Early season observations

From what I've seen so far this season, some teams in the AL Central are making progress and some are struggling.  The teams that are struggling are making me smile too.  It's great when anything from Chicago doesn't do well. 

Cleveland Indians: 

• Their fast start has given some hope, but I don't think it'll last.
• The first thing to come around when a team restructures, like the Indians have been doing so for the past six years, it starts with the batting order.  They have some young talent in their catcher of the future Carlos Santana and some veteran leaders in Grady 'my knees continue to fall apart' Sizemore and Travis Hafner has come back from the dead
• The pitching staff still doesn't have that one true ace that can pitch well enough to stop a losing streak.  
• It's a marathon season and I can see them fading away close to the All Star break

Kansas City Royals:

• Another fast start to the season, but it'll last longer than Cleveland's.
• Their pitching staff is young and hungry and the bullpen is throwing lights out so far
• The real future is still three and four years away, but the players that are in KC right now can keep them out of the basement of the division.
• This is another team that doesn't have that true ace to help start a winning streak or stop a losing streak.  
• The true test will be the first losing streak.  This team is young and it will be interesting to see what happens when the loses start to come, because they will.  

Detroit Tigers:

• After a slow start, Detroit has put together a nice little winning streak to get back to .500 baseball
• The first team in the AL Central standings to have a true ace and another strong pitcher to back him up.  A great one-two punch that starts winning streaks
• The lineup will produce runs in the middle of the order.  The top of the order is young and learning and the bottom from seven to nine can kill a rally inning real quick.
• The weak spot is the bullpen and the back half of the rotation.  The middle relief will be up and down all season and will be the cause for a lot of late inning losses and close games.

Chicago White Sox

• Focusing mostly on their offense this off season, their bullpen has been imploding all two weeks of the season.
• Ozzie is pissed at the bullpen, which makes me smile, just because I hate Chicago.  I want him to throw a tirade and get fired because it just needs to happen.  
• Their bats and starting rotation will keep them in games, but the bullpen will remain an issue.
• Right the ship in the bullpen and this team will start to win games in bunches and contend the rest of the year.

Minnesota Twins

• In a very unfamiliar spot right now bringing up the rear of the division.
• Everything that can go wrong with their team (offense, defense, pitching, injuries) has gone wrong.
• I don't know what to make of the Twins so far just because they don't have issues like this.  Ever.  In the past, if their bats aren't going, their pitching keeps them in games and vice versa.
• Because it is such a long season, and they have a great managerial team, they'll pull out of this funk and continue up the ranks of the division.

The division is ass backwards right now, but it's nice to let the basement dwellers come up and check out the top every once in a while.  By the midway point of the season, it'll be back to normal.