MaxOelerking

Twins fans over the past few season have been extremely critical of Max Kepler and his terrible offensive production vs LHP. The criticism was rightly deserved, because his numbers were atrocious. Twins territory has been pleasantly surprised by his improvement vs LHP, but now his numbers vs RHP are dropping. Here are Kepler's splits from 2015-2017. vs RHP: .258/.332/.471 vs LHP: .188/.259/.288 So against RHP, Kepler was solid at the plate. He reached base and hit for power. Against LHP, his numbers reflected that of a pitcher... Now, here are Kepler's splits in 2018. vs RHP: .200/.299/.335 vs LHP: .288/.360/.576 With 269 plate appearances, there is no need to panic just yet. His numbers vs RHP are not as bad has his previous numbers vs LHP. Plus, his numbers vs LHP are not much better than his previous production vs RHP. In short, no, obviously our German right fielder is not broken. If he can become consistent vs both RHP and LHP, he will become much tougher to matchup against, and overall be more productive day in and day out.

For this ranking, I will be making a list of the top 5 hitters and top 5 pitchers since 2000. The criteria for the ranking will consist of both stats and awards. Please comment below and let me know what you think. Pitchers 5.) Francisco Liriano IP: 783.1 ERA: 4.33 WHIP: 1.34 K/9: 9.05 Awards: 1 All-Star Game 4.) Scott Baker IP: 958.0 ERA: 4.15 WHIP: 1.26 K/9: 7.23 Awards: N/A 3.) Brad Radke IP: 1366.0 ERA: 4.16 WHIP: 1.25 K/9: 5.29 Awards: 1 All-Star Game 2.) Joe Nathan IP: 463.1 ERA: 2.16 WHIP: 0.96 K/9: 10.9 Awards: 4 All-Star Games 1.) Johan Santana IP: 1308.2 ERA: 3.22 WHIP: 1.09 K/9: 9.5 Awards: 2 Cy Young Awards, 3 All-Star Games Hitters 5.) Brian Dozier PA: 4029 AVG: .250 OBP: .327 SLG: .451 Awards: 1 Gold Glove, 1 All-Star Game 4.) Corey Koskie PA: 2834 AVG: .278 OBP: .373 SLG: .465 Awards: N/A 3.) Torii Hunter PA: 5020 AVG: .269 OBP: .322 SLG: .470 Awards: 7 Gold Gloves, 2 All-Star Games 2.) Justin Morneau PA: 5350 AVG: .278 OBP: .347 SLG: .485 Awards: 1 MVP, 2 Silver Slugger Awards, 4 All-Star Games 1.) Joe Mauer PA: 7584 AVG: .308 OBP: .391 SLG: .441 Awards: 1 MVP, 5 Silver Slugger Awards, 3 Gold Gloves, 6 All-Star Games

I like our first round pick in Larnach. Plus power, and has a simple swing that he should't have to change much when he starts playing pro-ball. Hopefully he can work on getting into is back leg more and really develop a swing that can do some major league damage.

Here are just some ideas for a possible trade involving the Twins third baseman. Baltimore Orioles Trade Assets: Manny Machado SS Darren O'Day RHP Tanner Scott LHP Chance Sisco C Hunter Harvey RHP San Diego Padres Trade Assets: Tyson Ross RHP Mackenzie Gore LHP Michael Baez RHP Adrian Morejon LHP Robbie Erlin LHP Philadelphia Phillies Trade Assets: Sixto Sanchez RHP Adam Haseley OF Seranthony Dominguez RHP Nick Pivetta RHP Nick Williams OF

Sano has mega power, he has value and is still young. If the right deal came around I would not mind if the Twins moved him but it would have to be for at least 1 all-star or 3 top prospects or some flavor of both, assuming we also give up an additional player.

We would have to give up a lot for Cutch, and I don't think we are close enough to sell the farm for one guy just yet. Especially a player who is currently slugging under .400

In the event that the Twins are in position to be buyers at the trade deadline, here are some possible trade prospects the Twins could realistically go after to make a run at the postseason. 1.) Tyson Ross SP Padres Ross has been the bright spot in an otherwise "business as usual" San Diego Padres rotation. Assuming SD will be looking for young talent come the trade deadline, Ross could be on the market at 31-years of age. The Twins can also afford to take on Ross' contract that is $1.75M and ends after this season. Ross is not the prototypical superstar rental, but if he continues having the season he is, he could be a cheap addition to the pitching staff. Ross has been non-existent the past few years but if you look back at 2014 and 2015, Ross averaged 196 innings pitched with a 3.03 ERA and 3.11 FIP. In short, Ross was getting no help from the Padres and still pitched well, averaging 204 K's with a 9.4 K/9. Stats aside, Ross is a slider fastball guy who's not going to blow anything past a hitter but spots his pitches well and gets a lot of ground-outs with his fastball. He also gets a lot of swinging strikes with his slider (36.6% whiff rate). One last thing to note is that of Ross' 7 starts this season, only 1 of them didn't result in at least 6 innings pitched, which is 2.) Santiago Casilla RP Athletics The Twins could obviously use more bullpen depth going into the postseason. Casilla could be a really good pick up for a few reasons: 3x World Series champ (SF Giants), closer experience, 5 pitch arsenal. Santiago Casilla would come in at age 37 with 14-years and 3 world series championships worth of experience and add to the veteran presence in the bullpen and clubhouse. Casilla's postseason numbers are impressive too, only giving up 2 earned runs in 19.2 innings pitched. Casilla has experience as a closer to add to his career resume as well, which increases his value since the Twins have struggled to find a reliever to finish games. Lastly, Casilla mixes his pitches well throwing a sinker in the mid to low 90's with a slow curveball in the high 70's/low 80s. He can also mix in a 4-seam fastball, slider, and changeup. 3.) Darren O'Day RP Orioles This would be another nice piece to add to the bullpen. O'Day has the numbers that make him a solid relief pitcher and at $9M per year ending after the 2019 season would not be terrible either. The biggest question here would be how much the Orioles want in return. Comment below and let me know who you think the Twins should go after.

Glad to hear we have an up and coming catcher. Definitely a position that a lot of clubs lack. Especially when teams transition their top catchers to other positions.

Upper echelon for spin rate on his slider *crickets* 95 mph fastball *crickets* The only reasonable explanation is that he's only pitched in 3.1 innings so far and they want a larger sample size. If they let Morrison start as often as they do I don't see why they would pull the plug on Kinley this early. Not saying its right or wrong but that is probably their thought process.

With all the technological advancements made in baseball, its easy to get lost in the mess. There's new stats that make zero sense to some people, but the issue is just understanding what they tell us. Batting average and ERA are easy to grasp. What percentage of this batter's at-bats have resulted in hits? How many earned-runs does this pitcher give up on average in 9 innings? These are how we read stats, because they answer our questions. So what question does launch angle and exit velocity answer? "It just shows how hard a player hits the ball.", is an answer that makes me cringe because its so far from the truth. Yes, it is used to see who's hitting the ball the hardest, but that's not a question we need answered. The question shouldn't be "how hard can he hit it?", rather we should be asking "how well does he hit it?" and "how often does he hit it well?". What makes for a well hit ball? The magic numbers lie between 10 to 30 degrees. Batted balls that are hit at these angles off the bat have the greatest chance to fall for a hit (or better yet home runs). Why does this matter? Because if a player is able to hit a ball consistently this way, he will have more hits (higher batting average for those who will never be convinced that Statcast is a good thing). Even if a guy can't hit the ball 100+ mph, he can have success with a good launch angle. There is an opposite end of the Statcast love-hate spectrum. Those that gush over exit velocity and nothing else. This group of people are just as bad, if not worse, than Statcast haters. This is the over excitable group that is driving the non-believers away. Don't get me wrong, I love it when guys hit 110+ mph moonshots. But if a guy hits a ball 100 mph and grounds out to third, its just a ground out. Launch angle should be the most important thing we look at when it comes to analyzing hitters. Is it okay for players to have low launch angles? Absolutely! Dee Gordon is wasting his time if he's trying to lift the ball over the fence because he's built and has the ability to slap the ball up the middle and leg out singles. For players like Mookie Betts or Chris Taylor, launch angle is extremely important because they lack size and and blazing speed. Betts (5'9" 180lbs) and Taylor (6'1" 190lbs) look the exact opposite of power hitters, but they are still able to hit 20+ homers a year. Chris Taylor is a perfect example of a player that revived his career by improving his average launch angle. Below are his average launch angle, average exit velocity, % of batted balls hit between 15 and 30 degrees, along with his corresponding stats. 2015 and 2016 Avg. Launch Angle............................11.0 deg. Avg. Exit Velocity...............................86.6 mph Stats: .187/.236/.277 2017 and 2018 Launch Angle....................................12.0 deg. Exit Velocity.......................................87.1 mph Stats: .281/.344/.488 It took just a 1 degree increase in average launch angle and 0.5 mph increase in average exit velocity to go from a -1.0 WAR player to a 4.9 WAR player. Chris Taylor is not the only example either. Here is another example, this time looking at Anthony Rendon. This was a player who was already a solid hitter who was able to progresses even more. 2015 and 2016 Avg. Launch Angle............................14.5 deg. Avg. Exit Velocity...............................90.5 mph Stats: .268/.346/.419 WAR: 4.4 2017 and 2018 Launch Angle....................................18.2 deg. Exit Velocity.......................................89.6 mph Stats: .300/.399/.521 WAR: 6.0 Rendon's improvements also show us that a slight decrease in average exit velocity does not cause is drop in offensive production. Rendon also increased his average launch angle by 3.7 degrees and had a huge jump in offensive value, making him one of the most underrated third basemen in the MLB. In closing, if I was not able to change anyone's mind about the use of Statcast data, I hope I was able to prove that this information has a place in the game. Radar guns were once seen as overrated too when collecting data on pitchers.

I agree, they may reel in 50 new fans who like the shorter games while losing 500 lifers who hate all the changes. I heard an idea where they might implement different clocks in the lower minor league levels. That way, new players will be trained to work at a realistic pace without the clocks when they get up to the big leagues. I like that better than actual rules in place to try and shorten the games. I'm all for training guys to not redo their batting gloves after each pitch and not having the catchers go out and talk every time the pitcher throws a ball in the dirt, but I do not like having the rules that may limit them when its necessary.

Or just try and hit a double...that would be nice.

Today I wanted to break down how the Twins pitchers can beat the Yankees top hitters. I will talk about where to get swings and misses, outs, and where to simply avoid placing the ball (danger zones). Brett Gardner Gardner is a pest at the plate. Very tough to strikeout and always battles. Swings and misses don't happen often, (lowest on Yankees at 4.62%) but he is patient (10.46% called first strike) and he struggles with pitches on the outer half or down and out of the zone. Getting him into two-strike counts is going to be key since his wOBA is only .218 with two strikes. Even if he doesn't swing and miss, most of his outs come on outer half pitches anyway. Gardner is most dangerous on pitches that are left up in the zone or leak into the middle of the zone. KEYS: Get ahead early, miss out of the zone. Aaron Judge With Stanton hitting behind Judge, its going to be tough to pitch around. Definitely want to limit base runners with this much power in the lineup. Judge has had trouble making contact with pitches low and away so if Twins pitchers can pound that corner, he won't have much success (62.9% strikes on pitches low and away). He has also yet to get a hit on a fastball up in the zone. Pitchers with good velocity will have success mixing in elevated fastball that he will either swing under or change his eye level. Anywhere over the plate is dangerous against Judge. He barrels up a ton of pitches that are anywhere over the heart of the plate. KEYS: Spot pitches low and away, elevate the fastball. Giancarlo Stanton We all know about the crazy power Stanton has and how dangerous of a hitter he can be. So far, he's struggled a bit this season, mostly because he's swinging and missing 17.09% of the time. Fastballs and sliders have made up over 76% of his swinging strikes. His biggest weakness is the high fastball. Any pitch that doesn't get up enough will probably be crushed so the Twins need to make sure to miss high instead of laying fastballs over the heart of the plate or hanging breaking-balls that he can send into orbit. KEYS: Elevate the fastball, breaking-balls out of the zone. Didi Gregorius Gregorius has been hot so far this season as the Yankees SS. His strength is that he does not miss on pitches in the zone. He has had a lot of success so far on low pitches that he can elevate. Gregorius is a tough customer to strikeout, so keeping the ball up and away from his danger zone is key. He's a tough out so Twins pitchers need to hit their spots while staying in the strikezone because he is not a guy that chases a ton of pitches. KEYS: Challenge in the zone, stay away from low strikes. Gary Sanchez Sanchez is another hitter that can be dangerous when he gets his pitch. Pitches up and in or on the outer half he struggles with so that will be a key for Twins pitchers to stay on those edges. Almost 50% of his swings and misses come on slider low and away out of the zone. Sanchez has success hitting pitches on the inner half or anything left over the heart of the plate. KEYS: Slider down and away. If the Twins pitching staff has success against these hitters, then we should be successful in the Bronx.

Something that I though would be fun, making a 2018 Twins roster with only similar players. For example, Mike Trout who is a career .305/.409/.566 and plays CF would be similar to Mickey Mantle .298/.421/.557. Enjoy! CATCHERS Wellington Castillo .259/.319/.430 { Jason Castro .233/.312/.388 } John Hicks .232/.289/.395 { Mitch Garver .193/.281/.368 } FIRST BASE Keith Hernandez .296/.384/.436 { Joe Mauer .309/.392/.443 } Kevin Maas .230/.329/.422 { Logan Morrison .242/.328/.428 } SECOND BASE Bret Boone .266/.325/.442 { Brian Dozier .251/.328/.454 } SHORTSTOP Stephen Drew .252/.318/.423 { Jorge Polanco .266/.322/.417 } THIRD BASE Evan Longoria .269/.340/.482 { Miguel Sano .254/.346/.498 } UTILITY Julio Lugo .269/.333/.384 { Eduardo Escobar .253/.301/.398 } STARTING PITCHER ( IP / ERA / WHIP ) James Shields 2429.1 / 3.98 / 1.271 { Ervin Santana 2383.1 / 4.02 / 1.265 } Charles Nagy 1954.2 / 4.51 / 1.419 { Jose Berrios 231.2 / 4.66 / 1.312 } Steve Parris 753.1 / 4.75 / 1.505 { Kyle Gibson 745 / 4.68 / 1.438 } Danny Salazar 587.1 / 3.82 / 1.263 { Jake Odorizzi 726.2 / 3.81 / 1.223 } Josh Johnson 998 / 3.40 / 1.268 { Lance Lynn 986.2 / 3.39 / 1.292 } Let me know what you think or who you think would be a better fit!

I agree and disagree with you here: yes, putting the ball in play with two strikes can prove to be important. I too hate to see a lot of strikeouts, ESPECIALLY LOOKING! But...something that gets missed is that the "2 strike approach" has changed in the MLB. Here are the hard hit ball stats in 2-strike counts: 2002 19.7% 2003 21.3% 2004 23.7% 2005 24.7% 2006 24.2% 2007 28.8% 2008 24.4% 2009 23.9% 2010 27.2% 2011 21.5% 2012 26.3% 2013 27.5% 2014 27.0% 2015 26.6% 2016 28.9% 2017 29.2% 2018 30.7% * through April 19th Basically what has happened is that players want to stay on the attack. This results in more strikeouts, but it also results in more extra base hits. The trade off is higher K rate, but higher HR rate as well.

I love Royce Lewis, I really hope he works out for us. I happened to be in Iowa last summer when he made his debut with the Kernels. 4 for 4 with 1 RBI and 1 SB. I know it's one game but that was really cool to see, especially in his first game at the next level above rookie ball. Brent Rooker is also one that gets me excited. Yes he is older than the other prospects, but he has a deadly combination of power and intelligence. I wouldn't be surprised if he's up with the big club in '19 or '20 hitting 30+ bombs. Not trying to exaggerate at all, that guy can flat out RAKE.

Good move for the money. Morrison will be a solid bat in the middle of the lineup. Probably a .240/.330/.465 guy, if he gets 600 plate-appearances, could provide 70 runs for the good guys.

The Minnesota Twins top priority this off-season has been pitching. We have made moves to bolster our bullpen (Addison Reed gets me fired up) and there is a lot of talk surrounding big name starting pitchers. Yu Darvish has been on the radar since October, getting Twins fans excited since we haven't had a top arm like his since Johan Santana. Unfortunately, the Darvish scenario is looking less hopeful for the Twins, a lot of teams are interested and can probably offer more money. I have talked about Lance Lynn in previous posts and today I read an article about the possability of signing Lynn and Alex Cobb rather than just Darvish. The article, by Tom Froemming, here on Twins Daily was interesting not only because of the idea, but because of the comments and the Twitter poll. Majority of the comments read something along the lines of "Darvish without question" or "Lynn/Cobb would be a mistake". The Twitter poll also surprised be because it ended up being a perfect 50/50 split. This is my opinion: Lynn and Cobb would be better than Darvish alone...even if Darvish wanted to come here. Yes I know, this is crazy. Why pass on the top SP free agent on the market for a reasonable price? Because Lynn and Cobb combined would be better than Darvish and whoever ends up being the Twins 5th man in the rotation. Yu Darvish would be the ace of our rotation, probably for the next couple of years too, he's a great pitcher that would be fun to watch and help us in the playoffs as well. So why pass on him for Lynn/Cobb? My simple breakdown would be this: would you rather have one great player and one average player or two good players? I take depth 365 days out of the year (366 on leap years) because a baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. Signing one big arm would make sense if we already had a solid rotation but the truth is we have a steady top end and a rocky bottom half. Santana/Berrios are easily guys we can rely on going forward. Gibson/Mejia/Hughes/young guy, not so much. Gibson is the one guy I would give the benefit of the doubt to just because he improved last season, but he's good for a few meltdowns a year. Mejia proved he's not ready and Hughes...well who the hell knows what part of that guy's body will let down next. I like our young arms a lot, but not enough to have them fill the back-end of our rotation long-term. Here is where my argument resides. Having two quality arms would make Gibson our 5th starter. Every Darvish start would equal two starts from unreliable pitchers vs two starts from quality arms and one start from an unreliable pitcher. That unreliable pitcher could also improve into a solid 5th starter, who knows? My second point is about the postseason. If you look at the last three years for example, each World Series team has gotten a rental to boost their roster. 2015 Royals traded for Ben Zobrist, 2016 Cubs traded for Chapman, 2017 Astros traded for Verlander. Granted a lot of teams make trades, but every World Series team has made some kind of move for a rental piece as a metaphorical cherry-on-top. Where am I going with this? If we finish July with a good record and are looking to make a playoff run, we can make a trade for a rental piece. A lot of comments about Darvish helping is the playoffs are true but there are other ways the Twins can be productive in October. Again, this is just my opinion, if you disagree please leave a comment below. I would love to hear some other ideas. Thanks.

I like this a lot! Our bullpen should be greatly improved. Also very well written in general.

Personally, I would rather have Cobb and Lynn rather than Darvish. Your paying 2 for the price of 1, more secure, and having a deeper rotation will get us farther over the course of a season.

Darvish is my easy favorite for the Twins to go after, but Lynn wouldn't be a bad 2nd option IMO. He would be a solid piece in the rotation good for 200 IP if needed. His fastball velocity isn't overpowering but he's shown no sign of slowing down yet. What intrigues me the most is his repertoire of four-seam, two-seam, and cutter. Three pitches that move in three different directions. He also mixes in a change-up and breaking ball. Having another reliable veteran arm in our rotation would make for a fun 2018.

Last year at DH for the Twins looked like this: Player PA R OBP SLG wOBA Robbie Grossman 257 39 .336 .398 .320 Kennys Vargas 129 17 .310 .425 .313 Miguel Sano 100 7 .300 .267 .254 Eduardo Escobar 74 7 .297 .424 .308 Joe Mauer 57 8 .386 .347 .331 Mitch Garver 12 1 .417 .500 .391 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 629 79 .326 .384 .309 Last year at the plate for Lucas Duda: Player PA R OBP SLG wOBA Lucas Duda 491 50 .322 .496 .341 The 31 year old played 792 innings last season at 1B for the Mets and Rays. Defensive metrics show he's similar to a Chris Davis or Matt Carpenter, but that is not what the Twins need since Joe Mauer is one of the top defensive 1B in the MLB. Here is my pitch for why the Twins should sign Duda: 1. Power (since 2015) Player SLG ISO XBH/100 HARD% Lucas Duda .479 .248 12.6 39.2% Eric Hosmer .463 .169 9.02 32.2% Chris Davis .486 .252 11.2 41.0% Duda has great power numbers comparable to some of the better 1B power bats over the past few seasons, being in the AL where he can DH will definitely boost his numbers since he can take more at-bats. 2. Age At 31, Duda is no spring chicken, but 1B has been on of the most forgiving positions as players age. Other 31 year-old 1B numbers: Player Year ISO OBP SLG wOBA Mike Napoli 2013 .223 .360 .482 .367 Jim Thome 2002 .373 .445 .677 .461 Edwin Encarnacion 2014 .279 .354 .547 .389 Justin Morneau 2012 .149 .333 .440 .330 3. Cost As far as contracts go, the high end Duda would go for is 1-2 years, $10M per season. A lot depends on how the free agent market changes during the off season. If the Twins can sign a defensive catcher in Castro for $8M per, they should be able to spend around the same amount for a power bat, if not more. 4. Ballpark How exciting would it be to see Duda driving balls out over the RF porch onto the concourse? As a lefty, Duda's swing would work perfect at Target Field. He hits 30.3% to CF and 46.2% to RF. 42.1% of his batted balls are hit hard, while less than 20% are hit soft. This combination of hard hit balls being hit to to the right side of the field is a lethal combination at Target Field. Click here for an image of every 2017 Lucas Duda home run with the Target Field dimensions overlaid. Conclusion: The Twins could use Duda as a DH and reliable 1B replacement for Mauer. He would thrive in Target Field and would produce extra pop in the middle of the Twins lineup. I'm a huge Eduardo Escobar fan, and I would love to see him be a key piece for the Twins as well. I believe signing Duda would allow for Escobar to be a full-time utility man at 3B/SS/2B/ My projections: PA R OBP SLG 450 47 .345 .485 500 51 .343 .488 550 64 .340 .490 600 75 .337 .492 650 76 .335 .486 700 81 .333 .482 My 2018 lineup: 1. Dozier 2B 2. Mauer 1B 3. Sano 3B 4. Rosario LF 5. Duda DH 6. Polanco SS 7. Buxton CF 8. Kepler RF 9. Castro C Thanks for reading and please leave a comment if you agree/disagree with anything.

Very true, Garver could be a nice piece in the near future.

Baseball fans around the country are ready for another exciting MLB free agency free-for-all. Especially excited are Twins fans. Coming off a Wild Card season, the Twins and their new management look to become a power in the AL. Lets first look at what the Twins already have: Solid starting outfield Infield depth/flexability Strong offensive prospects And what we need to be successful: Stronger rotation Reliable bullpen One more solid bat in the middle of the lineup For the last bullet point in the "needs" list, some of our own guys have shown the ability to be that guy. Byron Buxton was very impressive in the second half of the season, but I think his defense makes him a valuable piece anyways. The player I was impressed with was Jorge Polanco. Polanco's offensive numbers through June were .242/.290/.346. Not impressive at all, but from July 1st till the end of the season he produced a much better stat line at .268/.333/.467. That is a huge jump not only in average and on-base but his slugging percentage jumped up 121 points! Hopefully he can continue his second half success at the plate and be a threat in the middle of the lineup. Another reason why Polanco can be valuable is because finding a solid shortstop is tough. An everyday shortstop who is dangerous at the plate is a scarce commodity. For a comparison, here are the number of players with at least 500 PA and wOBA greater or equal to 0.330 by position: 1B ----> 15 2B ----> 9 SS ----> 6 3B ----> 10 OF ----> 24 So having players like Polanco and Escobar that can play SS and do damage at the plate are valuable if they continue to produce. Now onto the wishlist. Here are my top 5 pitchers that I want the Twins to sign: 1. Yu Darvish RHP The obvious #1 here is Darvish. He's one of the best Pitchers in the MLB and at age 30, still has a nice chunk of career left. At around 6 years/$150M, Darvish will cost a lot to get, but he would be the best pitcher the Twins have had since Johan Santana. 2018 predictions: 75 Runs / 200 IP 2. Lance Lynn RHP At $56M over 4 years, Lance Lynn is a solid starting pitcher with lots of experience with over 970 major league innings pitched in his career. Lynn missed the 2016 season to have Tommy John surgery but didn't miss a beat last season. Lynn has a full repertoire of pitches and mixes them well. He has never been a huge strikeout guy but with his movement and control, he gets a lot of weak contact. In 2017, Lynn ranked 14th in the league with 21.1% of his batted balls hit softly. (Darvish - 20.5% Arrieta - 20.0% Scherzer 19.5%). 2018 predictions: 78 Runs / 200 IP 3. Alex Cobb RHP Alex Cobb is my number two pitcher at around 4 years/$48M, Cobb is a steal. He's got the stuff to be a 1 or 2 in the rotation. He has a fastball and slider both in the low to mid 90s, and a curveball in the low 80s. Something interesting about Cobb is his windup delivery, which can only really be described as herky jerky, but it can mess with hitter's rhythm. 2018 predictions: 69 Runs / 170 IP 4. Yusmerio Petit RHP Last season, Petit threw over 85 innings in relief with a WHIP of 0.96. Petit would be a great addition to the bullpen as a guy who can come in and eat up a couple innings per game. Holding onto a lead in the 6th - 8th innings is obviously important, which is what Petit can help the Twins pitching staff do. 2018 predictions: 22 Runs / 70 IP 5. Brandon Morrow RHP Morrow came into last season with just 43.2 innings pitched after a stint in AAA. Morrow has an exploding fastball that can reach 100mph. What I like most about Morrow is not only his incredible velocity, but his ability to hide the ball from hitters till the last second. Its hard enough for a hitter to pick up a 98mph fastball, and its that much tougher when they don't know where its coming from. Morrow is a strikeout machine and can really help the Twins in the later innings of ball games. Morrow would be higher on this list had it not been for his asking price of around $24M over 3 years. 2018 predictions: 11 Runs / 60 IP Obviously the Twins need pitching, but here is a quick rundown of free agent fielders that I wouldn't mind seeing the Twins sign: 1. Logan Morrison 1B/DH 2017 Stats: .246/.353/.516 wOBA = 0.363 2. Jay Bruce RF/DH 2017 Stats: .254/.324/.508 wOBA = 0.350 3. Yonder Alonso 1B/DH 2017 Stats: .266/.365/.501 wOBA = 0.366 4. Welington Castillo C 2017 Stats: .282/.323/..490 wOBA = 0.344 5. Lucas Duda 1B/DH 2017 Stats: .217/.322/.496 wOBA = 0.341 Basically I want another Jim Thome circa 2010, or Welington Castillo to split time with Jason Castro for more offensive production behind the plate. If the Twins make some moves this off season and buy during the trade deadline, this is a team that could make a run in the postseason.