2021 Twins/MLB Predictions

First of all, I'm just so damn happy we get a full season this year. While it's possible COVID stuff could still interfere with some games here and there, there is no way it can get pervasive enough again to cancel the season. We get April, May, June and full July baseball this year!

The Twins look for a 3rd straight division title, which they last did from 2002-2004. That period is also the last time they won a playoff series, or even a playoff game. Look, the ONLY way you can say the 2021 Twins are a success is if they end this preposterous 18 game losing streak. Anything short of that is an unmitigated failure. This will not change.

So can this team do it? They should have a chance. This is certainly a team that should be firmly in the mix for the playoffs. The division seems to be a 2 team race between the Twins and White Sox. The American League overall looks pretty weak, so a wild card would certainly be in play.

The Twins pitching should at worst be solid and at best could be great. Maeda, Berrios and Pineda is a great top 3. Happ and Shoemaker have the chance to be excellent 4 and 5 guys, with an improving Dobnak waiting in the wings.

The bullpen had a fair amount of turnover, but that's a good thing. Many a Twins team has counted on relievers to repeat good seasons only to get burned by an inevitable regression. It appears they aren't going to just hand the closer job to Taylor Rogers again no questions asked. It will be more of a committee thing.

I do have some concerns about the lineup, and not just because of a deadened ball taking away some of their power. They hit horribly all spring.

I know the plan to move on from Eddie Rosario has already backfired. They let him go assuming they had Alex Kiriloff or Brent Rooker ready to take over an OF spot. But Kiriloff had a terrible spring and Rooker didn't make the team either. Instead LF will, at least for a while, be some combo of Jake Cave, journeyman Kyle Garlick (who to be sure earned his way on), or playing either Arraez or future MVP Willians Astudillo out of position.

As always the Twins will count on a full season of healthy Buxton. But we know how that goes. They also really need Josh Donaldson to stay healthy, cause his 2020 here was a complete bust.

They need some level of bounceback from Garver, Polanco and Kepler, none of whom performed up to standards last year.

Nelson Cruz will mash,  because that's what Nelson Cruz does. But how long can the Twins bank on a guy almost as old as me to carry the lineup?

The guess here is that the Twins pitching delivers, the lineup performs a little better than last year, and they win somewhere in the low 90s, which is enough to eek out another division title over a White Sox team that's a bit overhyped.

So that means playoffs. Against who? Well, the Yankees figure to have the AL's top record, so we get the west champ. My guess is Houston overtakes the A's who lost a lot of guys. 

So...it will either then be 21 straight playoff losses or the streak ends and we can all go about our lives.

But remember, either the streak ends or the season is a FAILURE.

Full MLB picks:

AL division champs: Yankees, Astros, Twins.

Wild cards: Rays, Angels

NL division champs: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers.

Wild cards: Padres, Nationals

World Series: Look, I'm always going to just go with the default pick of the Yankees. We have been damn lucky to go 11 seasons without them winning it all in a sport where they get every advantage. I think they will face the Braves, who seem destined for another long run of dominance.