The 2020 All-AL Central Team

Outlined below is how the All-AL Central Team shook out, with the best player from the AL Central recognized at each position. Also outlined below are the preseason selections, the players selected by the selection committee (me) as the best players position-by-position coming into the 2020 season. This article will outline the All-AL Central team selections, as well as look at which preseason selections played up to expectations and maintained their title as the best at their position through the duration of the 2020 season.

Your 2020 All-AL Central team:

Catcher: Salvador Perez

Preseason selection: Yasmani Grandal ❌

After missing the entirety of the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery and missing the start of this season with a COVID-19 diagnosis, Salvador Perez responded by posting excellent numbers over the 2020 campaign. Perez ended the 2020 season with a .333/.353/.633 slash line and led all Major League catchers in wins above replacement, despite missing the beginning of the season.

Despite providing excellent defense behind the plate, Yasmani Grandal struggled at the dish this season, hitting just .230.

1st Base: José Abreu

Preseason selection: Miguel Sanó ❌

After signing a $50M contract extension in the offseason, José Abreu rewarded the White Sox with a massive season at the plate in 2020. Abreu led baseball with 60 RBI and led the American League with a SLG% of .617. Abreu was clutch all season long for the White Sox and has a case for American League MVP honors.

Preseason selection, Miguel Sanó, had a very up-and-down season in 2020. After missing out on much of Summer Camp with a COVID-19 diagnosis Sanó had a slow start to the season, beginning the year going 1-for-17. In the middle of the season Sanó caught fire, posting a 1.126 OPS over a 21 game stretch. Sanó then struggled with a neck injury to end the year and saw his play suffer down the stretch as a result.

2nd Base: César Hernández

Preseason selection: Luis Arráez❌

César Hernández wasn’t on anybody’s radar as the starting second baseman for the All-AL Central team, but because of his consistent play and injury to front runner, Arráez, Hernández earned the honor. In a season where the Cleveland Indians offense struggled for much of the year, Hernández was consistently solid, slashing .283/.355/.408 over 58 games and providing solid second base defense.

Arráez struggled with knee problems all season, and though he ended the season with another high batting average of .321, he was only able to appear in 32 games. Expect Arráez to bounce back in a big way in 2020.

Shortstop: Tim Anderson

Preseason selection: Francisco Lindor ❌

After winning the batting title in 2019, many pointed to Anderson’s sky-high BABIP as a reason why he was due for regression in 2020. Anderson’s batting average took a slight dip, but his overall game improved as his .886 OPS was a career high. At just 27 years old, Anderson is only beginning to enter his prime.

Lindor, like most of Cleveland’s offense, struggled for much of the 2020 season, posting a career low OPS of .750.

Third Base: José Ramírez

Preseason selection: Josh Donaldson ❌

After a slow start to the 2020 campaign that had Ramírez hitting just .230 through the season’s first 30 games, Ramírez finished the season as the hottest player in baseball. Over the season’s final 29 games, Ramírez slashed .358/.447/.792 and propelled the Indians to a near AL Central division title. It will be a tight race between José Abreu and Ramírez for the American League MVP.

Josh Donaldson had some promising moments in the 2020 season, but unfortunately his season will mostly be remembered by injury as he played in less than half of Minnesota’s games in 2020 and missed out on the postseason completely.

Outfield: Eloy Jimenez

Outfield: Luis Robert

Outfield: Whit Merrifield

Preseason selections: Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, Max Kepler ✅✅❌

Chicago’s outfield was expected to be impressive in 2020 and they certainly were. They were led by Eloy Jiménez who followed up his rookie campaign with an even better year in 2020. Over 55 games, Eloy posted an OPS of .891, 40% better than average.

Through August of the 2020 season, Luis Robert looked like every bit of the prospect he was hyped up to be and more, posting an OPS of .960. Robert struggled mightily down the stretch of the season, as he hit just .136 in the month of September. Though he had a tough final month of the year, Robert still did enough for an All-AL Central spot, especially with his elite center field defense.

Rounding out the All-AL Central outfield is Whit Merrifield. Merrifield put together his second season in a row playing in 100% of his team’s games and once again had successful numbers at the plate, slashing .282/.325/.764. It was another poor season for the Royals, but Merrifield was not at all to blame.

Designated Hitter: Nelson Cruz

Preseason selection: Nelson Cruz✅

Nelson Cruz was the easy choice as the designated hitter on the All-AL Central team, and he left no room for debate as to who was the best DH in the division in 2020. Cruz once again dominated at the plate, posting a .992 OPS and leading the Twins with 16 home runs. As an impending free agent, the Minnesota Twins will have a massive decision to make on whether or not they choose to bring back the 40-year-old designated hitter.

SP: Shane Bieber

SP: Lucas Giolito

SP: Kenta Maeda

SP: Dallas Keuchel

SP: Carlos Carrasco

Preseason selections: Shane Bieber, Lucas Giolito, Mike Clevinger, Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi ✅✅❌❌❌

The starting pitching was suspected to be the strength of the American League Central, and that turned out to be the case. The starting pitching in the AL Central was led by the dominant quartet of Bieber, Maeda, Giolito, and Keuchel who posted ERAs of 1.63, 3.48, 2.70 and 1.99 respectively. Bieber was dominant from start to finish for the Indians and will win the Cy Young, Maeda was the ace that the Twins had been seeking, Gioltio posted a career-high 12.07 K/9 and turned in a no-hitter, and Keuchel posted a team-low ERA of 1.99. Rounding out the starting pitchers for the American league was Carlos Carrasco, an amazing turn-around for a guy who recently returned from a Leukemia diagnosis last year.

RP: James Karinchak

RP: Brad Hand

RP: Evan Marshall

RP: Tyler Duffey

RP: Alex Colomé

Preseason selections: Tyler Duffey, Alex Colomé, Brad Hand, Taylor Rogers, Aaron Bummer ✅✅✅❌❌

While Taylor Rogers and Aaron Bummer weren’t the class of the American League Central relief pitchers as expected, they were replaced on the All-AL central team by some dominant relievers in their own right in James Karinchak and Evan Marshall. Karinchak as a rookie, led all AL Central relievers in fWAR with 1.1 and owned an absolutely ridiculous K/9 of 17.67, which is the highest single season K/9 in the expansion era. Marshall was a god-send for Chicago in 2020 as he filled in for the injured Aaron Bummer and was dominant with a 2.38 ERA and 11.91 K/9. The remainder of the All-AL Central relievers were the expected names in Brad Hand (2.05 ERA, 13.50 K/9), Tyler Duffey (1.88 ERA, 0.79 WHIP) and Alex Colomé (0.81 ERA).

Overall, only 8 of the 19 2020 Pre-Season All-AL Central team members made it on the team following the 2020 season. The biggest reason for this was the complete no-show from the Minnesota Twins offense in 2020. After dominating baseball at the plate in 2019, the 2020 crop only produced one position player on the All-AL Central team with Nelson Cruz.

From the 19 spots on our All-AL Central Team here is how many players each team in the AL Central contributed:

• Minnesota Twins - 3 (9 preseason selections)
  
• Chicago White Sox - 8 (6 preseason selections)
  
• Cleveland Indians - 6 (4 preseason selections)
  
• Kansas City Royals - 2 (0 preseason selections)
  
• Detroit Tigers - 0 (0 preseason selections)
  

What are your thoughts on the 2020 All-AL Central team? What surprised you most about how the team shook out after the season? Do you disagree with any of the selections? Leave a comment below and start the conversation!

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