Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Minnesota Twins 2012 Season Preview

Going in to 2011, the Minnesota Twins appeared ready to do what they have always done – compete for the AL Central title despite never quite appearing good enough on paper. Well, last year the wheels fell off, as the pitching was terrible and Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Denard Span were all hurt. By the end of the year, the Twins may as well have had a AAAA roster, and it showed in the results.

For the Twins to be better in 2012, the rotation needs to pitch better. One would think that, since they gave up the second most runs in the American League, that they would be better by default, right? Wrong. When 2/5 of your rotation consists of batting practice pitchers such as Nick Blackburn and Jason Marquis, you’re going to get pounded like a nerd with lunch money. While Francisco Liriano pitched a no hitter last year, it may have actually been the worst no hitter in the history of baseball. It also came against the White Sox, who couldn’t have hit the broad side of a barn last year. The Twins need him to pitch like he did in 2010, not like the imposter that was wearing his jersey in 2011. Carl Pavano makes starts, and is able to get through innings. That’s about it. On almost any other team in baseball, he’s a fifth starter. In Minnesota? Pavano is the second starter, which should tell you everything that needs to be known about this atrocity of a pitching staff. Scott Baker, if he can stay healthy, is actually a decent starter who had a 4-1 K/BB rate last year. Unfortunately, he also got hammered by the injury bug. If he can stay healthy, the Twins may be able to win 60 games. If not, there may not be a limit to how far they can sink.

As bad as the rotation is, and it’s God-Awful, the bullpen may be worse. Matt Capps is a mediocre closer at best, but at least he only cost them Wilson Ramos *sarcasm*. Glen Perkins was handed a three year deal to be the setup man, instead of the Twins using that money to actually, you know, help their team in any truly useful fashion. Brian Duensing and Anthony Swarzak was moved from the rotation to the bullpen, which speaks volumes about their effectiveness. The rest of the bullpen may as well be pitching machines or people from the stands, since they would probably be just as effective.
In the outfield, Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer departed in free agency. The Twins replaced them with Ben Revere, who is a future leadoff candidate with solid speed and defense, but limited upside; and Josh Willingham. Willingham also has a history of injury problems, and really may be better as a fourth outfielder or DH. Denard Span is expected to be healthy, and will be desperately needed on a team that is going to need to manufacture runs. Expect to see a lot of Rene Tosoni this year, which is good news for his relatives and no one else.

Around the infield, it doesn’t get much better either. Danny Valencia hit 15 home runs last year, and got on base at a .294 clip. The Twins thought about sending him back to the minors last year, and may end up doing so this year. Jamey Carroll is a decent utility infielder, but is going to be the Twins starting shortstop. This is because Alexi Casilla is going to be the everyday second baseman, if he can stay healthy (notice a trend?) Casilla can run, and that’s about it. He ends up at second base because Tsuyoshi Nishioka may have been a bigger disappointment than WaterWorld. Some combination of Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer will play first base, if either are healthy. Morneau is still battling concussion symptoms from 2010, and may never get back to form.

At catcher are the aforementioned Mauer and Ryan Doumit. Doumit is expected to be the Twins DH, which should keep him from having as many trips to the DL as he typically has. This means that Drew Butera gets mentioned in this post. Do not expect analysis of Drew Butera. We are not wasting out time. Mauer may never hit 28 home runs again, but he is still one of the best catchers in baseball. If he’s healthy, he may be the only reason to watch a Twins game.

The Twins will be one of the teams ‘competing’ for the worst record in baseball this season. The worst part is, they do not have any real prospects that are close to making an impact, or veterans that could bring something back in trade. The Twins will be awful, and will be for a while.

No comments:

Post a Comment