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.

Trades, Free Agent Signings, Non Tneders, and More!

Yesterday was a very busy day in baseball as many players found new homes. Two trades went through yesterday and several players signed with new teams and re-signed with their same teams.

Jim Johnson

The biggest news was the trade between the Athletics and Orioles. Closer Jim Johnson has a 2.70 ERA over the past 3 seasons and has 101 saves over the past 2 seasons. Jemile  Weeks is the younger brother to Ricky Weeks, and has not found much success at the Major League level besides his rookie year. Weeks is set to compete for a spot at second base. These two players were exchanged for one another strait up. Johnson is going to replace closer Grant Balfour, and Johnson is projected to earn $10 Million or more in arbitration. The Orioles are trying to land a starting pitcher and by freeing up salary they may be on the verge of making a splash.

Doug Fister

The other big trade was between the Washington Nationals and the Detroit Tigers. The Nationals acquired starting pitcher Doug Fister who featured a respected 3.30ERA over the past 3 seasons and a 3.67 ERA in 2013. In exchange for Fister the Tigers pitching prospect Robbie Ray, infielder Steve Lomardozzi, and left handed reliever Ian Krol. Fister will be a definite improvement over Dan Haren who signed with the Dodgers as a free agent who featured a 3.97 ERA in the past 3 seasons and a 4.67 ERA in 2013. Fister will join a rotation with Stephan Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmerman, and a 5th starter.

Also last night the Red Sox signed free agent catcher AJ Pierzynski to a 1 year deal with $8.25 Million guaranteed. Pierzynski played for the Texas Rangers in 2013 posting a .272/.297/.425 slashline with 17 home runs in 134 games. The Red Sox were preparing for the departure of Jarrod Saltalamacchia who  posted a .273/.338/.446 slashline with 14 home runs in 121 games.
It appears the Red Sox have taken a down grade at the catcher's position especially with Pierzynski's age.

Phil Hughes

Phil Hughes has a 4.54 career ERA, but a 95 career ERA+. The reason for having an ERA+ around average with a high ERA is the ballpark factor. Hughes has pitched most of his games in Yankee Stadium, one of the smallest ballparks in the league. Hughes signed a 3 year $24 Million deal with Minnesota Twins. The deal also includes bonuses up to $1 Million a year based on the amount of innings pitched. As Hughes moves to the spacious Target Field his ERA will drop dramatically. If his ERA+ is any indication of the type of pitcher he is, his ERA may drop to around 3.70.

After several successful seasons early in his career Scott Kazmir has fell of quite a bit. Its weird to think Kazmir will only be 30 in January, but he has been around around for 9 seasons. Kazmir hasn't found much success in recent years, but he signed a 2 year $22 Million deal with the Oakland Athletics. This deal is probably the reason why Brett Anderson is now available for trade.

The Blue Jays signed catcher Dioner Navarro to a 2 year $8 Million that will pay $3 Million in the first season and $5 Million in the second season. This move made JP Arencibia become non-tendered and become a free agent. Navarro played 89 games with the Chicago Cubs and posted a 132 OPS+ , very good for a catcher, and he is a defensive upgrade over Arencibia in my opinion.

Joe Nathan

Being announced a little more than an hour ago was the signing of closer Joe Nathan. Nathan signed a 2 year deal with the Detroit Tigers. The salary in the deal hasn't been made official yet, but this is a good deal for the Tigers. With the failures of Jose Valverde and the shakiness of the closer position last season, the Tigers needed a stud for the ninth inning. Nathan posted 2 stellar seasons with the Texas Rangers by collecting 80 saves with a 2.09 ERA.

On smaller notes, the Rays have traded for catcher Ryan Hannigan, the Giants re-signed starter Ryan Vogelsong to a 1 year $5 Million deal, the Mariners signed Willie Bloomquist, and the Rays re-signed  reliever Juan Oviedo.

Several players were non tendered yesterday as it was the non tender deadline. When a player gets non tendered it means that the team will not be tendering a contract to that player, because they believe they will be too expensive through arbitation, so the team allows them to become a free agent. Some of the important players that were non tendered yesterday are J.P. Arencibia, John Axford, Andrew Bailey, Ronald Belisario, Chris Coghlan, Chris Getz,Tommy Hanson, Jeremy Hefner, Daniel Hudson, Jayson Nix, Xavier Paul, Omar Quintanilla  Sandy Rosario, Ryan Webb, Jerome Williams, and Wesley Wright. These players are now allowed to sign with any team that offers them a contract. 

Ricky Nolasco Signs With The Twins

Ricky Nolasco and the Twins have agreed to a 4 year $49 Million deal, with an option for the 2018 season. He will earn $12 Million a year with a $1 Million buy out, and the 2018 option can turn into a player option if he pitches enough innings in 2016 and 2017.

Nolasco will join a Twins team that is currently rebuilding. Before being traded to the Dodgers in 2013, Nolasco played his entire career with the Marlins. Nolasco has a 4.27 ERA for his career, but he found more success in 2013 by putting up a 3.70 ERA. Although Nolasco gives up his fair share of runs he consistently pitches enough innings every season. Every season since 2008 he has pitched at least 150 innings and more than 185 innings every season except 2010.

Nolasco has pitched below average for his career by holding a 94 ERA+ meaning he is 6% below league average. League average is by no means an insult. In baseball to be average an average team is to have 81 wins. Every team needs average players to find success. Nolasco may not be the main piece for the success of the Twins, but he sure will be an important piece  moving on.

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 South Side Strikes Back

After the Tigers acquired Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante it was clear that the White Sox needed to make another move. With an already strengthened bullpen and a legitimate starting lineup the White Sox needed to add a starting pitcher. Fransisco Liriano joined the pitching staff today after being traded from the Minnesota Twins for infielder Eduardo Escobar and pitcher Pedro Hernandez.

Liriano was the second choice for the White Sox, after they couldn't get Zach Greinke. Greinke was traded to the Angels, but the White Sox were heavily pursuing him. Liriano has a lot of success in the past, but in recent years he hasn't performed well. With a 5.31 ERA over 100 inning in 2012 Liriano has been struggling. Maybe with a new team the left hander can turn things around. Liriano will join a rotation anchored by Chris Sale and Jake Peavy.  


On an additional note the Arizona Diamond Backs have acquired third baseman Chris Johnson from the Astros in exchange for outfielders Marc Krauss and Bobby Borchering. The D-Backs recently traded their starting third baseman Ryan Roberts to the Rays.

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.