AL Central

With Spring Training right around the corner, it is time to start looking forward to the '11 MLB season which begins at the end of next month.

The Kansas City Royals will have some changes in their 2011 lineup, as they have acquired a slick fielding shortstop in the Zack Greinke trade and also signed a couple of former Braves prospects.

These projections could be modified some as Spring Training gets going, but for now, this is the lineup is that I see the Royals going with this season.

Another season of Major League Baseball is upon us and the Chicago White Sox, like every team, have some explaining to do.

Well, not quite yet, but one would hope by the end of spring training the correct answers will be obvious.

Although, some times even the obvious answers go unnoticed. See Mark Kotsay.

In 2011, the White Sox have most spots worked out by now, which is always a plus. The less manager Ozzie Guillen has to experiment with, the better.

It would be easy to overlook Mike Aviles.

After all, he plays in Kansas City, who are down to two fantasy mainstays (Billy Butler and Joakim Soria) now that Zack Greinke is with the Brewers.

This season will mark Ron Gardenhire's 24th with the Twins organization and his 10th as manager.

In the 110 years of the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins franchise, Gardenhire ranks third all time with 803 coaching victories with the third longest tenure as manager.

His .550 winning percentage is also third best for the franchise behind Billy Martin (.599), who only coached the 1969 season, and Walter Johnson (.570), who coached from 1929 to 1932.

Everyone always focuses on the NL and AL East Divisions, even though the AL Central usually goes down to the wire.

In 2009 the Twins beat the Tigers in a one game playoff, and in 2008 the White Sox beat the Twins in a one game playoff.

So why doesn't the AL Central get much love? Because they are in the Midwest, which means they can't get the same publicity as the East and West Coast. 

So relax, AL Central fans. This article is for you.

Earlier this offseason, the Royals made headlines when they traded away former Cy Young award winner and ace Zack Grienke, along with 2010 starting shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt.

In return, they were able to get four prospects, including the Brewers' starting shortstop Alcides Escobar.

While the other three players could make an impact on this team down the road, Escobar is the only one that is a sure bet to start at his shortstop position on opening day next month.

Francisco Liriano may be on the trading block just days after coming to agreement on a one-year, $4.3 million deal for the 2011 season.

The report from Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune may come as a surprise to many, but it may show some forward thinking on behalf of the organization.

I’ll continue my previews of the upcoming seasons of each major league team with the Twins. I’m trying a different format for this one. My previews for the Reds, Phillies, Yankees and Giants were long, sprawling, analyses/rants/speculations that seem to read too much like research papers and not enough like journalistic pieces, so I’m going to go the slideshow route here.

In articles like this, many websites give readers a list of the best overall prospects at any given position, but the intention here is to focus on those prospects that are most likely to provide a significant fantasy impact in the 2011 season. Thus, a guy like White Sox prospect Dayan Viciedo—who should be beaten out by fellow prospect Brent Morel—is not on my list.

Ditto for Josh Bell in Baltimore, who has been blocked by the recent acquisition of Mark Reynolds.

Michael Young, the Rangers' long-time star infielder, has had just about enough of Texas.

The 34-year-old Young has recently stated that the Rangers have "misled and manipulated" him and he is now requesting a trade from Arlington.

So, where is the best option in my opinion?

The Minnesota Twins.