The Minnesota Twins continue to implement one of the most curious strategies in all of baseball. Completely load up on offense and forget about pitching. If the “running backs don’t matter” crowd makes its way over to baseball, they’ll see the Twins are running a “pitchers don’t matter” plan for 2020. Let’s take a look at what’s been another wild offseason for the reigning AL Central division winner.
Additions
SP Homer Bailey
SP Rich Hill
SP Matt Wisler
RP Tyler Clippard
C Alex Avila
3B Josh Donaldson
Subtractions
SP Kyle Gibson
SP Martin Perez
C Jason Castro
1B C.J. Cron
2B Jonathan Schoop
Offseason news
As if this team didn’t have enough power, the Twins threw a boatload of money at 3B Josh Donaldson, who hit 37 home runs and knocked in 94 runs with the Braves last season. His addition will move Miguel Sano to first base, which helps the team defensively. While that sounds all well and good, it’s worth noting that Donaldson is 34 years old and throwing a four-year, $92 million contract at him brings risk. I mean, could you have maybe have taken $10 million of that and signed a decent starter? Then again, what do I know? Either way, it helps replace some of the power lost from 1B C.J. Cron and C Jason Castro.
As mentioned numerous times in this article (we’re not even that deep into it) pitching is going to be an issue. The Twins will no longer have the services of Kyle Gibson or Martin Perez. Now while neither of these pitchers really moved the needle, the Twins decided to replace them with Homer Bailey and Rich Hill. Both players have shown flashes of brilliance throughout their careers but I wouldn’t say these are the most reliable pitchers to run out every five days. To his credit, Bailey is coming off a decent season with the Royals and Athletics but doesn’t go deep into games and lacks strikeout upside. Hill continues to be hampered by injuries and at the age of 39, isn’t exactly a spring chicken. He did boast a K/9 of 11 through 13 starts last season with the Dodgers but again, keeping him on the field has been a task in itself.
Best bet
After the team won 101 games last season, DraftKings Sportsbook has its win total set at 91.5 for 2020. While it sounds like a steep drop-off, we have to consider how many games the Twins will be able to hit their way to victory after giving up crooked numbers with their lack of pitching options. Is it obtainable all throughout the season? For me, that’s going to be the biggest question. It’s VERY scary to take the under on a team that hit the most home runs as a club in a single season at 307 and THEN went out and added someone like Donaldson. When considering all of this, I still think the Twins are a 90+ winning team. Where in the 90s they land is very much up for debate but with the total at 91.5, I’ll be taking the over. In a division that could be weak overall, the Twins should be able to feast in those matchups.
Minnesota Twins OVER 91.5 wins
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