Royals still look like team to beat in AL Central
The regular season opens Sunday, and the marquee game is the New York Mets at Kansas City Royals in an instant rematch of the 2015 World Series.
As we take a look at the AL Central in the waning days of spring training, it's only natural to start with the Royals.
They've been to the last two World Series, narrowly losing to the San Francisco Giants in 2014 before defeating the Mets in five games last fall.
Kansas City looks formidable again this season, and the Royals are still a feisty crew.
With starting pitcher Yordano Ventura lighting the fuse, K.C. was involved in three bench-clearing incidents last April. The Athletics, Angels and White Sox were the combatants, but every team in the majors seemed to want a piece of the cocksure Royals.
Obviously buoyed by its "Us vs. the World" mentality, Kansas City went 15-7 last April, rolled to a 95-67 record while winning the Central by 12 games and claimed its first World Series since 1985.
On the eve of the new season, are the Royals again preparing to come out of the gates swinging?
According to a story in Newsday, Kansas City is still steamed about Mets starter Noah Syndergaard's first pitch in Game 3 of the World Series. It was a high, tight fastball to Royals leadoff hitter Alcides Escobar.
Citing industry sources, Newsday reported Kansas City is planning to settle the score in Sunday night's season opener.
Why didn't the Royals respond to Syndergaard in Game 3? Why are they still angry after beating the Mets and winning the World Series? Why not wait until the second game of the upcoming series, when Syndergaard is scheduled to pitch?
This smells like a non-story, but Kansas City still looks like the team to beat in the AL Central.
Minnesota Twins
Baseball's biggest surprise, in my opinion, last year at 83-79, Minnesota needs to get big production out of Miguel Sano if it hopes to build on the breakout season.
But there is some concern that Sano is way too big at 6-feet-4, 270-plus pounds to make the switch from designated hitter/third base to right field.
Detroit Tigers:
Is Detroit following Kansas City's lead - getting ahead early in the game and turning it over to a dynamic bullpen?
It sure looks that way. The Tigers still have some potent bats, but they're not getting any younger.
The starting rotation also is suspect, but new additions Francisco Rodriguez, Mark Lowe and Justin Wilson give Detroit its best bullpen in years.
Cleveland Indians:
Much like the White Sox, Cleveland enters the season with three solid starting pitchers at the top of the rotation - Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar.
But also much like the Sox, the Indians look shaky in the Nos. 4 and 5 spots, where Trevor Bauer, Josh Tomlin and Cody Anderson still are competing for jobs.