Tony DeMarco

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - We thought we had the American League Central figured, and the calculation began with the Minnesota Twins.

In case you hadn't noticed, these aren't Carl Pohlad's Twins anymore. His kids are in charge now, they've loosened the purse strings on a billion-dollar-plus fortune, and a new outdoor stadium is projected to bring in plenty of new revenue.

So that overachieving, small-market success story of recent years is old news in the Twin Cities. The Twins are a $90-million-payroll club now — bigger than the Dodgers — with a potent lineup and plenty of pitching; all the ingredients of a solid division favorite looking at a 90-win season.

And then All-Star closer Joe Nathan tears a ligament in his right elbow — possibly costing him the entire season —— and the AL Central forecast suddenly has become much less clear.

You could feel the reverberations this week as far away as the White Sox’s camp — where they already were feeling rather good about themselves, thank you. Now they have another reason to be excited.

“I'd rather face anybody — no matter what kind of pitcher they have — than Nathan,'' White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “With Nathan, the door was closed. Everybody in their bullpen has to step it up. They have to try to cover the hole. Is that tough to do? It's always tough to do.''

Nathan's six-year run of dominance with the Twins is every bit as good as Mariano Rivera's — minus the October dominance and without the east coast media bias.

Compare their statistics in five key categories, and Nathan has the edge in four of them — Saves: Nathan 246-Rivera 243; ERA: 1.87-1.90; Strikeouts per nine innings: 11.1-8.7; Opponents batting average: .182-.206; save percentage: 90.8-93.1.

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Against the White Sox, Nathan has been even better, logging 24 of those saves and allowing only 25 hits in 48 career innings.

“I don't think even Rivera has as good of numbers against us,’’ Guillen said. “I can remember we came back once against Nathan — last year when Gordon (Beckham) and (Paul) Konerko hit home runs. Besides that, I don't remember even scaring that guy. He's so good against us.’’

But apparently, that won't be the case in 2010. Nathan is exploring options to avoid season-ending surgery, while the Twins are looking at options both from within (Jon Rauch, Matt Guerrier, Jesse Crain, Clay Condrey, Carlos Gutierrez) and outside the organization.

The White Sox firmly believe they are ready to take advantage. Late in a disappointing 2009 season, Guillen decided it was time for a roster/style of play makeover, and that has occurred. Jim Thome left last July, shortly after Alex Rios arrived. Jermaine Dye wasn't re-signed in the off-season, when Juan Pierre was added.

These made-over Sox are going to run, led by Rios and Pierre. Of the former, Guillen says he'd rather get 50 steals than 40 homers: “I think he would be helping the ballclub more that way, because he’d be on base a lot.’’

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And Pierre says: “if they wanted to build a power team, and they got me, I'd be in trouble here. But Ozzie knows me. We were together in Florida. He's seen it before.''

Nope, there will be no more station-to-station, waiting-for-the-longball offense on the South Side.

“They know we're going to play different,’’ Guillen said. “They know a lot of crazy stuff is going to come out of the dugout. They know we're going to play aggressive. We have a different style game. Everybody is free to run.''

The Sox also believe they will catch it better with Mark Kotsay, Andruw Jones and Omar Vizquel added as role players.

Gordon Beckham could have been the AL Rookie of the Year if the Sox had brought him to the majors earlier, and could be poised for a breakout season at second base.

Their closer — Bobby Jenks — is healthy and in better shape, possibly poised for a big year at the back of a deep bullpen that added J.J. Putz to Matt Thornton.

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A healthy Carlos Quentin could make up for some of the lost power; remember, he hit 36 homers before his 2008 season ended on Sept. 2nd due to injury.

And there is no bigger reason for optimism than a healthy Jake Peavy taking his turn every fifth day following Opening Day starter Mark Buehrle.

“I think we can compete against anybody in this league, not just the division,'' Guillen said. “I think this club has enough bullets. We will send five guys out there (in the rotation) who are pretty good. Our bullpen should be pretty solid. And the lineup should have good balance.’’

Guillen's other brainstorm is changing the DH role from predominantly Thome to a rotating situation that will give his regulars chances to rest. Jones will play some center field and DH. Kotsay will play some first base, corner outfield and DH. Konerko, Quentin and others figure to log a few games in the DH role.

Guillen’s optimism definitely has filtered down to the roster. Konerko, the holdover slugger, thinks the new offensive approach could make a difference in close games, especially in the late innings.

“A team that can win the 2-1 games and also the slugfests, but it's not always true the other way around,’’ he said. “The last few years, in a close game, we were just hoping for the home run to be the answer. Now we'll be more comfortable late in situations when we get a guy on first, we can get him around the bags.''