The legendary cheapness of White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf creates an interesting dynamic in the American League Central. The Sox, who really should be dominating the division with a huge payroll, are instead run as if the South Side of Chicago were a small city in Missouri.

This has made things pretty easy for the brilliantly run Minnesota Twins over the last few years. Trouble looms for them on the horizon, though; the sleeping monster of the division is Cleveland, which up until a couple of years ago was considered a large-market team. If Cleveland fans have shown anything, it’s that they’ll come out for a winner, and they may have one on their hands this year.

Toss in a Detroit team that has more money than it can figure out how to spend and the A.L. Central, while as unglamorous as ever, might see a truly competitive race for the first time in its history. Here’s a look at some of the major issues each team faces in spring training.

MINNESOTA TWINS

When you hear a major league executive talk about how he wants his roster to have more “depth” and “flexibility,” you can usually assume that he’s been ordered to cut payroll or that he thinks his team is terrible.

The Twins, though, are the best example baseball has seen in many years of how depth and flexibility can be as valuable to a club as a Cy Young candidate or a batting champion. It’s unclear who will start on Opening Day at four of the team’s five infield positions, and yet Minnesota is the clear favorite in a division that’s not as weak as baseball observers seem to think.

At two positions, the Twins have simply been attacked by injury. Catcher Joe Mauer hurt his knee last year and has yet to show he’s fully recovered; first baseman Justin Morneau, the team’s best hitter, was sick all through the off-season with, among other ailments, pleurisy and pneumonia. But with credible reserves like Mike Redmond, Matt Lecroy, and Eric Munson – the latter two of whom can catch in a pinch – the team shouldn’t lose too much ground if their two young stars open the season on the disabled list.

At shortstop, prospect Jason Bartlett has been given the inside track on the job; at third, 26-year-old Michael Cuddyer, who’s succeeded in a unique utility role, has been given the edge. But here, too, the Twins have hedged their bets.

“I want to make sure we have people there that can pick up the ball,” GM Terry Ryan said when he signed slap hitting infielder Juan Castro to a two-year deal. Castro is one of the worst hitters in the game, with a lifetime OBA of only .269. But he’s a good glove man, and so if Bartlett proves unready for the majors, at least the Twins will have a shortstop who can help prevent runs. At third, Munson can step in should Cuddyer falter.

They’re not glamorous, or even good, but players like Castro and Munson keep a contender from being boxed in. This month, Cuddyer and Bartlett will have to earn their starting jobs.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

For many years, the White Sox had trouble selling tickets. One of the big problems was that the upper deck of U.S. Cellular Field was pitched at an absurd angle that made spectators feel like they were about to fall into Frank Thomas’s lap. So before last season, the White Sox made some fairly minor alterations. These had an unexpected result; last year, the Cell increased home runs by 31%. Even Coors Field only increased them by 23%.

For some reason, the White Sox’ reaction to finding themselves in a homer friendly park was to acquire fly ball pitchers and rid themselves of power hitters Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Lee. Over the off-season, the team remade itself as something of a speed-and-defense outfit, acquiring 2004 steals leader Scott Podesdnik and mysterious Japanese second baseman Tadahito Iguchi primarily for their abilities on the base paths.

The main issue, then, is whether manager Ozzie Guillen – who recently directed an obscenity-laced tirade at Ordonez, putting him squarely in competition with Cubs skipper Dusty Baker for the title of “Kookiest Manager in Chicago” – can mold an offense fit for a long-ball park out of players fit for the 1980s St. Louis Cardinals.

Keep an eye on catcher/reputed clubhouse cancer A.J. Pierzynski, as well. Last spring, he allegedly endeared himself to the Giants by kneeing trainer Stan Conte in the groin for no reason and laughing maniacally; he also refused to interrupt his schedule of video-game-playing to prepare his pitchers for games. One can only imagine how the great Orlando Hernandez will deal with this specimen of dedication and respect for the game.

CLEVELAND INDIANS

Much like the Twins, the Indians are a team for which depth and flexibility are more than euphemisms. Among the players in camp who don’t appear to have a set role for the season are two-time MVP Juan Gonzalez and third baseman Casey Blake, who hit 28 home runs and drew 68 walks last year.

For the past few years, the Indians’ strategy has been to allow promising young players to develop at the major league level, keeping the good ones and swapping the bad ones out for a fresh batch. This has paid off with a talented roster that has a good chance of winning the Central this year.

One key for the team will be the development of 22-year-old center fielder Grady Sizemore. Most of the team’s best hitters, like Ben Broussard and Travis Hafner, are a bit too old and a bit too defensively challenged to really serve as cornerstones of the franchise for years to come. Catcher Victor Martinez is the exception to this, and Sizemore, whose game somewhat resembles that of a young Bernie Williams, may prove to be another. Last year, he hit respectably in 43 games, but the Indians would like him to play so well that he forces them to make room in the outfield.

DETROIT TIGERS

Hard as it is to believe, the Tigers really aren’t a bad ball club. After their horrendous 2003 season, they realized they would have to take some risks to put a decent team on the field. They bet that Pudge Rodriguez’s back and Carlos Guillen’s attitude wouldn’t hurt them, and the bets paid off; those two were the best players in the league at their positions, and they restored the team to respectability. The Tigers took another huge gamble this year, signing injured outfielder Magglio Ordonez to a potentially lucrative long-term contract.

What the Tigers should be looking for in camp are signs of a breakout from two players they acquired during the 2002 season: young starter Jeremy Bonderman and first baseman Carlos Pena. Bonderman’s career 5.20 ERA masks a rapidly increasing strikeout rate, good control, and the fact that the Tigers have handled him carefully so far.

Most impressively, he’s pitched two respectable seasons in the American League before turning 22. He could be a young John Smoltz. Pena, 26, is coming into his peak years, and has been a decent hitter his whole career. He put up a 241 AVG/.338 OBA/.472 SLG batting line with 27 home runs in 2005, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him become a genuine star this year.

Given that they allowed only 17 runs more than they scored last year, the Tigers were essentially a .500 team, despite their 72-90 record. If they get a good season from Ordonez and improvement from these two key players, they could complete one of the great turnarounds in baseball history.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS

This is just a terrible team. Some decisions haven’t worked out well, like locking up oft-injured first baseman Mike Sweeney and apparent one-year wonder Angel Berroa to expensive deals. Other decisions, like trading Carlos Beltran for a trio of second-tier prospects, seemed at the time and seem now to have been unwise.

The upshot is an odd mix of young players like Zack Greinke and Mark Teahen, who are years away from their primes, and veterans like Terrence Long and Chris Truby, who don’t really have primes. It may be that the foundations of a good club are being laid here, but Kansas City fans are in for some miserable baseball in the meantime.

The one interesting battle this spring is between All-Star first baseman Ken Harvey and minor-league veteran Calvin Pickering, who annihilated Triple-A last year, hitting 35 home runs and drawing 70 walks in only 299 at bats. On paper, Pickering, who smote another seven homers in 35 American League games, looks to be potentially one of the best hitters in the league this year. Harvey, meanwhile, is a singles hitter who doesn’t hit enough singles.

The team insists that there are good reasons when a hitter of Pickering’s talent doesn’t latch onto a major league job before the age of 28.That may well be so – Pickering may be awful defensively, he may be out of shape (he’s listed at 6 feet 5 inches and 295 pounds), he may have huge holes in his swing that big league pitchers will exploit, and for all I know, he eats all the good lunch meat on the clubhouse spread. The fact is, though, this team has no shot at contention and no reason not to give Pickering a clear chance to prove that he’s as good as his numbers suggest he is. It’s just common sense.

This is the fifth in a six-part series on baseball’s divisions. On Friday, the American League West.