FanPost

Twins Worst Case Scenario

The Twins worst case scenario for 2017 would have to be no progression of ANY prospects, while our veterans we signed play just good enough that the prospects under them get no chance to improve/play in the big leagues.

Rotation:

1. Ervin Santana is the best starter on the team, but shows a major regression from last year a month before the trade deadline and his stock plummets... Twins don't pull trigger

2. Phil Hughes finds his velocity again and shows promise early in the year, but fades away towards the end of the year and ends with a 4.80 ERA

3. Kyle Gibson's new throwing motion is a disaster and messes with his head all season. He walks a tremendous amount of batters and cannot get any outs and is replaces by the veteran Ryan Vogelsong who pitches mediocre enough to stay in the rotation the rest of the year.

4. Hector Santiago is average enough to stay in the rotation all year, average as in 5.10 ERA.

5. The fifth starting spot rotates seemingly every 2 weeks as Twins' prospects struggle mightily in the majors. Trevor May's re-insertment into the starting rotation is disastrous as well as debilitating as he deals with shoulder problems all year. Berrios picks up where he left off last year and just gets rocked all season. Duffey gets a few spot starts and they go just about as well as last year also. Mejia even gets a chance to not be crappy but disappoints. The Twins immediate major league starting prospects look abysmal as well as their lower tier pitchers. Tyler Jay looks more and more like a reliever and is converted halfway through the season. Kohl Stewart's inability to strike people out catches up with him and he shows a major regression. Fernando Romero suffers an elbow injury late in the year and is forced to have a second Tommy John. It is seemingly a worst case scenario for the Twins starting staff.

Bullpen:

I'll just generalize the bullpen adding in some names.

The bullpen's free agent signees are the best out of the group, including Craig Breslow. JT Chargois struggles and is sent down in June and doesn't get back up until September. Prospects like Nick Burdi, Jake Reed, and Trevor Hildenberger are rushed to the majors and also struggle, also losing a year of development. The organizations abundance of top bullpen prospects suddenly dwindles to a below average bullpen farm.

Outfield:

A young outfield proves disastrous for the Twins. Buxton, Kepler, and Rosario all struggle at the plate and strikeout a ton. Their supposed outfield speed and glove ability is a hoax as they lead the league as a group in errors. Buxton hits around .220 and shows minimal power, looking more and more like a bust. Kepler can only hit down and in fastballs and the rest of the league catches on and he hits about .230 with only about 10 homeruns. Rosario shows no plate discipline and is second on the team in strikeouts. Oh, and Grossman is buttcheeks in the field. He can still hit though! Meanwhile in the minors, Palka looks more and more like ABW and strikes out more than half of his plate appearances. Lamonte Wade and Zach Granite regress in their hitting abilities and can't advance in the minors.

Corner Infield:

Miguel Sano strikes out a lot. And I mean a lot. Like, historically a lot. And if you thought that was bad, his fielding isn't far behind. His limited range forces plenty of errors, almost 1 every 3 games. His arm is erratic, overthrowing first base often. He is replaced by Jorge Polanco later in the year (we'll get to him). Joe Mauer has no pop left in his bat and hits a sad 3 homeruns, all at Yankee Stadium in the corner. He hits .250 and is hitting near the bottom of the lineup at the end of the year. Kennys Vargas and Byung Ho Park both try to hand each other the DH spot but can't because both of them hit under .200 and only hit 5 homeruns each. The DH position provides little value all year. Do the Twins even have a corner infield prospect that's any good? Blankenhorn hits .120 against lefties. Next.

Middle Infield:

Shortstop is a revolving door but much worse than previous years. Polanco can't figure out how to throw to first base without getting dirt on the ball and becomes the utility backup. Escobar takes over and plays mediocre defense, but cannot figure out how to hit a baseball for some reason and Ehire Adrianza is given a chance. Andrianza gives defense the Twins are looking for, but gives no bat, even less than Escobar. Danny Santana somehow survived waivers and gets called up later in the year and plays a little shortstop. Probably the ugliest thing Twins fans have ever witnessed. Nick Gordon gets called up in desperation and gets hit by a pitch in the elbow and breaks it in his first at bat. Oh, and Dozier hits .300 with 45 homers and 110 RBI's. Twins trade him for Jose De Leon straight up. De Leon is garbage in the second half. Wander Javier isn't as good as advertised and looks like a run-of-the-mill prospect.

Catcher:

Castro frames pitches so hard that umps start throwing him out of games and eventually he gets banned by the league for half the season. Garver gets called up to be the every day backstop but struggles at the plate and behind the plate. John Ryan Murphy replaces him after a month and hits the same line as he did last year, and gives way to Chris Giminez. Chris Giminez is our best catcher by far, hitting .235. Juan Centeno hits .350 with 25 homers for the Astros as a backup catcher.

Yeah, that sounds pretty damn bad.