Post by Minnesota Twins on Jan 26, 2020 21:08:40 GMT -5
The Minnesota Twins addressed the media today after a busy weekend strengthening their bullpen. Cole Hamels was signed to a 3 year, 51 million dollar contract and they traded promising Phil Bickford for Tommy Kahnle. This should almost complete a busy offseason for the Twins who are hoping to bring some competitive baseball back to Minnesota. However, the Twins GM was quoted saying , “if there was a reasonable way to shore up some middle infield depth without sacrificing the farm we will surely look into it.”
Twins fans have seen their share of pain over the last two seasons finishing outside the top 20 in back to back years after ownership brought in a new GM after the trade deadline in 2018. The new GM gutted ship and focused on building with youth. At the beginning of this year the Twins easily ranked as having the top farm system in all of baseball. It was short lived however as management decided to open a competitive window by complimenting the building block pieces Keston Hiura, Bo Bichette and Mike Soroka with veteran ball players like Jacob DeGrom, Clayton Kershaw, Jose Ramirez, Freddie Freeman and JD Martinez. This was at an expensive cost as Jesus Luzardo, Carter Kieboom, Joey Bart, O’Neil Cruz, Kyle Wright, Alec Bohm, Nate Lowe and many more were moved. Despite the win now feeling most of these new veteran players are locked into team friendly deals through 2021. Kershaw on the other hand is in a contract year, and although the Twins would love to have him stay, it will likely take a championship run to make that happen. The Twins have the pieces though. Here’s a preview of how the Minneapolis team shakes out with spring training a month away.
Projected 2020 Starting Lineup:
C - Francisco Mejia (SD)
1B - Freddie Freeman (ATL)
2B - Keston Hiura (MIL)
SS - Bo Bichette (TOR)
3B - Jose Ramirez (CLE)
LF - JD Martinez (BOS)
CF - Ian Happ (CHC)
RF - Jose Martinez (TB)
DH (UTIL) - Kyle Lewis (SEA)
Bench - Tyler Flowers, C (ATL)
Bench - Delino Deshields, CF (CLE)
Bench - Domingo Santana, RF (FA)
Projected 2020 Rotation:
1. Jacob DeGrom (NYM)
2. Clayton Kershaw (LAD)
3. Mike Soroka (ATL)
4. Cole Hamels (ATL)
5. Dustin May (LAD)
6. Dylan Cease (CWS)
IL: Michael Fulmer (DET) - likely 60 day IL due back mid-late July.
Projected 2020 Bullpen:
Closer: Andres Munoz (SD)
8th inning: Tommy Kahnle (NYY)
8th inning: Ryan Pressly (HOU)
Relief: Chris Devenski (HOU)
Relief: Hunter Harvey (BAL)
Prospect Watch for 2020:
Alex Kirilloff, RF (MIN)
Jonathan India, 3B (CIN)
Max Schrock, 2B (STL)
Joe McCarthy, RF (SF)
Michael Baez, RP (SD)
Brett Martin, RP (TEX)
Erik Swanson, SP/RP (SEA)
With this squad the Twins feel confident heading into 2020. The AL Central has some strong opponents mixed in with a couple of rebuilding squads. They should have no problem fighting atop the division, but anything less than the AL Pennant would be a disappointment for fans who are eager to get back to the World Series. It won’t be an easy task. As players continue to graduate to the majors the number of formidable opponents in the AL is steadily increasing.
Baseball is a month away folks. The countdown is on until pitchers and catchers report in the spring!
Twins fans have seen their share of pain over the last two seasons finishing outside the top 20 in back to back years after ownership brought in a new GM after the trade deadline in 2018. The new GM gutted ship and focused on building with youth. At the beginning of this year the Twins easily ranked as having the top farm system in all of baseball. It was short lived however as management decided to open a competitive window by complimenting the building block pieces Keston Hiura, Bo Bichette and Mike Soroka with veteran ball players like Jacob DeGrom, Clayton Kershaw, Jose Ramirez, Freddie Freeman and JD Martinez. This was at an expensive cost as Jesus Luzardo, Carter Kieboom, Joey Bart, O’Neil Cruz, Kyle Wright, Alec Bohm, Nate Lowe and many more were moved. Despite the win now feeling most of these new veteran players are locked into team friendly deals through 2021. Kershaw on the other hand is in a contract year, and although the Twins would love to have him stay, it will likely take a championship run to make that happen. The Twins have the pieces though. Here’s a preview of how the Minneapolis team shakes out with spring training a month away.
Projected 2020 Starting Lineup:
C - Francisco Mejia (SD)
1B - Freddie Freeman (ATL)
2B - Keston Hiura (MIL)
SS - Bo Bichette (TOR)
3B - Jose Ramirez (CLE)
LF - JD Martinez (BOS)
CF - Ian Happ (CHC)
RF - Jose Martinez (TB)
DH (UTIL) - Kyle Lewis (SEA)
Bench - Tyler Flowers, C (ATL)
Bench - Delino Deshields, CF (CLE)
Bench - Domingo Santana, RF (FA)
Projected 2020 Rotation:
1. Jacob DeGrom (NYM)
2. Clayton Kershaw (LAD)
3. Mike Soroka (ATL)
4. Cole Hamels (ATL)
5. Dustin May (LAD)
6. Dylan Cease (CWS)
IL: Michael Fulmer (DET) - likely 60 day IL due back mid-late July.
Projected 2020 Bullpen:
Closer: Andres Munoz (SD)
8th inning: Tommy Kahnle (NYY)
8th inning: Ryan Pressly (HOU)
Relief: Chris Devenski (HOU)
Relief: Hunter Harvey (BAL)
Prospect Watch for 2020:
Alex Kirilloff, RF (MIN)
Jonathan India, 3B (CIN)
Max Schrock, 2B (STL)
Joe McCarthy, RF (SF)
Michael Baez, RP (SD)
Brett Martin, RP (TEX)
Erik Swanson, SP/RP (SEA)
With this squad the Twins feel confident heading into 2020. The AL Central has some strong opponents mixed in with a couple of rebuilding squads. They should have no problem fighting atop the division, but anything less than the AL Pennant would be a disappointment for fans who are eager to get back to the World Series. It won’t be an easy task. As players continue to graduate to the majors the number of formidable opponents in the AL is steadily increasing.
Baseball is a month away folks. The countdown is on until pitchers and catchers report in the spring!