Detroit Tigers: Early AL Central 2020 standings prediction

The offseason has officially begun, but no big moves have been made yet. Here are some predictions on the Detroit Tigers and the rest of the AL Central.

It’s never too early to start making predictions. After the Detroit Tigers finished with the worst record in the league in 2019, it is interesting to speculate how they, and the other teams in the AL Central, will perform in 2020. Here are some early predictions about how the division will look at the end of next September.

Detroit Tigers: 5th place, 49-113

2019 was a historic low for us, and next year isn’t looking much better. We are at the beginning of a long and slow rebuilding process. While we might pick up a few more wins than we did last season, it seems unlikely that we will finish with much more than 50 wins. 2020 will be devoted to grooming young players and attempting to find who the good fits for the future are.

Kansas City Royals: 4th place, 61-101

The AL Central had two 100-loss teams last season, and it may very well happen again next season. Kansas City is also going through a rebuilding process, but players like Jorge Soler and Whit Merrifield will help them get a few extra wins on the year. Kansas City might be one of Detroit’s most competitive matchups given their similar situations.

Cleveland Indians: 3rd place, 81-83

It seems like the run for the Indians is coming to a close. After losing to Chicago in the 2016 World Series, Cleveland has gone downhill. With talks of trading Francisco Lindor, the Indians seem to have accepted their fate. While they still have a solid team and a decent manager in Terry Francona, it seems unlikely that they will finish above .500 in 2020.

Chicago White Sox: 2nd place, 85-77

It has been a long time since the Sox have been competitive in the division, but they are trending in the right direction. With budding stars like Tim Anderson and Eloy Jimenez, they will likely turn into buyers this offseason and try to make a playoff run. It seems unlikely that they will make it, but they could sneak into a Wild Card spot.

Minnesota Twins: 1st place, 104-58

Minnesota had their best season in a long time last year, despite a disappointing ending against the Yankees in the first round of the playoffs. They will be buying this offseason and will come back strong again in 2020. They are playing in what appears to be the worst division in the entire MLB and should be able to scrape 100 wins quite easily.

It looks like it’s going to be another down year for the Detroit Tigers, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be fun and productive. It should be exciting to see if Detroit can exceed expectations in their division while watching young prospects grow.