Overlooked AL Central gets its revenge by putting 3 teams in Division Series

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The cruel joke before the season was that someone would win the AL Central because someone had to win the AL Central.

They were five teams with modest payrolls and meager expectations, each of them short on talent and long on hope.

Well, it turns out the path to the World Series — at least in the American League — is going right through the division.

What was widely regarded as the weakest in baseball in April has become a postseason heavyweight in October. Three of its teams are still alive in the divisional round, with the AL Central champion Guardians set to face the Tigers, fresh off a wild-card sweep of the AL West champion Astros, and the Royals going to New York to face the Yankees after sweeping the Orioles.

“Playing in the division all year, we saw the caliber of all the teams," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "Everybody plays each other very tough, plays very good baseball. And so it's really cool. It's great that we have three of our divisional teams.”

It's not just that it's three teams from one division, though.

It's three teams from this particular division.

Each finished below .500 last season. In the Royals' case, they matched a franchise record for ineptitude by losing 106 games — a full 50 more than they won. The Tigers won just 78 games and the Guardians won 76, which means the three teams that joined the AL East champion Yankees in the divisional round were a combined 66 games below .500 last year.

Who saw that coming?

Certainly not the sportsbooks. The Tigers and Guardians carried 66/1 odds to win the World Series on opening day, according to BetMGM, while the Royals were a 200-to-1 long shot — meaning if you were stupid enough, or prescient enough, to bet $100 on them back in March, you might be holding a ticket worth $20,000 in a few weeks.

“We've just got to take things one day at a time,” said Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who might have been a runaway MVP pick had the Yankees' Aaron Judge not had a record-setting season of his own. “One step at a time, like we've been doing.”

It's not just that the AL Central was bad last year, either. It's that despite opening their pocketbooks in the offseason, with the Royals alone spending more than $100 million on free agents, they were still fielding clubs with modest payrolls.

The latest figures heading into Game 1 on Saturday night put the Royals at $117 million, the Guardians at $109 million and the Tigers at $101 million, each in the bottom third of the league. In fact, all of them combined barely surpasses the $311 million tab for the mighty Yankees.

“We believe in each other. We believe in this team,” said Tigers second baseman Colt Keith, whose club was scuffling along at just 55-63 on Aug. 10 before a 31-13 tear got the franchise into the playoffs for the first time since 2014. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. It was going to take extreme focus from every single person. But gosh, we did it.”

While the Tigers were soaring, the Royals were beginning to flounder, going on two long losing streaks after first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino broke his thumb. But led by one of the best pitching staffs in the game, second-year manager Matt Quatraro's team managed to hold it all together, squeaking into the playoffs for the first time since winning the 2015 World Series.

Pasquantino was back, too, coming off the injured list this week to help beat the Orioles in consecutive games.

The Royals and Tigers, who both finished well behind Cleveland, squeezed into the playoffs at the expense of another team from the division: Minnesota. Last year's AL Central champion was in contention until the final week of the regular season.

The last-place team in the Central was the Chicago White Sox, who broke the majors' modern record for most losses by finishing with a 41-121 record.

“(The Twins) had the highest projected win total for the division, and they were in it all year, too,” Cleveland catcher Austin Hedges pointed out. "You had four teams flirting with the playoffs, and three in the (divisional round) shows it's the best division in baseball right now.”

AP Sports Writers Tom Withers in Cleveland and Ronald Blum in New York and AP freelancer Jeremy Rakes in Houston contributed.

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New York Yankees players Alex Verdugo, Jasson Dominguez and Trent Grisham celebrate at the end of the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Kansas City Royals' Vinnie Pasquantino reacts after hitting a single against the Baltimore Orioles during the fifth inning in Game 2 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Detroit Tigers catcher Jake Rogers, left, and relief pitcher Will Vest, right, celebrate the team's 5-2 win against the Houston Astros in Game 2 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Kevin M. Cox)

Cleveland Guardians' Josh Naylor, left, greets Jose Ramirez, right, after Ramirez hit a two-run home run off Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander during the first inning of a baseball game in Cleveland, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., left, catcher Salvador Perez, center, and outfielder Tommy Pham, right, celebrate with teammates after defeating the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 in Game 2 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

The Detroit Tigers pose for a team photo after their 5-2 win against the Houston Astros in Game 2 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Kevin M. Cox)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Three former Memphis police officers were convicted Thursday in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, but were acquitted of the harshest charges they faced for a death that sparked national protests and calls for broad changes in policing.

Jurors deliberated for about six hours before coming back with the mixed verdict for Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith.

All were convicted of witness tampering related to the cover-up of the beating, but Bean and Smith were acquitted of civil rights charges. Haley was acquitted of violating Nichols’ civil rights causing death, but convicted of the lesser charge of violating his civil rights causing bodily injury. He was also convicted of a conspiracy to witness tamper charge that the others were acquitted of.

The court remained silent as the verdicts were read.

The judge ordered all three officers to be taken into custody. He planned to hold a hearing Monday to hear from the defense lawyers about releasing them pending sentencing. The witness tampering charges carry possible sentences of up to 20 years in prison. The civil rights charge against Haley carries up to 10 years in prison. They had faced up to life in prison if convicted on the harshest charges.

The verdict marked a partial setback for prosecutors who were unable to land a conviction for civil rights violations for two officers who played an active role in the encounter. Jurors repeatedly watched graphic clips from police video that showed the officers punch and kick Nichols and hit him with a police baton just steps from his home, as the 29-year-old called out for his mother.

Bean and Smith were seen on video wrestling with Nichols and holding his arms, while also hitting him, but the jury was not convinced those actions amounted to civil rights violations. An FBI agent said Smith told him he punched Nichols, but defense lawyers argued Bean and Smith were merely slapping Nichols’ hands away as they tried to put handcuffs on him.

Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, told The Associated Press outside the courtroom: “A win is a win. They’re all going to jail.”

Five officers were charged in Nichols’ death, but two pleaded guilty and testified against members of their old crime suppression unit.

Prosecutors argued that Nichols was beaten for running from a traffic stop, saying it was part of a common police practice referred to in officer slang as a “street tax” or a run tax.” They said the officers lied — to a supervisor, to medical professionals attending to Nichols and in required written reports — about the extent of the force they used.

“This has been a long journey for our family," RowVaughn Wells, Nichols' mother, told reporters. "I’m actually in shock right now because I still can’t believe all the stuff that’s going on. But we’re happy that they all have been convicted and they have been arrested.”

Lawyers for Bean, Smith and Haley did not respond to requests for comment sent by phone, text and email after the verdict.

Nichols, who was Black, ran from the traffic stop despite being hit with pepper spray and a Taser. The five officers, who were fired after the beating, also are Black.

Some of the most emotional testimony at trial came from one of the officers, Desmond Mills, who took a plea deal in which prosecutors call for up to 15 years in prison. He testified in tears that he was sorry for the beating, that he left Nichols’ young son fatherless and that he wishes he stopped the punches. Later, he testified that he went along with a cover-up in hopes that Nichols would survive and the whole thing would “blow over.”

Nichols died Jan. 10, 2023, three days after the beating. His son is now 7 years old.

The other officer who reached a deal with prosecutors, Emmitt Martin, testified that Nichols was “helpless” while officers pummeled him, and that afterward the officers understood “they weren’t going to tell on me, and I wasn’t going to tell on them.” Under his plea agreement, prosecutors will suggest a prison sentence of up to 40 years.

Defense attorneys sought to portray Martin as a principal aggressor. Martin testified Nichols was not a threat, yet he acknowledged punching and kicking Nichols in the head.

The police video shows the officers milling about and talking as Nichols struggles with his injuries. An autopsy report shows he died from blows to the head. The report describes brain injuries, and cuts and bruises on his head and other areas.

The five officers also have been charged with second-degree murder in state court, where they pleaded not guilty, although Mills and Martin are expected to change their pleas. A trial date in state court has not been set.

Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee.

Attorney Ben Crump, left, and RowVaughn Wells, second from left, mother of Tyre Nichols, leave the the federal courthouse after three former Memphis police officers were convicted of witness tampering charges in the 2023 fatal beating of Nichols, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

A sign is seen outside the federal courthouse during the trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Demetrius Haley, left, one of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, arrives at the federal courthouse with his attorney Michael Stengel, right, for the day's proceedings Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Tadarrius Bean, one of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, arrives at the federal courthouse for the day's proceedings Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Justin Smith, left, one of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, arrives at the federal courthouse with his attorney Martin Zummach, right, for the day's proceedings Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Tadarrius Bean, one of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, arrives at the federal courthouse for the day's proceedings Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Demetrius Haley, left, one of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, arrives at the federal courthouse with his attorney Michael Stengel, right, for the day's proceedings Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Justin Smith, one of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, arrives at the federal courthouse for the day's proceedings Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

RowVaughn Wells, right, is comforted during a prayer vigil outside the federal courthouse as jury deliberations begin for the trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating of her son, Tyre Nichols, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Family and friends of Tyre Nichols gather for a prayer vigil outside the federal courthouse as jury deliberations begin for the trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating of Nichols, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Jamal Dupree, left, and La'Toya Yizar, right, comfort each other during a prayer vigil outside the federal courthouse as jury deliberations begin for the trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating of their brother, Tyre Nichols, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Family and friends of Tyre Nichols, pray before entering the federal courthouse for the trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating of Nichols, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Justin Smith, one of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichol, arrives at the federal courthouse for the day's proceedings on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Karen Pulfer Focht)

Justin Smith, one of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, arrives at the federal courthouse for the day's proceedings Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Tadarrius Bean one of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, arrives at the federal courthouse for the day's proceedings Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Friends and family of Tyre Nichols gather to pray before entering the federal courthouse for the trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating Nichols, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

RowVaughn Wells, left, mother of Tyre Nichols, prays with family and friends before entering the federal courthouse for the trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 fatal beating of her son Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)