The American League Central is one of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's six divisions. This division was formed in the realignment of 1994 by moving three teams from the

American League West The American League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The division has five teams as of the 2013 season, but had four teams from 1994 to 2012, and had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams curr ...

and two teams from the

American League East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

. Its teams are all located in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. Along with the

National League East The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Leag ...

, the AL Central is one of two divisions in the Major Leagues in which all of its members have won a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

title. In fact, each team has captured at least two

championships. The Kansas City Royals were the most recent team from the division to win the

Division membership

Current members

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

– Founding member; formerly of the AL West *

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

– Founding member; formerly of the AL East; known as the Cleveland Indians until 2021 *

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

– Joined in 1998; formerly of the AL East *

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

– Founding member; formerly of the AL West *

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

– Founding member; formerly of the AL West

Former member

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

– Founding member, moved into the

NL Central The National League Central is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was created in 1994, by moving two teams from the National League West (the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros) and three teams from the National League ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Membership timeline

Place cursor over year for division champ or World Series team. : The Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, and Minnesota Twins came from the

AL West The American League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The division has five teams as of the 2013 season, but had four teams from 1994 to 2012, and had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams curr ...

, and the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers from the

AL East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

. : The Cleveland Guardians were known as the Cleveland Indians until November 2021. : Due to expansion in 1998 and the placement of the new

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home venu ...

in the

, the Tigers moved to the Central. To give each league an even number of teams, the Brewers moved to the

Champions by year

The

and

are the only teams from the AL Central division to have won the World Series since the league realignment in 1994. *Team names link to the season in which each team played * Due to the

1994 Major League Baseball strike File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

starting August 12, no winner was determined. The

were leading at the time that the strike began. ** In , the

and Chicago White Sox finished the season with the identical records of 88–74. The White Sox won the

one-game playoff A one-game playoff, sometimes known as a pennant playoff, tiebreaker game or knockout game, is a tiebreaker in certain sports—usually but not always professional—to determine which of two teams, tied in the final standings, will qualify for a ...

1–0. # In , the Minnesota Twins and

finished the season with identical records of 86–76. The Twins won the

6–5 in 12 innings. *** Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the season was shortened to 60 games. By virtue of the eight-team postseason format used for that season, division runner-up

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

(35–25, .583) also qualified for the playoffs. The Indians were tied with the

but won the runner-up honors with a better head-to-head record (Indians won the season series 8–2 over the White Sox).

Season results

;Notes and Tiebreakers * Minnesota and

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

of the

were tied for the second and third seed but the Twins were relegated to the third seed by losing the season series 5–4. * Cleveland and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

of the

were tied for the first and second seed but the Indians were relegated to the second seed by losing the season series 5–2. * Chicago and Minnesota were tied for the division championship and played in a tie-breaker game. The White Sox won 1–0 to claim the division crown. * Minnesota and Detroit were tied for the division championship and played in a tie-breaker game. The Twins won 6–5 in 12 innings to claim the second wild-card spot. * Cleveland and Chicago were tied for the fourth and seventh seed but the Indians claimed the fourth seed by winning the season series 8–2.

Division championships won by team

''Current division members in bold''

References

MLB final standings by year
{{Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball divisions 1994 establishments in the United States