Recently, I wrote about who I thought were the best players at each position in the AL East, and you can read that article here. Now, I’ll move onto the AL Central. The concept is simple; the best player at each position from the American League Central is listed. The idea is, if there was an All-Star team that only consisted of players from the each division, these names would be in the starting lineup.
Agree? Disagree? Love it or hate it? Either way, I welcome any and all feedback. Please feel free to leave that in the comments section below.
SP: Corey Kluber – CLE
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How can you not go with the reigning Cy Young winner? While there are some pitchers who have more of a track record of prolonged success than Corey Kluber, like David Price and Chris Sale, Kluber was the best the AL had to offer in 2014, contested only by Felix Hernandez.
Going into the 2014 season Kluber was thought of as a trendy sleeper candidate. He burst out in a huge way by going 18-9 with a 2.44 ERA and taking home the American League Cy Young award. It’s safe to say that he exceeded expectations.
Kluber blew hitters away, evident by his 10.27 strikeout per nine innings rate, and the .233 opponents batting average against him. While many believe that King Felix should have won the Cy Young, it is extremely hard to say that Kluber did not deserve it.
Now the bona-fide ace of an improving Cleveland staff, Kluber will have to run the staff to lead the Indians back to the postseason, similarly to how Brantley must lead the offense. Kluber will have to continue to be an ace for the Indians to have a shot in the American League Central, but I think he is up for the challenge.
C: Yan Gomes – CLE
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Since arriving from Toronto to the Indians in exchange for righty Esmil Rogers prior to the 2013 season, Yan Gomes has been a revelation.
After performing very well in a part-time role in 2013, Gomes took over the full-time catching position in 2o14 and did not disappoint, hitting .278 with 21 homers and picking up a Silver Slugger award in the process. Gomes also had a great defensive season as well, amassing a 12.4 dWAR for his work behind the plate. His combined offensive production and defensive prowess amounted to a 4.6 WAR and puts him among the game’s elite catchers.
Meanwhile north of the border, one has to wonder despite signing catcher Russell Martin over the offseason, if the Blue Jays regret this trade at all. Rogers never pitched all that well for the Jays and was designated for assignment in July last season. He is now in the Yankees organization and the 27-year old Brazilian import has emerged as one of the best catchers in baseball. Regardless, the Indians have a really good player now, and do not be surprised if Gomes finds his way onto the 2015 American League All-Star Team as well.
1B: Miguel Cabrera – DET
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Miguel Cabrera is one of the best hitters of his generation, and quite possibly of all time. He hits for average, he hits for power, he gets on base — Miggy does everything at the plate. Even though he undoubtedly had a down year in 2014 due to injuries, he still performed well above average. I mean, when your down year has you hitting .313 with 25 long balls and 109 RBI, you’re a truly an elite hitter. Despite the dropoff in homers, Cabrera lead the American League in doubles, so he still hit for a good amount of power.
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Cabrera has also taken home the AL MVP award in two of the thee last seasons (2012 and 2013), and won the AL batting Triple Crown in 2012, which is ridiculous. No one had won the batting Triple Crown before 2012 since 1967, when the great Carl Yastrzemski managed the feat. Miggy followed that unbelievable year with another monster season in 2013. Before the 2014 season, Cabrera was rewarded with an eight-year, $248 million extension. While the back end of that contract probably won’t be too pretty, the Tigers had to give him that sort of money to keep him in the Motor City.
There really is not much left to say. Cabrera is an amazing hitter and player, and should continue to hit for the foreseeable future, even when he is inevitably moved to DH.
2B: Ian Kinsler
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There are a few good choices for second base in this division, with Jason Kipnis and Brian Dozier also in the mix, but I went with the steady Ian Kinsler.
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Detroit Tigers
Kinsler, 32, had one of the best seasons of his career in 2014, hitting a respectable .275 with 17 homers along with excellent defense at second base. This great play added up to a fantastic 5.4 WAR. While Kinsler does not possess the 30+ homer pop he flashed in a few seasons with Texas anymore (his new ballpark is a big component of that), he still has really good power for a second baseman, and it’s sneaky power coming from the top of the lineup where Kinsler usually hits. Kinsler also blends some speed into his game, evident by his 15 steals and good baserunning metrics in 2014.
Kinsler is likely penciled in to be the Tigers’ leadoff hitter most of the time, however he can work in the No. 2 hole as well because of his unique skill set. No matter where Kinsler bats most of the time, he will be counted on to have another good year, and all signs point to him having exactly that.
3B: Trevor Plouffe – MIN
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Third Base isn’t the strongest position the AL Central has to offer, with many unproven and mediocre bats headlining the hot corner crop, but it isn’t completely devoid of proven commodities.
Trevor Plouffe is the best the AL Central has to offer at third. Plouffe is one of the most underrated players there is in my opinion. Although he doesn’t hit for a high average (his career high is .258, which he reached last season), he does get on base at a decent rate and has a little power too. He is especially effective against left handed pitching, hitting .278 with 18 of his extra base hits against them last season.
Plouffe put up a solid 3.5 WAR last season, which was generally unheralded, and was actually higher than new $95 million man Pablo Sandoval‘s was in 2014. He smacked 14 homers and 40 doubles, while also playing a pretty good third base. Plouffe is a decent hitter, solid fielder, and while he may not be the flashiest player around, he confidently takes the cake for the best third baseman in the American League Central. Plouffe just gets the job done.
SS: Alexei Ramirez – CWS
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Alexei Ramirez got off to a blistering start in 2014, hitting .351 in March and April, and .305 in May. Although he cooled off considerably as the year went on, he still had a strong year. Overall, Ramirez hit .273 with 21 steals, along with his usual solid defense. He is very consistent with his level of play and in that he stays on the field, and is ready to play every day. Ramirez has appeared in over 155 games every year since 2010, with his career low amount of games played being 136.
Riding on his hot first couple of months, Ramirez took home his second career Silver Slugger award and appeared in his first ASG, making it as a reserve shortstop.
Ramirez is also a pretty good defender. Besides his rookie year, he has never had a negative dWAR, and has made some pretty spectacular plays.
Ramirez has been doing his thing for virtually his whole career now, and at age 33, there’s no reason to believe that he won’t continue to do this for at least the next couple years. In a new and vastly improved Chicago White Sox lineup, Ramirez should have plenty of opportunities to drive in and score runs.
LF: Michael Brantley – CLE
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After putting together a few good but not great years, Michael Brantley exploded in 2014. He hit .327/.385/.506 with 20 home runs, 45 doubles, 97 RBI, and finished third in the American League MVP voting. He also threw in 23 steals to his spectacular season.
It was tough picking Brantley over defensive wizard Alex Gordon, but I went with Brantley as I feel like he offers more on all sides of the ball. Brantley is easily a better hitter than Gordon, and also offers more speed. Brantley, not known for his defense, still managed a great 6.6 WAR even with his poor defensive metrics in left field.
I wrote earlier that I think if the Indians can get back into playoff contention, that Brantley would be front and center on offense, and that if he has another year similar to 2014, he could possibly take home American League MVP. I still stand by this, as Brantley’s breakout seems legitimate and he has broken out as a true star in Major League Baseball. While his average may digress to being more around the .300 mark, Brantley is set to have another great year in 2015.
CF: Lorenzo Cain – KCR
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Going into the 2014 postseason, Lorenzo Cain was a relatively obscure name in baseball. He had just come off a regular season where he hit over .300, yet this was in limited at-bats where he did not qualify for the batting title. However, on the big stage in the 2014 postseason, Cain performed admirably. During the Royals’ near World Series title run, Cain made multiple fantastic catches and plays while patrolling center field. He also hit .333/.388/.417 with two steals and eight RBI as the Royals’ No. 3 hitter, taking home ALCS MVP in the process.
In the ALCS, Cain destroyed the Orioles on both sides of the ball — with his hot bat and by robbing hit after hit with his spectacular defense in the outfield. A good amount of the frustration that came from O’s fans being swept by Royals went to Cain, and I can’t say I was exempt from that myself.
Now with Cain in camp set to be the starter in center for first time in his career with the reigning American League champs, he is primed for maybe his best season yet. His extraordinary defense should keep him in the lineup no matter what happens.
RF: J.D. Martinez – DET
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After being released by the Houston Astros at the end of spring training last year, J.D. Martinez was very quickly scooped up by Detroit. Martinez immediately started mashing in Triple-A, hitting 10 homers in his first 17 games in the minors. After being called up, Martinez finally lived up to the promise he showed with the Astros early on, and he seized himself an everyday job in the Tigers’ outfield.
Martinez truly broke out, and in a big way. He hit .315 and crushed 23 home runs, cementing himself as the Tigers’ No. 5 hitter, creating a lethal heart of the order along with Cabrera and that other Martinez guy. He did all his damage in only 441 at bats, which makes his stats even more eye-popping.
Martinez also performed very well in the short Tigers playoff run, launching two homers in the three games the they played in the 2014 postseason. He homered in each of his first two postseason games in the ALDS versus the Baltimore Orioles and was probably the Tigers’ best hitter in the postseason.
I think Martinez is for real, he just needed another chance, and he got exactly that. He was one of the better stories of 2014, and it’ll be interesting to see what he does in 2o15.
DH: Victor Martinez – DET
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Victor Martinez is the best hitter in baseball, as far as I’m concerned. He backed this statement up with a fantastic 2014, which saw him place second in AL MVP voting. Victor hit .335 with 32 homers and 103 RBI out of the Tigers’ cleanup spot. He also led the American League with a .406 on-base percentage.
After returning from a serious knee injury in 2013, Martinez struggled out of the gate, but had a monster second half. He carried this success over to 2014, and was one of the best players in the league in 2014. With Cabrera having somewhat of a quieter year, Victor really picked up the slack in the Tigers’ lineup.
He was a free agent after the 2014 season, but became one of the first free agents signed when the Tigers very quickly made him an enticing offer. GM Dave Dombrowski made it clear from the get-go that retaining Victor was his top priority.
Unfortunately for Victor and the Tigers, V-Mart tore his meniscus in February. He will miss a good chunk of spring training, but apparently should be back around Opening Day. The Tigers will need him to not miss a significant amount of time, as he is one of the most feared hitters in the game today.
RP: Wade Davis – KCR
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After failing as a starter his first year in Kansas City, Wade Davis was absolutely dominant out of the Royals’ bullpen in 2014, posting an unbelievable 1.00 ERA in 72 innings. To add to his absurd dominance, Davis did not serve up a single home run all season long. Not one. He struck out over 13 batters per nine innings and only gave up 38 hits the whole year in those 72 innings. The list of his brilliance out of the bullpen goes on and on.
He, along with Kelvin Herrera and closer Greg Holland formed a lethal “three-headed monster” at the back end of the Royals’ bullpen, which almost led them to a World Series championship. In the postseason, Davis posted a 0.63 ERA, continuing his dominance from the regular season. Every time he came in for the Royals, the game was all but over.
Davis may not be the Royals’ closer, but he is their best reliever and if a team gets to the seventh and the Royals have the lead, it’s pretty much over. While Davis will be hard-pressed to replicate his yesteryear season in 2015, he should have another great season setting up Holland in the eighth.
