AL Central Division

By JASON REID and GARY KLEIN

March 31, 2002 12 AM PT

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Who’s New: OF Kenny Lofton, P Todd Ritchie.

Who’s Gone: P David Wells, Kip Wells, Bill Simas and Sean Lowe, DH Harold Baines and Jose Canseco, OF Chris Singleton, 3B Herbert Perry.

Strengths: Frank Thomas is back after missing almost all of last season because of a torn right triceps and he is capable of recapturing his old form with Lofton and Ray Durham setting the table and Magglio Ordonez hitting behind him. Mark Buehrle won 16 games in his first full season and Jon Garland could be on the verge of doing something similar. Keith Foulke established himself as a top closer with 42 saves. Manager Jerry Manuel has a deep and versatile bench.

Weaknesses: Several relievers are coming off arm surgery. The White Sox are below average on defense.

Outlook: With the Indians dumping payroll and the contraction-threatened Twins tightly controlling theirs, the White Sox are the front-runners in the AL Central. But if the Big Hurt is still hurting ...

At Edison Field: May 10-12.

PROJECTED LINEUP

CF Kenny Lofton

2B Ray Durham

DH Frank Thomas

RF Magglio Ordonez

1B Paul Konerko

3B Jose Valentin

LF Carlos Lee

C Sandy Alomar Jr.

SS Royce Clayton

STARTING PITCHERS

Mark Buehrle

Todd Ritchie

Jon Rauch

Jon Garland

Dan Wright

BULLPEN

Keith Foulke

Bobby Howry

Kelly Wunsch

MINNESOTA TWINS

Who’s new: P Mike Jackson.

Who’s gone: P Hector Carrasco and Todd Jones, OF Chad Allen.

Strengths: Brad Radke, Eric Milton and Joe Mays are a formidable threesome at the top of the rotation and Rick Reed is capable of making it a quartet. CF Torii Hunter and 1B Doug Mientkiewicz are gold glovers and the Twins play solid defense all the way around.

Weaknesses: Tom Kelly quietly guided the Twins for more than 15 seasons and it remains to be seen whether new Manager Ron Gardenhire can get the most out of a team that had a great start last season, but finished 16 games under .500 in the second half. SS Cristian Guzman is still nursing a sore right shoulder and the bullpen is below average, especially former closer LaTroy Hawkins, whose poor second half seems to have carried over to this spring.

Outlook: The Twins proved last season that they could be in the race. Now they have to show they can finish it. If the starting pitchers perform as expected, they can make a serious run at the division title.

At Edison Field: May 24-26.

PROJECTED LINEUP

LF Jacque Jones

SS Cristian Guzman

1B Doug Mientkiewicz

DH David Ortiz

CF Torii Hunter

3B Corey Koskie

RF Brian Buchanan

C A.J. Pierzynski

2B Luis Rivas

STARTING PITCHERS

Brad Radke

Eric Milton

Joe Mays

Rick Reed

Kyle Lohse

BULLPEN

Eddie Guardado

Mike Jackson

LaTroy Hawkins

CLEVELAND INDIANS

Who’s new: P Mark Wohlers, 2B Ricky Gutierrez, OF Brady Anderson and Matt Lawton, INF Mike Lansing, C Eddie Perez.

Who’s gone: 2B Roberto Alomar, OF Juan Gonzalez, Kenny Lofton and Marty Cordova, P John Rocker, Dave Burba and Steve Woodard.

Strengths: Pitching hasn’t exactly been the Indians’ calling card in recent years, but that could change with a rotation featuring Bartolo Colon, C.C. Sabathia, Danys Baez, Chuck Finley and Ryan Drese. Bob Wickman had 32 saves last season. Jim Thome hit 49 home runs.

Weaknesses: Gonzalez left as a free agent and Alomar was traded in cost-cutting moves. A team that ranked second in the league in batting average, runs and home runs is now without two players who combined for 240 RBIs. Their absence is sure to have an impact on the pitches Thome sees.

Outlook: With no dominant team in the division, the Indians are capable of challenging the White Sox and the Twins. They’ll probably need career seasons from Lawton and Gutierrez to do it.

At Edison Field: March 31, April 2-3, Aug. 16-18.

PROJECTED LINEUP

RF Matt Lawton

2B Ricky Gutierrez

DH Ellis Burks

1B Jim Thome

3B Travis Fryman

LF Russell Branyan

C Einar Diaz

SS Omar Vizquel

CF Milton Bradley

STARTING PITCHERS

Bartolo Colon

C.C. Sabathia

Chuck Finley

Danys Baez

Ryan Drese

BULLPEN

Bob Wickman

Paul Shuey

Ricardo Rincon

DETROIT TIGERS

Who’s new: 1B Dmitri Young, 3B Craig Paquette, INF Damian Jackson, P Jose Paniagua and Bill Simas.

Who’s gone: 1B Tony Clark, OF Roger Cedeno and Juan Encarnacion, SS Deivi Cruz, P Chris Holt.

Strengths: The Tigers ranked 12th in the AL in batting last season and took steps to improve by adding Young and Paquette. 3B Dean Palmer and C Mitch Meluskey are back after sitting out most or all of last season because of shoulder surgeries. Efficient Jeff Weaver is the ace of the staff, Steve Sparks led the majors with eight complete games and Matt Anderson, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1997 draft, is coming on as a closer.

Weaknesses: The pitching staff had a 5.01 ERA last season, next-to-last in the league, and the Tigers signed or traded for no one who can help lower that number significantly. RF Robert Fick was the top home run hitter with 19.

Outlook: The Tigers did some housecleaning to try to improve the team’s attitude. If Palmer stays healthy they will win more games, but not enough to finish higher than fourth in the division.

At Edison Field: May 7-9, Aug. 12-14

PROJECTED LINEUP

CF Jose Macias

2B Damion Easley

LF Bobby Higginson

1B Dmitri Young

3B Dean Palmer

RF Robert Fick

C Mitch Meluskey

DH Craig Paquette

SS Shane Halter

STARTING PITCHERS

Jeff Weaver

Steve Sparks

Jose Lima

Mark Redman

Nate Cornejo

BULLPEN

Matt Anderson

Danny Patterson

Jose Paniagua

KANSAS CITY ROYALS

Who’s new: OF Chuck Knoblauch and Michael Tucker, P Darrell May.

Who’s gone: C Gregg Zaun.

Strengths: 1B Mike Sweeney has driven in 345 runs the last three seasons and CF Carlos Beltran, AL rookie of the year in 1999, batted .306 with 24 homers and 101 RBIs and had 31 steals last year. Ready-for-trade SS Neifi Perez won a Gold Glove with Colorado in 2000 and new LF Knoblauch can be a productive leadoff hitter.

Weaknesses: Jeff Suppan is the ace of the staff and never has won more than 10 games. The Royals lack power--Sweeney and Beltran were the only players with more than 17 homers last season. Tucker returns to the organization he started in, but he’s not really good enough to be an everyday player.

Outlook: The small-market Royals don’t have enough pitching to contend for anything other than fourth place in the division. If Sweeney and Beltran have big seasons, 3B Joe Randa bounces back and Knoblauch flourishes in low-key Kansas City, they could help keep Manager Tony Muser employed.

At Edison Field: May 20-22.

PROJECTED LINEUP

LF Chuck Knoblauch

SS Neifi Perez

CF Carlos Beltran

1B Mike Sweeney

RF Michael Tucker

3B Joe Randa

DH Raul Ibanez

C Brent Mayne

2B Carlos Febles

STARTING PITCHERS