The American League Central was a dumpster fire in 2022. The Cleveland Guardians were the only team in the division with a winning record which made the path to winning the AL Central crown pretty painless. Cleveland won their Wild Card matchup against the Rays to advance to the ALDS, and it took the Yankees 7 games to beat the Guardians. As for the other 4 teams in the division, it was a year to forget.
The White Sox were a huge disappointment and Tony La Russa was useless as he was literally falling asleep on the job. But they did finish above the Twins, Tigers and Royals, who never came close to threatening the Guardians for the division lead. It was one of the weakest divisions in all of baseball last year, but several offseason moves have several teams ready to make a run for the division title.
You can also check out our full 2023 MLB season preview — including our World Series best bet
AL Central Division Winner Odds
The Guardians are favored to win the division for the 2nd straight season, but the Twins and White Sox are not far behind. Each team in the division made a few big moves in the offseason to bolster their lineup or rotation, which should create a more competitive AL Central in 2023. The new faces in the division include Josh Bell, Andrew Benintendi and Pablo Lopez, who all had excellent 2022 seasons and have a new home in 2023. The Guardians, Twins and White Sox have stocked up for the upcoming season, while the Royals and Tigers are just hoping to have more wins than losses. Here are the odds to win the AL Central, courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.
Cleveland Guardians +130
Minnesota Twins +215
Chicago White Sox +250
Kansas City Royals +3000
Detroit Tigers +3000
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AL East Division Preview
Cleveland Guardians (+130)
With all things considered, the Guardians had a successful season in 2022. Their starting rotation has leaped into the top-tier category of the league, as they have 5 above-average starters: Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, Cal Quantrill, Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac. Bieber and McKenzie were elite for the Guardians in the Wild Card and ALDS and could solidify themselves as a top-5 duo in baseball this year. And their bullpen might have even higher expectations than their rotation this year. James Karinchak, who seems to be the reincarnation of Ricky ‘Wild Thing’ Vaughn from Major League, has a solid arsenal and an even greater passion for the game. He is joined by Trevor Stephan, Enyel De Los Santos and Emmanuel Clase — who is a top 3 closer in baseball.
The Cleveland pitching is ready for another strong year, and their offense got a much-needed upgrade to carry its weight. The addition of Josh Bell in the designated hitter spot should make an immediate impact in a lineup that has Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan and Andres Gimenez, but desperately needed another power hitter. The Guardians have that with Bell, so they are in an excellent position to compete for the division title.
Minnesota Twins (+215)
I’ll start with the bad for the Twins — they no longer have Luis Arraez. The reigning American League batting champion was traded to the Marlins for Pablo Lopez and a pair of prospects. Arraez’s bat will be dearly missed in the Minnesota lineup, but their rotation got a huge boost with Lopez. He will round out a rotation with Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Tyler Mahle and Kenta Maeda, which is one of the strongest rotations Minnesota has had in recent years. They also have several elite arms in their arm barn, like Jorge Lopez and Jhoan Duran, so the pressure will be on their offense to produce, and that brings me to the good part for Minnesota’s upcoming season.
It was a busy offseason for Carlos Correa, who signed with the Giants and Mets before both teams had regrets about the shortstop and pulled the contract. That created a path for Correa to rejoin the Twins, but it appears to have not been his first nor second choice. Minnesota also added Christian Vasquez, Joey Gallo and Michael A. Taylor, so their new acquisitions paired with a team led by Byron Buxton should do some damage at the plate. My biggest worry for Minnesota is Correa’s leg, which was the reason the Giants and Mets backed out of the deal. If Correa and Buxton can stay healthy, which is a tough ask, the Twins have a lot of potential.
Don’t forget to check out my AL East preview, which includes a +185 best bet
Chicago White Sox (+250)
The most impressive part of the White Sox’s 2022 season was that their team combined to injure every anatomical region of the body. The injury bug plagued Chicago and was the main reason for their disappointing season, besides drastically underperforming at the plate too. Tim Anderson, Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert and Yoan Moncada combined to miss 283 games, so if they can cut that number in half, or ideally more, Chicago could live up to their high expectations.
Their biggest offseason acquisition was Andrew Benintendi, who has blossomed since leaving the Red Sox. He signed a 5-year, $75 million contract which marked the largest guaranteed contract in Chicago’s history. If Benintendi plays the way he did last season, he’s worth every penny. Injuries will be the White Sox’s biggest enemy in 2023, but if they can stay healthy, there is a lot to like about this Chicago team, especially with Dylan Cease leading their rotation.
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Kansas City Royals (+3000)
The Royals are in the middle of their rebuild and aren’t expected to be too competitive in 2023. They finished with the worst record in the AL Central and still have a long way to go before being a legitimate threat in the AL Central, and their odds to win the division reflect that. But there will be a lot of youth in Kansas City’s lineup, like Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie “The Italian Nightmare” Pasquantino, MJ Melendez and more. Salvador Perez is one of the few veterans in the order, so it will be interesting to see how he leads such a young lineup.
As for their rotation, it’s far from perfect. This is a crucial year for Brady Singer to grow into his role of the ace for the future, but after him, they have 39-year-old Zack Greinke, the always hittable Jordan Lyles and newly acquired Ryan Yarbrough. Pair that with a below-average bullpen that added Aroldis Chapman in a somewhat bizarre move, and the Royals won’t be shutting opponents down a lot. This upcoming season should be full of growing pains for the Royals.
Will it be the Braves or the Mets? Check out my NL East predictions
Detroit Tigers (+3000)
The best part of Detroit’s team in 2022 was their bullpen, and they went and destroyed it this offseason. The Tigers finished 8th in the league in bullpen ERA last season, but they ranked in the top 5 for the majority of the year. Instead of building around it, they opted to sell some pieces and let a few others walk. They traded All-Star closer Gregory Soto to the Phillies, Andrew Chafin signed with the Diamondbacks and Joe Jimenez went to the Braves — 3 of their best arms, gone. Continuing with the bad news for Detroit, Casey Mize will miss most, if not all, of the season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.
They also lost Jeimer Candelario, who was an important piece of the team in the last few years. And above all, this will be Miguel Cabrera’s farewell tour. It’s been an incredible career for Miggy, and it’s hard to picture Detroit having a season worse than 2022, so hopefully, the Tigers can end his illustrious career on a somewhat good note.
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AL Central Best Bet: Chicago White Sox over 82.5 wins (-105)
Available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing
Chicago won 81 games in 2022 with the majority of the starting lineup missing considerable time. That gives me confidence that the White Sox can finish with at least an 83-79 record, which is not a tough task by any means. A record barely above .500 should be more than feasible with an order that starts with Tim Anderson, Andrew Benintendi, Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert and Yoan Moncada. Their lineup has the potential to be the best in the division and to shake up the standings if the Guardians falter late in the season.
I’m not too worried about their pitching since Dylan Cease was the definition of consistent in 2022, and he will be backed by Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech and Mike Clevinger. It’s not the greatest rotation in the league, but they don’t need to be to win 83 games. They have a decent bullpen, even with Liam Hendriks stepping away from baseball to treat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. If everyone stays healthy, this team could win close to 90 games. But injuries are bound to happen, and I have the White Sox projected for 85 wins in 2023.
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