AL Central

They used to be scattered all over the state, particularly in the tri-county area.

The tony suburbs of Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills were popular for them, but towns like Washington and Livonia were home to some of them as well.

Theirs was a time when you not only played baseball for the Detroit Tigers, you stuck around to experience our winter months, too.

"The slow one now will later be fast...for the times they are a-changin'."—Bob Dylan

If anyone's curious as to what defines classic music, it's that some aspect—usually several—is almost impervious to the ravages of times and fad while applying to a myriad of life moments.

Bob Dylan's lyrics are a perfect example.

Written almost 47 years ago, they fit the 2010 American League Central like those black stretchy pants that are in style on the fairer sex.

I'm a National League guy for a variety of reasons so, being on the West Coast, the Junior Circuit's rep from the middle o

Welcome back, sweet baseball.

We pray from Seattle to Florida and from Toronto to Texas to you to give us the elixir of October success.

Over the next few months we’ll fall back in love with our stadiums—from the Green Monster at Fenway to the Green Monster Ivy at Wrigley. We’ll hope to see a player fall up the hill in Houston, fall over the fence in Arizona, or crash headlong into a superstar at Yankee.

The American League Central should be an interesting division in 2010. You could make the argument that three teams could win the division, but none of them would be considered great teams.

Let’s take a look at the “key” player for each team in this division and the player who could perhaps propel that team into October baseball.

Minnesota Twins —Francisco Liriano

Doesn’t it seem like Liriano is the key for the Twins every year?

Yesterday, I looked at the updated starting rotations of each American League East team.

Today, I will look at the updated starting rotations for each American League Central team.

The American League Central is home to some of the best young pitchers in the game. As a matter of fact, five out of the last six AL Cy Young Award winners have come from the Central.

Here are the updated starting rotations of each American League Central team.

Minnesota Twins

1. Scott Baker, RHP

2. Nick Blackburn, RHP

Yesterday, I took a look at the updated starting nine position players for each American League East team. Today, I will cover the updated starting nine position players for each American League Central team.

Minnesota Twins

1. Denard Span, CF

2. Orlando Hudson, 2B

3. Joe Mauer, C

4. Justin Morneau, 1B

5. Michael Cuddyer, RF

6. Jason Kubel, DH

7. Delmon Young, LF

8. J.J. Hardy, SS

9. Nick Punto, 3B

I recently asked for other bloggers and readers to post their predictions for the 2010 season. Several bloggers have already posted their predictions, so I definitely suggest that you cruise around the Twins blogosphere to see them (I am hoping to make a list of links to the sites at some point today).

Last year, I pegged the Central division in the American League as one of the better divisions in baseball, because I thought they were the deep.

How things have changed after just one year.

You’d be hard pressed to find someone that doesn’t think the AL Central won’t be a wide open free-for-all. It’s a division that three teams could realistically win the division or be as bad as fourth place.

If nothing, this was a sign of trust in Dontrelle Willis and Jeremy Bonderman.

Because what the Tigers did on Tuesday—dealing left-hander Nate Robertson to the Florida Marlins for left-hander Jay Voss—was nothing short of a release.

Did anyone really think otherwise?

The Tigers are paying $9.6 million of his $10-million salary this year and are virtually giving the payroll-sensitive Marlins the left-handed starter that they desperately needed.