Gone are the days where one of the strengths for the Minnesota Twins resided in the outfield. Well, one of the mainstays which hearkens back to that time is back, but is nearly 40 and merely a shell of his former self — at least defensively. By WAR, the Twins were No. 22 among outfields at 3.7. For some context, Baltimore was the runaway No. 1 team at 20.2, so there is considerable work to be done here.

But that leaf appears ready to turn in the very near future. The Twins have some very nice outfield prospects — one just happens to be among the absolute best — and a couple of the mainstays still have some untapped potential.

So what lies in store for this unit? Let’s go:

The Starters:

Oswaldo Arcia – LF
Torii Hunter – RF

Plenty of the misgivings directed as the outfield as a whole are directed at these two, though it is for good reason. The Twins were easily the worst defensive outfield in baseball last season, and this isn’t likely a good start. Hunter has tumbled from solid in center to mediocre in right while hitting each rung hard on the way down. He can still hit — 24th among OF in three-year wOBA over 1,000 PA — and the club believes he’ll bring something different in the clubhouse that’ll shake up a previously mortuous atmosphere. That’s all that’ll really matter to you, the fantasy player, who can probably grab Hunter in the late rounds of mixed leagues and see decent production. Leagues with OBP should take a step back from that. Read the rest of this entry »

A chronically overworked bullpen experienced some considerable hiccups in 2014, as the Minnesota Twins saw the undoing of eighth-inning man Jared Burton as well as a late-season bout of struggles for closer Glen Perkins.

Perkins’ woes coincide pretty much directly to an arm issue that cost him a good chunk of September, but also provide a reminder that your great closer almost always already has one foot somewhat out the door.

Only three bullpens in baseball threw more innings than the Twins in 2014 — the Rockies, Cubs and Angels. No ‘pen struck out fewer batters than the Twins at 6.7 per 9. Worse yet was that the unit had the third-worst groundball rate at 40.1 percent. Sure, that’s OK in a big park, but not if you don’t have good outfielders, and not particularly if you don’t strike anybody out. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s time for our Depth Chart Discussions to begin. In an effort to suss out every team, we’ve divided them into four parts (infield, outfield, bullpen, and rotation) and will begin breaking them down for you over the next few weeks. You can find them gathered here.

For a rotation that was terrible in 2014, the Twins come into the 2015 season with an awful lot of ink committed to the group. The first four spots from a group that finished last in ERA and second-to-last in K/9 are mortal locks. Of course, it’s not exactly the same bunch, but by and large it’s close. There is, of course, one highly-priced newcomer — quick check, he probably follows you on Twitter — and plenty of young competition should any of the veterans falter.

The locks:

1. Phil Hughes
2. Ervin Santana
3. Ricky Nolasco
4. Kyle Gibson Read the rest of this entry »

One thing I like to do with our readers is crowdsource strategy. Not that I’m like people who ask 10 different experts on Twitter about a possible trade, but just that I like to get the creative juices flowing, and our readership is pretty good for that.

A couple weeks ago I asked you all about Ottoneu strategy, and today I’m going to ask you about Scoresheet strategy. Read the rest of this entry »

Gibson ranked 109th on Zach Sanders’ postseason starting pitcher rankings.

Tommy John surgery cost Kyle Gibson a significant part of 2011, and nearly the entire 2012 season. As a result, the former first-round pick — as a college pitcher — didn’t debut until he was 25, or see full-time action in the big leagues until he was 26. Being a bit behind the curve has sort of been the key theme in Gibson’s career, but he made headway in that department in 2014 — in some respects.

Gibson’s overall like of 13-12, 4.47 ERA and 5.4 K/9 is definitely not what some might consider progress. In fact, the American League average starting pitcher had a 3.92 ERA, 3.85 FIP and 7.4 K/9 — marks Gibson missed by quite a bit. But where the tall righty gets a pass is in groundball rate, where his 54.4 percent mark doesn’t only smoke the league average rate (43.2 percent), but rather ranks seventh league wide. A 6-foot-6 righthander getting that kind of downward plane is a very, very good thing. Read the rest of this entry »

I have a couple of polar opposite seasons in my brief dealings with Ottoneu. In the first year, I was in the lead until the final week, ran out of innings, and finished third. This last year, I ended up with a team younger than Cespedes Family BBQ, and wound up near the back end of the standings.

I know as the writer I’m supposed to be the fantasy expert. But I’m human, and I like help. So today, I’d like to crowdsource my roster and see what you guys think I should do, what I did wrong, so on and so forth. This is a very young team in the middle of a rebuild of sorts, so please keep that in mind.

This is the Fangraphs Staff League II, a points league via linear weights, with 12 other owners. My team name is “Bang the Woodrum.” Heh. Read the rest of this entry »

Duffy ranked 36th on Zach Sanders’ rankings of starting pitchers.

Danny Duffy is one interesting case. His injury history is exclusively ailments of his left arm. Well that, and a lower leg cramp that cost him no time in June of 2012. Seriously, check out his injury history.

The Duff Man was a top prospect between the 2010 and 2011 seasons, finishing in the top-100 prospects for both Baseballs Prospectus and America. Duffy’s minor league numbers were legendary; he fanned 15.2 per 9 in a short Rookie ball stint and at least a guy an inning up the ladder save for a brief stint with Wilmington at High-A.

But like the lady in the postseason ads that burrowed into your brain says: then left arm dysfunction happens. In 2010 Duffy had a UCL sprain that cost him over 100 days. Inflammation in the same hinge cropped up in 2012, and just under two weeks after returning he was sidelined with what ended up requiring him Tommy John surgery.

Read the rest of this entry »

Santana ranked 67th in Zach Sanders’ postseason rankings.

Ervin Santana turned 32 today, a day after he signed a four-year, $55 million deal with the Minnesota Twins. Not only will this be a piece trying to determine his fantasy value, but perhaps a bit of an introduction to him for Twins fans.

Santana is not an ace, but rather a name Twins fans have simply heard. And with the Twins’ faithful, that’s more than half the battle. Nine of Santana’s 10 big league seasons have been spent in the American League, and he’s faced the Twins 13 times in his career with rather good success — 6-3, 3.87 ERA, 7.1 K/9.

And oddly, that’s the sort of thing that sticks with Twins fans: familiar names and Twins killers. Read the rest of this entry »

Hughes ranked 22nd in Zach Sanders’ rankings among starting pitchers.

I have to admit, as a Twin Cities native I was super psyched to hear about Phil Hughes signing with the Twins while I was on Thanksgiving vacation in Montana. No jokes, please.

The Twins had been talent poor in the rotation a couple years running, and even with Hughes’ obvious warts was a much better option to make starts than Pedro Hernandez, Andrew Albers, and a post-apocalypse Scott Diamond. Hughes was basically everything the rest of the Twins staff wasn’t. Projectable, talented with a pretty good fastball, and for crying out loud not a pitch-to-contact guy.

It stood to reason that Hughes would be a good fit for Target Field, too. Not necessarily the Twins with their collection of cast iron outfielders, but still for a park with expansive dimensions and its difficulty for left-handed hitters, Target Field appeared to be a match made in heaven for Hughes. Read the rest of this entry »

Revere ranked 25th in Zach Sanders’ 2014 rankings among outfielders.

It’ll probably come off as a copout, but there isn’t much we don’t know about Ben Revere at this point.

For a guy who is super jacked physically, he has no power. The proof of that goes on and on. He’s slugged .340 in his career. He has two career home runs — both came this year. In over 2000 career plate appearances, he has just 44 doubles. Even the 21 triples for someone with his speed is disappointing.

Revere can hit; make no mistake about it he can put the bat on the ball. Since becoming a full-time regular, Revere is 30th in batting average at .293. Cut out his .267 from his rookie season and he jumps to 17th. Read the rest of this entry »