chris Sale/Crochet. Another big lefty in Noah Schultz. The 21 year old reached double A last season.
The closer on this team is anyone’s guess. Fangraphs roster-resource lists Justin Anderson.
Cleveland Guardians
A few changes but not many battles for the defending division champs. Josh Naylor was traded so Kyle Manzardo/Carlos Santana should split 1B/DH
With Andrés Giménez off to Toronto, Juan Brito holds a light grip at second. How far can last year’s number one overall draft pick Travis Bazzana be from a big league job?
The outfield is set but Chase DeLauter, another former first rounder could change that. Lane Thomas might find himself expendable.
The pitching question is when will Shane Bieber be ready, reports have it sometime in the second half. Battling for that spot: Triston McKenzie, Slade Cecconi and perhaps some others.
Detroit Tigers
The Gleyber Torres signing puts Spencer Torkelson’s at bats in jeopardy. Might even send the former first rounder to the minors again with Colt Keith moving there from second base.
“My message to Tork was, if you have a big offseason and a big spring training, there’s a role for you on this team,” president of baseball operations Scott Harris said. “This team needs more right-handed power, and we’ve seen Tork do that in the past.”
At shortstop Trey Sweeney sits in front of Javier Baez until he proves he’s healthy from hip surgery.
Third base looks like Jace Jung’s. Matt Vierling could always play there but seems to be the rightfielder right now. Of course signing Alex Bregman could change that. The rest of the outfield and DH are claimed.
Rotation: Veteran Alex Cobb adds some innings. It’s hoped that former number one overall Casey Mize bounces back after two lost years to injury, that former number three overall Jackson Jobe makes the leap and perhaps Jack Flaherty comes back.
Kansas City Royals
Not many position battles here as the Royals return almost all of last season’s regulars with the exception of newcomer Jonathan India, traded by Cincinnati for pitcher Brady Singer.
India has never played a major league inning anywhere but second base and never in the outfield in the minors but that’s where he could win up with Kansas City.
There should be a battle for the last two rotation spots. Michael Lorenzen, Kris Bubic, Kyle Wright, Alec Marsh and Noah Cameron.
Minnesota Twins
While the pitching staff looks pretty much locked in, the every day line up has plenty of question marks.
With Carlos Santana gone, can Jose Miranda play first? Should Edouard Julien learn the position? Brooks Lee seems to have taken Julien’s position after the second baseman’s 2024 struggles.
There’s also been talk that oft injured Royce Lewis could move from third to second.
Max Kepler’s departure means more outfield at bats for Matt Wallner (894 OPS). There’s always Willi Castro who plays everywhere. The young outfield name to watch is Emmanuel Rodriguez.
