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Minnesota Twins 2010 MLB Predictions

Written March 8, 2010 by Jack Jones

The Twins went 17-4 over their final 21 games of 2009 after trailing Detroit by seven games on September 6th, and won the AL Central Division for the fifth time in eight years. They did it in dramatic fashion, beating the Tigers 6-5 in 12 innings in a one-game playoff at the Metrodome. But after 28 years in the dome, Minnesota will be breaking in a new ballpark in 2010. Target Field will be the new venue, a $412-million open-air park that will seat 40,000. Twins’ fans will get to watch Joe Mauer for at least one more season as his contract expires after 2010. But the Twins do not want to lose him, and they’ll definitely give him the money he deserves to keep Mauer around. After joining the team on May 1st after sitting out the first month with a back injury, he went on to set career-highs with 28 HR, 96 RBI and a .365 average. It led to his third batting title and his first AL MVP award. The Twins did bring in Orlando Hudson and J.J. Hardy to try and add more pop to a line-up that is already filled with it, but did nothing to improve a shaky starting rotation. Baseball odds for futures betting have the Twins projected win total at 83.5. I have pulled up these odds from BetUS where you can take advantage of their 100% match-bonus on your initial deposit up to $500!

Pitching:

The starting rotation is little to be desired after last year, as no starter finished with a sub-.400 ERA. But this is a starting staff that doesn’t beat themselves, and they take pride in not walking hitters, so as a result their ERA’s will be up. Scott Baker is the best of the bunch, going 15-9 with a 4.37 ERA last season. He pitched 200 innings and he’s a workhorse. Kevin Slowey consistently pounds the strike zone, going 10-3 with a 4.86 ERA last season, but walked just 1.49 batters/9 innings. Nick Blackburn went 11-11 with a 4.03 ERA and also went over the 200 innings mark last season. Carl Pavano was a nice addition, going 14-12 with a 5.10 ERA with both Cleveland and Minnesota in 2009. Francisco Liriano is the wild card, and needs to fix his inconsistent delivery to return to his ‘08 form in which he went 6-4 with a 3.91 ERA. If Liriano cannot get it done, then Brian Duensing will get the No. 5 spot in the rotation. Minnesota does have one of the best bullpens in the league, finishing with a 3.87 ERA and 48 saves last year. Joe Nathan accounted for 47 of those saves. Jose Mijares, Jon Rauch, Matt Guerrier and Pat Neshek are all solid set-up guys.

Hitting:

Hands down, C Joe Mauer is the best in the league at his position. He won the AL MVP last season and set career-highs in HR (28), AVG (.365) and RBI’s (96) despite missing the first month of the season. 1B Justin Morneau has also been a staple in this line-up, hitting at least 23 HR with at least 100 RBI for three consecutive seasons. He did finish the season on the DL with a right wrist injury that required offseason surgery, but should be fine to return by the start of the season. 2B Orlando Hudson comes over from the Dodgers, and he’s a very productive hitter who also adds some fun to the clubhouse. 3B Brendan Harris is the one wink link in this line-up, but he has still hit at least .261 each of the past three seasons. SS J.J. Hardy had a down-year last season with Milwaukee after hitting at least 24 HR’s in 2007 and ‘08 with the Brewers. He’s still young and there’s a good possibility that he can return to form this year. The outfield features Delmon Young in left, Denard Span in center and Michael Cuddyer in right. Young has been a disappointment in his first two seasons in a Twins’ uniform, but Span and Cuddyer have been pleasant surprises. Span has hit .294 and .311 with 18 and 23 SB’s in his first two season with the team, and Cuddyer is coming off a career year in which he hit .276 with 32 HR and 94 RBI’s in 2009. DH Jason Kubel has been a steady supply of power to all fields, hitting .300 with 28 HR and 103 RBI’s last season.

Jack’s Prediction: 2nd in the AL Central and OVER 83.5 Wins – This team has won at least 87 games in three of the past four seasons, and they actually improved their line-up in the offseason with the addition of Hudson and Hardy. What will keep them from winning this division is their pitching staff, with not one starter finishing last season with a sub-.400 ERA. It will be another great three-way battle between the Twins, Sox and Tigers, but the edge in my opinion goes to the Sox with their pitching staff.

Jack Jones is the top handicappers at Betfirms and his baseball picks have been killing the books for years! Don’t expect 2010 to be any different!