Looking Over the Minnesota Twins Offseason Moves

Heading into this offseason, the Minnesota Twins had two priorities: they wanted to trade for a starting pitcher and sign one of the free agent starting pitchers on the market. In addition, the Twins had mentioned that they were going to at leasts survey the bullpen market to see if there could be additions made.

Now that the offseason is pretty much over, the Twins accomplished both of those goals and plenty more this winter in terms of the transactions they completed. Minnesota vastly improved their pitching staff by trading for starting pitcher, Jake Odorizzi, formerly of the Tampa Bay Rays, and signing, Lance Lynn, to a one-year deal. Furthermore, Minnesota also beefed up their bullpen by signing free agents, Fernando Rodney, Zach Duke and Addison Reed, to build up more depth at the back end. Rodney will likely be the closer this season, while Reed does have closer experience, but provides the Twins with a legitimate 8th inning option. Meanwhile, Zach Duke gives Minnesota a veteran, left-hander in their pen to use in various situations.

About a month ago, the Twins learned that they would be without their ace, Ervin Santana, for 8-10 weeks as he recovers from a finger injury on his throwing hand and while that hurts their rotation depth at least at the beginning of the season, Santana should be back towards the end of April assuming his recovery goes smoothly. Once that happens, Minnesota with have a nice 1-2 punch in Santana and Jose Berrios followed by Lance Lynn, who can give them 170-200 innings, and Jake Odorizzi, who has a combined 3.71 ERA over 500.1 IP, dating back to 2015.

On the offensive side of things, Minnesota made a huge addition with the signing of free agent Designated Hitter/First Baseman, Logan Morrison. Morrison, who is coming off a season in which he 38 home runs and 85 RBI over 601 plate appearances with the Tampa Bay Rays, basically fell into the Twins lap. Minnesota didn't expect to need to even have to entertain the thought of adding another offensive player to their already deep roster, but with the way the market went, Morrison came at just the right price and really gives the Twins a dangerous lineup.

When you look at the Twins depth chart, they have a tremendous amount of depth at all 9 positions as well as in their bullpen. None of us know yet what the punishment will be for third baseman, Miguel Sano, who is involved in a sexual assault investigation quite yet, but assuming he doesn't miss a majority of the season, the Twins have quite the lineup with Sano, Joe Mauer, Brian Dozier, Logan Morrison, and Eddie Rosario. Right there, the Twins alone, have five everyday offensive weapons when healthy.

In 2017, Minnesota finished 4th in the American League with 815 runs scored, behind only their division rival, Cleveland Indians. Furthermore, the team finished third in the American League in RBI, with 781, and finished 4th in the AL with an on-base percentage of .334.

One of the big impact players behind that was, Joe Mauer, who ended last season with a team high .305 batting average and a team high .384 on-base percentage over 597 plate appearances. Mauer is in his walk year, but at the age of 34 almost 35, Mauer provides a nice veteran in the clubhouse among a young position player group and someone who has a solid track record of success.

In addition to Mauer, Brian Dozier finished last season with a team high 34 home runs and 93 RBI batting leadoff. Just like Charlie Blackmon, with the Colorado Rockies, Dozier also found a profound amount of success last season in the leadoff spot as illustrated by his career high .359 on-base percentage and career average .271 batting average.

Switching to the outfield, the Twins look to enter the season with Eddie Rosario out in left, Byron Buxton in center, and Max Kepler in right. Of the three, Rosario has the best bat with his 27 home runs and 78 RBI that he finished last season with over 589 plate appearances, while Byron Buxton is quickly becoming one of the best defensive centerfielders in the game and Kepler is able to play solid offense and defense. Kepler ended last season with a .993 fielding percentage which ranked fourth among qualified right fielders.

In total, the Twins outfield finished the 2017 season with a Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) of 24, fourth best in the league, and a Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) of 11.1, putting them 6th among all 30 teams outfields. In addition, Minnesota's outfield had a cumulative 8.9 WAR over the entire regular season last year and a 7 Offensive Wins Above Replacement (oWAR) rate.

Although the Twins were unable make a big splash in, Jake Arrieta or Yu Darvish, like they wanted to, this was probably the better route for them to go because they simply got more buck for their bang. Every player that the Twins added this offseason are talented in their own ways and will only help push the Twins over the top this coming season as they look to take down the Cleveland Indians for first place in the American League Central.

While Minnesota might not be in the Top 3 of the best teams in the American League currently, they certainly have more than enough talent and depth to be a dangerous threat this coming season, assuming that depth stays healthy and everything goes according to plan.