Cleveland Baseball Insider

The American League Central Is Going To Be A Three Team Race in 2023

The Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, and Chicago White Sox will all be fighting for the top spot in the American League Central.

Tommy Wild

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The Cleveland Guardians finished the 2022 season in first place in the American League Central with an 11.0-game lead over the Minnesota Twins. The numbers at the end of the season indicated that it was never close, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

At the beginning of September, Cleveland was in first place in the division with only a 1.0-game lead over the Twins. Then the Guardians won 24 of the final 33 games and left Minnesota in the dust.

The Central this year is going to be a three-team race until the end of the season between the Guardians, Twins, and Chicago White Sox. Sorry Tigers and Royals fans. 

The Guardians are the reigning champs and got even better over the offseason. They addressed the need for more power on offense and went out and signed Josh Bell and Mike Zunino. Cleveland will always be known for having elite pitching both in their starters and relievers and that trend will continue in 2023.

Minnesota will be right there with the Guardians battling for the top seed in the division. After a hectic saga, Carlos Correa opted to resign with the Twins which opened up their window of contention for the next four or five years.

As long as Correa is in a Twins uniform the front office has made it clear through past transactions that they are willing to upgrade where needed to be competitive. That's exactly what Minnesota did when they traded Luis Arraez for Pablo Lopez over the winter. 

If there are any more needs identified thought-out the season, we can expect them to do their best to upgrade them.

That brings us to the White Sox. Still, one of the most unpredictable teams in baseball. However, they could absolutely come out and take the division. 

Aug 20, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Chicago White Sox shortstop Elvis Andrus (1) steals third base ahead of the tag of Cleveland Gladiators third baseman Jose Rameriz (11) in the seventh inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Josefczyk-USA TODAY Sports

This roster is loaded with talent. From Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada, Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenz, Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, and the list just keeps on going. For some reason, this team has just underperformed so much over the last three seasons.

There's a new manager at the helm after Tony La Russa retired, again. The team rallied around Miguel Cairo at the end of last season when he took over during La Russa's health absence. They then hired Pedro Grifol over the offseason. This improvement is evidence they could finally put it all together in 2023. 

The Guardians, Twins, and White Sox are all evenly matched when looking at their roster on paper. They each have strong pitching with a complimentary offense. which is going to make their head-to-head matchups some must-watch baseball for any MLB fan.

It's going to be a scrappy fight for 162 games between these clubs, but there's no reason to believe that Guardians can't repeat as AL Central champs!

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Tommy Wild
TOMMY WILD

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