2020 Predictions By Division: AL Central

Not even a day after I finished my 2020 AL East division predictions, MLB announced that Chris Sale would miss the entirety of the season due to Tommy John surgery, despite an announcement a few weeks back that contradicted the more recent statement.

I'd like to say that this announcement was a surprise, but Sale's been injury-prone since arriving in Boston in 2017. Arm and elbow problems have consistently landed him on the injured-list, most notably in 2019 when he was limited to just 147 innings.

Hopefully, there won't be any news headline that'll prove detrimental to my AL Central predictions. After all, with the season already scheduled to be significantly limited, the last thing I want is for any player's season to be cut even shorter, let alone ended before it begins.

With all of that in mind, let's talk about the AL Central division race, one that has been one of the least competitive in Baseball over the last few seasons.

This year, however, could be more exciting following an offseason in which the Chicago White Sox made some substantial improvements.

The Minnesota Twins, last year's division champs, set the single-season home run record before being swiftly defeated by the Yankees in the ALDS. It'll be interesting to see whether they have what it takes to repeat, or if another team will rise to the occasion.

As for the bottom 2 teams, I expect the Royals and Tigers to fight to the death for 4th place. Without any further adieu, let's take an in-depth look at the American League Central division.

1st Place: Minnesota Twins

The true test for the Minnesota Twins in 2020 will be consistency, an attribute that they've struggled with in the past. Following a Wild Card game appearance in 2017, for example, the Twins finished the 2018 season with a disappointing record of 78-84.

Fortunately, they soared to new heights in 2019, capturing the AL Central Division title and breaking the 2018 Yankees record for home runs in a single season, a feat I don't think anyone saw coming. To my knowledge, most of the team, including the 39-year old Nelson Cruz, will be returning for another crack at a World Series championship.

This team has a very talented, young core, both at the plate and on the mound, and I don't foresee any AL Central team taking the crown away from the Twins anytime soon.

2nd Place: Chicago White Sox

Signing Dallas Keuchel and Edwin Encarnacion to contracts along with extending Yoan Moncada's have positioned the Chicago White Sox to be in the 2020 AL Wild Card hunt and, possibly take home the division title as early as next season.

Don't forget, Tim Anderson captured the AL batting title last year as well, meaning this Chicago White Sox offense can do it all. Eloy Jimenez, in what will be his 2nd season, also seems destined for great things.

But the true test to the strength of the Chicago White Sox will be when and how well Luis Robert can contribute to the team's postseason hopes. If he gets some solid playing time, I expect the White Sox to be in the hunt 'till the very end.

3rd Place: Cleveland Indians

The Indians may have gone 93-69 in 2019, but in my opinion, their window for winning a World Series championship has closed, and the team's front office seems to share that belief. Why else would they trade 2-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber for Delino DeShields Jr?

It seems like the Indians are throwing in the towel before the season starts, and if things continue at this rate, I wouldn't be surprised to see them shopping face of the franchise Francisco Lindor at the trade deadline.

Up against any other NL team in 2016, the Indians likely would've walked away from the World Series as champions. But they had to face the historic Chicago Cubs team, and ever since that game 7 loss, Cleveland hasn't come close to being the team they once were.

4th Place: Kansas City Royals

Last year, the AL Central featured 2 100-loss teams, the Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers.

Although neither team is poised to make a run for a playoff berth, the Royals roster gives me slightly more hope than the Tigers, which is why it stands to reason that they'll beat Detroit out for 4th place for the second year in a row.

Whit Merrifield is one of the most underrated players in the game, and his all-around talents shine brightly along with the surging, power-hitting Jorge Soler, who led the AL with 48 dingers last year.

I don't know much about the team aside from those 2 players, but if they perform at the levels they did in 2019, Kansas City, if nothing else, can take home 4th.

5th Place: Detroit Tigers

A few years ago, Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera seemed like a shoo-in for the 500 home run club. Now, at the age of 36, he's coming off missing the vast majority of the 2019 season, and his Detroit Tigers are coming off a season in which they lost 114 games.

I probably couldn't name 5 players on this Tigers team, a testament to how much they've regressed over the past few seasons without many signs of hope.

Truth be told, nothing's going to change for this team until Casey Mize makes his way to the MLB. Hopefully, he'll be the reincarnation of Justin Verlander for Detroit, and they can find success once more.

Frankenset Page #72

I originally foresaw myself completing the 74-page frankenset series by the end of November, but it appears as if the series, which has been around since March of 2018, will continue into the very beginning of December before I wrap it up.

Page #72 is the 3rd to last of 74 unique pages included within this frankenset. Since I've been averaging about one of these a week, the series won't wrap up until the first few days of December.

Encompassing cards #640-648, page 72 spans just 3 decades of Baseball history (the 1970s, 80s, and 2010s). Let's begin the page, starting with another stellar combo card from the 1980s.

#640 1984 Fleer Bench & Yaz

1983 saw the careers of Baseball superstars, including Johnny Bench and Carl Yastrzemski, come to an end. Combining for 32 All-Star game selections and 3 MVP awards, these 2 Hall of Famers were some of the game's brightest stars throughout their respective careers.

Fleer, a company that never shied away from making combo cards, produced one to highlight Bench & Yaz in their 1984 set. If you've seen my past few pages, you know how much I love cards like these.

#641 1988 Donruss Stan Musial

During the late 1980s, Donruss would feature puzzle pieces in each of their packs that would combine to form 1 cohesive puzzle that emulated a card in the set.

That card was always a specialty card of a Hall of Famer, and in the case of the 1988 set, that player was Stan Musial. Other subjects included Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron.

While I admire the idea of recognizing the game's greats, there must've been a better way for Donruss to do this rather than placing puzzle pieces into packs that didn't have much to do with the actual set.

#642 2015 Topps Alex Wood

Alex Wood hasn't faired too well since the Dodgers-Reds trade that sent him along with Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp to Cincinnati last winter. In his first season with the Reds, the 2017 All-Star posted a 5.80 ERA in just 35 innings pitched.

Currently, the 28-year old is a free agent, and while he's coming off injuries and a poor 2019 season, there are a plethora of teams that could benefit from adding a respectable starter to their rotation.

#643 1988 Donruss Keith Hughes

It's not ideal for there to be 2 cards from the 1988 Donruss set on 1 page, but at least Keith Hughes' uniform is pretty interesting to look at. Otherwise, this card wouldn't have a whole lot to show for itself.

#644 1982 Fleer Rollie Fingers

Fleer has been the MVP of frankenset page #72 thus far. First, we had the '84 combo card of Bench and Yaz. Now, a highlights card commemorating Rollie Fingers' 1981 season.

Even though the photo quality of 1982 Fleer leaves a lot to be desired, this set has delivered some amazing cards for my frankenset, including a Big Red Machine combo card of Driessen, Concepcion, and Foster.

#645 2016 Topps Danny Santana

The major award winners were announced well over a week ago, but I haven't really deemed it necessary to discuss them on the blog. There weren't any huge surprises, though I was pleased to see Rocco Baldelli take home the AL Manager of the Year.

Granted, the Twins faired pretty poorly in the playoffs, but their 100-win season came as a shock to Baseball fans everywhere, including myself, for I didn't even predict they would make the postseason.

#646 1983 Topps Jim Essian

I'm not 100% sure, but the chain-link fence in the background of Jim Essian's 1983 Topps card leads me to believe that this photograph is from Spring Training.

Even without that part of the background, this card still has a whole lot going on. From the pink and yellow borders to the 2 different shades of blue being worn by the Mariners players, it's no wonder why '83 Topps is one of my favorite Flagship sets.

#647 1976 Topps Ramon Hernandez

The above 1976 Topps card of Ramon Hernandez isn't in the best condition which is likely why the card is apart of my frankenset instead of my '76 Topps Flagship binder.

Speaking of that set, I'm down to just 39 cards needed to finish it up. Ideally, I'd track down the remaining cards during COMC's Black Friday sale and have the set completed within the next week or so.

#648 1987 Topps Barry Larkin

Barry Larkin's 1987 Topps card is the first thing that comes to mind whenever I think of the 12-time All-Star. Everything about it, from the wood borders to the Reds' away jersey, is practically engraved in my mind.

I've been collecting Larkin for quite some time now, but for whatever reason, he has yet to even reach silver tier status. Even though he's a Hall of Famer, Larkin doesn't seem to get much love from modern-day card companies. Either that or I never seem to come across any of them.

Frankenset Page #30

As of yesterday, it's been a month since the Red Sox won the World Series. That means it's been a full 30 days since any of us have seen a live game of baseball.

No wonder it seems so cold and bleak outside. We haven't had baseball games on TV to cheer us up in a whole month, and with 4 more to go, it's safe to say that we're officially deep into the offseason.

However, there hasn't been a ton of signings or trades made so far. Apart from James Paxton being traded to the Yankees and Steve Pearce resigning in Boston, we've yet to see any major moves. In a way, this emulates a lot of what we saw in last years' offseason with free agents and teams holding off for a while until it was late February/early March and players had yet to be signed.

Obviously, everyone's watching Harper and Machado in order to see where they end up, but there's still a talented core of pitchers rumored in free agent signings and trade talks that will, hopefully, add some excitement to the offseason. 

I'll be looking forward to that because when you're without baseball for 5 months, you'll take any chance you can get to find something exciting.

I still have plenty of baseball-related things to keep me entertained throughout the offseason that isn't a live game. For example, today's blog post, the 30th page of my frankenset which come to think of it is loaded with Rockies and Twins cards as they take up 5 of the 9 slots. 

We're beginning to approach the halfway mark of the set as page #30 begins at card #262 and ends with #270. Let's get started.

#262 2016 Topps Ervin Santana

I'm not sure of the exact history of these uniforms, but I know the Cardinals and Brewers are examples of other teams that have this retro-style alternate home uniform that the players wear fairly regularly. It's intriguing considering that these aren't the typical home uniforms for these teams, but it's also not like the shy away from wearing them semi-often.

#263 2016 Topps Gypsy Queen Max Kepler

See what I mean? I guess having multiple Twins cards is helpful since Max Kepler's 2016 Topps Gypsy Queen card can help to prove my point. Both cards show Twins home jerseys and are from 2016, but Kepler's is obviously different from Santana's due to the uniform being pure white rather than off-white, a different font is used for Twins, and Santana's uniform, unlike Kepler's, has pinstripes.

#264 1992 Leaf Gold Darrin Fletcher

Anytime I see a Montreal Expos card, I begin to miss the franchise more and more, simply because there was never a team quite like the Expos. It appears, however, that the talks of there being an expansion team in Montreal are picking up some steam, so perhaps it won't be long until there's another baseball team in Canada. 

#265 2017 Topps Charlie Blackmon

Though I'm not too familiar with either of them since they play in the NL West, I pay enough attention to be able to draw comparisons between Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon and Dodgers 3rd baseman Justin Turner. They both have beards, had breakout seasons later in their careers, hit for contact, have power, and well-respected and talented guys.

#266 2008 Upper Deck Goudey Matt Holiday

I'm not sure what these cards are supposed to be modeled after, but especially with the Rockies uniform, this black and white card looks dope. If I'm not mistaken, Matt Holliday is another big name Rockies free agent, though he certainly isn't the player he used to be. At the age of 38 and coming off a disappointing couple of seasons, I wouldn't be surprised if he retired.

#267 2011 Topps Sam Fuld

Before 2015 Topps, 2011 was the last year of Topps that I genuinely liked. It features enough fantastic photography that it could almost pass as a Stadium Club set, especially when you consider the minimal set design apart from the photo. After that, Topps got lazy with the set for a couple years before making huge strides in 2015.

#268 2001 Upper Deck Vintage Jeff Cirillo

I still wonder to this day how Upper Deck was capable of getting away with this design for the 2001 Upper Deck Vintage set given that it nearly perfectly matches the 1971 Topps product. Years later, they did the same thing as another Vintage set had an extremely strong resemblance when compared to the 1965 Topps product.

#269 2009 Upper Deck Goudey Ichiro

If anyone knows whether or not these crazy cards with little cartoons in the background existed in the original Goudey sets, please do let me know. Not only were these cards my favorite part of the Upper Deck Goudey set for 3 years, but this would be a major incentive for me to track down my very first original 1930's Goudey card.

#270 1999 Skybox Metal Universe Cliff Politte

I don't think I had ever seen many cards from the 1909 Skybox Metal Universe set up until adding this one to the frankenset. Even though the card is titled Building Blocks, implying that it's not in the actual base set design, it makes sense as to why I'd never seen this type of card before. Still, for a late 90's baseball card, it's pretty nice.