2015 Free Agent Primer: AL Central

The AL Central division was hotly contested for much of the year until the Royals ran away with it, but even then, there was dispute over the second through fourth spots through the end of the season. Going into free agency, it will actually be the top team with the most ground to make up as they are set to lose up to ten players who were with the team until the end of 2015.

Chicago White Sox
Free Agents: Matt Albers, Gordon Beckham, Alexei Ramirez, Jeff Samardzija, Geovany Soto
Needs: A little bit of everything
The White Sox aren’t losing any players of note (other than the very disappointing Samardzija), but obviously are already missing some pieces to keep up with expectations. While Jose Quintana, Carlos Rodon, and Chris Sale are as good as any big three in baseball, the White Sox won’t miss the Shark, who they should have traded months ago, and could do much better than John Danks as a fifth. Their defense could improve as well, particularly up in the outfield where Avisail Garcia and Melky Cabrera were both well below league average and the offense could use a boost as well. David Robertson was impressive in the bullpen, but if they really want to compete for the division, they will need to go just a bit deeper than they are now.

On offense, the White Sox declined their team option for Alexei Ramirez of $10M. They were originally expected to use it, but while it once looked like a steal, that isn’t the case anymore. At 33, he had his worst offensive season to date and since Chicago is ready to move on, this would be a good place to look for both improved defensive and offensive production.

Cleveland Indians
Free Agents: Mike Aviles, Gavin Floyd, Ryan Raburn, Ryan Webb
Needs: Outfield power & defense
For the second year in a row, the Indians have no impact players leaving through free agency. Aviles can easily be replaced by Jose Ramirez and the Tribe tried out a few relievers late in the year who can take the role of Webb. Floyd never really got started after breaking his right hamate bone in his elbow, but he could return on a minor league deal.

Like the Twins, the Indians have their core players under control for the long term, but unlike the Twins, they have them for cheap. Because of this and the removal of Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, Brandon Moss, and David Murphy, the Indians have some money to spend in free agency if there is a decent deal available. What they really need is at least one batter who can mash (like Moss, oops) and preferably a starting center fielder who can bridge the gap to Bradley Zimmer, who should be ready for the majors late in 2016 or early in 2017. The infield has already made great strides defensively, but even with Lonnie Chisenhall in right and Abraham Almonte in center, the outfield could use some work on both sides of the ball.

Detroit Tigers
Free Agents: Alex Avila, Rajai Davis, Tom Gorzelanny, Joe Nathan, Alfredo Simon, Randy Wolf
Needs: To admit they are in a rebuild
The Tigers did a much better job than Chicago relieving themselves of big name free agents prior to the deadline to snare some prospects, but the architect of that, Dave Dombrowski, was immediately fired for his great work. He realized that the Tigers are already much too expensive to be financially sound and was trying to rebuild through trades, as free agency should be out of the question.

Of those leaving, Davis is of the most importance as his combination of good defense and base running is something that most of the other Tigers lack. If the Tigers want to avoid another decade in the cellar, their best move would be to let him go, however and focus on minor league development. They owe a minimum of $352M for just Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander over the duration of their contracts as well as a minimum of $122.6M for Victor Martinez, Anibal Sanchez and Ian Kinsler over the next three years. While it may already be too late to find any team who would even take Verlander if the Tigers paid most of his guaranteed money, they could parcel out the other three as there is still some value there.

If Detroit tries to buy their way through this in free agency this year, you will be looking at the most expensive last place team for a very long time. Just a reminder, Cabrera is due $124M from 2020 on and could earn another $60M if he can manage a top ten MVP finish in 2024 and 2025 (I’d vote for him just to see what would happen). If he’s an injury risk now, just think about how fast he’ll be moving when he’s 40. In order to avoid having 23 never will be’s to go with their two used to bes, the Tigers need to start preparing right now.

Kansas City Royals
Free Agents: Joba Chamberlain, Johnny Cueto, Alex Gordon, Jeremy Guthrie, Greg Holland, Ryan Madson, Franklin Morales, Alex Rios, Chris Young, Ben Zobrist
Needs: Pitching, pitching, pitching
Starting at the top, the Royals will have some major work to do to maintain their AL crown for the third straight year. Losing a guy like Chris Young shouldn’t be a huge deal, but add into that the fact that Cueto and Zobrist cost the Royals their two pitching prospects most near major league readiness and that Jason Vargas is still out at least a half of a season after he tore his UCL this year and all of a sudden, the situation looks a little more desperate. Jeremy Guthrie was also bought out of his $10 million mutual option, leaving the Royals down another starter.

To make up for this, KC may look to re-sign Young (Cueto is a little out of their price range) and possibly another free agent starter. In the bullpen, losing Morales, Chamberlain, and Madson won’t leave them as destitute because they were stronger to begin with, but it will take a lot of work to build it back to the strength it has been the last two years.

Possibly losing Gordon and Rios shouldn’t hurt as much as the pitchers since Paulo Orlando looked pretty impressive in his rookie year and Rios was probably the worst regular player on the Royals roster. While Gordon seems determined to test the free agent market (although he’s stated interest in returning to the only club he’s ever played for), it is the Royals who were not interested in retaining Rios for $12.5M. Wade Davis and Alcides Escobar also have team options that were obviously exercised.

Minnesota Twins
Free Agents: Blaine Boyer, Neal Cotts, Brian Duensing, Torii Hunter, Mike Pelfrey
Needs: More exiting free agents, some pitching wouldn’t hurt
The biggest problem the Twins have this off-season aren’t those who are going, but those who are staying. While still a decent hitter, Joe Mauer’s 0.3 WAR isn’t near worth his $23M salary for the next three seasons. Worse still is the $40.5M owed to Ervin Santana over the next three years and the $24M owed to Ricky Nolasco over the next two. Otherwise, the Twins have the young talent to be legitimate contenders next year.

Leaving will be three relievers who accounted for 127.1 innings last year in Boyer, Duensing and Cotts. Kevin Jepsen and Ryan Pressly will likely throw more often next season, so they don’t need any massive moves in the bullpen, but adding one or two veterans could help. Of course, those veterans could be taken from the extremely expensive options in the rotation as Tommy Milone, Trevor May, and Tyler Duffey all deserve to be in the starting rotation and only Pelfrey will be leaving through free agency.