Around AL Central: Holland best, Ryan's illness, Indians low blow & White Sox youth problem

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Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Kansas City Royals

Could the best closer not only in the division, but in all of baseball reside in Kansas City? One blogger seems to think so.

With Mariano Rivera bowing out of the game of baseball last fall, the Kansas City Royals might just have the best closer in the American League on their roster. Sure, Greg Holland isn’t exactly a household name, but his statistics combined with an extremely lively arm both have earned him at least a spot in the conversation of MLB’s best closer. – Devin O’Barr, Rant Sports

Perhaps we should temper the Rivera comparisons. I understand that Mo’s exit from baseball leaves the door wide open for discussion on who is baseball’s best closer, and everyone probably feels their team has that, but we should hold off on that comparison just yet.

With that said, Holland certainly can be in the discussion for best closer. He jumped from 16 to 47 saves last season (converting 47 of 50 opportunities) and dropped his era to 1.21. The Royals could not come to terms with the 28-year-old right-hander before arbitration and were forced to pay him $4.6 million (KC offered $4.1 million, Holland countered at $5.2). Despite being eligible for arbitration again next year, Holland is under Royals’ control through the 2016 season.

This season will go a long way to determining if Holland is the real deal.

Follow the jump for Minnesota Twins news.

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Minnesota Twins

It was announced this week that Minnesota’s general manager, Terry Ryan, has been diagnosed with skin cancer. The good news is that the squamous cell carcinoma on his neck was caught early. The 60-year-old Ryan will receive treatment and radiation. Once contained, this is the type of cancer that does not come back, according to Dr. Vijay Eyunni.

Ryan will relinquish his duties and take a leave of absence during the treatment of an undetermined amount of time. Assistant GM Rob Anthony will fill-in for Ryan.

Ryan has served as the Twins’ GM since 2011. This followed an earlier stint with the team in the same capacity from 1994-2007.

We’re sending our best for a speedy recovery to Terry from all of us at Motor City Bengals and Tigers’ fans everywhere.

Next up, the Cleveland Indians

Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Cleveland Indians

We mentioned a couple of weeks back that no Cleveland player has gone to arbitration since 1991. That streak ended when the team and Vinnie Pestano could not agree on a deal and went to the arbitrators table. And…it got ugly.

Apparently, the Tribe used the right-handed reliever’s own words against him during the hearing.

Pestano was, however, caught off guard when the Indians used quotes he gave to reporters as fuel for their case. Quotes from a general manager, manager or player are fair game for both sides during an arbitration hearing and that tactic is relatively common. That did not make it any easier for Pestano — one of the team’s most media-friendly players — to hear his words used to support the team’s stance. “You’re being honest and accountable and saying the right things and being there,” Pestano said, “and then later you find your own words in the paper, and somebody is trying to use your words against you to drive your value down. Whether that played a big role in the decision, I don’t know. “That was the only thing that I didn’t care for. I definitely think it’ll affect how I see things going forward. I don’t really know if I can be as honest and up-front anymore. I’ve got three more years of arbitration left. I don’t know what they’ll pick to use against me next year or two years from now.” – Jordan Bastian, MLB.com

Umm, ouch. While using words against each other during an arbitration hearing is nothing new, and both sides use the practice, it may give someone like Pestano pause before being forthcoming to the media. And in today’s digital age, it can be especially tricky. Pestano is one of the most active Cleveland Indians on Twitter and you wonder when tweets might be used as a bargaining chip for future hearings.

One more jump for news on the Chicago White Sox

Avisail Garcia Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Chicago White Sox

The White Sox seem to have a fairly bright future, but don’t figure to contend in the next year or two. This is mainly because they are building around a large core of young players. Some of these players are ready to contribute on the Major League level and some aren’t, however with Chicago likely facing another rebuilding year, they might just decide to give their youngsters some seasoning in the big leagues.

This could pose a problem.

In the world known as White Sox reshaping, the team’s 2014 Opening Day roster would feature members of the young core such as Matt Davidson, Marcus Semien, Jake Petricka and maybe even Micah Johnson, along with projected starters Adam Eaton, Avisail Garcia, Erik Johnson and Jose Abreu. Unless Major League Baseball grants the White Sox seven or eight extra active roster spots or a handful of trades take place, that scenario won’t happen. So there are plenty of Spring Training decisions to be made once pitchers and catchers report on Saturday, even for a team that doesn’t seem to have a great deal of position battles to be fought. – Scott Merkin, MLB.com

It should be interesting to see how things shake out in Chicago. We may see a few veterans dealt from that team during Spring Training to make extra room for a young guy or two.

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