Minnesota Twins
Player Projections: Justin Morneau - 1B
Morneau is having and interesting Spring Training. He is peppering the ball out there, slugging .548 and driving in 11 runs in 42 at-bats, but with just one walk in that span, his OBP sits at just a .279, far below the acceptable norm, especially for a first baseman. In a large ballpark like Target Field, the baseball Gods aren't very forgiving to hitters, so you need to earn your walks while you can. He has been healthy and he has looked to be somewhat close to the guy who won MVP in 2006, but he hasn't played a full season in four years, so the safest bet is to assume he'll miss about 20 or 25 games over the course.
So assuming his strength is at about 90 percent of what it used to be and factoring a 25 game absence for whatever injury he may sustain, here are his projections: .274 BA, 63 runs, 20 HR, 71 RBI, 1 SB in 480 ABs.
A respectable stat-line for a respectable, blue-collar player who knows what it takes to put together a successful season. Injuries will be the only true bump in the road for this former All-Star and he should be a nice addition to a fantasy team when healthy.
What to expect from Gardenhire's Boys in 2013
The Twins are people's consensus to finish last in the AL Central. The Indians made some moves this offseason and seem to have some talent coming into 2013. Kanas City is young and promising, the White Sox are solid and the Tigers aren't going anywhere.
This leaves the lowly Twins here to rot in the cellar this season. They don't have any batter that truly scares pitchers. Joe Mauer had that one season where he hit almost 30 HR, but he is more of a contact hitter, so unless Justin Morneau can be the guy he was in past seasons, the Twins don't have much potency in the middle of that order aside from Josh Willingham who can certainly hit the ball out of the park (35 HR in 2012).
Pitching-wise, it's much of the same, maybe even a worse situation. The Twins have no "Ace" to come off the mound and get them victories when the need them. Their bullpen is solid, but not dominant. I don't see one guy who will give you 200 IP this season, which will tax the bullpen and create a recipe for disaster.
It is important to take into effect how good a team is before drafting players from it. There are only so many Runs, RBI, Wins and Saves to go around on a bad team, especially in a pitcher's park like Target, so just be weary before drafting any Twins this year.
New York Mets
Injury Update: Johan Santana
It hasn't been a promising start to 2013 for Mets southpaw Johan Santana. The former Cy Young winner has been struck by the injury bug far too many times in his Mets career and this one will likely keep him out a little time. The 34-year old Venezuelan has not pitched in a game this spring and with the shoulder still weak, its tough to know when Santana will feel enough strength to move to throwing off a mound.
He tried on March 6th, but suffered a setback which has him where he is now. Unless you are very high on Santana and have faith in him making a recovery back to normal, don't draft him. No one was a bigger fan of this guy than me when he came to New York, but he is old, he is injury prone and his offensive support will be minimal. The factors just don't seem to be there for Santana to have a good year, in fantasy or real life.
What to do with Zach Wheeler?
With Jeremy Hefner and Marcum sidelined and Santana out indefinitely, the cry for Wheeler to the major leagues has been louder than ever, but let's not be too hasty here. The young Mets SP hasn't pitched much this spring after straining an oblique, but he has looked to be progressing at a nice pace, so seeing him in a Mets uniform this season is likely, but it isn't the right move to start the season.
Give the kid some time to get his legs underneath him once he comes back from the oblique. The burden of starting games as soon as he enters the league could be tough, but I fully expect him to fill an important role for the Mets in 2013, so fans it's okay to get a little excited.
As far as drafting Wheeler, in deep mixed leagues or keeper leagues, YES, go for it. NL only leagues will definitely see him off the boards in the later rounds as well. Wheeler has a huge arm and the out pitches to rack up the strikeouts. I can't wait to see what he's made of on the big league diamond.
