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

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians have dominated this division over the past three seasons and should be the class of the Central once again. However, their off-season did not go as well as their fans would have liked. After getting annihilated in the playoffs fans hoped that the team would make the necessary moves to get them over the top to win that elusive World Series. Instead, the team took a step back if anything trading away their starting catcher, refusing to upgrade a putrid outfield situation and threatening to trade away members of their superstar rotation. All that being said, the Indians are still heavy favorites to win this division but will need several things to bounce right for them to hold off the Twins.

Overall health is going to be important for this team. Francisco Lindor is already going to be on the shelf for an undisclosed amount of time after spraining his ankle. Him missing a significant portion of the season would be a crushing blow to this team as would any serious injury to Jose Ramirez or any member of the rotation. If the team can mostly keep a clean bill of health, then they shouldn’t have much to worry about.

If things do tighten up in the division, their bullpen and outfield could prove problematic. The Cleveland outfield projects for a combined 4.1 wins above replacement according to Fangraphs, and each outfield position also ranks in the bottom ten in baseball. This was a glaring need coming into the off-season that the team did very little to try to solve. The bullpen is also mediocre at best and might struggle to hold down leads. The Indians will need to get much more than is projected from these positions if they want to continue to hold off the Twins in the division.