AL Central Preview: Tigers open as favorites while the White Sox try to climb out of the basement

The Detroit Tigers and two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal have their sights set on winning the AL Central for the first time since 2014. The Chicago White Sox would love to simply get out of the division's basement. As for the AL Central's other three teams — the Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins — a wide range of outcomes seem possible. The Guardians have won two straight division titles and are going for a third despite one of the lowest payrolls in baseball. Here's a look at one of baseball's most unpredictable divisions heading into opening day. How they project: 1. Detroit Tigers The Tigers lost the AL Central to the Guardians after a brutal September collapse but got their revenge in the playoffs, beating the Guardians two games to one in the AL Wild Card Series. They would go on to play the Seattle Mariners tough in the AL Division Series before losing the best-of-five series in five games. Detroit is aiming to go deeper in the postseason this year, led by Skubal, who returns as the team's ace. A balanced lineup features Riley Greene, Gleyber Torres, Kerry Carpenter and Spencer Torkelson while top prospect Kevin McGonigle has had a good camp and could open as the team's starting shortstop. The Tigers beefed up their pitching staff during the offseason, adding Framber Valdez from the Astros, while 43-year-old Justin Verlander returns to the franchise where he spent his first 13 big league seasons. 2. Kansas City Royals The Royals were unable to follow their divisional playoff berth in 2024 with a return to the playoffs last year, but they still finished 82-80 after an abysmal start. They have one of the league's most exciting players in All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., an emerging star in All-Star third baseman Maikel Garcia, a popular veteran catcher in Salvador Perez and plenty of starting pitchers capable of shutting teams down. The big problem for Kansas City for years has been outfield production, and other than signing Starling Marte to a $1 million deal and making a couple of smaller moves, Royals general manager JJ Picollo was unable to make any major improvement. Instead, the Royals will hope that power-hitting Jac Caglianone will improve against big league pitching in his sophomore season. If starter Cole Ragans can return to All-Star form after injuries last season, Kris Bubic can follow through on his breakout year, and the offense can tick up with some help from Caglianone and promising young catcher Carter Jensen, the Royals have a shot to win their first AL Central title since 2015, when they went on to beat the New York Mets in the World Series. 3. Cleveland Guardians Cleveland's biggest offseason move was signing superstar third baseman José Ramírez to a $175 million, seven-year contract extension. However, the Guardians still have plenty of questions on who else is going to pick up the slack on offense as they chase a third straight division title. Ramírez had a .283 batting average and stole a career-high 44 bases last season as the rest of the lineup struggled. All-star outfielder Steven Kwan batted .272 last season and will move from left to center field. Chase DeLauter, who made his big league debut during last year's AL Wild Card Series against Detroit, and George Valera are expected to get the corner outfield spots. Manager Stephen Vogt is hoping for a breakout season from catcher Bo Naylor, who had a woeful .195 batting average in 123 games. The rotation has plenty of depth with Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee anchoring it. Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith will lead the bullpen, with Smith expected to be the closer. 4. Minnesota Twins The Twins slumped last season to their worst record (70-92) since 2016 and missed the playoffs for the fourth time in the last five years. It's a franchise in transition since last summer's trade-deadline selloff when it dealt 10 players off the major league roster, including their top four relief pitchers. Manager Rocco Baldelli was fired and replaced by Derek Shelton. President Derek Falvey departed in a mutual decision with new controlling owner Tom Pohlad, who took over for his younger brother to try to get the franchise back on track on and off the field. General manager Jeremy Zoll has taken over baseball operations. The only offseason additions were modest, with first baseman Josh Bell, catcher Victor Caratini and reliever Taylor Rogers the highlights. Then on the first day of full-squad workouts, starting pitcher Pablo López was sidelined by an elbow injury and will miss the entire season following Tommy John surgery. It was a major hit for a rotation that looked like the team's strength, leaving All-Star Joe Ryan as the clear ace. 5. Chicago White Sox After three straight years of 100-plus losses, including a franchise-record 121 in 2024, it looks as if the White Sox might be moving in the right direction. Shortstop Colson Montgomery made his major league debut in July and hit 21 homers in 71 games. Young catchers Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero also broke into the majors last year and showed some promising signs. Chicago's bullpen has a new look after it had a 4.26 bullpen ERA and blew 24 save opportunities last year. Seranthony Domínguez signed a $20 million, two-year contract in free agency, and Jordan Hicks was acquired in a trade with Boston. The White Sox also added to their lineup by signing Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami to a $34 million, two-year contract. Witt in Year 5 The 25-year-old Witt has been one of baseball's best young players for the past four seasons, and his performance for the U.S in this month's World Baseball Classic — particularly on defense — has the Royals hoping there's more to come in Year 5. Witt has already made two All-Star teams and won two straight Gold Gloves. He hit .295 with an AL-leading 47 doubles, 23 homers and 38 stolen bases in 2025. Which way for Baez? Tigers veteran Javier Báez was one of the game's young stars with the Chicago Cubs in the late 2010s, but has been mostly a disappointment since signing a $140 million, six-year deal with Detroit before the 2022 season. He had a brief renaissance last season, making his third All-Star team after hitting .275 with 10 homers in the first half of the season. But Báez regressed in the second half, hitting just .223 with two homers after the break. The Tigers don't necessarily need Báez to be a superstar, but if he can provide play close to his early 2025 standard, the Tigers' lineup becomes even more scary.