White Sox, Tigers to give Twins challenge

Bert Blyleven

The Minnesota Twins have made a habit of competing without the benefit of a huge payroll, winning the AL Central in five of the last eight seasons.

Now, with the opening of a brand new stadium and the signing of star catcher Joe Mauer to a long-term contract, things are looking up in the Twin Cities.

But despite the optimism, don’t expect Minnesota to have an easy run through the AL Central in 2010. Let’s break down the division.

Minnesota Twins
Offensively the Twins are a pretty good ball club. They have two MVPs (Mauer, Justin Morneau) in their lineup plus strong hitters Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer. With Carlos Gomez having been traded to Milwaukee, Denard Span will be an everyday player in center field, flanked by Delmon Young and Cuddyer.

Kubel will play some outfield as well as take some time at DH in place of newly-signed veteran Jim Thome, who will mix into the lineup and be a threat off the bench. The Twins continue to try to build their bench strength as there wasn’t much depth there last year. Thome fits in nicely in this organization.

The addition of second baseman Orlando Hudson will prove to be a big win for Minnesota, and help shore up their infield issues. Morneau is your first baseman, and J.J. Hardy, who came from Milwaukee in the Gomez trade, is the new shortstop. With Hudson on board at second base, it looks like light-hitting Nick Punto, who is coming off wrist surgery, will be the third baseman. If Hardy is injured – or struggles like he did last season, Punto or Alexi Casillas could end up at shortstop.

But for the Twins it will all come down to pitching.

Re-signing Carl Pavano was a good move for this club, as he was solid on the mound and a good leader for the younger pitchers. Kevin Slowey is a question mark, but Scott Baker had a good year, finishing strong after starting the season on the disabled list.

Francisco Liriano made a great showing in winter ball, but I will be curious to see what the Twins do with him. They love his arm, but will it hold up? He hasn’t been the same since Tommy John surgery, and his control was really off last season. He would be a pleasant surprise if he makes the rotation, but might be better suited for the bullpen. In fact, he could end up being the closer as Joe Nathan is done for the season, requiring Tommy John surgery.

Detroit Tigers
The Tigers had a good year last season, finishing nine games over .500 and missing out on the playoffs after losing a tie-breaker to the Twins.

The AL Central is not a strong division, and their 86 wins wouldn’t have been close to winning the AL East or West. But all in all the Tigers can be right in the running once again.

The Tigers were smart to lock up ace Justin Verlander to a 5-year, $80 million deal, and brought in Jose Valverde to be the new closer, but they face a number of questions with their pitching staff in 2010.

What will they do with Dontrelle Willis, who has had a number of problems in recent years with focus and control, and the oft-injured Joel Zumaya? Can Rick Porcello keep things going after a strong rookie season? And can Armando Galarraga Jeremy Bonderman finally find themselves?

Behind the plate the Tigers are solid with Gerald Laird and Alex Avila. And the infield is pretty strong with Brandon Inge, Adam Everett at shortstop and Miguel Cabrera at first. Placido Polanco is gone at second base, which could be a big loss, and it will also be interesting to see if highly-touted center fielder Austin Jackson is major-league ready in an attempt to replace Curtis Granderson.

Carlos Guillen is always a threat at the plate when healthy, but Magglio Ordonez must bounce back from a disappointing 2009 season. He could be a free agent in 2011 if the Tigers don’t exercise his option, so he has plenty of incentive to shine.

Chicago White Sox
I think the White Sox are the team to watch in the Central this season, and will surprise some people.

They have the best pitching staff in the division with Mark Buehrle, Jake Peavy, John Danks, Gavin Floyd and Freddy Garcia. And their bullpen is strong as well with stud closer Bobby Jenks backed up by fine setup men Matt Thornton and Scott Linebrink.

On offense, the White Sox have some of the same crew around like catcher A.J. Pierzynski and first baseman Paul Konerko, and outfielder Carlos Quentin, as well as the return of rising young star Gordon Beckham. But there are some new faces who will add versatility to the offense.

Manager Ozzie Guillen has already said he’s going to have his team run more and take a lot of chances, and with the way his roster has changed, he finally has the players to do it.

Mark Teahen comes over in a trade from the Royals and will take over third base, moving Beckham to second. Omar Vizquel is on board to tutor young shortstop Alexei Ramirez, and Juan Pierre will plug into the outfield and bring speed and a smile to the ballpark every day.

In addition, Alex Rios should rebound in his first full season in Chicago. He struggled after being acquired in a trade from Toronto last year, but should be ready for a solid season and I think he’ll have a banner year.

Mark Kotsay will be a solid backup outfielder and defensive replacement, and Andruw Jones joins the team with some pop either off the bench or in the DH spot.