AL Central

The wait is over! The gates of Joker Marchant Stadium unlocked, and spring training is now officially underway.

The annual exhibition against Florida Southern is always a fun game. The rain held off, and despite hurricane-like winds, a good time was had by all.

Rather than spoon-feed the box scores to you, I thought I would share some useless random observations of mine from today's game.

Random Info

* Third baseman Colin Kaline (grandson of Al Kaline) went 2-for-3 with a walk for the Mocs.

2010 Top 50 Twins Prospects: No. 10, Adrian Salcedo

Position: Pitcher

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Born: April 24, 1991 (Moca, Dominican Republic)

School: Not Available

Height:  6'4''

Weight: 175 lbs.

2009 Ranking: Not Ranked


Breakdown:

The Minnesota Twins had a great offseason .

Mike Lowell did not.

The Minnesota Twins revamped a previously punchless middle infield, added a big bat to an otherwise lackluster bench, retained an innings-eater for the rotation, and brought in a solid groundball specialist for the bullpen.

Like so many others across the country and around the world, for the Detroit Tigers’ superstar Miguel Cabrera, the first step was admitting he had a problem.

After a couple of embarrassing incidents involving alcohol at the end of last season, Cabrera underwent counseling this winter and is doing something that is really hard for someone in their mid-20s to do—quit drinking alcohol.

Eric Wedge didn't like Milton Bradley and Milton Bradley didn't like Eric Wedge. Bradley had made a habit of doing the wrong thing, including fights, tenures in jail and not running out ground balls.

Back in 2008, I was scratching, clawing, and doing everything I could to win my fantasy baseball league. That league was and still is a total points league and my buddy Odie and I were fighting it out to the end.

I was picking up guys like Ryan Raburn, Juan Uribe, and Mike Aviles. That’s how desperate I was to win. I actually won that year by one point and the real star for me down the stretch was Aviles.

Rookie Scott Sizemore clearly has the inside track on the starting 2B job vacated by Placido Poloanco’s return to Philadelphia.  Sizmore has never had an at-bat in the big leagues but has been a very good hitter in the minor leagues.  We have a fair amount of statistics on him from his days in the minors, but rookies are just so hard to predict.

The AL Central is the home of the defending Cy Young Award winner, five out of the last six AL Cy Young winners, and arguably three of the best pitchers in baseball. Limited offenses in the division means pitching will determine who takes the AL Central. Justin Verlander, Zach Greinke, Jake Peavy headstrong burgeoning pitching staffs who need strength one through four if their teams are to reach the postseason.

However, only one team can have the best starting rotation in the division and it could very well translate to a divisional crowd.

Aaron Hicks is a name most Twins fans are becoming familiar with.

The Tribe held a fire sale last season by unloading several key veterans as Victor Martinez, Cliff Lee, Carl Pavano, Mark DeRosa, and Ben Francisco were all dealt in mid-season deals that left Indians fans wondering who was left.