Next Retired Numbers (Baseball, Part II)

In our last installment, I began a series with who I think will be the next person to have his number retired for every team in Major League Baseball.  Whether this series will be expanded to the other sports is still up in the air, but, at the very least, I wanted to finish baseball.  I started with the AL and NL East.  Today, it's Part II--the Centrals.

As I mentioned in Part I, some of these were very easy calls.  The St. Louis Cardinals, meanwhile, have three worthy selections who I think will all have their numbers retired eventually.  But, the whole idea was that I can only pick one, so I had to choose.  And the Centrals also gave us some active players who should get the honor from their team once they retire.

For the most part, though, the Central Divisions might've been the toughest of the three groups of 10, simply because they've had the least success in recent years.  The Royals and Cubs won back-to-back World Series in 2015-16, but we haven't had a team from either Central make the World Series since then.  Sure, they've had some good players, but the legendary franchise-icon types have been few and far between.  So, the number of candidates to have their number retired has been fairly limited.

That doesn't mean there aren't any worthy candidates from the 10 teams, though.  While I don't think they're locks to have their numbers retired by any means, here are my best guesses for who could end up honored on each Central Division team's wall...

AL CENTRAL
White Sox: 13 Ozzie Guillen-Paul Konerko and Mark Buerhle are the most recent White Sox to have their numbers retired, and it seems likely that they probably won't be retiring anymore for a while.  However, Ozzie Guillen's No. 13 has been kept out of circulation and he was the manager of their championship team 20 years ago.  So, if the White Sox do decide to have another number retirement somewhere along the line, Guillen could very well be the one who's getting honored.

Guardians: 11 Jose Ramirez-Cleveland's a tough one.  There are plenty of Indians/Guardians who you could make the argument for based on what they did on the field, but had other off-field problems that make you think they won't.  And if they wanted to retire Albert Belle's No. 8 or Sandy Alomar Jr's. No. 15 (which should be retired already), they would've done it by now.  Which leads me to believe that the likely candidate to be next is their current switch-hitting third baseman who's been one of the best players in baseball for years.

Tigers: 24 Miguel Cabrera-Justin Verlander may never retire.  Once he does, he'll likely have his No. 35 retired by the Tigers (whether he wears a Tigers or Astros hat on his Hall of Fame plaque is an entirely different question).  Miguel Cabrera already is, and we're just counting the days until he's giving a speech in Cooperstown.  Since he'll go into the Hall of Fame first, the Tigers will likely retire his number first.

Royals: 13 Salvador Perez-Salvador Perez has been a Royal for his entire career, and he's the last one standing from their 2015 World Series championship team.  He's also been the Royals' captain for the past few years.  There's no question that he's one of the best players in franchise history, either.  Once he hangs it up, he'll join fellow franchise icons George Brett and Frank White as the only Royals players ever to have their numbers retired.

Twins: 33 Justin Morneau-Minnesota's list of retired numbers is a who's who of the greatest players in Twins history.  The only name missing is Justin Morneau's.  Morneau certainly isn't on the same level as franchise icons Tony Oliva, Kirby Puckett and longtime teammate Joe Mauer, who are all Hall of Famers.  He's more a Kent Hrbek to Mauer's Puckett.  And Hrbek had his number retired.

NL CENTRAL
Cubs: 44 Anthony Rizzo-You've gotta think somebody from their curse-breaking 2016 team will have their number retired by the Cubs.  Although, they're one of those teams that only retires numbers of players who eventually reach the Hall of Fame, which could limit the options.  Let's assume for a minute that you don't have to be a Hall of Famer, though.  That leaves everyone from 2016 on the table.  And from that group, it's really down to Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo.  Bryant was the Rookie of the Year and MVP, but Rizzo was more consistent in a Cubs uniform for longer, so he gets the nod.

Reds: 19 Joey Votto-Most of the Reds' retired numbers are from their Big Red Machine dynasty.  And understandably so.  Barry Larkin is the only post-70s player who's received the honor.  Joey Votto will undoubtedly join him.  He became the face of the franchise after Larkin and spent all 17 of his MLB seasons in a Reds uniform.  Votto is second in franchise history behind only Johnny Bench in most major offensive categories.  His Hall of Fame case will be an interesting one.  There's no question about whether his number will be retired in Cincinnati, however.

Brewers: 8 Ryan Braun-They took it out of circulation when Braun retired, and it's actually surprising they haven't officially retired No. 8 already.  Braun is widely accepted as one of the best players in Brewers history, and he won an NL MVP in Milwaukee.  This was an easy one.

Pirates: 22 Andrew McCutchen-No, Paul Skenes hasn't done enough to warrant having his number retired yet!  I'm not saying it won't happen, but he's only in his second season, so it's way too early to say.  It isn't too early to say it about Andrew McCutchen.  He played his first nine seasons in Pittsburgh, the Pirates became good for the first time in forever, and he won an MVP.  Then after bouncing around for a few years, he came back to Pittsburgh in 2023 and will almost certainly retire a Pirate.  He's the best position player they've had since Barry Bonds.

Cardinals: 4 Yadi Molina-This was the toughest selection of all teams.  Because the Cardinals have three recently-retired players who will definitely have their numbers retired.  Albert Pujols will have a plaque in Cooperstown.  Adam Wainwright won't.  Yadi Molina might.  But his number will absolutely go on the wall at Busch Stadium.  And I have a feeling he'll get the honor first.  Although, I can also see him and his buddy Albert having a joint number-retirement ceremony.