2012 Twins Season Thread

[milladrive]

'Tis the season. Feel free to discuss the 2012 Twins season here.

[Colorado Express]

Well, I'll start with some bold (and likely incorrect predictions). I'm not sure that the Twins have the firepower to compete with the elite teams in the AL, but they sure have a lot of upside. A healthy Twins squad could approach 90 wins and compete for a wild card spot, but it'll take all cylinders firing to happen. Bullpen my kill them!

Mauer - No reason to think that he won't remain healthy this year with more time off from behind the plate. .320 AVG 16 HR 80 RBI
Morneau - I think the season hinges on his return to prominance. Even a moderate return to the "old" Morneau would be huge. .290 AVG 28 HR 110 RBI
Casilla - .270 AVG 25 SB
Carroll - I don't think he's the answer. .270 AVG (either Plouffe wins the SS spot or Hughes moves to 2B and Casilla shifts to SS by year end)
Valencia - .265 AVG 15 HR
Willingham - Puts up similar numbers to Cuddyer. .265 AVG 30 HR 100 RBI
Span - Returns to old form knowing that playing time is on the line. .290 AVG 90 R 25 SB
Revere - Too much potential here to be wasted. .310 AVG 90 R 50 SB
Doumit - Morneau's shift to DH hurts this great aquisition's playing time. .290 AVG 15 HR
Plouffe - .240 AVG 12 HR
Parmelee - .270 AVG 16 HR
Hughes - .260 AVG 10 HR

Liriano - Doing his best Bret Saberhagen impersonation and is due for an "up" year. 16-8 W/L 3.20 ERA 200 IP 210 K
Pavano - Typical inning-eater again this year. 14-11 W/L 4.20 ERA 220 IP
Baker - Rebounds and stays relatively healthy; benefits from Target Field. 12-6 W/L 3.20 ERA 180 IP 160 K
Blackburn - A rebound to typical numbers is all that's needed. 13-11 W/L 4.20 ERA 190 IP

Perkins - Another solid year (replaces Capps as closer if they don't trade for a new closer). 6 W 22 SV 2.80 ERA
Capps - Struggles again and gets replaced as closer by mid-year. 4 W 18 SV 4.40 ERA

These predictions may be a bit optimistic, but I don't think they're too out of line. I'm hoping for an 88 win season and a run at the 2nd wild card spot.

[dominik]

the team will be certainly a lot better than last year. just terrible bad luck with injuries.

however I don't think this will be enough to win the second wild card.

good teams in the AL:
Yankees, rangers, angels, tigers, red sox, rays, maybe even blue jays

those are 6 good teams (7 if you believe that the blue jays are ready). 3 will win a division but this means that there are still 3-4 good teams left for only 2 wild card spots. the twins would need a nearly perfect season with prime like performances by mauer and morneau and career years by some other guys to compete with those teams.

[Blue387]

Matt Capps is terrible.

[Colorado Express]

dominik - I certainly agree with you. There are 6 top-tier teams in the AL (I actually may put BOS as a slight notch below the others, but still in that pack). The Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, Tigers, Rangers and Angels are all in the top tier, but tier two will keep those teams from getting comfortable until the last week of the season. I think the Twins and Blue Jays may be the only two that fall into this category, but a team like tha Mariners or Indians could rattle a few cages by year end.

There are clearly the "are's" and the "are not's" in the AL this season.

[wu-tang clan]

On last night's 5-6 loss vs. BOS: 'Tis an absolute treat listening to TK in the broadcast booth. 'Twas a shame seeing Plouffe's ninth inning drive fall short of the wall, but that's the way she goes.

It feels SO NICE (can't emphasize that enough) to see the lineup perform as it should on paper after last year, Willingham outlier aside. We've a playoff caliber lineup indeed, but making the playoffs seems impossible given our rotation (jury is still out on the bullpen).

Terry Ryan is awesome!

Matt Capps is terrible.

I'll never forget how bummed I was when we traded Wilson Ramos for him. When Smith almost traded Denard Span away for Washington's closer last year, I almost lost it.

[Blue387]

I have an idea for a trade: Denard Span for John Lannan of the Nationals, currently in AAA. What do you think?