AL Central

When the Minnesota Twins got Matt Capps in a trade with the Nationals, Twins fans cheered.

This ushered in the era of another fantastic arm in the bullpen, a fill-in or replacement for Joe Nathan if he can't return to form, and an upgrade from Jon Rauch.

The Kansas City Royals have numerous players who are capable of being dubbed their Fantasy Baseball Minor League Player of the Year, but ultimately it is hard to give the honor to anyone but Mike Moustakas.

The third baseman split time between Double and Triple-A, posting the following amazing line:

478 At-Bats
.324 Batting Average (155 Hits)
36 Home Runs
123 RBI
94 Runs
2 Stolen Bases
.371 On-Base Percentage
.636 Slugging Percentage
.316 Batting Average on Balls in Play

The question everyone in Minnesota is asking right now is simple: Can this year's Twins team finally make it past the ALDS?

The answer is yes—even without former AL MVP Justin Morneau in the lineup.

Ryan Raburn showed flashes in 2009, hitting 16 HR in just 261 AB.  Yet, in 2010 either the Tigers were unable to find a spot to give him everyday playing time or didn’t think he was capable of producing on an everyday basis.  Through July he had just 161 AB, hitting just two home runs.

Then, in August, he was given an opportunity to play on a daily basis and has exploded.  Just look at what he had done through Sunday:

A funny thing happened to the Chicago White Sox on their way to a disappointing offseason.

They decided to get off the mat and play baseball.

Two weeks ago, it had been 19 days since they had won a series. In that span their record was 5-11. Eight of the 11 losses were by two runs or fewer.

The bullpen was faltering and fighting through injury. Key cogs of the offense were struggling, and it seemed the starting rotation was finally tiring.

The dog days of summer are waning, and the cooler drier air of fall is not far away.

With fewer than 26 games remaining for the playoff contending teams of the American League, there are still a couple of questions that need to be answered.

Who will win the American League East?

Can the Chicago White Sox catch the Minnesota Twins?

With MVP candidate Josh Hamilton out of the line up and Cliff Lee missing a start, are the Texas Rangers in a free fall?

When the White Sox drafted Chris Sale with the 13th pick in the first round they knew they could use him in the bullpen immediately.

The reason the Sox were so sure of this was the fact that he already had two major league caliber pitches and a third one (his slider) that wasn't far behind.

Clearly GM Kenny Williams and his scouts were right about Sale; he's put up a 0.82 ERA since his call-up and has looked like Matt Thornton's underfed twin.

"I can't say for sure, but all signs point to not soon. It's not good."

That was Josh Hamilton's response to the question of when he will return.

Flash back to 2008. It's late August, and Carlos Quentin of the Chicago White Sox breaks his wrist.

Usually, we would say that injuries are a normal part of the game.

This was unusual though, because Quentin was the leading AL MVP candidate at the time, having already belted 36 home runs and driven in 100 RBI.

Every March since 2004, Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Jeremy Bonderman has been primed for a breakout season. While the Tigers are sharpening their skills in Lakeland, that conversation takes place and you can set your watch by it. However this breakout season has never materialized, and now I believe that it never will.

With 18 home runs for the season going into Saturday's game against the Texas Rangers, there was no doubt that Jim Thome would advance up the all-time home run list.

Just as he did to surpass former Minnesota Twin Harmon Killebrew, Thome blasted two home runs at Target Field, to tie and then move past Mark McGwire for eighth place on the all-time home run list.