Kyle Bishop's 2017 Minnesota Twins team preview. His fantasy baseball draft strategy, advice and outlook for their pitchers, hitters, prospects and rookies.

Welcome back to RotoBaller's 2017 team preview series! As part of RotoBaller's ongoing effort to help you win your leagues, we're previewing all 30 MLB teams. We're analyzing all 30 teams' offseason moves, hitters, pitchers, and prospects as the new season approaches.

Today, we'll discuss the 2017 Minnesota Twins Team Outlook, and preview their potential fantasy baseball contributions.

Editor's note: for even more draft prep, visit our awesome 2017 fantasy baseball rankings dashboard. It has lots of in-depth staff rankings and draft strategy columns. You will find tiered rankings for every position, 2017 impact rookie rankings, AL/NL only league ranks and lots more. Bookmark the page, and win your drafts.

Offseason Moves

The Twins didn’t do much over the winter. Early in the offseason, they released third baseman Trevor Plouffe and signed Jason Castro to replace Kurt Suzuki at catcher. Castro is an excellent defensive backstop, but doesn’t hit enough to be worthy of fantasy consideration in most leagues. More recently, the team made the surprising decision to designate Byung Ho Park for assignment. The Korean import’s first season in MLB was an injury-marred disappointment, but he did flash impressive power and his Statcast data was encouraging.

Minnesota’s offseason was more notable for what they didn’t do – namely, trading Brian Dozier. The Dodgers offered top pitching prospect Jose De Leon, but balked when the Twins asked for more and ultimately dealt De Leon for Logan Forsythe. Time will tell, but it sure feels like a missed opportunity to cash in on Dozier at peak value.

Hitting Overview 

Dozier, of course, struggled early before playing out of his mind in the second half. He wound up finishing the season with 42 home runs, nearly as many as he’d hit in the previous two seasons combined. Dozier also hit .268, easily a career best. While there is evidence of a change in approach (increased flyball and hard contact rates), it’s tough to expect a repeat. Dozier’s still a good bet for 25-30 homers, 15-20 steals, and 100 runs, but his current ADP (34) seems a bit rich. The rest of the infield can be ignored in most leagues with the exception of Miguel Sano. Sano’s sophomore season was a disappointment to fantasy owners who got a bit carried away with expectant values (yours truly included), yet he still showcased the power, patience, and high-quality contact that made him so enticing. He’ll need to cut down on the strikeouts, but he’s still just 23 and the talent is undeniable.

In the outfield, it’s a similar story for Byron Buxton. The former consensus top prospect hasn’t had much success in his first couple of cracks at the big leagues, thanks largely to issues making contact. A big September has fantasy owners betting on his pedigree again this year, though they would do well to remember that he was still piling up whiffs despite the improved results. Buxton has an intriguing blend of power and speed, but isn’t likely to hit for average. While Max Kepler showed some potential as a rookie, he tanked down the stretch and his 233 ADP reflects that.

Pitching Overview

The Twins’ pitching staff ranked among the worst in baseball last year, and they’re returning pretty much the same group. As such, there’s little in the way of fantasy value to be found. Veteran Ervin Santana is the de facto ace, and merely a serviceable back-end option for your fake baseball team. Top prospect Jose Berrios was truly awful as a rookie, but he’s only 22 and still carries plenty of upside. The rest of the rotation - Hector Santiago, Kyle Gibson, Tyler Duffey and (once healthy) Phil Hughes – are strictly streamers in all but the deepest leagues.

In the bullpen, Glen Perkins is still recovering from the shoulder injury that robbed him of last season. He was a reliable option prior to that, and the Twins simply don’t have much else in terms of quality relievers. If Perkins opens the year on the disabled list, Brandon Kintzler should have the inside track on the closer role. He was serviceable there last season, though his lack of strikeouts makes him a middling fantasy asset. Conversely, you’ll get plenty of whiffs from Trevor May, but it’s anyone’s guess as to whether he’ll produce anything else of value.

Prospects Overview

Fortunately for Minnesota, there may be some help on the way for the pitching staff. Stephen Gonsalves and Adalberto Mejia look like serviceable mid-rotation arms and should be ready to debut in 2017. J.T. Chargois has a big fastball and could force his way into the closer mix if any of his secondary offerings improve. On the hitting side, the best prospect is shortstop Nick Gordon, who hasn’t yet played above High-A. He’s unlikely to contribute at the MLB level until next season.

Conclusion

The Twins lost 103 games a year ago. No other team had more than 94 losses. So yeah, they’re bad. They do at least have a few intriguing young players already in the majors or knocking on the door. As you’d expect for a team that will be drafting first overall this summer, though, fantasy owners can largely ignore Minnesota this year.