In my first blog of 2011 I am going to put forth some of my projections for the 2011 Minnesota Twins season, we will see how smart I am after the season.
First the good:
Justin Morneau will stay healthy for the full year and hit above 310, hit 35 plus home runs, and drive in 120 plus R.B.I's and win his second M.V.P award.
A healthy Morneau will allow Cuddyer to spend the full year in right, he will rebound and hit 20 plus home runs and drive in around 100 runs and play a solid right field.
Denard Span will rebound from his poor 2010 and provide us with the kind of lead-off hitter he was in 2009.
Delmon Young will have another solid season, he will have stretches of dominance and a few slumps. But he will give us another solid year offensively, defensively, we have to take the good with the bad.
I expect another solid season offensively and defensively from Valencia, hoping he hits for a little more power.
I think Joe Nathan will return to form. As the season progresses I think Nathan will get his nasty stuff back and we will see a better Nathan than we saw in 2009.
I think Rick Anderson will find a way to piece together another solid bullpen as he always seems to do.
And now the bad:
Joe Mauer will continue to play like a 10 to 15 million dollar ballplayer, except he will now be making 28 million and eating up a large portion of our payroll. He will hit for a high average, no power, not a lot of R.B.I's and he will have to take a lot of days off because he is dinged up. He will continue to play catcher because everybody in the Twins organization is afraid to do the right thing and make him change positions so he can be healthy and play 155 games a year.
The new middle infield will be a huge failure. Alexi Cassila will not be the starting shortstop midway through the season. Nisho will be mediocre at best, hitting around 250 and looking lost in the field.
The starting rotation will be inconsistent again in 2011. Liriano will anchor the staff and continue to improve. Scott Baker will continue to be Scott Baker and under-perform, Slowey will continue to be up and down. I do think Duensing and Blackburn will be solid. And nobody knows whats going to happen with Pavano.
Unless we make multiple moves we might have the weakest bench in the majors.
I still think the twins will win a lot of games and be competitive in 2011, I just don't think we have done anything to keep up with Detroit and Chicago. I think we will be in the race for the division all year but we are probably looking at a second or third place finish. The good news in this, we do not have to worry about getting swept by the Yankees in the playoffs again.
You are a genius. However, I am not optimistic that Denard Span is the major league center fielder. He is timid defensively, and way too inconsistent at the plate. I wouldn't trade his 10 pickoffs at first for 40 steals and he will never get 40. While centerfielding in this league is not what it used to be, the Twins give way too much up at this position.
ReplyDeleteI also disagree that Nathan will have a solid year. He was struggling mightily the last 30 games in 09 and will not regain the form he once had, given the injury and his age.
Twins offense will keep them competitive but their pitching will keep them on the outside looking in. But expect the Twins to keep selling out as we experience another perennial playoff humiliation.
Well said Rat. I see your points, I think nathan has had existing arm issues that he has played through the last couple of years. I believe with the tommy john surgury he will return to his allstar ways
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