Kansas City Royals: How will AL Central fare in early 2020s?
By Cody Rickman
MINNESOTA TWINS
Notable Additions:
- Jake Odorizzi RHP (re-signed)
- Michael Pineda RHP (re-signed)
- Sergio Romo RHP
- Tyler Clippard RHP
The 2019 Minnesota Twins won 101 games utilizing a power display never before seen in the MLB. The Twins scored 939 runs by hitting an MLB record 307 home runs. Some of that power left via free agency with C.J. Cron and Jonathan Schoop departing for Detroit (48 home runs combined) leaving question marks for the Twins at first base and second base.
The Twins top two prospects are nearly ready to resolve those positional question marks, with Royce Lewis nearly set to take over at shortstop and Alex Kirilloff nearly ready to take over at first base. The arrival of Lewis will allow the Twins to move Jorge Polanco to second base.
The return to form from injury of Byron Buxton will give the Twins a gold glove candidate in center field with power and consistency coming from Eddie Rosario in Left Field and Max Kepler in Right Field.
The pitching staff and bullpen are led by a certified ace in Jose Berrios. Odorizzi has been a solid number two pitcher on the staff and if Pineda returns to his pre-injury form the Twins will have a solid 1-2-3 at the top of their rotation. The bullpen performed well for the Twins in 2019 and they should regress some in 2020.
Speaking of regression, I can’t imagine the Twins will get same production from Nelson Cruz and Mitch Garver going forward. Garver hit a stunning 31 home runs in 93 games for the Twins at the catcher position and Cruz hit a remarkable .311/.392/.639 with 41 home runs in his age 39 season.
The Twins should capture the AL Central again in 2020 with them returning to a mid-80s win total beyond with other teams improving the AL Central.