NICHOLAS HADLEY-KAMPTZ is a life-long American sports fan and works for ESPN America. He is actively involved in baseball as a player, manager and a member of the British Baseball Federation.

With the All break upon us, it’s an apt moment to have a look back at the first half of a very eventful 2011 MLB campaign.

I’ll look at all 30 teams and how their finely tuned, or perhaps completely chaotic, off-season plans have turned out. I’ll also be looking at key additions, subtractions, superstars and superflops.

We continue with a look at the AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX (44-48, 3RD IN AL CENTRAL, 5 GB)

Look Who's Talking: Manager Guillen and owner Reinsdorf have lots to chat about.

Ken Williams’ and Ozzie Guillen’s seats must be getting increasingly warmer. Despite the loyalty from owner Jerry Reinsdorf, anything less than a return to the playoffs will most likely mean the end of one if not both of the men at the helm of Chicago’s South Side team. A 10-18 April was marginally helped by above .500 play in May and June, but they still have a mountain to climb.

Although the waiver pickup of Alex Rios increasingly looks like one of the worst managerial decisions in recent years, as Rios is combining sub-par defensive play in CF with a .213 batting average while drawing a handsome $37m over this and the next two seasons, the free-agency deal given to .160 hitting Adam Dunn is almost on par, albeit not as costly. Dunn is on track to an astonishing 234 strikeouts, which would surpass his previous career high by 41 Ks and would beat Mark Reynolds record of 223 in 2009. Only Paul Konerko and AJ Pierzynski have performed at the plate while Phil Humber and Mark Buehrle have been the only consistent performers in the rotation.

A 17-run differential might not seem too bad, but when only the Twins have scored fewer runs in the division the White Sox will be in for a rough ride in the second half.

CLEVELAND INDIANS (47-42, 2ND IN AL CENTRAL, ½ GB)

Travis and the Tribe: Hafner is mobbed after a walk off grand slam against the Jays.

The AL Central was predicted to be a three team affair with the Tigers, Twins and White Sox contending for the division title. It seems nobody told the Cleveland Indians that. Coming off a 90-loss season in 2010, and holding the dubious achievement as the only team in history to trade away reigning Cy Young winners in back-to-back seasons, the Tribe shook the baseball world as they tied the Phillies for the best record in baseball in April with an 18-8 start. Catching phenom Carlos Santana, trying to come back from a horrific knee injury – yet another caused by a trying to block the plate – joined a line-up with .393 career slugger Asdrubal Cabrera, an aging DH Travis Hafner who had missed 217 games to injury in the previous three years and Korean cult hero Shin-Soo Choo.

With Justin Masterson (7-6), received in the Victor Martinez trade with Boston, posting the first Indians’ sub 3.00 ERA at the All Star break since Cliff Lee in 2008 and with Cabrera and Hafner having career, or close to, years, the Indians have confounded the “experts.” Having been at worst a total of 2 games under .500, they are within striking distance of the top spot in the run-starved AL Central.

Indians’ run differential of +4 is the only one in the division on the positive side of the scale, but considering the drop off in the line-up after the top four, the Indians will have to hope that hurlers Masterson and Josh Tomlin continue their surprisingly strong seasons. Despite limited resources, GM Chris Antonetti will look to strengthen the roster before the deadline as a possible return to Cleveland for slugger Jim Thome has been mentioned, which would benefit the team in more ways than one, not only strengthening the line-up with Hafner back on the DL but also giving some veteran presence to one of the youngest rosters in baseball.

DETROIT TIGERS (49-43, 1ST IN AL CENTRAL, ½ GA)

Tiger Talk: All Stars Justin Verlander and Alex Avila

A slow 12-15 start from the Tigers saw them surpassed by the surprising Tribe, but 16-11 in May and a 16-12 June has put them back on top.

The Tigers have one of the best pitchers in baseball in Justin Verlander and he is certainly a front runner for the 2011 Cy Young with a 12-4 record and 2.15 ERA at the half way point. He also has four complete games including his second career no-hitter against the Blue Jays on May 7th and is 7-1 when pitching the game after a Tigers loss. No.2 Max Scherzer has, like the rest of the rotation, a +4 ERA, but has still posted a 10-4 record, while Brad Penny and Rick Porcello have a 6-6 and 8-6 record respectively. In the bullpen Valverde has been a perfect 24-for-24 in save opportunities while Joaquin Benoit has been the much better former Rays (compared to Yankees’ Soriano) reliever as the 8th inning set up role.

Offensively Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez have been one of the best 3-4 punches in the league although Boesch, Avila and Peralta probably cannot be expected to continue their strong starts. Still, with the Tigers dominating all teams in the division with the exception of Cleveland, the Tigers will ride the trio of Verlander, Cabrera and V-Mart all the way to the end of the season and beyond.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS (37-54, 5TH IN AL CENTRAL, 11 ½ GB)

Kansas City Blues?: The Royals are running on empty

The Royals seem to have been in a “re-building” phase for the last 20 years. 2011 has so far been not much different, although some promising signs have broken through the perennial clouds over Kaufmann Stadium. A 10-4 start gave the Royals’ fans a glimmer of hope before a 2-9 stretch brought reality back, and a 19-35 record from May through June solidified the cellar position for KC.

While Alex Gordon, Melky Cabrera, Billy Butler and rookie Eric Hosmer have had a solid season, the rotation has been the Achilles heel. Royals’ pitching staff own a 4.55 ERA, 13th ‘best’ in the American League, only ahead of the Orioles.

Still, GM Dayton Moore has worked hard at rebuilding a depleted farm system to the point where it’s now ranked the no.1 ranked program, with five players ranked in Keith Law’s top 50 prospects in the off-season. Since then Royals’ fans have already seen Hosmer and Mike Moustakas debut in the majors. 2011 will not be the year for Kansas City, but AL Central foes should be looking over their shoulders come 2013-14.

MINNESOTA TWINS (44-48, 4TH IN AL CENTRAL, 6 ½ GB)

JOLTING JOE: Will Mauer's return off the DL spark the Twins second half?

One would think that 6 ½ games out by the All-Star break in a season where your team has never been above .500 for one day and has endured 6 and 9 game losing streaks would perhaps be a reason to focus on next season. Not for Twin’s GM Bill Smith. “We’re contenders” he recently proclaimed, no doubt in a voice akin to Lou “White Walls” Brown. On the surface, he could easily be laughed off and considered more suitable for a padded room than a GM’s office.

However, after an injury plagued 17-37 start that left the Twins 16 ½ games behind Cleveland on June 1st, Minnesota turned it on and went 24-11 up to the mid-point and cut the lead by 10 games. With Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Denard Span, Delmon Young, Jason Kubel and Jim Thome all having visited the disabled list at some point, the offensive production can only improve when the line-up returns to a semblance of normality.

The rotation is still a cause for concern, where the 4.29 ERA ranks the Twins 12th in the AL. Of the starting five of Pavano, Baker, Blackburn, Duensing and Liriano, only Baker has been solid with a 7-5, 3.01 ERA, 1.175 WHIP performance. Liriano has been dogged by trade rumors, but it would truly be a question of “sell low” if the trigger is pulled on that trade.

The Twins start the second half with a 12 game home stand against AL Central rivals with four games each against KC, Cleveland and Detroit that could define the rest of the season for Minnesota.

Other MLB Mid-Term Reports:

AL East