Projecting the 2012 Twins Roster

Its helpful when talking about the Twins off-season to have a starting point. What would the Twins roster look like if everyone was healthy and they made no moves in the off-season? Here is a projection:

Batting order:
8 - Span
4 - Casilla
2- Mauer
3 - Morneau
5 - Valencia
6 - Plouffe
9 - Tosoni
DH - Hughes
7 - Revere

The order of Valencia, Plouffe, Tosoni and Hughes is probably arguable. Its also possible Revere and Casilla would flip spots.

Bench:
C - Butera
Utility - Nishioka, Tolbert
OF - Repko

Rotation:
Pavano
Baker
Liriano
Slowey
Duensing

Bullpen:
Perkins
Swarzak
Burnett
Blackburn
Mijares
Dumatrait
Hoey

You could easily flip Duensing and Blackburn or Swarzak between the rotation and the bullpen. I think players with major league experience would have priority, but there are also a few players that I am projecting at AAA. but would have a chance to take a spot in spring training.

AAA Reserves:
Players:
Rivera, Parmelee, Dinkelman, Benson

Pitchers:
Waldrop, Oliveros, Diamond, Hendricks, Slama, Gutierrez, Guerra

Of course, this isn't how the lineup will really look. It assumes that everyone eligible is offered arbitration and the Twins make no trades and sign none of their own free agents. But I think it gives a clearer idea of where the Twins are starting from.

My take is after the first four batters, the lineup is very weak. The bench lacks any offense. The starting rotation is mostly question marks. And the bullpen may be less question marks than bad answers. As it stands, this is not a very good team and it isn't one or two players away from becoming one. Not only do the Twins need to stay healthy, but they need some of their young players to really step up their games.