Between now and Opening Day on April 3, you’re going to see a lot of predictions made about how the upcoming baseball season will go for the Twins.
Having a bash on Monday at predicting the final standings was USA Today, and the newspaper’s projections don’t make for happy reading for Twins fans.
It has the Twins, who finished last season 2nd in the AL Central just a few wins shy of a Wild Card spot, finishing dead last behind the White Sox, Royals, Indians and Tigers this upcoming season.
While being vague on how it arrives at its win totals and admitting making such predictions is a “foolhardy endeavor,” the newspaper says the Twins won’t improve on last year’s 83-79 record and will finish 80-82 in a fiercely competitive league.
It does, however, apologize to Twins fans, saying it “wouldn’t surprise us if they produce an MVP (Miguel Sano) and Rookie of the Year (Jose Berrios)” in spite of the low ranking.
It should be pointed out that USA Today’s record isn’t great.
Last year, its baseball reporting staff predicted the winners of each division ahead of the new season, and each of them picked one of the Indians, White Sox and the Tigers, who ended up finishing 3rd, 4th and 5th behind the Royals and Twins.
The Twins fare better in Bleacher Report’s predictions, with the sports website having them finishing third behind the Royals and Tigers with a record of 84-78.
The site says the likes of Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton and Eddie Rosario mean the Twins are “flooded with upside,” but concerns are raised over the pitching rotation, noting the lack of an “ace-like” starter to lead the line.
Another sports website, Athlon, also has the Twins finishing third behind the Royals and Tigers.
