SI's John Donovan picks the Twins to Four Peat this year, thanks to the big signing of one Mr. Johan Santana:
In the American League Central, payrolls are prim and proper and owners are skinflint-types reminiscent of the good old days. That's where the Twins are the champions, tops among the tightwads, first-class frugals....The sudden largesse is probably needed for the Twins to stay atop the division. The Indians are in the fourth year of a five-year rebuilding program and just missed the .500 mark last season after an exciting summer. The White Sox revamped a team that won 83 games in '04. They could challenge again. The Tigers are comers and they, too, broke open the checkbook, most notably with a $75 million deal to get former White Sox outfielder Magglio Ordonez. Only the struggling Royals seem out of chances in this division.
Meanwhile, AP sings the praises of our own LeRoy. Despite the fact that there's no actual position for him on the team, he's not going anywhere.
He began last spring as the full-time designated hitter, but a pulled muscle on the right side of his rib cage suffered in the first week of the season kept him out for a month. That opened the door at DH for Lew Ford - or Shannon Stewart if Ford was filling in for him in left field. Veteran Jose Offerman also got 33 starts at designated hitter.Now LeCroy will find himself giving Justin Morneau breaks at first, Ford at DH and perhaps Mauer - on occasion - at catcher. He knows his role is in relief, and as a leader.
"I think he's done very well for himself," Gardenhire said. "On the bench, you started seeing it. He was getting himself ready and other guys ready. I kind of look at it like that now. Guys look up to him. That's pretty neat. It's not every day you have guys looking up to you."