AL Central

With the trade deadline only a few weeks away, there are rumors flying left and right, some of which involve all of the Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals being traded to other teams.  And there is one team that needs to make a move right now.

That team is the Detroit Tigers.

The rookie crop in the American League Central Division is a little weak in rookies right now. The strongest prospects in the division are Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer and Lonnie Chisenhall, but they are still maturing in the minors.

Of the rookies that have been playing in the majors, most are struggling. None of the current players have made much of an impact on the Rookie of the Year race.

Here are the last three Rookie of the Year winners out of the AL Central:

Angel Berroa, Kansas City Royals—2003

Carlos Beltran, Kansas City Royals—1999

We are now about a month into the season, and there have been a ton of surprises that nobody saw coming. 

Two of last season's worst teams are atop their division. Teams who made major acquisitions in the offseason has struggled. Players who have been around the league for what seems forever are still hitting the ball like they are 20 years old.

There have been so many things we all didn't see coming that makes this season so exciting.

Let's now look at the 10 biggest surprises so far of the 2011 season.

Through Fausto Carmona’s career, he has pitched a few great games, but he’s pitched a lot more ugly ones. The fact is that his team can’t rely on his inconsistency. Carmona needs to realize he has a strong defense backing him up. If he can’t get the strikeout, he needs to let the batter make contact and know that his defense can make the play. He is only one of nine players on the diamond, yet he plays like he’s the only out there.

As the Detroit Tigers continue to climb the standings in the AL Central, they are doing it with some unexpected contributions from players forcing their way into the everyday lineup.

After a brutal opening series against the New York Yankees, Alex Avila has rebounded to be the biggest early surprise this season for the Tigers. 

Since the Cleveland Indians parted ways with CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee during the 2008 and 2009 seasons, they have been in search for one thing: pitching. 

We're not talking about just any kind of pitching, either, but the kind of pitching that can help the Tribe get back to the top of the American League Central Division and back into the postseason.

While Francisco Liriano had a good season in 2010 (14-10, 3.62 ERA) it is fair to say that he has only had one great year, way back in 2006 (12-3, 2.16).

Tommy John surgery in 2007 limited him severely for the following few seasons, but he is still regarded as a top starter in the American League.

Contract negotiations between Liriano and the Twins broke down before the season started and the lefty has struggled in the young season with a 7.40 earned run average.

After a thrilling series with the Cleveland Indians, the Kansas City Royals traveled to Arlington to take on the Texas Rangers in a three-game series. This is the beginning of a six-game road trip that will end in Cleveland next week.

Game 1 has Jeff Francis on the mound for the boys in blue taking on Derek Holland for the Rangers.

The Indians dropped their second game in a row today in Minnesota, losing 10-3 to the Twins.  While two losses in a row may not seem like a big deal to most, many Indians fans are starting to worry.  Immediately after the game was over, numerous comments on the Cleveland Plain Dealer's website were blasting the Indians.  One person predicted over 90 losses while another called for a players only meeting.

The offense mustered by the Chicago White Sox in their 9-3 loss to Detroit is typical of the team's misfortunes of late.  With the loss to the Tigers in the first game of a weekend series, the White Sox have lost eight of their last nine games.