American League Central Capsules

Capsules by Bill Reader, The Seattle Times; "Written in Stone" and division rankings by Larry Stone, Seattle Times baseball reporter. Statistics from 2007 season unless noted :

Detroit Tigers (88-74), Second place in 2007

Manager: Jim Leyland (3rd season).

Key free agents: Re-signed SP Kenny Rogers (1 year, $8 million).

Acquired in trade: 3B Miguel Cabrera, SP Dontrelle Willis (from Florida); SS Edgar Renteria (from Atlanta), OF Jacque Jones (from Cubs).

Going, going, gone: 1B Sean Casey (signed by Boston), INF Omar Infante (traded to Cubs), OF Cameron Maybin, SP Andrew Miller (traded to Florida).

Campaign slogan: "Four more years of the full dinner pail." Or maybe that's just chubby 3B Miguel Cabrera's campaign slogan.

Written in Stone: The Tigers will be downright fearsome in '08. The only problem is that Detroit's relief pitching is scaring Tigers fans as badly as its lineup is scaring foes. Todd Jones has never been a classic lockdown closer, and he had a rough spring. Now the Tigers have a setup crisis. Joel Zumaya is sidelined by a shoulder injury that might mark the end of his season, not to mention his 100 mph fastball. Fernando Rodney will start the year on the DL, and Francisco Cruceta remains in the Dominican Republic because of visa issues. No surprise that Leyland is lobbying Dombrowski to trade for a reliever. The bottom line, however, is that Detroit still has enough firepower to dominate. They could be the first team since the '99 Indians to score 1,000 runs.

Cleveland Indians (96-66), First place

Manager: Eric Wedge (6th season).

Key free agents: RP Masa Kobayashi (2 years, $6.5 million).

Acquired in trade: INF Jamey Carroll (from Colorado).

Going, going, gone: OF Trot Nixon (signed by Arizona), OF Kenny Lofton (unsigned), RP Keith Foulke (signed by Oakland).

Campaign slogan: "Four more years!" Or six, or eight, or however many more star pitcher C.C. Sabathia would like. He'll be a free agent at the end of the season if Indians can't work out an extension.

Written in Stone: One more stinking win. That's all the Indians needed to get into the World Series, but they dropped three straight to the Red Sox for a heartbreaking end to what had been a stirring turnaround season. GM Mark Shapiro believes the Indians have the tools to do it again; he did little tinkering, with Masa Kobayashi (the setup man, not the hot-dog glutton) as the only significant pickup. With Kobayashi, Rafael Perez and Rafael Betancourt (who quietly had a sensational year), the Indians are set for the seventh and eighth. But they'll still sweat out Joe Borowski in the ninth. Rip him if you must. He can always respond, "45 saves, baby." Grady Sizemore remains on the cusp of superstardom, if he's not there already. Asdrubal Cabrera, the best player in history named "Asdrubal," is the latest ex-Mariners heartbreaker.

Minnesota Twins (79-83), Third place

Manager: Ron Gardenhire (7th season).

Key free agents: 3B Mike Lamb (2 years, $6.6 million), SP Livan Hernandez (1 year, $5 million), SS Adam Everett (1 year, $2.8 million).

Acquired in trade: OF Delmon Young, INF Brendan Harris (from Tampa Bay); OF Carlos Gomez (from Mets).

Going, going, gone: SP Johan Santana (traded to Mets), OF Torii Hunter (signed by Angels), SP Carlos Silva (signed by Seattle), SP Matt Garza, SS Jason Bartlett (traded to Tampa Bay).

Campaign slogan: "Boof! (There It Is)." The Twins traded Santana and Garza, lost Silva to free agency, and are left with what looks like a bad rotation (the Boofster notwithstanding).

Written in Stone: After a cataclysmic winter, the Twins are, quite amazingly, not half bad. In fact, if things break right, they might even be three-quarters good. That's a tribute to the team-building skills of departed GM Terry Ryan, who left replacement Bill Smith with the Johan Santana dilemma when he quit last year. Smith's legacy will depend on how the prospect haul from the Santana deal pans out. That's a long-term question. For the short term, the hopes depend most critically on Francisco Liriano's ability to return from elbow surgery. Looks like slow going. Delmon Young is a superstar talent who could be a steal.

Chicago White Sox (72-90), Fourth place

Manager: Ozzie Guillen (5th season).

Key free agents: RP Scott Linebrink (4 years, $19 million), RP Octavio Dotel (2 years, $11 million).

Acquired in trade: OF Nick Swisher (from Oakland), SS Orlando Cabrera (from Angels), Carlos Quentin (from Arizona).

Going, going, gone: SP Jon Garland (traded to Angels), OF Ryan Sweeney (traded to Oakland), OF Scott Podsednik (signed by Colorado).

Campaign slogan: "Can you believe we won the World Series less than three years ago? I mean seriously, isn't that crazy?"

Written in Stone: The White Sox were an ill-conceived mess last year, plummeting from 90 wins to 90 losses in 162 easy steps. Give GM Kenny Williams credit: He didn't stand pat. The Sox beefed up their offense with Nick Swisher and Orlando Cabrera, but weakened their rotation with the departure of Jon Garland. As a rule of thumb, it's never good to have three starters coming off 5-plus ERA seasons. Jose Contreras, at age 58, is ripe for a comeback. John Danks and Gavin Floyd have nothing to come back from. If Jim Thome puts up his average 38-homer year, he will move past seven Hall of Famers on the all-time list: Mel Ott, Eddie Mathews, Ernie Banks, Ted Williams, Willie McCovey, Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Mantle, into 13th place with 545 home runs.

Kansas City Royals (69-93), Fifth place

Manager: Trey Hillman (1st season).

Key free agents: OF Jose Guillen (3 years, $36 million), RP Ron Mahay (2 years, $8 million), RP Yasuhiko Yabuta (2 years, $6 million), SP Brett Tomko (1 year, $3 million).

Acquired in trade: INF Alberto Callaspo (from Arizona).

Going, going, gone: DH Mike Sweeney (signed by Oakland), OF Reggie Sanders (retired), SP Odalis Perez (signed by Washington), RP David Riske (signed by Milwaukee), OF Emil Brown (signed by Oakland).

Campaign slogan: "Not your father's Royals — unfortunately."

Written in Stone: One of these years, perhaps sooner than you think, the Royals will re-emerge as a consistent force in the AL Central. GM Dayton Moore seems to have a solid plan, and manager Trey Hillman is a potential managerial star. Still, this is not that year. In the best possible world, 2008 will mark a steppingstone to contention; in the worst case, another battle to stay out of the cellar. The lineup is shaky, to say the least. KC's only hope is if Alex Gordon settles down in his sophomore year to become George Brett redux, and Billy Butler turns into the offensive force his minor-league career hints at. But even then, it's a major stretch to think the Royals have the pitching to finish the job. Keep an eye on Zack Greinke, who has the raw talent to be a big winner.