With the season nearly here, it's about time to start throwing out our best wild guesses of what's going to happen before Spring Training gets a chance to change the crazy theories. Last year we had Scott Diamond coming out of practically nowhere to have a really good season. Josh Willingham posted the best season of his career. Who's the guy you think is going to have a better season than most people are expecting? Is Plouffe gonna hit 35 dingers? Is Morneau gonna post an OPS over .900? Is Glen Perkins going to lead the league in saves? Is Kevin Correia gonna win the Cy Young? Pick your player and tell us what you think their season might look like and why.

 

My guess is gonna be Brian Dozier. I've said it before, I think he gets moved to 2B and it's going to really work well for him defensively. That change allows him to relax and be more consistent with his hitting. My guess is a hitting line of around .265/.315/.385 with 10 HR, 25 doubles and maybe 10-12 stolen bases and only around 12 errors. I think he plays well enough to get the Twins to think about moving him back to short at some point during the season.

Chris Parmelee - .280/.350/.500 and 25 HR.

Parmelee. Plays well enough that the team is comfortable with trading Morneau. Maybe a .290/.350/.500. I don't know.

Parmelee/Dozier/Plouffe. I think you've named the three guys capable of a breakout year, unless Jamey Carroll has been taking steroids in the off-season. I guess Gibson is the only candidate on the pitching side, and I don't see him doing it to that extent.

I'm pretty optimistic about the offense this year. I think Plouffe and Parmelee keep trending up, Morneau has a monster year and Hicks makes a legit impact. Would love to see Dozier take major strides but have a harder time seeing that.

Brandi Dinkelman is my breakthrough season WAG

I like Parmelee a lot and I'm also optimistic about Hicks. My favorite WAG though has gotta be Amy Ashby

Liam hendriks, will be this years Diamond me thinks

I'm going to go with Plouffe. We'll wonder why we didn't attribute more of his second half struggles last year to that thumb injury.

 

Gibson might be a close second.

I'm with Nick. I think the offense should be pretty good. A strong case could be made that Parmalee, Plouffe, Dozier, and Morneau all significantly improve on the 2012 lines in an every day role....

 

pitching and defense on the other hand...

Parmalee and Hendricks for me.

Yep, Hendricks is my bet as well as Parms, I'll also throw out my steadfast belief that Morneau will make everybody not want to trade him by July.

Mauer hits .400.

Mauer hits .400.

 

And OBP .500?

Great thread and great responses.

 

I am going out on a limb here and predicting that at least one of Deduno or Blackburn will surprise us and emerge as a solid starter.

A strong case could be made that Parmalee, Plouffe, Dozier, and Morneau all significantly improve on the 2012 lines in an every day role....

 

Let's hear it.

If he hits 400, then yeah, his OBP will likely be north of 50%.

Here is my second wild ass guess for this year.

 

Anthony Slama makes the bullpen, sticks all year, and puts up numbers...that look just like his minor league numbers.

I can't envision what exactly would happen if this were to occur, but I'd love to see Joe Benson go hog wild at whatever level he is at, starting from day 1 of spring training.

Joe Benson has a solid comeback year makes the future CF debate really interesting.

 

Whether or not it happens, I do hope last year doesn't torpedo his confidence/career-- We will see.

I can't envision what exactly would happen if this were to occur, but I'd love to see Joe Benson go hog wild at whatever level he is at, starting from day 1 of spring training.

 

Someone has faster fingers.... Glad to see I'm not the only one.

Sam Deduno reveals his 90 mph total chaos knuckle ball, wins the Cy Young with 24-0 record, 0.25 ERA.

 

And of course, 175 walks.

Sam Deduno reveals his 90 mph total chaos knuckle ball, wins the Cy Young with 24-0 record, 0.25 ERA.

 

And of course, 175 walks.

 

That would make for a good season for me, no matter what else happened!

I vote Hendriks. I think Dozier and Parmy will be better, but Hendriks makes the biggest turnaround. Remember, he is 2 years younger than Gibson still.

If Dinkelman can make the team Randi would be my choice.

I like alot of these picks, and most are more likely than mine, but if I were to pick one guy who comes out of nowhere to make a big splash, I'll go with Oswaldo Arcia.

 

And if there is a second shooter on the grassy knoll, I'll say Delbinson Romero.

I'll go with Aaron Hicks. His season will be so good he'll win ROTY.

I'm pretty optimistic about the offense this year. I think Plouffe and Parmelee keep trending up, Morneau has a monster year and Hicks makes a legit impact. Would love to see Dozier take major strides but have a harder time seeing that.

 

I fall in this camp as well. I don't know if Plouffe will trend up but I think he can hold his 2012 OPS steady, get 600 PAs, and improve defensively. I'll take .760-780 OPS from the third baseman all day. Parmelee is a bit more of a question mark but at the minimum, I think he can be serviceable.

 

Dozier, I have no idea. Overall, I think the offense will be acceptable with a small chance to be pretty good (maybe #5-7 in the AL if most things fall the Twins' way).

I am on the Benson bandwagon. I am hopefully he puts it together and has a good solid year. Would love to see an outfield, at the end of the season, of Benson if LF, Hicks in CF and Arcia in RF. Willingham and Morneau traded for solid prospects and Parmalee at 1B.

I am on the Benson bandwagon. I am hopefully he puts it together and has a good solid year. Would love to see an outfield, at the end of the season, of Benson if LF, Hicks in CF and Arcia in RF. Willingham and Morneau traded for solid prospects and Parmalee at 1B.

 

I'm sure the Twins wouldn't mind that either. They could then sign a guy like Jason Hammel, Josh Johnson, Tim Lincecum, Adam Wainwright (assuming they are FA next offseason) to anchor the rotation. I don't see many guys I like to help the MI. I wouldn't mind Kelly Johnson but the Twins have shown no interest in him (or any other MI option that can OPS over .650). Hopefully Santana will be knocking on the door for SS by this time next season.