Minnesota Twins: Five moves the Twins should make in the offseason
The MLB offseason is underway, but it’s been off to quite a slow start. While we wait for the offseason to pick up, what are 5 moves the Minnesota Twins should look at making?
This offseason looks to be one of the more important ones for the Minnesota Twins over the last decade. After finishing 85-77 last season, a 26-game improvement from 2016, the Twins sealed their first playoff berth since 2010. In addition, the club saw young players like Byron Buxton, Eddie Rosario, Jose Berríos and Jorge Polanco have breakout seasons. As a result, chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and general manager Thad Levine are in the midst of a crucial offseason to build upon the success of the 2017 season.
Of course, there’s plenty of improvements to make on this roster. While they were ultimately good enough to win the second wild-card spot, the pitching was still far from championship caliber. Overall, Minnesota ranked 19th in total pitching, the worst ranking among playoff teams. Even so, there was an improvement from the previous season when they ranked 29th.
On the positive side, Ervin Santana had an All Star year and Jose Berríos established himself as the second starter over the course of the season. Additionally, 27-year old Alan Busenitz and 26-year old Trevor Hildenberger helped stabilize a weak bullpen late in games. On the other hand, the rest of the starting rotation wasn’t consistent and the bullpen could still use more reliable arms.
Nevertheless, the pitching downfalls were aided by a lethal batting lineup and strong defensive play. As matter of fact, Minnesota was the fourth-best fielding team in the league after finishing 29th in 2016. In result, the Twins boast two 2017 Gold Glove winners, center fielder Byron Buxton and second baseman Brian Dozier. In addition, the Twins were in the top 10 in many batting categories, including runs, hits, total bases, RBIs, average, on-base percentage, and OPS.
In all, there’s a strong base to build on, but clearly, the Twins need to make some moves this offseason in order to take the next step. In particular, this team should strive to compete with the Cleveland Indians for an AL Central title as well as work towards a deep playoff run.
Considering the offseason has started, albeit slowly, let’s look into five moves the Twins could make to improve their chances of accomplishing these goals next season!