American League Central Betting Preview
The Chicago White Sox were the only team to finish above .500 in the American League Central last season. Will the division be a little bit more competitive this year? Sportsmemo MLB handicapper JM Sports shares his thoughts on the 2022 version of the AL Central.
Stay on top of the latest MLB updates direct from Las Vegas!
2022 American League Central Division Odds
The Chicago White Sox enter the 2022 season as -200 favorites to win the American League Central, but there should be some good competitive balance through out the rest of the division. Minnesota made a handful of big-name signings, Detroit’s young core enters with more experience, and Cleveland and Kansas City both have competent rosters.
2022 American League Central Odds | Courtesy of Caesars as of April 6 |
---|---|
Chicago White Sox | -200 |
Minnesota Twins | +525 |
Detroit Tigers | +750 |
Cleveland Guardians | +1100 |
Kansas City Royals | +1400 |
Chicago White Sox
The White Sox finished the season 13 games ahead of the Guardians, who finished second in the division.
Chicago kept their starting rotation intact, keeping all six players who started over nine games last year, while adding Vince Velasquez to their roster and veteran starter Johnny Cueto to a minor league deal.
The White Sox starting rotation looks intact, but there are still questions about the bullpen. They sent Craig Kimbrel to the Dodgers in return for AJ Pollock, which was a trade that may have hurt the bullpen, but added some consistency to the batting lineup and the outfield depth chart. Keep an eye on Michael Kopech as the White Sox attempt to find the best role for him, whether that’s as a starting pitcher or coming out of the bullpen.
Cleveland Guardians
Cleveland has produced one of the best pitching rotations over the last decade, and they’ll need to use that next-man-up mentality if the Guardians want to remain competitive in 2022.
Signing Jose Ramirez to a long-term contract signals that Cleveland is willing to spend some cash, but this looks like one of the worst lineups in the American League.
Minnesota Twins
Minnesota was one of the most active teams this offseason after a disappointing 2021 campaign. After parting ways with Kenta Maeda and Michael Pineda from their starting rotation, they went out and added three new potential starting pitchers to bolster the rotation.
They added Sonny Gray who went 7-9 last season with Cincinnati, but has had a long career of proving his worth. They also added Dylan Bundy and Chris Archer, each of whom should be viable candidates to add to the seasons starting rotation.
The bigger splashes occurred in the batting lineup as the Twins added one of the best shortstops in the league with Carlos Correa, plus two big bats from the Yankees in Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez.
Detroit Tigers
Detroit finished third in the division last season, but they made some strides to improve their pitching rotation. Spencer Turnbull was the only starting pitcher that started 9+ games last season. They added Eduardo Rodriguez who went 13-8 last season with the Red Sox, starting 32 games for Boston. They also added Michael Pineda, and although he dealt with some injuries last season, he still ended 9-8 in in 21 starts, posting a 3.62 ERA in 109.1 IP.
The Tigers acquired outfielder Austin Meadows from Tampa Bay. Meadows played 142 games last season for the Rays posting triple digit RBI’s (106), and scoring 79 runs himself.
Kansas City Royals
The Royals turned back the clock by adding Zack Greinke back to their rotation. Greinke spent seven seasons with the Kansas City organization before making some other stops around the league. While Greinke posted a 4.16 ERA last season, he went 11-6 in his 29 starts and struck out 120 batters in 171 innings pitched with the Astros.
Interested in placing a bet on the 2022 American League Central division odds? Caesars Sports is offering up to a $1,500 match bet for first-time deposits in New Jersey, West Virginia, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, New York and Louisiana.
2022 American League Preview | First Pitch
Play ball! After a very interesting offseason, the 2022 MLB season will kick off on Thursday, April 7. Join Drew Martin, Bryan Leonard and Dave Cokin for First Pitch as we preview the American League futures market. Which teams are poised to overachieve based on their projected win totals? Which favorites are on upset alert in their division? Join our team of MLB betting experts every weekday at 1:45pm ET / 10:45am PT for First Pitch as we discuss the baseball betting slate.
**************************************************
Meet the Author
Jeff’s hunger for handicapping began at a young age being surrounded by parents that made sports betting a daily routine. Hoping to follow in the footsteps of other Cleveland handicappers like Marc Lawrence, Phil Steele, Ralph Michaels, Ed Meyer and Bryan Leonard, Jeff started his sports betting career working for both Northcoast Sports and Phil Steele Publications learning the intricacies of sports betting and becoming a profitable handicapper. Through out his college years, Jeff’s mathematical and analytical prowess helped him develop a betting strategy that turned sports betting into a profitable venture, where he focuses on the NFL, college football, NBA, college basketball and MLB while showing strong results in the WNBA.
Looking for more free sports picks and sports betting tips?
- Latest Betting Odds and Public Action: Vegas lines updated in real time, including who the public is betting on.
- Last Minute Handicapping Advice: Check out our extensive library of handicapping tips and advice from professional Vegas handicappers (we also recommend taking the time to look over our sports betting tips video library)
- Want an expert opinion? Check out the latest Free Sports Picks and Best Bets from our team of expert sports handicappers.
Make sure to bookmark all the above!