The manager: Upper management

The Central Division is home to the past three American League Managers of the Year: Chicago's Ozzie Guillen in 2005, Detroit's Jim Leyland in 2006 and Cleveland's Eric Wedge in 2007.

The Twins' Ron Gardenhire finished second in Manager of the Year voting in 2004.

That leaves Kansas City's Trey Hillman, a major league rookie. He was the manager of the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan from 2003 through 2007, leading the team to its first Pacific League pennant in 25 years in 2006.

Bottom line: The quality of the managers mirrors the ascent of the Central in this decade from a glorified version of Class AAA baseball to the American League's deepest division.

Leyland was gone from managing for six years when he was hired by the Tigers for the 2006 season. The baseball man who decided to give him another chance was Tigers President Dave Dombrowski, the Florida general manager when Leyland and the Marlins won the World Series in 1997.

Marlins owner Wayne Huizenga dismantled his championship team after that season. Leyland was embittered as he led the no-chance '98 Marlins to a 54-108 record.

He was hired by Colorado for 1999, but the bitter edge to his personality remained. He was a one-season bust, finishing 72-90 -- and last in the NL West.

Leyland scouted for the St. Louis Cardinals for the next six years. He was 61 when Dombrowski brought him back.

Whatever the demons in Colorado, they were no longer apparent in 2006. He led the long-dormant Tigers to the playoffs as the AL's wild card team, and then to the World Series.

Leyland stays on top of every pitch. He's outstanding at operating the game -- when to be aggressive and when to be cautious.

He makes more visits to the mound to offer advice than any manager in the game. He does it to chew out a starter early in a game, or to carry his message directly to a reliever on how he wants a hitter worked in a clutch situation.

Leyland tells all his relievers at the start of the season that they will be asked to get big outs, and he means it.

As for dealing with today's players, a reporter who covers the Tigers said of the 63-year-old Leyland: "Somehow, he's able to be tough on his players and still be loved by them. He has [Detroit managerial legend] Sparky Anderson's ability to stay out of the clubhouse and still know what's going on."

Wedge, 40, is entering his sixth season as Cleveland's manager. He managed to survive a 2006 season when the Indians fell from 93 victories to 78 and played sloppy, indifferent baseball for the final 2 1/2 months.

General Manager Mark Shapiro was rewarded for this confidence in Wedge with a 96-66 record and a division title.

Wedge seemed to be overmatched in running a game -- and particularly a bullpen -- in his first couple of seasons. He has improved substantially. The manager's ability to get the maximum from his bullpen was a big reason for the Indians' success last season.

Guillen was 40 when he was hired as the White Sox manager in 2004. A year later, the Sox won Chicago's first World Series since 1917.

Ozzie managed by impulse, and he talked to the media in the same way. This was very appealing when the White Sox were winning, but not so much as they fell back -- first out of the playoffs in 2006, then all the way to 72-90 last season.

He enters this season as the only manager in the division who has to worry about his job.

Hillman, 45, is a modern baseball type -- an alleged motivator who approaches the job with minimal humor. This spring, he has demanded that the Royals execute the game's fundamentals -- and just doing that for the first time in years would make them an improved team.

Gardenhire, 50, is entering his seventh season since replacing Tom Kelly. He has tried to maintain a Kelly-like insistence on fundamentals, although the Twins were sloppier in that area in 2007 and could be weak defensively at second and third base this season.

Gardenhire has a tendency to get overly agitated about small irritants that take place in the clubhouse. With the new personalities on this year's club, he might have to spend his time worrying about big things.

He's easy to get along with, and best of all, he does an excellent job of running the bullpen.