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November 18, 2013 Fantasy Team PreviewMinnesota Twins
Byron Buxton. Miguel Sano. Alex Meyer. Kohl Stewart. Eddie Rosario. The next wave of talented Twins players is on its way, and in many circles, these names are more well known than several players on Minnesota’s current roster. There’s good reason for that, as many players on the projected Twins 2013 roster— especially on the pitching side—are pretty uninspiring from a fantasy point of view. That being said, Minnesota is far from the most barren team in terms of potential fantasy steals and stalwarts. And with talented youngsters like Brian Dozier, Oswaldo Arcia, Josmil Pinto, Kyle Gibson, and Aaron Hicks all potentially on the roster to start 2014, there are some diamonds in the rough to be found immediately as well. This will be a more exciting team in 2016, but it’s not devoid of talent now. Projected Lineup
The Twins have an odd mix of veteran hitters looking for bounce back seasons, talented youngsters looking to cement their statuses and a few placeholders who aren’t likely to finish the year in the lineup. Willingham and Doumit comprise the first group, and both have the potential to be useful: the former for his power, and the latter for his catcher eligibility. Arcia, Dozier, and Pinto comprise the second group, and they all make intriguing sleepers, though I’m not optimistic about Dozier’s ability to hit. And finally, Presley will be three seasons removed from his BABIP-aided showing in 2011 and is just a placeholder for Hicks, if he beats Hicks out for the job at all. Florimon might steal 20 bases if he gets 600 PA, but he’ll kill you in every other category. That just leaves Mauer, of course, who you might have heard is switching to first base full-time this season. Fortunately for fantasy owners, he’ll retain catcher eligibility for 2013, so take advantage of that while you can. Projected Bench
Mastroianni has some usable speed, but he doesn’t get on base much and doesn’t figure to see a ton of playing time with all of Minnesota’s young outfielders in the fold. Parmalee’s power is too modest to use effectively in the sparse playing time he’s likely to see, and Escobar and Herrmann are fantasy non-factors. The only player here with any upside is Hicks, but he has a lot to prove after a very poor rookie season in 2013. We’ll discuss his battle for playing time below. Chris Colabello and Wilkin Ramirez are also candidates to make the team as bench players, but neither belong anywhere near your fantasy roster. Projected Rotation
While the Twins lineup is tough to look at at first glance, it does have some interesting players when you dig deep. The same can’t be said for this rotation, which is utterly devoid of upside save for Gibson, who’s not even a guarantee to make the team out of Spring Training. “Staff ace” Correia strikes out about one batter every two innings and is a lock for an ERA above 4.00. Deduno misses a few more bats but his WHIP will kill you, and Worley has regressed for three straight seasons now. Albers did his best Correia impression in 60 MLB innings last season, but that’s not exactly high praise. Long story short, none of these arms is worth drafting in a standard 10- or 12-team league next season, and only Gibson could grow to be rosterable (let’s make this a word) by midseason. Projected Closer Candidates There’s not much controversy here. Perkins went 36-for-40 in save opportunities last season, boasting a 11.06 K/9 ratio and 2.30 ERA in 62 2/3 innings. He’s one of the game’s better closers. Burton would likely be next in line in a bullpen devoid of a lot of high upside arms. He could wrack up some holds, but there’s no reason to handcuff Perkins headed into the season: his job is safe and his performance speaks for itself. Minnesota could look to flip Perkins during the season, though, as closers always seem to fetch more than they should in trades. Positional Battles to Watch: Center Field: Alex Presley vs. Aaron Hicks There’s still 15-homer, 20-steal upside with Hicks, and if he can mirror the excellent approach he showed in the minors, he may be valuable in OBP leagues. The Twins are also likely going to want Hicks to receive and extended look again at some point in 2014, with Buxton storming through the minors and potentially ready for a look in 2015. All things considered, there’s still enough to like about Hicks to hope he lands the job over Presley and his lack of upside, but either way, fantasy owners should take a wait-and-see approach with the former top prospect. Rotation (x3): Kyle Gibson vs. Vance Worley vs. Andrew Albers vs. Liam Hendriks vs. Scott Diamond It’s generally a good idea to avoid dolling out huge dollars in free agency to pitchers, but every fantasy owner should be praying that the Twins employee such a strategy this offseason. With Minnesota thankfully linked to everyone from Matt Garza to Ricky Nolasco to Bronson Arroyo and more, the odds that there will actually be three open rotation spots available are fairly slim. Given the lack of upside with the names above, that’s a good thing. Player to Target: Oswaldo Arcia Player to Avoid: Trevor Plouffe Deep Sleeper: Danny Santana
Ben Carsley is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @bencarsley
7 comments have been left for this article.
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In a very deep AL only league, if you've got Sano on reserve and are needing a placeholder until he shows up, you could do worse than Plouffe for a buck or two. That's the only situation where I could imagine Plouffe as any kind of a target.