Most of out assumptions are based on what we have seen happen in the past. Most frequently we base these assumptions on the most recent past. For instance, if it’s been raining for three or four days, we tend to assume that we will have rain tomorrow. Therefore, of course, we are frequently wrong. No president could ever be worse than W. Wrong! They didn’t tow my car the last time I parked in that red zone so I’ll try it again. Wrong!

Lots of people are assuming that the Cleveland Aboriginals are going to win the title in the American League Central again this year. Well, in this instance, they are probably correct. That title, however, may not amount to much more than a hill of presidential rhetoric. That’s because winning the title in a division so much weaker than the others doesn’t necessarily mean that you are equal with the rest of the playoff participants. Cleveland does have a lot of good pitchers. Corey Kluber, Mike Clevinger, Carlos Carrasco, and Trevor Bauer make for a very sturdy starting rotation indeed. Things do change though, and the rest of the roster does not look as bright and shiny as it had in the recent past. For instance, the lustrous Michael Brantley is now with Houston. The once bright and shiny all around star Hanley Ramirez is now Cleveland’s designated sitter and that doesn’t seem right.They are doing a bit of a makeover and it doesn’t look great from here. There is also a rebuild going on in Kansas City. The fact that the Royals are admitting that they need to start from scratch could mean that they will ultimately be the ones to dethrone Terry Francona and the Lakeside Lads. Not this year though.

Whit Merrifield broke through with a big season in 2018 for the Royals while playing several positions. Second base seems to be best for him. He combined with Raul Mondesi‘s son Adalberto for 77 stolen bases to remind KC fans of the glory days of speed and defense in the past. Mondesi plays a pretty good shortstop. It may be a while before any of the Royals pitchers reminds us of Bret Saberhagen, Dennis Leonard or Dan Quisenberry, however. With Salvador Perez out for the season, Alex Gordon is the sole remainder from the more recent days of Royals glory.

Detroit and Minnesota look as though they both have improved their teams. Every year we hear about how, no, really, this time the White Sox mean it. Sure. Eloy Jimeniz from the Dominican Republic is highly touted this year the way Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia once were. We’ll see. Chicago seems to be a lousy place for a pitcher and there are certainly not many Cy Young candidates on that roster. It’s Miguel Cabrera and a bunch of young guys in Detroit and Ron Gardenhire is the kind of manager that can make a good soup out of that. Jordy Mercer will not be an upgrade over Jose Iglesias at shortstop but he’s who they’ve got. Jose Berrios is a very good pitcher for the Twins but after him it is Question Mark and the Mysterians. Byron Buxton could help a lot if he could play center field every day and Max Kepler is a keeper in the outfield as well.

Let’s just say that the World Champions of 2019 will not be coming out of the A.L. Central. Of course that’s an assumption.