American League Central: What Needs to Go Right for Each Team

The American League Central is likely to be a one or two team race once again, but every team can still have a successful season if enough things break right.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been going division by division highlighting what needs to go right for each team in 2019. I last discussed the National League Central, now let’s move on to the American League Central.

It was a big winter for many teams as they either positioned themselves for the 2019 playoff race or distanced themselves for future success. The off-season was also a quiet time for some teams that didn’t seem to have a clear path toward contention or rebuilding.

Regardless of how successful or disappointing each team’s off-season was, every team has things that can break right for them this season. Whether that means enough things go well that a surprise team sneaks into the playoffs, a juggernaut hits on all cylinders and wins the World Series or a rebuilding team has young players develop in positive ways.

The American League Central has been a one team race each of the last three seasons and it figures to be much of the same this year. While there may be an uptick in competition from a year ago, it would still be surprising if we were to have a new champion in the central this fall. A year ago this division finished as one of the worst divisions in the history of the sport, so the bar is pretty low for improvement this year.