It’s time to jump over to the American League for the fourth team in the Humm Baby Baseball 30 Clubs in 30 Days series.  Today, we’ll take a look a the Minnesota Twins, who just made a major signing by bringing on board Alex Colomé.  As I am writing this, the deal is not 100% official but sources say Colomé will be heading to Minnesota on a one year, five million dollar deal with a mutual option for 2022.  This signing is huge for the Twins and comes just shortly after re-signing Nelson Cruz on a one-year deal worth $13 million.  We’ll definitely talk more about Nelson Cruz when I get to the lineup but as for Colomé, he was one of the best relievers in the game in 2020 for the White Sox, who somehow snagged one of the few closers I’d rather have in Liam Hendricks this offseason.  That opened the door for the Twins to come in and snag Colomé, who gave up just 2 runs last season in over 22 innings of work, compiling 12 saves.  In 2019, his last full season, he had 30 saves with an ERA of 2.80. 

Additions

Alex Colomé

Hansel Robles

Shaun Anderson

Andrelton Simmons

J.A. Happ

Derek Law (Minor League Deal)

JT Riddle (Minor League Deal)

But Alex Colomé is not the only one joining a bullpen that already has some great arms like Taylor Rogers and Tyler Duffey.  The Twins also signed Hansel Robles, who struggled through 16 2/3rd innings in 2020, giving up 19 runs.  However, Robles was more than solid throughout 2018 and 2019 for the Angels and has a career 9.7 strikeouts per nine.  Signing a couple arms for that bullpen was absolutely necessary after losing several free agents including Trevor May, Sergio Romo, Tyler Clippard and Matt Wisler, who has signed with the Giants. 

Speaking of the Giants, the Twins also picked up another pretty good looking arm in Shaun Anderson and this affects me personally, because I had high hopes for Anderson.  He was some one who was originally a starter and then ended up as a nice bullpen option, but never really put it all together at the big league level.  In 46 appearances with the Giants, he had a 5.17 ERA with 88 strikeouts and 50 walks in 111.1 innings.  That included 16 starts.  He’s a guy who attacks hitters with a mid-90’s fastball and a upper 80’s slider that is supposed to be his out pitch.  He’s also got a good change up and a curve to keep hitters guessing.

In exchange for the Anderson, the Giants will get Lamonte Wade Jr, a left handed hitter who can work a walk but otherwise hasn’t shown a ton of promise with his .211 career average and 2 home runs in 95 at bats, but I’ll trust Farhan Zaidi on this one because there’s no way I would have made that deal.  In other words, I like Shaun Anderson despite the high ERA, I think he’s got a lot of potential to be a reliable arm out of the pen or even towards the back-end of a rotation.

And speaking of the back end of a rotation, the Twins also signed J.A. Happ to a contract and he is going to be a strong candidate for that rotation immediately. This adds much needed depth and options for the rotation as we approach Spring Training.  The final main free agent signing is of course Andrelton Simmons, the slick fielding infielder who had a .346 on base percentage in 2020 and was in my top 25 free agents video going into the offseason.  I did not have him going to the Twins though.  Simmons should be a better option than Jorge Polanco, who regressed big time last season, likely due at least in part to ankle issues.  Also, on Minor League Deals, former Giant Derek Law has signed along with J.T. Riddle, both guys with big league experience who are worth a mention.  There were stretches were Derek Law looked like he was going to be a legit big-league arms out of the bullpen, but he never fully materialized like we hoped here in San Francisco.

Lineup

1.       Max Kepler RF

2.       Luis Arraez 2B

3.       Josh Donaldson 3B

4.       Nelson Cruz DH

5.       Miguel Sano 1B

6.       Bryon Buxton CF

7.       Alex Kirilloff LF

8.       Ryan Jeffers C

9.       Andrelton Simmons SS

Moving into the Staring Lineup, things get started with Max Kepler, a two-way player who crushed 36 home runs in 2019.  He can obviously elevate the ball with power but his batting average isn’t going to the best.  However, he can work a walk and has a career .319 on base percentage, which isn’t great but it’s not bad considering his career batting average of .237.  Part of that is the modern day shift that takes a lot of singles away from him. 

Luis Arraez has amazing bat to ball skills and in 438 career at bats he has 145 hits and has only struck out 40 times.  If he played in first half the century, this is the type of guy who would hit .400 multiple times throughout his career.  He is perfect for a lineup that has a lot sluggers who struggle to get on base when they’re not going yard. 

Josh Donaldson is honestly some one I worry about, because before his monster 2019 in Atlanta, he had 3 straight seasons where he dealt with injuries and ineffectiveness before he just tore it up on a one year deal with the Braves, earning a nice long term contract with Minnesota.  Donaldson is obviously a threat up there and if healthy, he’s always a nice bat to have in the lineup but I don’t know how much you count on that.  He missed the 2020 playoffs due to a calf injury and he just turned 35.  Let’s say just this, if he makes it through the 2021 season without going on the injured list, assuming there’s a full season, I’ll give away a Josh Donaldson jersey right here to the first person who asks for it after the last day of the season.  All that said, he is Josh Donaldson and he does have the potential to hit 35+ home runs if he can stay healthy. 

Nelson Cruz is back and he might be 40 years old, but from 2014-2019, he averaged 148 games per season which is pretty damn consistent.  In 2020, he missed just seven games.  In other words, he doesn’t seem to be overly injury-prone so I believe he’s going to be healthy for the majority of 2021 and continue to crush the ball like he usually does.  After hitting 41 bombs in 2019, he hit 16 last season 2020 in just 185 at bats with an average over .300.  Obviously, he’ll probably decline at some point and it could happen his year at 41 years old, but I am predicting only a slight decline – he is still going hit at least 30 home runs and it is a huge re-signing for the Twins.

Miguel Sano was second in all of Major League Baseball with a 95.2 average exit velocity although he has some issues with breaking balls.  He strikes out too much and his batting average was .204 in 2020, but as I said, when he does make contact, he crushes the ball.  His defense is not great, however, and you get what you get with Sano – strikeouts, home runs and few errors.  Again, this type of hitter is why some one like Arraez is so important to have in that lineup.  Next we have Byron Buxton, who seems to be coming to his own lately and has been making hard contact a lot more often during the last couple of seasons.  He smashed 13 home runs in just 130 at bats in 2020 and offers elite range in centerfield.  He might never live up to the insane hype he was surrounded with earlier in his career but he is definitely a positive in that lineup and helps the Twins win games.

Alex Kirilloff is a pure hitter with great bat speed.  He can hit to the entire field and could be in the Rookie of the Year running in 2021.  In his Minor League Career, he hit .317 with a .365 on base percentage.  He doesn’t have enough big league experience to really predict what we’ll see from him, but I am optimistic that he’ll be solid based on the scouting reports and videos I’ve checked out.  Still, you never really know until you see it.  In the squat will likely be Ryan Jeffers, who proved to be an upgrade over Mitch Garver last year and will get a chance to win the job in ’21.  Garver is still there as well, but I think Jeffers, a power hitter who can handle the pitching staff well, has the job unless some one takes it from him by force.  Andrelton Simmons wraps it up and like I said, he is a guy who gets on base and offers elite defense, making him an upgrade over Polanco. 

Frankly, this lineup is pretty scary and has a little of everything from the home run or nothing type to a guy who is super tough to strike out like Arraez.  You got powerful veterans like Donaldson and Cruz and exciting youngsters like Kirilloff and Jeffers.  I love this lineup and the only things I really worry about are Donaldson’s health and Sano’s struggles with striking out and generally being an all-or-nothing type, which hurts but again, there are so many guys around him who can get on base and bring more consistency that I think Sano will be okay in there.  After all, when he does get a hold of one, there’s a good chance there will be a guy or two or three on base.  All that being said, I’m going to this lineup an A-.

Rotation

1.       Kenta Maeda

2.       Jose Berrios

3.       Michael Pineda

4.       J.A. Happ

5.       Randy Dobnak

6.       Devin Smeltzer

The rotation starts out with a bang with Kenta Maeda, who proved that he is one of the best starters in the game and got a bit lost with all the talent over in Los Angeles.  He’s got three pitches that he can locate well in any count and had a 10.8 strikeout per 9 ratio in 2020.  I believe he was best pitcher in the American League with the exception of Shane Beiber.  Jose Berrios would be the ace for most teams and also strikes out more than a hitter per inning.  His curveball is deadly and he also has a plus changeup keeping hitters off balance.  After that, Michael Pineda is a guy who stays ahead in the count, hits his spots and if he can stay on the field, will be a major contributor.

 At #4 will likely be J.A. Happ, who is very consistent and usually has an ERA around 4, which is about what it was in 2020 – 3.98.  His performance was in line with his career numbers – he misses bats with his slider, keeps contact soft often and is simply solid even though he’s not going to win a Cy Young or blow people away, he’ll keep this team in a lot of games and the offense will do the rest.  Randy Dobnak also has a nice slider and showed a lot of promise in 2020.  And the final candidate for the rotation is junkballing lefthander Devin Smeltzer, who can definitely start in a pinch or even earn a spot in the rotation if pitches well in Spring Training.

This rotation is very solid assuming it stays healthy.  Shaun Anderson is some one who also has starting experience and if things get desperate or if he  simply earns the job, he could also be a candidate.  However, just looking at the main five – Maedia, Berrios, Pineda, Happ and Dobnak – I think it is an excellent rotation.  There are two guys would be aces on most teams, a guy in Pineda who is primed for a big season after fully healing from Tommy John, J.A. Happ who has been consistently solid forever and then Dobnak, who impressed mightily last year.  I am also going to give this rotation an A-.

Bullpen

Taylor Rogers

Alex Colome

Tyler Duffey

Jorge Alcala

Caleb Thielbar

Cody Stashak

Hansel Robles

Edwar Colina

Shaun Anderson

Like the rotation that has 2 guys who would be aces on most teams, the bullpen has two guys who would be closers on most teams.  In addition to newcomer Colome, there’s Taylor Rogers, who had 30 saves in 2019 and struck out 10.8 guys per 9 innings in 2020.  He did give up more hits than usual and his fastball isn’t as good as it once was, but he is still a beast out of that pen.  Tyler Duffey uses his sick curveball to dominate batters to the tune of a 1.88 ERA in 2020 and then you’ve got the best power arm in the pen, Jorge Alcala, whose fastball/slider comob is straight up nasty.  Caleb Thielbar was also amazing in 2020, using a 3-pitch mix to dominate lefties.  Now with the additions of Anderson and Robles, this bullpen is clearly very good.  How good remains to be seen, but I love the moves the Twins are making to replace some of the guys they lost after 2020.  I’m going to give this bullpen an A as well.

So, there you have it. When examing the Minnesota Twins roster, it’s no surprise why they continue to be a playoff team year after year.  Their only issue is figuring out how to win in October, but sooner or later it’s going to happen.  You have to give credit to their front office and Derek Falvey for overhauling this team and not being afraid to spend money to make them competitive.  Overall, I have to give the Minnesota Twins an A.