No. 22 Marlins | No. 23 Orioles | Nos. 30-21
No. 21: Minnesota Twins
Last Season: 83-79
Projected record: 77-85 (fifth in AL Central)
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Last year's "breakout" season added up to just 83 wins -- great for the Twins relative to what people expected, but still a mediocre tally. To build on last year's second-place finish, the Twins are essentially banking for better health in their rotation and reasonable growth from some of their young blue-chip prospects. They're going to need it, because they didn't make many major additions from outside the organization, settling for a four-year, $12 million bet that the power of Korean slugger Byung Ho Park, which produced back-to-back 50-homer seasons for Nexen of the Korea Baseball Organization, will translate stateside.
The future appears to be now for Byron Buxton, who is healthy and ready to start the season in Minnesota. Buxton is MLB's No. 2 overall prospect according to both Keith Law and ZiPS. -- ESPN.com
The Twins have premier young talent that really should come into its own, with erstwhile right fielder Miguel Sano likely to contend for the league lead in homers in his first full season and dynamite center fielder Byron Buxton with a shot at Rookie of the Year honors. It's possible Buxton might be challenged by Park, but that depends on how much faith you place in the home run-hitting import. The infield provides plenty of power and stability between second baseman Brian Dozier, third baseman Trevor Plouffe and shortstop Eduardo Escobar; all three players could eclipse 60 extra-base hits.
After their hot 30-19 start in 2015, regression was the monster that came out from under the Twins' bed to drag them back toward .500 in the second half; that mediocrity is what many expect to see more of this year, placing a big burden on the kids and Park to put it together quickly. Seeing Joe Mauer go back to hitting like Joe Mauer would certainly help; they haven't seen him deliver on his franchise-player rep (and contract) since 2013. But really not helping matters is a rotation stocked with guys who all make for solid No. 3' starters if things go their way. Maybe rookie righty Jose Berrios breaks through to give them a legit front-end starter, but that's another bit of wishcasting for a Twins team trying to build upon last year's leap back into relevance.
No. 22 Marlins | Nos. 30-21
