Post by Strategist on Jan 23, 2020 21:55:09 GMT
2018 Review:
Record: 75-87 3rd in AL Central. R/G Scored: 6th (AL) R/G Against: 12th (AL)
2019 Review:
Record:61-101 5th in AL Central. R/G Scored: 11th (AL) R/G Against: 14th (AL)
I think the offense got a little unlucky in 2019 as they ranked 7th in OPS, 6th in hits, 8th in Extra base hits and 8th in HRs. It must have been too many strikeouts in key situations that kept them from scoring more runs. Their biggest downfall though was their starting pitching. Jameson Taillon was there only above average SP and he got hurt in April for 7-8 weeks. All of their other SPs were below average and pitched like it. There bullpen was quite deep to start the season and performed well even after trading Juan Nicasio.
Future:
2020 Financials: 124.1 Mil. Avisail Garcia is a FA that the Twins will probably want to bring back. Maybe try and bring back Howie Kendrick. Maybe bring back Shawn Kelly. Those 2 shouldn't cost much.
Lineup: Has a great core 3 players to build a lineup around in 2018 SIM AL MVP 1B Fredie Freeman, SS Carlos Correa, and to a lesser degree 2B Whit Merrifield. After that there is not a lot of above average offensive players. They do have some elite defenders in C Roberto Perez and Miguel Rojas who are both about average offensively so overall they are positive players to have on your team. Thats why the Twins need to bring back Garcia. Derek Dietrich should be usable again. Adam Jones and Jay Bruce are mostly negatives at this point in their careers. They don't have a CF but Merrifield is moving there for the Royals IRL so he should get a rating there in the sim. Could move him there, Dietrich to 2B and have a platoon in LF of Bruce and Kendrick. It will be interesting what kind of projection Micheal Chavis gets as he could be an option at 2B. 3B Ty France got a slightly above average projection so he could help out. Maybe has DH.
Rotation: Jameson Taillon pitched decent before getting hurt so should get a similar projection of a #2/3 type SP. I don't think that Tanner Scott will be usable again as a SP. Nick Pivetta was good in 2018 but bad in 2019 so it is kind of a crap shot what kind of projection he will get but I would be somewhere slightly below average. After that I really don't see any real talent that can be reasonably expected to provide competitive starts.
Bullpen: Tommy Kahnle should still be elite. Nick Anderson should be elite. Tanner Scott is very good. The twins have a couple of other good depth bullpen pieces.
Needs: The lineup is not great but it is a competitive lineup. Need to resign Garcia or someone to take his place in the lineup as he is their 4th best hitter. Other than that their isn't glaring weaknesses. Moving on to the rotation this is where all the resources and time needs to be spent on upgrading. Need to at least fill out their rotation with league average SP. The Twins lineup is quite good enough to over come a rotation that was as bad as it was this season. They need help. The bullpen is already solid. Yes they could probably add another depth piece or 2. Starting pitching is hard to find, I know this personally but I really think if they could find a way to do it then they could compete for at least a wild card spot. With Correa already manning SS that may mean looking at possibly moving Royce Lewis for a SP. I know Al hates paying pitchers but he has to either bite the bullet and spend money and trade prospects for them. If he doesn't then he probably should just look to rebuild completely. Could get a lot for Correa and Freeman. Kahnle, Taillon, Perez, Scott, and Nick Anderson would all have some good value as well. I just don't think that the Twins can stand pat this offseason. There isn't enough SP in the minor league pipeline to just wait around need to make a decision one way or another.
Trades Overview:
2B Daniel Castro and 3B Ty France to BAL for Derek Dietrich - Dietrich played well for the Twins hitting for an OPS+ of 107 in 348 ABs. Castro is a none prospect/mlb player. France isn't highly rated and has hit well the last 2 years in the minors. Played ok in his 69 games at the major league level. Not a bad trade trying to help out the lineup. Worked out pretty well.
3B Jean Carlos Encarnacion and SP Michel Baez to PIT for RF Jay Bruce - 2 low end prospects trying to upgrade the lineup. Bruce did not play well hitting .213/.285/.402 and a OPS+ 81 in 465 ABs. I understand the though process and didn't give up a bunch of talent to get him so a fine trade.
3B Bobby Dalbec, RF Kristian Robinson and SP Simeon Woods-Richardson to PIT for SS Carlos Correa - Definitely gave up some talent in this trade but 24 yr old superstars with 2.5 years of control left don't come available very often. Giving up 3 guys that are unlikely to contribute to the major league team in the next 2 years is a very smart trade. Pairing him with Freeman gives them a wicked left right 3/4 in the heart of their lineup.
RP Juan Nicasio to TB for Jovani Moran - Had Nicasio on the block for a while so I assume this is the best offer that he received. Moran does have some wicked stuff as his strikeout numbers show. He also has problems controlling it at times as his walk numbers show. Nicasio was a rental so smart to get whatever he could for him.
3B Maikel Franco to BAL for 3B Ty France - Al missed France so much he went out and got him back. This turned out to be a pretty good trade for MIN. France got a slightly above average offensive projection while Franco was so bad last year he will be pretty much unusable in the sim next year.
FA Overview:
RP Joe Kelly 3 yr 21 Mil - Got him cheaper than what the LAD paid him in real life definitely a fair price for him. Pitched ok going 5-5 with a 4.27 ERA and 94 Ks in 78 IP. He was about the same as he has been IRL the past couple of years so he got a good projection again. B-
SP Matt Harvey 3 yr 15 Mil - His 41 GS led the league but he was not good in them going 4-18 with a 5.56 ERA. His 2018 real life stats were solid so this signing could have been a steal if he kept that up. Instead the wheels fell off and he got cut after 12 starts by the Angels. I woud have rated his probably a B- or so prior to the season but no looking at it, it appears that the next 2 years of his contract is going to be a sunk cost. D
RP Shawn Kelley 1 yr 1.6 Mil - Was elite going 1-3 with a 1.54 ERA and 64 Ks in 41 IP prior to getting hurt for the season in July. B
Overall: B-. Not a lot of money spent but did get some valuable contributions to his bullpen and Kelly should continue to contribute. Harvey ended up being a poor long term signing which brings the grade down.
Record: 75-87 3rd in AL Central. R/G Scored: 6th (AL) R/G Against: 12th (AL)
2019 Review:
Record:61-101 5th in AL Central. R/G Scored: 11th (AL) R/G Against: 14th (AL)
I think the offense got a little unlucky in 2019 as they ranked 7th in OPS, 6th in hits, 8th in Extra base hits and 8th in HRs. It must have been too many strikeouts in key situations that kept them from scoring more runs. Their biggest downfall though was their starting pitching. Jameson Taillon was there only above average SP and he got hurt in April for 7-8 weeks. All of their other SPs were below average and pitched like it. There bullpen was quite deep to start the season and performed well even after trading Juan Nicasio.
Future:
2020 Financials: 124.1 Mil. Avisail Garcia is a FA that the Twins will probably want to bring back. Maybe try and bring back Howie Kendrick. Maybe bring back Shawn Kelly. Those 2 shouldn't cost much.
Lineup: Has a great core 3 players to build a lineup around in 2018 SIM AL MVP 1B Fredie Freeman, SS Carlos Correa, and to a lesser degree 2B Whit Merrifield. After that there is not a lot of above average offensive players. They do have some elite defenders in C Roberto Perez and Miguel Rojas who are both about average offensively so overall they are positive players to have on your team. Thats why the Twins need to bring back Garcia. Derek Dietrich should be usable again. Adam Jones and Jay Bruce are mostly negatives at this point in their careers. They don't have a CF but Merrifield is moving there for the Royals IRL so he should get a rating there in the sim. Could move him there, Dietrich to 2B and have a platoon in LF of Bruce and Kendrick. It will be interesting what kind of projection Micheal Chavis gets as he could be an option at 2B. 3B Ty France got a slightly above average projection so he could help out. Maybe has DH.
Rotation: Jameson Taillon pitched decent before getting hurt so should get a similar projection of a #2/3 type SP. I don't think that Tanner Scott will be usable again as a SP. Nick Pivetta was good in 2018 but bad in 2019 so it is kind of a crap shot what kind of projection he will get but I would be somewhere slightly below average. After that I really don't see any real talent that can be reasonably expected to provide competitive starts.
Bullpen: Tommy Kahnle should still be elite. Nick Anderson should be elite. Tanner Scott is very good. The twins have a couple of other good depth bullpen pieces.
Needs: The lineup is not great but it is a competitive lineup. Need to resign Garcia or someone to take his place in the lineup as he is their 4th best hitter. Other than that their isn't glaring weaknesses. Moving on to the rotation this is where all the resources and time needs to be spent on upgrading. Need to at least fill out their rotation with league average SP. The Twins lineup is quite good enough to over come a rotation that was as bad as it was this season. They need help. The bullpen is already solid. Yes they could probably add another depth piece or 2. Starting pitching is hard to find, I know this personally but I really think if they could find a way to do it then they could compete for at least a wild card spot. With Correa already manning SS that may mean looking at possibly moving Royce Lewis for a SP. I know Al hates paying pitchers but he has to either bite the bullet and spend money and trade prospects for them. If he doesn't then he probably should just look to rebuild completely. Could get a lot for Correa and Freeman. Kahnle, Taillon, Perez, Scott, and Nick Anderson would all have some good value as well. I just don't think that the Twins can stand pat this offseason. There isn't enough SP in the minor league pipeline to just wait around need to make a decision one way or another.
Trades Overview:
2B Daniel Castro and 3B Ty France to BAL for Derek Dietrich - Dietrich played well for the Twins hitting for an OPS+ of 107 in 348 ABs. Castro is a none prospect/mlb player. France isn't highly rated and has hit well the last 2 years in the minors. Played ok in his 69 games at the major league level. Not a bad trade trying to help out the lineup. Worked out pretty well.
3B Jean Carlos Encarnacion and SP Michel Baez to PIT for RF Jay Bruce - 2 low end prospects trying to upgrade the lineup. Bruce did not play well hitting .213/.285/.402 and a OPS+ 81 in 465 ABs. I understand the though process and didn't give up a bunch of talent to get him so a fine trade.
3B Bobby Dalbec, RF Kristian Robinson and SP Simeon Woods-Richardson to PIT for SS Carlos Correa - Definitely gave up some talent in this trade but 24 yr old superstars with 2.5 years of control left don't come available very often. Giving up 3 guys that are unlikely to contribute to the major league team in the next 2 years is a very smart trade. Pairing him with Freeman gives them a wicked left right 3/4 in the heart of their lineup.
RP Juan Nicasio to TB for Jovani Moran - Had Nicasio on the block for a while so I assume this is the best offer that he received. Moran does have some wicked stuff as his strikeout numbers show. He also has problems controlling it at times as his walk numbers show. Nicasio was a rental so smart to get whatever he could for him.
3B Maikel Franco to BAL for 3B Ty France - Al missed France so much he went out and got him back. This turned out to be a pretty good trade for MIN. France got a slightly above average offensive projection while Franco was so bad last year he will be pretty much unusable in the sim next year.
FA Overview:
RP Joe Kelly 3 yr 21 Mil - Got him cheaper than what the LAD paid him in real life definitely a fair price for him. Pitched ok going 5-5 with a 4.27 ERA and 94 Ks in 78 IP. He was about the same as he has been IRL the past couple of years so he got a good projection again. B-
SP Matt Harvey 3 yr 15 Mil - His 41 GS led the league but he was not good in them going 4-18 with a 5.56 ERA. His 2018 real life stats were solid so this signing could have been a steal if he kept that up. Instead the wheels fell off and he got cut after 12 starts by the Angels. I woud have rated his probably a B- or so prior to the season but no looking at it, it appears that the next 2 years of his contract is going to be a sunk cost. D
RP Shawn Kelley 1 yr 1.6 Mil - Was elite going 1-3 with a 1.54 ERA and 64 Ks in 41 IP prior to getting hurt for the season in July. B
Overall: B-. Not a lot of money spent but did get some valuable contributions to his bullpen and Kelly should continue to contribute. Harvey ended up being a poor long term signing which brings the grade down.