MLB Top 10s: Cabrera, Verlander easy picks for AL Central's best

In the Eye On Baseball Top 10s, here's what we do: rank players according to criteria. Those criteria change depending upon week and whim, but the Top 10s will always be informed by some angle or another. (Note that the absence of an angle is itself an angle!)

And that brings us to this week's guiding query: Who are the best position players and pitchers in the American League Central?

In recent weeks, we've been devoting ourselves to rank provincialism by ordering hitters and pitchers from each of baseball's six divisions. So the primary criterion for this week is that each name-checked player must play for the Tigers, Royals, Indians, Twins or White Sox. Beyond that, each player should be good at baseball and stuff.

As for really deciding who merits inclusion, we're focusing on players who are performing at least solidly in 2013 and have the track record and or pedigree to suggest that their 2013 numbers are sustainable or even headed upward. That is, these are good players playing well or soon to play well. What's unfolded in 2013 matters, but so does body of work and established expectations. If a player isn't on here despite strong numbers in the current season, then you should assume that all-powerful I have determined his performance to be somewhat fluke-ish. It is so because I said it is so. Such are the privileges of boundless authority.

And now let us recite baseball names for purposes of SEO and making you angry. As always, feel free to brandish your incorrect opinions and make idle threats in the comments section.