You're Hot and You're Cold

It's cold in the Twin Cities and it's hot in the Valley of the Sun. The Minnesota Twins and the Arizona Diamond Backs most likely won't finish in first place this season, but they are making progress for success in future seasons.

Mr. Minneapolis, Joe Mauer 

The Twins caught lightning in a bottle in 2012 with Josh Willingham's success and they are hoping he will repeat his success. This Twin's lineup is dependent on power with the departure of two speed threats in Ben Revere and Denard Span. I would play Mauer at first base for two out of five games, catch two out of five games and be the DH for one out of five games between the catching days.  This would allow him to be in more games without the wear on his body. Mauer, Morneau, and Doumit will rotate between catcher, first base, and DH. Obviously Morneau won't play catcher.

1. R. Mastroianni CF 90 OPS+
2. R. Carrol 2B          86 OPS+
3. L. Mauer C            141 OPS+
4. R. Willingham LF   144 OPS+
5. L. Morneau 1B       113 OPS+
6. R. Plouffe 3B          107 OPS+
7. S. Doumit DH        114 OPS+
8. S. Florimon SS       61 OPS+
9. S. Hicks RF            Not enough MLB statistics

The Twins are making major strides to improve their pitching rotation, signing pitchers and trading for them. It still isn't likely for any one of these guys to win a CyYoung award or lead a category in anything, but they are good enough to do well.

1. R. Kevin Correia 4.21 ERA
2. R. Vance Worley 4.20 ERA
3. L. Scott Diamond 3.54 ERA
4. R. Mike Pelfrey 4.74 ERA in 2011
5. L. Brian Duensing 5.12 ERA

The closer's job in the bullpen is up for grabs, but there are few nice pieces in the pen for the Twins. Glen Perkins posted a 2.56 ERA, Jared Burton posted a 2.18 ERA, Josh Roenicke posted a 3.25 ERA and Alex Burnett posted a 3.52 ERA. They should compete for the role of the closer, but whoever wins should won't be closing many games.

I project 67 wins for the Twins in 2013

Miguel Montero 

The Diamond Backs traded undoubtedly their best player in Justin Upton. In the trade they acquired Martin Prado to play third base. The D-Backs also signed outfielder Cody Ross, and Cliff Pennington. The Diamond Backs are trying to make a team of gritty players who play hard and are a good club house presence.

1. L. Eaton CF          111 OPS+
2. R. Prado 3B          114 OPS+
3. L. Montero C        120 OPS+
4. R. Goldschmidt 1B 123 OPS+
5. L. Kubel LF           117 OPS+
6. R. Ross RF            113 OPS+
7. R. Hill 2B               131 OPS+
8. S. Pennington SS    64 OPS+

The Diamond Backs also have some very good starting pitchers in the rotation. Although they traded away phenom Trevor Bauer they are still pretty good. They signed underrated pitcher of the year, Brandon McCarthy, and acquired Randell Delgado in the Upton trade. Also in the rotation was rookie of the year runner up, Wade Miley.

1. R. Ian Kennedy 4.02 ERA
2. R. Brandon McCarthy 3.24 ERA
3. L. Wade Miley  3.33 ERA
4. R. Randall Delgado  4.37 ERA
5. L. Patrick Corbin 4.54 ERA

The bullpen for the D-Backs has the addition of former closer, Heath Bell, but he will act as a setup man to current closer JJ Putz. Putz pitched to a 2.82 ERA in 2012 with 32 saves for the D-Backs while Bell had a terrible season with the Marlins in 2012. Brad Ziegler is also in the bullpen with a 2.49 ERA in 2012 along with lefties Matt Reynolds and Tony Sipp who didn't fare so well in ERA this passed season.

I project 84 wins for the Diamond Backs in 2013

The Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks finished 2011 strong, winning the NL West. They had a record of 94-68 and may very well repeat something similar to that in 2012.

A major part of The Diamondbacks' success was their young and effective starters. Ian Kennedy won 21 games for The D-Backs and Daniel Hudson won 16. Their ages are 27 and 24 respectively. In the 2011-2012 offseason they traded for another young starter in Trevor Cahill. Although Cahill didn't win 18 games with a sub 3.00 ERA like he did in 2010, the 23 year old had a 12-14 record with a 4.16 ERA over 207 innings. That is good enough to be an effective number 3 starter in the NL West.

The Diamond Backs have a young and effective offense as well. Lead by Justin Upton in right field. Upton had a .369 on base percentage, 31 home runs and a .529 slugging percentage, giving him a 141 OPS+. Another offensive superstar in Phoenix is Chris Young. Although his OPS+ is only 103, he can hit home runs and get on base. In 2011 he had a .331 on base percentage and 20 home runs. Miguel Montero is their young catcher. He is 28 years old and is in the prime of his career. Montero had a 121 OPS+ in 2011 making him one of the best offensive catchers.

In the bullpen is Takashi Saito, JJ Putz, and the newly acquired Craig Breslow. Saito and Putz had ERA's close to 2.00 and Breslow had an 3.79 ERA. That adds up to a decent back end of the bullpen.

The Diamond Backs play in the National League West which isn't a powerful offensive division. It is oriented around pitching and The D-Backs definitely have that. They will compete well with Th.es Giants and it can go either way.