As we approach the report date for Spring Training, it’s clear there are some large question marks on the Twins roster. The patience for many Twins fans is growing thin while they wait for some news, any news, to break on social media.

Will it be re-signing Nelson Cruz? A trade for Sonny Gray or *cough* Kris Bryant?

Whatever it is, one thing is certain - moves are coming…

It’s clear that the White Sox have made strides in improving their team this offseason. The National baseball media and some White Sox fans (OK, all) have already handed them the coveted preseason AL Central Championship Title.

The narrative has been the Twins need to make additions to “catch the White Sox”.

I don’t buy that. As back-to-back division champs with an 0-5 playoff record in those seasons, the Twins know they are making moves with one goal in mind, win a World Series.

Not to mention, the gap between the White Sox and the Twins may be narrower than fans think.

In the blogs to follow, I will examine the state of the Twins currently and dive into some moves they can make that will immediately improve their positional “holes”.

A “hole” in this case is any position that doesn’t give the Twins a projected Top-10 value when compared against the other 29 MLB Teams.

As you will find below, the “holes” the Twins need to address are at the following positions:

1) Designated Hitter

2) Shortstop/Utility

3) Starting Rotation

4) Bullpen

First things first, in order to understand where you need to go, you need to know where you are.

From Fangraphs Depth Charts, you can sort by total projected Wins Above Replacement - the most important stat when discussing team wins. This is broken down for each team, by each positional group.

Important Note: Fangraphs Depth Charts calculates positional WAR based on projected playing time for each position, not just for the projected starting player.

For example:

The 3B position on Fangraphs for the Twins is projected to create 4.2 WAR - 7th best in MLB.

Josh Donaldson is projected 3.4 WAR, Luis Arraez is projected .7 WAR, and Travis Blakenhorn is projected .1 WAR.

Furthermore, when looking at Josh Donaldson’s WAR, you cannot just use his 3B projection as he also appears in the DH slot where he projects .4 WAR in 98 Plate Appearances for a total of 3.8 WAR.

I like the Depth Charts projections when comparing MLB Teams because it takes into account, well organizational depth, in playing time at each position rather than comparing just the teams starter who will get a bulk of the at bats.

Here is a quick summary Twins projected positional WAR and their rank across all 30 MLB teams:

***Another note: This was completed on 1/18/21 and will change frequently, especially with so many FA available

C - 3.0 WAR (6th)

1B - 2.3 (8th)

2B - 2.6 (10th)

3B - 4.2 (6th)

SS - 2.4 (17th)

LF - 1.1 (18th)

CF - 4.1 (3rd)

RF - 3.2 (8th)

DH- 1.0 (11th)

SP -12.3 (13th)

RP - 2.7 (11th)

Overall - 38.9 (8th)

For comparison’s sake, here is how the Twins stack up to the White Sox.

*** For a breakdown of each position’s WAR projection for the Twins, click this link.