AL Central

Part of the beauty of the postseason is discovery. So here's a piece of advice: It is not necessary to wait all the way until February before sending your new crush, Lorenzo Cain, a Valentine's Day greeting. Jarrod Dyson, Terrance Gore and Mike Moustakas? Them, too.   

Kansas City is, after all, the corporate home of Hallmark Cards, Inc.   

And now, clearly, America's Team.   

The Detroit Tigers made a statement when they acquired David Price from the Tampa Bay Rays at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

With two stud pitchers on the mound in Jon Lester for the Oakland A’s and James Shields for the Kansas City Royals in the American League Wild Card Game, it can be expected that runs will come at a premium for either side on Tuesday in Kansas City.

Unfortunately for both teams, that has already been the theme for quite some time.

Now it is time to worry about their chances to stay alive.

The Kansas City Royals have waited quite a while for this—29 years, to be exact—but at long, long, looooong last, they're returning to the postseason.

There will be an air of royalty to the 2014 MLB playoffs. 

The Kansas City Royals clinched a spot in the postseason with a 3-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. Jeremy Guthrie was brilliant on the mound, and the three runs the offense pushed across in the top of the first inning were enough to carry the team to victory.

Justin Verlander has struggled this year.  Actually, that’s a bit generous. 

Sugarcoating aside, he has been terrible.  His current 4.54 ERA is the second-highest of his career, and his strikeout total is at its lowest since 2006, his first full season in the big leagues.  His 1.40 WHIP is tied for the highest in his career, and he just hasn’t been the dominant ace he once was.

For most of the 2014 season, Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners has been the undisputed choice to win his second AL Cy Young award. 

But Corey Kluber has produced an incredible second half for the Cleveland Indians, making the decision for voters much more difficult than anticipated.

Both pitchers are deserving of the award.

When David Price takes the mound Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox, he'll have a lot riding on his left arm, namely the postseason hopes of the Detroit Tigers, whose trade for the former Cy Young winner initially looked like a coup that would put the organization over the top down the stretch and in the playoffs.

There are guys who hit home runs, and then there are home run hitters. For most of his superlative career, the Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera has landed squarely in the second category.

He's a beast, a masher. A hitter opposing pitchers genuinely fear. A hitter you assume is going to launch one every time he takes a cut.