4. A.L. Central Landscape Changing. Anticipate a different dynamic in the Midwest.
Although Detroit didn’t lose much in terms of key players, the division as a whole looks a bit different.
Chris Sale is gone. The allure and shine of the Royals has worn off. The Twins aren’t just a bunch of young kids this year.
On paper, there’s an argument to be made that the A.L. Central is weaker today than it appeared at this time one year ago.
However, if there’s one thing we know about baseball, the league dynamic is ever-changing.
Do we really expect the Indians to absolutely dominate Detroit every time they play like what happened last year?
The odds are against it.
But like any other team in baseball, if you take care of business in your division, you are in the driver’s seat.
The same way Cleveland beat up on Detroit all last year, the Twins made a habit of causing Tribe fans to scratch their heads.
Look for both of those outliers to even out a bit this season.
Something to keep in mind is that the White Sox may very well have more pieces to sell off in June/July.
Jose Quintana, David Robertson, and maybe even Jose Abreu could be up for auction to strip the team down in the rebuild process.
Theoretically, that should help the Indians, but it also would play a factor for teams like Kansas City, Detroit and even Minnesota.
Down the stretch, if it’s a close race, it won’t be a surprise if some of those teams who happen to meet up with the White Sox in August/September seem like they’re catching Chicago at a convenient time.
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