Saturday, October 15, 2016

MLB Offseason Preview - Minnesota Twins

Minnesota Twins

American League
Central Division
59-103
35.5 GB of Division Lead
Manager Paul Molitor
“Interim” GM Rob Antony
AAA Affiliate – Rochester Red Wings
AA Affiliate – Chattanooga Lookouts

2016 Rankings

Hitting
AVG – 21st
OPS – 13th
Runs – 16th
HR – 12th
SB – 12th
Starting Pitching
ERA – 30th
K/9 – 30th
WHIP – 29th


Relief Pitching
ERA – 26th
K/9 – 15th
WHIP – 26th


Top Hitters

POS.
Name
AVG
OBP
Slug
HR
RBIs
WAR
2B
Brian Dozier
.268
.340
.546
42
99
6.5
RF
Max Kepler
.235
.309
.424
17
63
2.4
1B/DH
Joe Mauer
.261
.363
.389
11
49
2.2

Top Pitchers

POS.
Name
Record
ERA
IP/Saves
K
BB
ERA+
WAR
SP
Ervin Santana
7-11
3.38
181.1
149
53
124
3.8
CP
Brandon Kintzler
0-2
3.15
17 saves
35
8
133
1.0

Trades that Occurred During Season

  • Traded SP Ricky Nolasco and SP Alex Meyer to the Angels for SP Hector Santiago and P Alan Busenitz
  • Traded RP Fernando Abad to Boston for RP Pat Light
  • Traded 3B/SS Eduardo Escobar to San Francisco for P Adalberto Mejia

Impending Free Agents

  • C Kurt Suzuki

Top Prospects

POS.
Name
Level
CF
Byron Buxton
MLB
SP
Jose Berrios
MLB
OF
Max Kepler
MLB
SS
Nick Gordon
AA
SP
Tyler Jay
AA
SS
Jorge Polanco
MLB

Team MVP

  • There really can't be any other choice for this except Brian Dozier, who had the best season of his career and was the Twins best player.  He has also stepped out and has become one of baseball's best second basemen.  

Success/Failure

  • Failure - The 2016 Minnesota Twins weren't nearly as good as they were supposed to be, especially considering they nearly made the playoffs last season.  They certainly weren't as good as their 2015 record conveyed that they were either.  Their pitching was horrible this season and the only hitter who really succeeded was second baseman Brian Dozier, who erupted for 42 home runs this year. For the future, the Twins will have to get better at developing pitchers, since they have struggle to attract big name free agents and probably don't have the money to acquire these either.

 Offseason Outlook

  • Will manager Paul Molitor be able to to keep his job? What will end up happening to the front office?
  • Needs: Pitching and general development of prospects
  • The Twins aren't even close as a franchise to competing in the AL Central which is a competitive division, with the Royals, Indians, and Tigers as division opponents.  They will also have to make decision on what they do with Brian Dozier. He is under contract through the 2018 season and is, by far, the Twins most important player. He will, however, become expensive after his contract expires and they could probably fetch a big return for him on the trade market.  The prospects they could get back would be enough talent to advance their timeline for competitiveness up several years.
*All stats and information come from baseball-reference.com, espn.com, rosterresource.com, and spotrac.com

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