The Minnesota Twins

The Twins made some excellent additions this off season, mostly in their pitching rotation. They added several new starting pitchers, but they are one of the weakest hitting teams in the Major Leagues.

One new player is Kurt Suzuki and will take over as prima
ry catcher with the move of Joe Mauer to first base. Jason Kubel will be on the Twins in 2014 and be a primary designated hitter. Also there are several young players that will find their spot in the lineup for the Twins in 2014. Here is how the lineup may look for the Twins.

1.  L. Alex Presley          CF 92 OPS+
2. R. Brian Dozier           2B 100 OPS+
3. L. Joe Mauer              1B 144 OPS+
4. R. Josh Willingham     LF 98 OPS+
5. L. Jason Kubel           DH 69 OPS+
6. R. Trevor Plouffe        3B  94 OPS+
7. L. Oswaldo Arcia        RF102 OPS+
8. S. Pedro Florimon        SS 70 OPS+
9. R. Kurt Suzuki             C  73 OPS+

Joe Mauer will have great hair at first
base from now on. 

The pitching rotation for the Twins took a significant increase over the off season with the additions of Rickey Nolasco and Phil Hughes. They may not be the strongest of pitchers but certainly a good pair to add to a big ball park and to a team in a rebuilding phase. Here is how the rotation may stack up for the Twins in 2014.

1. R. Rickey Nolasco 101 ERA+
2. R. Kevin Correia 97 ERA+
3. R. Phil Hughes 78 ERA+
4. R. Mike Pelfrey  78 ERA+
5. R. Vance Worley 56 ERA+

The Twins actually have on of the better closers in the game in Glen Perkins. Other than Perkins the Twins don't have much of a significant bullpen. They have decent guys like Casey Fein and Jared Burton who put together a decent season. Also in the pen are starters Scott Diamond and Samual Deduno, along with relievers Brian Duensing and Anthony Swarzak, who may put together a good 2014 season.

The Minnesota Twins

The Twins finished 63-99 for the 2011 season. Opening their new stadium, Target Field, The Twins didn't live up to their expectations. Continuously hit by injuries to their big stars, Morneau and Mauer, The Twins were left with a sub par team.

The ticket to success for The Twins in 2012 will be to keep Joe Mauer healthy. He had reoccurring injuries throughout the 2011 season allowing him to play only 82 games. Joe Mauer can't catch everyday, or 5 times a week. He may need to learn another position. Right field may be good spot for him. You want your best hitter to get a lot at bats with many people on base and Mauer can't do that if hes sitting out every other game or injured.

Morneau has only played 150 games over the past 2 seasons. Which is an average of 75 a year. If he can play a full season and hit 30 home runs and drive in 100 RBI's The Twins may have a slight chance of keeping up with The Tigers. But the Twins should start rebuilding or start finding possible substitutions for frequently injured players.

The Twins have some pitching problems as well. Their projected starting rotation for 2012 is as follows: Liriano, Pavano, Baker, Blackburn, Duensing.  The problem here is that only one of these pitchers pitched 200 innings in 2011. If you guessed Carl Pavano, your right. How Pavano managed to not get injured is beyond me. Seeing how The Twins have a bullpen without Joe Nathan and assorted other relievers, pitching may be a problem against the now deadly American League.  If they don't have pitchers that pitch a lot of innings and not so good relievers, the team will fall apart.

Although the 2012 season may not look bright for The Twins they still have young stars Danny Valencia and Ben Revere. These 2 guys are quite promising and may help The Twins win a division in the future, but not anytime soon.