AL East | AL West | NL East | NL Central | NL West
After years of being MLB’s worst division (or perhaps just its least exciting), the American League Central delivered baseball’s most riveting race in 2024, with the Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins fighting to the end for wild-card spots. Add in the division-winning Cleveland Guardians, and that made the AL Central the only division to have four teams with winning records last season.
Coming into 2025, it’s hard to see much separation between those four contenders. The Tigers and Twins were polar opposites down the stretch. Detroit finished 31–13 over its final 44 games, powered by a group of young hitters and a historic performance from AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, who became the first pitcher to win the Triple Crown in a full season since 2011. The Twins, on the other hand, stumbled to a 12–27 finish to miss the playoffs. But Minnesota has a well-constructed roster and should be able to recover from its 2024 flameout.
In Bobby Witt Jr., the Royals have one of the game’s brightest stars, a 30–30 threat who was the AL’s MVP runner-up at age 24 last year. The Guardians, meanwhile, boast perhaps the sport’s most underrated superstar in José Ramírez, who was one homer shy of joining the 40–40 club in ’24. Expect a welcome rerun of baseball’s most compelling September drama.
And then there are the White Sox, who are looking to turn the page (or maybe just get a new book) after a calamitous 121-loss season. New manager Will Venable will have to chart a course toward respectability with one of the lowest payrolls in the league.
None of the teams in this division appear to have a place among baseball’s elite, but four of the five should be in a dogfight for a postseason spot all summer. As for Chicago—well, there’s nowhere to go but up. Right?
1. Cleveland Guardians (88–74)
Best case: Tanner Bibee blossoms into an ace, Ramírez wins his first MVP award and Cleveland’s bullpen remains the best in baseball—and this time holds up in October.
Worst case: A rotation that was rail thin by the end of last season fails to hold up over six months. Trading away infielders Josh Naylor and Andrés Giménez hurts more than anticipated.
2. Detroit Tigers (87–75)
Best case: Left fielder Riley Greene puts together an MVP-caliber season, and the return of starting pitcher Jack Flaherty from the Dodgers gives more support to Skubal.
Worst case: A lineup and a starting rotation too reliant on young talent produce inconsistent results, and last year’s Cinderella run begins to look like a fairy tale.
3. Minnesota Twins (83–79)
Best case: Shortstop Carlos Correa, center fielder Byron Buxton and third baseman Royce Lewis all play more than 120 games while a solid pitching staff rebounds to help the Twins to a division title.
Worst case: Injuries once again plague the Twins’ talented trio—who missed a combined 216 games last year—and the rotation is too shallow to support a strong bullpen.
4. Kansas City Royals (80–82)
Best case: Witt continues to grow and wins his first MVP award, while starting pitcher Cole Ragans builds on an All-Star season in which he led the AL in strikeouts per nine innings.
Worst case: Kansas City’s hitters beyond Witt underwhelm, and a rotation that saw four pitchers make at least 29 starts last year can no longer dodge the injury bug.
5. Chicago White Sox (56–106)
Best case: The team returns to functionality after last year’s embarrassment. Luis Robert Jr. plays well and commands quality prospects in a trade that bolsters a promising farm system.
Worst case: While veteran additions help prevent another 121-loss season, Chicago’s situation still feels bleak as the team’s young talent doesn’t show much on the field.
More MLB on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as 2025 MLB Division Previews: American League Central .