Top 10 Best Players in the AL Central for the 2025 Season

Entering the 2024 season, hopes were not high amongst the baseball community for the AL Central, with title of “weakest division in baseball” seemingly being thrown around quite often.

However, the division defied the odds and produced three postseason teams and four teams in total to finish with an above .500 record.

In all this success, the individual talent within the AL Central was on full display with some of the league’s best names calling it home heading into 2025.

With 80% of the division more than capable of posting winning records, it’s only logical that there’s a fairly even split across the board in terms of top divisional talent, led of course by the four postseason hopefuls in the Guardians, Royals, Tigers and Twins. And even the lowly White Sox managed to get some representation in this list.

Here are the Top 10 players in AL Central for the 2025 season:

Who Just Missed the Top 10?

Vinnie Pasquantino

Pasquantino seems like he’s only a breakout away from being one of the flagship players of this division.

He was one of the league’s best run producers in 2024, as his 97 RBI ranked within the top 20 in all of baseball and was good enough for the fifth best tally in the Central. Not bad for a guy that missed around a month’s worth of the season.

What’s held Pasquantino back from his breakout has seemingly been his health, as the aforementioned missed month of the season in 2024 marked the second substantial injury that the first baseman had suffered in the last two seasons after his 2023 was cut short due to a torn labrum.

If he can finally put things together over the course of 162 in 2025, then he’s got as strong a chance as anyone in this division to crack this list ahead of 2026.

Parker Meadows

It’s been a mix of injury and a poor start to his career that keeps Parker Meadows on the outside looking on the the AL Central Top 10 for the time being.

Looking at 2024 for example, in the first-half Meadows slashed just .131/.247/.286 with a 56 wRC+. However, come the second-half Meadows was flying with a .296/.340/.500 slash line and a 137 wRC+.

He also happens to be a very capable outfield defender, posting 5 DRS and 6 OAA in 2024, as well as a speedster, as his 29.3 ft/sec sprint speed ranked in the 93rd percentile of big leaguers.

If he can build off his second-half momentum form last season and refrain from hitting the IL too often, then he has the makings to be a sure-fire Top 10 player in the AL Central down the road.

10. Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals

2024 Stats: 158 G, .271/.330/.456, 27 HR, 104 RBI, 115 wRC+, 3.2 fWAR, 25% CS%

After a very disappointing 86 wRC+ campaign in 2023, Perez rebounded in a big way for the Royals, as they broke their nine-year postseason drought in 2024.

He’s been a bill of consistency at the plate for Kansas City in recent years, with a wRC+ no lower than 107 in four of the last five seasons.

Perez also rebranded somewhat in his hitting profile, walking at a career high 6.7% clip (3.4% better than 2023) and dropping his K-rate below 20% (19.8%) for the first time since 2018.

From a defensive standpoint he’s not great, but he still manages to be an above average force in keeping baserunners at bay with a 65th percentile CS%.

He’s been a lock for at least 20 HRs and 75 RBIs for a majority of his career, and if he can stave off Father Time just one more year and embrace this more patient approach that the plate, he will continue to be one of the league’s best catchers once again in 2025.

9. Luis Robert Jr., Chicago White Sox

2024 Stats: 100 G, .224/.278/.379, 14 HR, 23 SB, 35 RBI, 84 wRC+, 1 OAA, 0.5 fWAR

Robert is as confusing a player as there is to rank on a list like this. On the one hand, you don’t want to rank him too high based on the fact he was an 84 wRC+ and half a win player in 2024.

However on the other hand, we cannot discount that Robert had been an above average contributor at the plate the three seasons prior to last, including a 155 wRC+ and 3.5 fWAR season in a short 68-game spurt in 2021 and a 128 wRC+ and 4.9 fWAR player in his first real full season of action in 2023.

He’s displayed the ability to do everything well, from showcasing 30+ HR and 80+ RBI potential; to defense ranging from above average to world class; to excellent baserunning capable of swiping 20+ bags in a season.

Other than a dreadful 2024 season, the biggest caveat to his game that sees him rank this low is his brutal injury past. Robert has only managed to play in over 65% of games just twice in his five year career so far (2020 and 2023).

As of right now, last season was an anomaly and based on raw talent alone, Robert is deserving of being on this list. However another injury-ridden season or failure to bounce-back in 2025, and we could be having a very different conversation about him in a years’ time.

8. Royce Lewis, Minnesota Twins

2024 Stats: 82 G, .233/.295/.452, 16 HR, 47 RBI, 108 wRC+, 1.2 fWAR

If only Lewis could stay healthy, because if he could, the Twins would have one of the most feared hitters in the league at bat every single night.

However, the former first overall pick has never made more than 325 plate appearances in any of his three big league campaigns thus far.

While 2024 may not have been the season we’re used to seeing from him, his 2023 campaign was exceptional, as he hit to the tune of a .309 AVG, .921 OPS and 154 wRC+.

A 108 wRC+ as well as a 76 point drop in batting average many it have been what he was looking for in 2024, but he was able to showcase that clutch gene that can’t be taught. The 25-year-old put the league on notice with seven homers in a 10 game stretch in from June 10 to June 21.

His injury track record doesn’t allow for much hope that he can remain healthy for a full season, but if he somehow can, it’s easy to dream on a 30+ HR and 100+RBI in 2025.

7. Kerry Carpenter, Detroit Tigers

2024 Stats: 87 G, .284/.345/.587, 18 HR, 57 RBI, 160 wRC+, 2.4 fWAR

When it comes to Carpenter, there’s an abundance of potential to dream on here that’s just waiting to be unlocked.

We’re talking about a 160 wRC+ hitter, which amongst major league hitters with at least 200 plate appearances in 2024 ranked ninth, and second to only Bobby Witt Jr. amongst hitters in the division.

A 2.4 fWAR with 18 HR and 57 RBI must be applauded considering the limited sample size we saw out of him in 2024.

There’s a few reasons as to why a hitter of this profile falls in the bottom portion of this list. First of all, he is just a hitter, as he projects as the DH in Detroit moving forward.

We’ve also yet to see Carpenter really put it together for a full season, as 118 games is his career-best in three seasons so far.

Lastly he’s yet to really get his shot against left-handed pitching. In 2024 he mashed righties, posting a .305/.363/.631 slash line. However in just 32 plate appearances against southpaws, the 27-year-old slashed just .107/.194/.214.

If he can get a full season with at-bats against both righties and lefties under his belt, the sky’s the limit for Carpenter.

6. Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins

2024 Stats: 102 G, .279/.335./.524, 24 HR, 74 RBI, 142 wRC+, 3.7 fWAR

There are few players in MLB that can leave a fanbase as awestruck and equally as frustrated as Buxton can.

The former first overall pick has some of the best tools in all of baseball, making him one of the most versatile talents the game has to offer.

With a 171 wRC+ (2021), a 135 wRC+ (2022) and a 142 wRC+ (2024) under his belt, there’s no questioning the top-end offensive capabilities of Buxton. Also, regardless of how many games he plays he’s a virtual lock for double-digit homers, achieving this feat in eight of his 10 big league seasons.

From a defensive standpoint, he’s never had a year where he’s been below average, or even close to average for that matter, posting DRS and OAA totals no lower than two but as high as 22 and 28 respectively.

Then, with 97th percentile sprint speed like he had in 2024, he’s capable of being an absolute force on the basepaths.

Where the frustration sets in, and you can’t really blame Buxton for this, is his horrendous injury history.

Buxton has only managed to appear in 100+ games just twice in his 10-year career with 140 games played in 2017 and 102 games played last season. For even further context, he’s played 772 MLB games in total, which over that 10-year span is just over 50% of total games he could have appeared in.

When he’s on the field he’s easily a top five talent in this division, but until he can contribute more to this Twins lineup on regular basis, more credit has to be given to names that have been more widely available.

5. Riley Greene, Detroit Tigers

2024 Stats: 137 G, .262/.348/.479, 24 HR, 74 RBI, 135 wRC+, 4.0 fWAR

The 2024 season was yet another step towards stardom for Greene, as the 23-year-old is blossoming into a face of the franchise type player for the Tigers before our eyes.

His 135 wRC+ in year three symbolized yet another jump significant jump in offensive production, as it was up from the 121 he posted in 2023 and 99 he posted in 2022.

Greene’s first full MLB season saw him tap into his power more with a rise in homers and SLG, while he also saw further improvement in plate discipline, with a small drop in K-rate but a nearly three percent jump in walk-rate.

He pairs his offensive game with excellent defense, as he posted some remarkable outputs in the outfield this season with 14 DRS and 2 OAA.

Had it not been for an IL stint from late-June to mid-July, we’re probably discussing a hard-contact oriented hitter with 30+ HR and 80+ RBI hitter last season that draws walks at a better rate than over 80% of the league. All of these seem more than realistic expectations to have for Greene in his upcoming age-24 season, as he enters his prime years.

4. Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians

2024 Stats: 122 G, .292/.368/.425, 14 HR, 44 RBI, 12 SB, 131 wRC+, 4.1 fWAR

Now we move to one of the best leadoff guys in baseball in Kwan, who’s coming off another stellar season for the Guardians.

He’s one of the league’s premier bat-to-ball hitters, leading the league in back-to-back seasons in in-zone contact rate (Z-contact%). His great eye has also resulted in some of the lowest K-rates in all of baseball, as his 9.4% clip in 2024 ranked second in MLB to only Luis Arráez.

Kwan also managed to show off a bit a bit more pop than usual last season, running into double-digit big flies for the first time in his major league career.

He compliments his offensive prowess with a the ability to swipe bags a decent rate, with as much as 21 in a season under his belt from back in 2023.

At DRS no lower than 10 and OAA totals no lower three in his three-year career thus far, Kwan also has the defense to really round out his repertoire of versatility.

While he may not be as flashy as some of the guys behind him on this list, there’s something about a more sure-fire entity that holds it’s weight in value in the long-run, making Kwan a no-brainer of a top five talent within this division.

3. Carlos Correa, Minnesota Twins

2024 Stats: 86 G, .310/.388/.517, 14 HR, 54 RBI, 155 wRC+, 4.3 fWAR

At first glance, it almost seems strange to rank Correa on this list when some of his injured teammates (Buxton and Lewis) were ranked lower in large part due to their injury history.

However, as rough as 2024 looked from a health standpoint for the 30-year-old shortstop, his injury history is not a s bad as you’d think. The contract fiasco of the 2023 offseason with the Giants and the Mets really painted an unfair picture of Correa’s health.

In fact, 2024 was the first season since 2019 that he didn’t appear in at least 83% of his team’s games that season.

And when he’s on the field, there’s no denying the special talent he is. Correa enters the 2025 season coming off arguably the best year of his career at the dish despite the injury troubles, with a career-best 155 wRC+. This marked his fourth season in his last six with a wRC+ above 130.

Correa also happens to be one of the better defensive shortstops in all of baseball, fresh off a 5 OAA season in 2024. In the 10-year span of his big league career, his 65 DRS sits third amongst all shortstops and sixth in all of baseball, while his 26 OAA sits eighth amongst shortstops and within the top 25 of all MLB defenders.

Whether or not, Correa has found a way to overcome these nagging injuries like plantar fasciitis remains to be seen. However, we have to give him the benefit of the doubt in the meantime and give him his flowers as deserving top three player status in this division.

2. Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guaridans

2024 Stats: 158 G, .279/.335/.537, 39 HR, 118 RBI, 41 SB, 141 wRC+, 6.5 fWAR

The baseball world was so hyper-fixated on Shohei Ohtani’s 50-50 season (and deservingly so), that Ramirez’s near 40-40 campaign flew relatively under the radar.

Our top ranked third baseman for 2025 was amongst the the league’s best at the plate, sitting eighth in fWAR, 12th in both wRC+ and OPS, sixth in HR and third in RBI.

He’s an extremely patient hitter as well, which is a part of his game doesn’t always get as much shine as it deserves. He’s never posted an K-rate higher than 16.9% in his career and has posted an above 10% walk-rate in five of his last seven seasons.

Then you add both his excellent baserunning abilities (41 SB in 2024) and well above average defense (6 DRS and 3 OAA in 2024), and suddenly we’re discussing one of the more well-rounded players in baseball.

Being in the same division as Bobby Witt Jr. would see most hitters finish second in a list like this, but that’s not to take away anything from Ramirez. He could easily go for 40-40 again in 2025 while posting another 6-fWAR season or better.

1. Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals

2024 Stats: 161 G, .332/.389/.588, 32 HR, 31 SB, 109 RBI, 168 wRC+, 10.4 fWAR

Now we move to not only the best player in AL Central, but a top five position player in all of baseball in Bobby Witt Jr.

In most years, a 10.4 fWAR season with a .332 AVG, 32 HR and 109 RBI would be virtual lock for MVP honors, it just so happens though that he plays in the same league as Aaron Judge.

While 2024 was the upper echelon breakout the Royals were hoping for after inking him to an 11-year, $288.77 million, he by no means is the product of one individuals season, as he’s steadily gone from a 2.3 fWAR player, to a 5.8 fWAR player to a 10.4 fWAR player, all before his 25th birthday.

In his first three seasons in the majors he sits fifth in cumulative fWAR amongst all MLB hitters. His 18.5 fWAR trails only Judge (27.0), Francisco Lindor (19.6), Shohei Ohtani (19.2) and Freddie Freeman (18.7). This means he’s ahead of the likes of Mookie Betts (18.2), Juan Soto (17.9) and his disvion mate José Ramírez (17.1) among others.

While hitting his 168 wRC+ season is certainly the initial thing that jumps off the page, Witt Jr. is an all-round force.

His defense earned him a Gold Glove at shortstop this season thanks in large part to his spectacular range, as his 16 OAA ranked tied for fifth amongst all big leaguers regardless of position.

Then there’s his blistering speed, as his 31 steals ranked him just shy of the Top 10 (T-12th) and his 30.5 ft/sec sprint speed was the best mark in the majors.

He’s both a perennial .300 and 30/30 threat with world class defense and is only entering his prime years. Don’t expect this to be the last time you find him topping this list.