Minnesota Twins
2015 Win/Loss Record:
83-79, 2nd in American League Central
Last Postseason
Appearance: 2010
Last World Series
Championship: 1991
Key Arrivals: John
Ryan Murphy (C), Byung Ho Park (INF)
Key Departures: Torii
Hunter (OF), Mike Pelfrey (P), Aaron Hicks (OF)
Manager: Paul
Molitor, 2nd Year W/L 83-79
Overall Review: After their
back-to-back division titles in 2009 and 2010, the Twins fell hard into last
place with 99 losses. It’s been a five-year trip, but Minnesota is slowly
building themselves into contenders again. The one thing you can say about the
organization is that they like stability. Since 1986, they’ve had three
managers: Tom Kelly, Ron Gardenhire and now Paul Molitor is in his second year.
They finished second in the
division in 2015, and like the Indians, they could finish in last place this
season, but that doesn’t mean they’re a bad team. The front office didn’t do
much in the way of bringing in any top-tier players to help improve on their
efforts from a year ago, so it’s up to the young core of players they have to
continue to get better both as individuals and as a team.
Offense: Not one player on the team
managed to hit .300 last year. In fact the highest average on the team belonged
to outfielder Eddie Rosario at .267, and he’s not even in the plans to be an
everyday player in 2016. Second baseman Brian Dozier was the primary source of
power last year. Despite an anemic .236 batting average, he did smash 28 home
runs and had 77 RBIs. Third baseman Trevor Plouffe contributed with a .244
average, 22 home runs and 86 RBIs.
First baseman Joe Mauer is still
plugging along, despite not being the offensive threat he used to be. Last
season, he batted .265, hit ten homers and drove in 66 runs. New to the Majors
this year will be Korean League sensation Byung Ho Park. While he is recognized
as a power threat, he did strike out once every 4.2 plate appearances in Korea.
One has to wonder how the Big League pitchers will handle him. Centre-fielder
Bryon Buxton appeared in 46 games in his first season with the Twins. And while
his numbers were nothing to write home about (.209, 2, 6) he did play superbly
while in the outfield, not making an error in 117 chances.
Pitching: Phil Hughes will be the ace
of the pitching staff for Minnesota. While he’s really never lived up to the
hype he had when he started with the Yankees a decade ago, he has been a decent
pitcher chalking up 83 wins against 69 losses over his nine-year career. Last
year he was 11-9, with a 4.40 ERA. Ervin Santana was 7-5, had a 4.00 ERA and 82
strikeouts in 17 games last year. A full season could see him win 15 in 2016.
Also in the starting rotation will be Kyle Gibson (11-11, 3.84, 145), Tommy
Milone (9-5, 3.92, 91) and Ricky Nolasco (5-2, 6.75, 35 in eight starts).
As for the bullpen, closer Glen
Perkins has saved 118 games since 2012 and that includes the 32 he had last
season. His ERA is fairly high for a closer (3.32) and he did lose five games
in relief, but he’s the best option the Twins have at the moment. The set-up
man will be Kevin Jepsen, who in 2015 appeared in 29 games and saved ten games.
His ERA is more respectable as a reliever at 1.61 and he could occupy the
closer’s role by the end of the season.
 |
| Manager Paul Molitor |
Prediction: After a second place finish
last year, expect the Twins to fall back into fourth place in 2016. The Royals
are still the division’s best and the Tigers and White Sox made significant
upgrades to compete for one of the Wild Card spots. But, as with the Indians,
if the pitching falls into place and the offense gets some timely hits, the
Twins could make the jump into the postseason for the first time in six years.
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