The Baseball Friend asked, and we obliged – here’s his take on the AL Central. We should preface this with the fact that he’s an unabashed Yankees fan, so perhaps our AL East projections left him (and more than a few readers) mildly perturbed. And Gavin Floyd will win 10-15 games this year, dammit! Well, that or his ERA will be above 6 and he’ll be in the minors and we all can get a good laugh out of it. Our AL Central picks: Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Twins, Royals. The Baseball Friend’s detailed prognostications after the jump.

Greetings and welcome to the AL Central preview. Thanks to TBL for providing the opening act with the AL East preview, but considering the White Sox and Mariners were considered threats to the Yankees playoff hopes in that entry (they’re, um…not,) we’ve decided to take over. (Also remember you can email anytime at thebaseballfriend@yahoo.com)

Last year saw Cleveland breeze past the Tigers down the stretch and come one game away (with THREE chances to seal the deal!) from the World Series. Minny was predictably mediocre, the ChiSox took a big step back and the Royals were, well, the Royals. Here’s a quick look at the teams in projected finish and a few question marks/key guys for each:

1. Cleveland Indians
What, you thought the Tigers? We’ll get to them in a bit. The Indians did relatively nothing in the off-season and you know why? Because they were REALLY good last year. They endured their best hitter of 2006 (Hafner,) having about 1/2 the year in 2007, but still hit enough. Sabathia was brilliant and Carmona made the leap. Yes, Joe Borowski is a train wreck waiting to happen, but they have plenty of depth to cover him with Betancourt, Perez and Kobayashi. Everyone is young and getting better, no one really had a career year. This team is for real. If Hafner is anywhere between 2006 and 2007, and they get anything out of the back end of their rotation, they are the team to beat in the AL Central.
Prediction: 97 wins

2. Detroit Tigers
Yes, their offense has the chance to be historically good. Adding and locking up Miggy Cabrera was HUGE for them, considering the stink bomb they got from Inge at 3B last year. They basically replace Inge and Sean Casey with Miggy and Edgar Rentaria and this was ALREADY a team that finished in the top 3 in the AL in Runs, AVG, OBP and SLG last year. Sure, Mags will regress a bit, but the offense will not be the problem. The pitching on the other hand … for me, it all comes down to Bonderman. They’re basically replacing a bunch of Mike Maroth, Chad Durbin and Andrew Miller starts with Dontrelle Willis, which probably won’t be much of an upgrade. But if they can replace BAD Jeremy Bonderman with GOOD Jeremy Bonderman, now you’ve got something. The bullpen is sorely lacking the top setup guys the Indians have with Zumaya and Rodney both hurt to start the season. They’ll win a lot of games and wear out a lot of pitching, but they’re just not as complete a team as the Indians.
Prediction: 91 wins

3. Chicago White Sox
Hey, they’ve got Gavin Floyd!!! (Sorry, TBL.) There is actually a lot of talent here. This team would win the NL Central. They’re sort of the Blue Jays of the Central. A very good team that just has two teams in the division that are better than them. Swisher will be great in that park and it’ll at the very least be exciting to see what Alexei Ramirez is. It’s also a shame that we’ll have to wait to see Josh Fields until they can dump Crede on someone. Really, everyone on this team is…good. But who is great? Jenks? Vazquez? Swisher? Konerko? Yawn, right?
Prediction: 85 wins

4. Minnesota Twins
Some very good young talent here, for sure. There’s certainly nothing wrong with a 3-4-5 of Mauer, Morneau and Delmon Young and Michael Cuddyer CAN’T be that bad again. I actually think Mike Lamb will do well now that he’ll finally have a full-time gig. There are too many holes in the lineup (middle infield spots and CF,) but in a year or two, if Delmon becomes what he should be and someone like Jason Kubel can emerge out of all of the OF prospects they’ve had over the years, the offense could really be something. It’s great that they signed Joe Nathan as he and Neshek should combine for a formidable back end of the pen, but the rotation just has too many questions. You just don’t get over the loss of someone like Johan Santana, especially when you replace him with Livan Hernandez. The likelihood of Slowey AND Bonser AND Baker AND Liriano all panning out isn’t great. Interesting young team, for sure, but definitely not there yet.
Prediction: 74 wins

5. Kansas City Royals
There’s more talent here than you think. Did you know that David DeJesus scored over 100 runs last year? Teahen won’t be as bad and Alex Gordon seems primed to make the first of several leaps. Billy Butler is a serious hitter that can give them a DH presence akin to the better years of Mike Sweeney. But there’s just not enough here. Meche will be fine and I really like Greinke to step it up, but when you’re counting on Brian Bannister, Brett Tomko etc., to help you face the Indians and Tigers 19 times a year a piece (not to mention the Yanks, Sox, Blue Jays and Angels,) you’re going to get pounded a lot. There are a few decent pieces here and things aren’t as bleak as they once were (I’d rather be a Royals fan than an Orioles fan right now,) but this is not a team that will be making a playoff run anytime soon.
Prediction: 68 wins