Seems like the Twins have been the team that will be good a few years down the road for a few years now. With that said, – Minnesota looks like it will be a pretty good team in a couple years. After a fairly quiet off-season that was highlighted by Torii Hunter signing back on with the team for his last farewell season or two, the Twins still look like they are waiting on a few prospects to click at once and take the team to the next level.
With face of the franchise Joe Mauer now on the decline of his career, the team will need guys like Brian Dozier and Phil Hughes to prove that they are really as good as they showed last season. At the end of the day, this team may finish as a team that looks much better than it does on Opening Day because it is probably the year we finally get to see Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton.
Notable off-season additions and subtractions…
Additions
- Torii Hunter
- Ervin Santana
- JR Graham
- Tim Stauffer
- Jose Martinez
- Argenis Diaz
- Shane Robinson
- Blaine Boyer
- Brayan Villerreal
- Heiker Meneses
Subtractions
- Jared Burton
- Sean Gilmartin
- Eric Fryer
- Chris Colabello
- Chris Parmelee
- Anthony Swarzak
- Kris Johnson
- Yohan Pino
- Doug Bernier
Biggest Weakness – Very Thin Pitching Rotation
Phil Hughes unexpectedly impressed a lot of people last season. If he puts together a similar season this year, people will be sold on him for good and he would be considered a legitimate #1 pitcher at that point. The rest of the staff looks pretty bad. Nolasco hasn’t been anywhere near good in a long time and this writer expects another terrible season from him.
Both Tommy Milone and Kyle Gibson probably shouldn’t be in the majors and they wouldn’t be if they were in another organization. Ervin Santana was an okay signing, but he is probably more suited for a 4th or 5th pitcher role. The good news is that there are a few good looking arms coming up through their system now. Alex Meyer will probably be the first one up and he could end up being good. If he put up similar numbers in the bigs as he has done in the minors he might be the second best pitcher they have.
Biggest Strength – Youth On The Rise
It’s finally time that we might get to see some of these highly touted prospects in the big leagues! As previously mentioned, Alex Meyer is pretty much a lock to get an early call up this season and he doesn’t have a ton of competition to hold a spot in the rotation. On top of that, Miguel Sano has a chance to get a call up this year with the club as well, but he hasn’t played since 2013, so expect the Twins to make sure his rust is off before he gets to the bigs.
Buxton is another huge prospect who has been a little plagued by the injury bug. He has a chance to get to Minnesota this year too, but he has a bit more competition than the other two guys mentioned. With that said, Aaron Hicks is the current MLB center fielder and he has been statistically one of the worst outfielders in all of baseball the past few years. This writer personally would like to think Buxton is better than that. All three of these guys are better than the guys already on the Twins and will be an immediate boost for their team when they get the call.
Something To Keep An Eye On – Jordan Schafer
Shafer was once a somewhat well-known prospect in the Braves system, but he didn’t quite pan out how everyone wanted him to. After being traded a couple of times after he made it to the MLB, the Braves got him back and waived him last season. The Twins picked him up and it was a bit of a breath of fresh air for Schafer. He hit very well in his stint with Minnesota last season and I think he is a much better option than Aaron Hicks in center field.
He actually finished the 2014 season with 30 stolen bases in only 240 plate appearances. That about 1/3 of a seasons worth of PA’s meaning he might be a guy who can steal 60 or 70+ given the right opportunity. This was a very good low cost pick up for the Twins last season and he could be another under the radar guys who could facilitate a better overall Twins team in 2015. Even though he is considered a MLB veteran, he is still only 28 years old and should be in the prime of his career right now.
Potential Lineup - * = Lefty, ^ = Switch hitter
- Danny Santana – SS^
- Brian Dozier – 2B
- Joe Mauer – 1B*
- Kennys Vargas – DH^
- Torii Hunter – RF
- Trevor Plouffe – 3B
- Oswaldo Arcia – LF*
- Kurt Suzuki – C
- Aaron Hicks – CF^
Potential Bench
Josmil Pinto
Eduardo Escobar
Eduardo Nunez
Jordan Schafer*
Potential Rotation - * = Lefty
Phil Hughes
Ervin Santana
Ricky Nolasco
Kyle Gibson
Tommy Milone
Potential Bullpen
Glen Perkins – Closer*
Casey Fien
Michael Tonkin
Caleb Thielbar*
Tim Stauffer
Brian Duensing*
JR Graham
Fantasy Bargain – Kennys Vargas
Vargas is still under the radar since he wasn’t a huge name prospect when he got the call up last year and he plays for a small market. Vargas is an above average big league hitter who will undoubtedly hit in the middle of the Twins lineup all year. He is a switch hitter with good pop, but he does strikeout out a little too much. With a chance to play all year for Minnesota, he could probably hit 25-30 home runs and get 90-100 RBI if his teammates get on base in front of him. He probably won’t help your percentage numbers, but looks like he could turn into a player that will hit for power without hurting your percentage numbers which is becoming harder to find these days.
Overvalued Fantasy Player – Joe Mauer
Now that Mauer has fully lost his position eligibility at catcher, he is essentially worthless in fantasy unless you are in a fairly deep league. His offensive output was very valuable coming from a catcher, but now that he has to be compared to first baseman and only first baseman, his numbers don’t look good. He is still draft-able as he is still one of the better hitters in the league when it comes to simply getting on base, but his overall value is hurt badly by his lack of power. He should be somewhere in the 15-20 range out of fantasy first baseman this year, and maybe that’s being too nice. Don’t regret taking Joe high in the draft this year.
Conclusion/Prediction
The Twins still have a ways to go to compete in the AL Central. Every other team in the division is competitive except for Minnesota who is almost a sure bet to get last place in 2015. Like this writer has said repeatedly, the silver lining is that the young guys are close and when they get here the team will have a completely different look. Expect about 70 wins for the Twins this year.
Tyler interviewed Bradley Swanson @Swannybmn about the Twins on the radio. See what he had to say HERE.
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