AL Central

If you were waiting for the Twins' bats to come alive and Minnesota to finally look like the team they can be, your wait is over.

The Twins finished off their opening series against the Blue Jays of Toronto with a 4-3 win. It was a Danny Valencia homer in the third and a Denard Span homer in the ninth that propelled the Twins to their first win of the season.

The offense of the Chicago White Sox has come storming out of the gate in Cleveland, putting the team in a position to do something noteworthy Sunday afternoon.

Chicago exploded for 14 runs in the first four innings of their 15-10 slugfest with the Indians in the opener. On Saturday, five runs in the first two frames set the tone for an 8-3 victory. John Danks is scheduled to start Sunday's game with an opportunity to lead the White Sox to a series sweep of Cleveland.

Fausto Carmona and Carlos Carrasco have done a nice job giving the sparse crowds at Progressive Field their best impression of a pinball machine, getting lit up to the tune of 17 runs in 9.2 innings. While it's certainly disconcerting to see the No. 1 and No. 2 Tribe starters getting beat like a drum, it definitely shouldn't come as a surprise.

Don’t hand the Twins the AL Central title just yet. The kinks made themselves visible Friday on Opening Day for the Twins.

The Twins ace, the man who is supposed to be the rock in the Twins rotation, got mauled in the first inning for four runs. Carl Pavano only lasted four innings and ended up allowing eight runs, seven of which were earned. But the beatdown didn’t end there.

The Twins basically got out-hit, out-pitched, out-everythinged.

Opening Day for the Chicago White Sox is finally here.

With the entire season before us, it's easy to be optimistic about the White Sox's chances in the American League Central in 2011.  Money has been spent (and then some) and everyone is itching to get onto the field and start winning ballgames, starting Friday in Cleveland.

If the snow is removed from Jacobs Field, that is.

It has been almost four years since the Indians last finished a season with record of .500 or better. The last time, in fact, was 2007, when the Indians won the AL Central with a record or 96-66. Since that time it has been all down hill for the Tribe,  81 victories in 2008, 65 in 2009, and 69 in 2010. Had it not been for a hot 7-3 finish the Tribe would have finished in the AL Central basement for the second consecutive season.

Bad news for Tribe fans: this season may not be much better than any of those.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS

Last Year: 67-95, fifth in AL Central 

Manager: Ned Yost

PROJECTED LINEUP 

C: Jason Kendall (R) (will start season on DL)

DH/1B: Kila Ka'aihue (L)

1B/DH: Billy Butler (R)

2B: Chris Getz (L)

3B: Mike Aviles (R)

SS: Alcides Escobar (R)

LF: Alex Gordon (L)

CF: Melky Cabrera (S)

RF: Jeff Francoeur (R)

Today we are going to look at the “Key” player for each American League Central team. The AL Central is very top heavy, and the top three teams—White Sox, Twins and Tigers—figure to battle it out for the division title throughout the year.

In this division, the player who can come back from injury or provide and unexpected punch will be especially important. This division might be decided by one or two games, so one player can make a huge difference.

CLEVELAND INDIANS 

Last Year: 69-93, Fourth in AL Central 

Manager: Manny Acta

PROJECTED LINEUP 

C- Carlos Santana (S)

1B- Matt LaPorta (R)

2B- Orlando Cabrera (R)

3B- Jack Hannahan (L)

SS- Asdrubal Cabrera (S)

LF- Michael Brantley (S)

CF- Grady Sizemore (L) (Will start season on DL) 

RF- Shin-Soo Choo (L)

DH- Travis Hafner (L)

For whatever reason, year after year, the Twins get overlooked, yet they always seems to sit atop the AL Central standings by season's end.

Last year they won 94 games, despite the opening day starters missing more than 300 games.  Justin Morneau missed the second-half of the season due to a concussion.

Speaking of Morneau, he plans on starting opening day, but that remains to be seen.