SB Nation Reacts: The Twins are still being passed over

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Each week, we send out questions to the most plugged-in Minnesota Twins fans, and fans across the country. Sign up here to join Reacts.

Baseball returned in its fullest form Thursday since 2019. But with it comes all the major questions surrounding every team across the country and the league itself.

According to the latest SB Nation Reacts results, only 27 percent of fans around the league think the Twins will win the AL Central. They trail the Chicago White Sox, who earned 61 percent of the fans’ vote, and who I’m guessing are fans that write for sports outlets that have passed over the Twins as well.

To give Twins fans a unique look at the team this year, fans of rival teams around the league were asked what they think about the organization. Fans of the White Sox and Detroit Tigers clearly believe the Twins will be a strong team in 2021.

Fans nationally also voted on who they believe will take home the league’s biggest awards at the end of the season. New York’s Gerrit Cole lead the vote for AL Cy Young with 37 percent. Note that a certain Twins pitcher who was runner-up in Cy Young voting last season was not included in this poll.

In the NL, Mets’ ace Jacob deGrom earned 52 percent of the vote. He beat out Walker Buehler, who was the next closest with 16 percent.

The AL MVP was equally dramatic in its divide after the top choice. Angels superstar Mike Trout earned 69 percent of the vote, blowing away the next closest player – Aaron Judge – with only 10 percent.

The closest vote came in the NL vote for MVP. San Diego Padres young star Fernando Tatis Jr. edged out the field with 26 percent. He narrowly beat Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts with 25 percent, Nationals slugger Juan Soto’s 22 percent and Atlanta star Ronald Acuña Jr. with 19 percent.

Despite all the excitement of Opening Day, the feeling about the league as a whole is still extremely mixed. Fans were asked what one word best describes the game right now. “Exciting,” “Confused,” “Good,” and “Chaos” were all among the top choices. That’s a ball of really mixed words right there.

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