Article on Bleacherreport stating that Twins will be Cinderella team this year

[glunn]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2827039-bleacher-reports-2019-mlb-season-preview-and-predictions?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_medium=referral#slide7 (you may need to scroll up one page to get to the Twins slide)

 

Lots of positive spin in the article about the new players, a Buxton breakout and the pitching staff and coach.

 

Their conclusion:

 

"A team like this has 95-win upside, which should be plenty good enough to win the AL Central."

 

They also project the Indians as the most disappointing team.

[yarnivek1972]

Cinderella story out of nowhere. Former greenskeeper about to become the Masters champion...

[Obsvr]

That's the kiss of death.

 

#RIP 2019

[Doomtints]

All of the past Twins teams that were good had trouble getting up to 95 wins and this team has nothing on them.

 

If the rest of the division collapses (and the Twins don't collapse too), 88-89 wins is possible.

 

But also ... who cares? This team isn't built to win in the playoffs. Beating up the division isn't good enough anymore.

 

Now that I read it more closely, "95 win upside" does not mean 95 wins. Who knows what the heck that means.

[diehardtwinsfan]

This doesn't surprise me too much. They have some question marks, but they made some good signings... Buxton, Sano, and Kepler stepping up (and staying healthy) would do wonders towards that 95 win upside. 

[Dantes929]

 

All of the past Twins teams that were good had trouble getting up to 95 wins and this team has nothing on them.

 

If the rest of the division collapses (and the Twins don't collapse too), 88-89 wins is possible.

 

But also ... who cares? This team isn't built to win in the playoffs. Beating up the division isn't good enough anymore.

 

Now that I read it more closely, "95 win upside" does not mean 95 wins. Who knows what the heck that means.

I care.    Would love if the Twins made the playoffs.     I agree that this team doesn't stack up with some of the teams that were near 95 wins..... on paper.      Last year, on paper this team should have been much better than the team that made the playoffs the year before.   I have no problem saying this team has an upside of 95 wins and a downside of 75 wins.    That's the difference between a lot of guys playing well vs a lot of guys playing poorly with respect to their talent.    Last year was the latter.  Spring is for hoping it is the former.   Likely, it is somewhere in between.   

[Richie the Rally Goat]

All of the past Twins teams that were good had trouble getting up to 95 wins and this team has nothing on them.

 

If the rest of the division collapses (and the Twins don't collapse too), 88-89 wins is possible.

 

But also ... who cares? This team isn't built to win in the playoffs. Beating up the division isn't good enough anymore.

 

Now that I read it more closely, "95 win upside" does not mean 95 wins. Who knows what the heck that means.

95 wins in the AL could also miss the wildcard.

 

NYY, Boston and Houston should win 100 each.

 

If Cleveland can keep it on the rails with no real hitting, they could again be 96-97 wins with the best pitching staff in the AL to win the central. (They are also one TJ surgery away from derailing and the Twins overtaking them)

 

With Baltimore, Seattle, KC, Texas likely to lose 95-100 each and Chicago not much better, Oakland & Tampa could very well end up just like last year and our beloved Twinkies could miss the post season with 95 wins and a Cinderella story.

 

Winners and Losers in the AL, not much parity

[RatherBeGolfing]

I love the positive pub!

 

Even though it's from Bleacher Report. I hate that I just gave them a click

[TFRazor]

 

Cinderella story out of nowhere. Former greenskeeper about to become the Masters champion...

Oh he got all of that one!

[Puckett34]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qgET1Zhpb8

 

It's hard to temper my optimism the day before opening day.

[woolywoolhouse]

Get the Twins at or near the head of the division by mid-July; Falvey and Levine have to take the steps to actually add bullpen help and a top-end starter then for a deeper post-season run, right? 

[Joe A. Preusser]

All of the past Twins teams that were good had trouble getting up to 95 wins and this team has nothing on them.

 

If the rest of the division collapses (and the Twins don't collapse too), 88-89 wins is possible.

 

But also ... who cares? This team isn't built to win in the playoffs. Beating up the division isn't good enough anymore.

 

Now that I read it more closely, "95 win upside" does not mean 95 wins. Who knows what the heck that means.

I care. And your mindset is flawed.

 

There is no magic formula for winning in the playoffs. No gaurentees. Any team making the postseason can go all the way. I want my teams in the playoffs every year, thats my hope/expectation. What happens after that will happen. Anything more is unrealistic, misguided, and illogical.

 

Part of the problem is we have a recent history of making the playoffs repeatedly and losing right away. That's not normal, and if we went on another run of Central dominance I would expect our results to regress to a mean success.

[Old Twins Cap]

You look at Nelson Cruz in the batting box, last thing I think of is Cinderella.

 

They got a line-up this year, speed, talent and a ton of power.

 

Can we at least have some fun?

[Taildragger8791]

 

I care. And your mindset is flawed.

There is no magic formula for winning in the playoffs. No gaurentees. Any team making the postseason can go all the way. I want my teams in the playoffs every year, thats my hope/expectation. What happens after that will happen. Anything more is unrealistic, misguided, and illogical.

Part of the problem is we have a recent history of making the playoffs repeatedly and losing right away. That's not normal, and if we went on another run of Central dominance I would expect our results to regress to a mean success.

 

You still have to be on par with your opponent for luck swing your fortunes in a series. There's a reason the Twins were thoroughly spanked in the playoffs throughout the 2000's. There was a disparity in competitive levels that luck can't make up for. You can only go so far with 'good' top-of-the-order hitting and a few good pitchers. To have a real chance you either need game-changing talent or a lot of depth, because you'll run into both.

 

I think the 2019 Twins will be a lot more fun to watch this year and should be in the running to win an awful division. 95-win upside makes sense when you they can pad their W column against the Tigers, Royals, and White Sox. Especially if Cleveland falters. But for playoff wins they'd need several players make a big jump and succeed against quality opponents, not just show out against the tank-a-thon teams.

[KirbyDome89]

 

I care. And your mindset is flawed.

There is no magic formula for winning in the playoffs. No gaurentees. Any team making the postseason can go all the way. I want my teams in the playoffs every year, thats my hope/expectation. What happens after that will happen. Anything more is unrealistic, misguided, and illogical.

Part of the problem is we have a recent history of making the playoffs repeatedly and losing right away. That's not normal, and if we went on another run of Central dominance I would expect our results to regress to a mean success.

There may not be an exact recipe to follow but it's no secret that being the more talented team is a huge advantage. It isn't abnormal that MN was bounced by NY 5 of their last 6 playoff appearances. The Twins had more high end talent in 06' but you could easily argue the Oakland roster that swept them was more solid top to bottom. Sure, anything can happen, but the playoffs aren't some coin flip where the Twins have simply had bad luck. 

 

Look, I care too. Winning the division likely means young position players take another step forward. That's important for building a team that can truly compete. That said, the post you responded to wasn't wrong in pointing out that the current roster doesn't come close to stacking up against the top tier of the AL. Honestly, it isn't even that close to a healthy Cleveland roster either. 

[yarnivek1972]

You still have to be on par with your opponent for luck swing your fortunes in a series. There's a reason the Twins were thoroughly spanked in the playoffs throughout the 2000's. There was a disparity in competitive levels that luck can't make up for. You can only go so far with 'good' top-of-the-order hitting and a few good pitchers. To have a real chance you either need game-changing talent or a lot of depth, because you'll run into both.

 

I think the 2019 Twins will be a lot more fun to watch this year and should be in the running to win an awful division. 95-win upside makes sense when you they can pad their W column against the Tigers, Royals, and White Sox. Especially if Cleveland falters. But for playoff wins they'd need several players make a big jump and succeed against quality opponents, not just show out against the tank-a-thon teams.

In 2006, they had the AL MVP, Cy Young, batting champ, a closer that was damn near perfect, a rock solid supporting bullpen and had 3 or 4 role players that had career years. And still got stomped.

 

The Yankees win because the other team is staring at the pinstripes.

[Taildragger8791]

 

In 2006, they had the AL MVP, Cy Young, batting champ, a closer that was damn near perfect, a rock solid supporting bullpen and had 3 or 4 role players that had career years. And still got stomped.

The Yankees win because the other team is staring at the pinstripes.

 

We lost to Oakland, not the Yankees in 2006. Our bullpen was really good but so was theirs. The difference is the Twins had to run out Boof Bonser and the ghost of Brad Radke as 2/3 of their starters. Boof actually held up ok, but it didn't matter because the pitching was backed by a lineup featuring Jason Tyner at DH, Punto hitting 2nd, the remnants of Phil Nevin and Rondell White, and the great Lew Freaking Ford coming off the bench. They only scored 7 runs the entire series. There was no depth on that team and it got exposed.

 

Also, the Yankees had several future Hall of Fame players on most of their playoff rosters. I think their success was due to more than just intimidation.