CHICAGO WHITE SOX (93 – 69 in 2021)
Last season the White Sox brought in Tony La Russa to manage the team. He promptly guided them to 93 victories in spite of an unprecedented number of injuries. Of course, that was the whole point of bringing La Russa back to Chicago. The man started his managerial career there and is a proven winner. After nine seasons with the Sox there were with stops in Oakland (10 years) and St. Louis (16 years). Now he has come full circle, to throw out a gaudy cliche. He knows how to manage a baseball team and get the most out of his players. Those 93 wins were 13 more than the second place Indians ne Guardians. In fact, Chicago was only team in their division playing better than .500 ball last season. That probably won’t happen again in 2022. The White Sox largely stood pat during the offseason. You can do that when you win 93 games despite three of your stars, Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, and Yasmani Grandal playing in only 216 out of a possible 486 combined games. The biggest acquisition they made this winter was picking up AJ Pollock in a deal that sent pitcher Craig Kimbrel to the Los Angeles Dodgers. If they stay healthy, the Sox should win the division again. But, with more competition, if the injury bug bites, they could find themselves in a battle. Of course, they still have La Russa.
MINNESOTA TWINS (73 – 89)
This is the competition. The Twins had a very disappointing 2021 season. They were expected to be contenders and then the wheels fell off. They finished in last place, 20 games behind the White Sox. So, they completely reshaped the roster, most of it in a 10-day period. First, rather than use him as trade bait and signal the start of a rebuild, they inked Byron Buxton to a seven-year contract extension, probably making him a Twin for life. They did that the day before the start of the lockout. Interestingly, the Twins selected Buxton with the second overall pick in the 2012 draft. He is 28 and just coming into his prime. Obviously, the Twins plan to build a team around him. When the lockout ended it wasn’t business as usual for the Twins either. They got busy. Of course, the big news was the signing of Carlos Correa, probably the premier shortstop in a free agent market that was top heavy with shortstops. By the way, while Buxton was taken second in the 2012 draft, Correa was taken first. That’s a nice one two combination. But they weren’t finished yet. They signed free agents Joe Smith, a relief pitcher formerly of the Houston Astros, Chris Archer, a starting pitcher formerly of the Tampa Bay Rays, and Dylan Bundy, a starting pitcher from the Angels. They also traded for pitcher Sonny Gray, and traded pitcher Taylor Rogers and outfielder Brent Rooker for pitchers Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagan. Paddack is only 26 and has a lot of potential. Pagan turns 31 and is, as they say, well-traveled, having pitched for Seattle, Oakland, Tampa Bay, and San Diego before joining Minnesota. He has a 13-11 lifetime record with a respectable 3.74 career ERA. The Twins should give the Sox a lot more to worry about than they had last year. I project them finishing two or three games back of Chicago but nabbing one of the three wild card slots.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS (74 – 88)
Kansas City has Zack Greinke and Bobby Witt Jr. One represents the past and the other represents the future. I’m not sure why the Royals signed the 38-year-old Greinke on a team that is obviously not ready yet. Perhaps it was the nostalgia value ala Albert Pujols returning to St. Louis. Greinke started his career in Kansas City as a 20-year-old rookie and compiled a 60 and 67 record with a 3.80 ERA over a seven-year span. He went to Milwaukee at age 26 and that’s when he really hit his stride. Two years pitching for the Brewers (25-9, 3.67 ERA), one year with the Angels (6-2, 3.53), three with the Dodgers (51-15, 2.30), four with the Diamondbacks (55-29, 3.40), and three with the Astros (22-10, 3.89). In an 18-year career, Greinke has picked up one Cy Young Award. That was in 2009 while he was still with Kansas City. He was voted a six-time All Star and was a six-time Gold Glove winner. A great resume to be sure, and he’ll probably win some games for the Royals this year. But he only pitches every fifth day. They have a very young pitching staff that struggled at times last year but will probably be better for those struggles. Then there is Bobby Witt Jr., who is expected to be an All Star for years to come. He, and exciting young players like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., and Wander Franco (hmm, not a Jr.) are the future stars of the game. Kansas City also has a lot of young talent in their farm system, some of which we will probably see this year. So, even though I’m predicting them to finish third in the division for 2022, the future looks very bright for the team that brought stars like Brett Saberhagen and George Brett to the game.
DETROIT TIGERS (77 – 85)
The Detroit Tigers finished 77-85 and in third place last season, barely edging out the Kansas City Royals by three games and the Twins by four games. Actually, the number 2 through number 5 teams in the Central division were separated by a total of seven games. None of those four teams played .500 ball last season, thus practically handing the division to a beat up, but still very good Chicago White Sox team. To further exasperate Tigers fans, their last winning season was 2016. As recently as 2019, they lost 114 games. They did make some upgrades this season, with the addition of shortstop Javier Baez and starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez. They also have Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene waiting in the wings. Torkelson is a power hitting first baseman and can also play third base. Greene is a solid outfielder, although he does strike out a lot. Both are rated in the top five prospects via MLB pipeline and should see some action this year. It’s not enough but definitely a step in the right direction. A reasonable objective, considering the last five seasons, would be to win more than half their games. Unfortunately, two of the other bottom feeders, Minnesota and Kansas City, also improved, making the Tigers’ job that much more difficult. I think it’s either the Tigers or the Guardians finishing last in the division this season. At this point it’s a tossup. I’m going to give the nod to the Tigers to finish fourth since they have depth in the minor leagues with prospects they can call up and use to fill holes.
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS (80 – 82)
Pitching, pitching, and more pitching! Cleveland has five starters all under the age of 27. They also have a seemingly endless pipeline of young pitching talent in the minors. Here’s the problem, though. After Jose Ramirez, they don’t have much of an offense. Strangely, after a sub .500 season, and with everyone else in the division chasing the White Sox, they chose to, for the most part, stand pat. They did sign Ramirez to a 5-year contract extension but, without much of a team behind him, he’s not going to be able to carry them very far. And without any offense those young arms can only carry the Guardians so far, unless they win a lot of 2-1 and 3-2 games. I’m picking them to finish last in the division this season.
That’s two down and four to go. I’ll take a look at the American League East next. I also have some interesting baseball related projects coming up this year that I want to discuss. Also, a real estate deal that was a great example of everything you can do wrong and everything you can do right. I’ll give you guys all the dirt. Until then, as always, swing for the fences.
