The cruel joke at the start of the season was that someone had to win the AL Central, so someone would.
There were five teams with small budgets and low expectations, each lacking in talent but full of hope.
It turns out that the route to the World Series—in the American League—goes right through this division.
What many thought was the weakest division in baseball back in April has become a strong contender by October. Three of its teams are still competing in the divisional round: the AL Central champion Guardians will play the Tigers, who recently swept the AL West champion Astros in the wild-card round, while the Royals head to New York to face the Yankees after sweeping the Orioles.
“Playing in the division all year, we saw the caliber of all the teams,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Everybody plays each other very tough, plays very good baseball. And so it’s really cool. It’s great that we have three of our divisional teams.”
It’s not just that three teams are from the same division; it’s that they’re from this specific division.
Each of these teams finished below .500 last season. The Royals set a franchise record for struggles by losing 106 games—50 more losses than wins. The Tigers won only 78 games, and the Guardians won 76, meaning that the three teams joining the AL East champion Yankees in the divisional round were a combined 66 games below .500 last year.
Who would have predicted that?
Certainly not the sportsbooks. The Tigers and Guardians had 66/1 odds to win the World Series on opening day, according to BetMGM, while the Royals were seen as a 200-to-1 long shot—meaning if you had the foresight or foolishness to bet $100 on them in March, you could end up with a ticket worth $20,000 soon.
“We’ve just got to take things one day at a time,” said Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who could have been a strong MVP candidate if not for Aaron Judge’s record-setting season. “One step at a time, like we’ve been doing.”
