Detroit Tigers: AL Central offseason roundup: November

Detroit Tigers fans, here's what the other AL Central teams have done so far this offseason

The Detroit Tigers have had an eventful offseason so far. They've let go of numerous players from the past several years and have reshaped their front office and coaching staff.

The AL Central was the worst division in baseball last season...again. Four teams finished .500 or worse, with the Royals and obviously the Detroit Tigers losing over 95 games. All of these teams—including the division winning Cleveland Guardians—have a lot of work to do this offseason.

So at the end of every month during the offseason, we'll do a roundup of the moves that the other teams in the AL Central have done. This piece will go over the month of November. A couple of teams have new managers at the helm, so they've had busy offseasons already as well. Let's get started with the team that finished in last place by one whole game.

Kansas City Royals (65-97 in 2022)

The Royals are coming off a disappointing season in which many people expected them to be more competitive. With some young talent like Bobby Witt Jr. and M.J. Melendez to go along with veterans like Salvador Perez and Whit Merrifield, it's easy to see why.

But they had no pitching depth whatsoever. Brady Singer had a pretty good year, and Zack Greinke was alright in his homecoming, but their pitching staff really let them down this year. As a result, it was another lost season in KC.

This led to a major organizational shakeup, with longtime excetive and 2015 World Series Champion Dayton Moore being shown the door and GM J.J. Picollo being promoted to president of baseball operations. It's his show now.

Manager Mike Matheny was also let go. Taking his place is former Rays' bench coach Matt Quatraro. Much like the Tigers, the Royals have a new regime.

They have not made any significant roster moves yet. Their only non-tenders were LHP Jake Brentz and RHP Nate Webb. They have yet to sign any free agents or make any trades. Historically, the Royals aren't a team that spends a lot in free agency. I would expect nothing different this time around.

Minnesota Twins (78-84 in 2022)

Speaking of disappointing seasons, the Twins and the next team we'll talk about may have had the two most disappointing seasons in the entire league. They shocked the baseball world when they signed Carlos Correa to a three-year deal after the lockout ended. The catch? There were opt-outs after every season. Shockingly enough, he exercised that opt-out, so he's currently a free agent.

The Twins had a good team on paper. Stars like Correa and Byron Buxton headlined the lineup, and a solid pitching staff led by Sonny Gray and rookie Joe Ryan made them a tough foe. But things went south quickly for this team.

All season long we talked about how much the Tigers season was derailed by injuries. Don't tell that to the Twins. They lost over 10 WAR due to players being on the IL. They were fifth in the league in games missed by players on the IL. They had 11 players on the IL at one point.

Still, the team was good enough to where they should have made the playoffs, especially since they play in this division. They'll surely look to be better in 2023.

They've had a relatively quiet offseason so far. They made a minor trade, acquiring infielder Kyle Farmer from the Reds on Nov. 19 and also traded 3B Gio Urshela to the Angels. Urshela was on of their better hitters with a 121 OPS+ last season, so that's an interesting move. But that's pretty much been it so far.

They are rumored to be looking for a catcher, in addition to trying to re-sign Correa. GM Thad Levine has shown to be creative in the past. It'll be interesting to see what he's got up his sleeve this time around.

Cleveland Guardians (92-70 in 2022)

Cleveland did virtually nothing last offseason, won the AL Central, and was one win away from advancing to the ALCS. What a weird year.

To be fair, Cleveland's pitching staff did it again, carrying them to success. Shane Bieber was outstanding once again despite a dip in velocity, Triston McKenzie had a breakout season, and their bullpen was stellar, led by hard-throwing closer Emmanuel Clase.

Jose Ramirez unsurprisingly led the offense, but Andres Gimenez had a breakout season at second base, earning an All-Star selection and the AL Gold Glove award at the position.

This was a team that was built around contact. They put the ball in play. It didn't matter how hard it was hit, they were simply focused on putting the bat on the ball. To their credit, it worked for the most part.

Cleveland has had a pretty quiet offseason so far. Terry Francona will be back in 2023 to manage the team. Their non-tenders were former Detroit Tigers' OF turned LHP Anthony Gose and C Luke Maile. If I had to guess, they probably won't do much again this winter. But you never know.