MLB 2013 Predictions Part 3

So hello again, a couple of days ago, I blogged on the Indians and Royals, and now to finalize the AL Central, with the Minnesota Twins, and begin the AL West with the team coming into the American League, the Houston Astros.  As I previously said, both the Indians and Royals are going to be better, but I am not sold that this cold streak that the Twins have been on lately is going to continue for much longer.  The Houston Astros sadly are probably going to continue to be bottom feeders, because they're going into a tougher division then they had been in, and while they have lots of talent, they don't have enough just yet to pull themselves out of the basement of MLB. So here it is, my blog regarding the Minnesota Twins and the Houston Astros, all comments are welcome on my twitter @armyag3.

Minnesota Twins:

2012 record: 66-96

Manager: Ron Gardenhire(not Billy from Little Big League?) how does he still have a job?

Projected Starting Pitchers: Scott Diamond, Kevin Correia, Vance Worley, Liam Hendriks, Mike Pelfrey

Projected Starting Fielders: C Joe Mauer, 1B Justin Morneau, 2B Jamey Carroll, SS Pedro Florimon, 3B Trevor Plouffe, LF Josh Willingham, CF Darrin Mastroianni, RF Chris Parmelee, DH Ryan Doumit(Where's Kirby Puckett?)

2012 recap: Once again, they underachieved, due in no small part to devastating injuries, but how Ron Gardenhire still has his job is a mystery to me after so many subpar years lately. The fact is that they have underachieved both due to injuries and better competition in division for them, but they should eventually pull themselves out of this funk. Their lineup has been hit by devastating injuries to both Morneau and Mauer in recent years, and for their sake, I hope they get better soon, as much as I hated this team.

2013 Outlook: As I've said, this team cannot stay this bad as long as they have in recent years, their system is too good to have this continue. While I cannot see them making the playoffs yet this year, they're not going to threaten losing 100 games barring massive injury problems this year again.  Ron Gardenhire has to do something soon, even though he does have some friends in both ownership and the front office, I can't see him keeping his job much longer with more losing seasons. This team leaves me in a conundrum however, they'll be better, but so will the rest of the division, so its going to be tough to get out of the cellar.

2013 Projected Wins: 70, its a bit of a stretch with the division, but I could see it or more.

Houston Astros:

2012 Record: 55-107

Manager: Bo Porter

Projected Starting Pitchers: Lucas Harrell, Bud Norris, Jordan Lyles, Phillip Humber, Jarred Cosart

Projected Starting Fielders: C Jason Castro, 1B Brett Wallace, 2B Jose Altuve, SS Tyler Greene, 3B Matt Dominguez, LF J D Martinez, CF Justin Maxwell, RF Fernando Martinez, DH Carlos Pena(Only one question comes to mind from these starters....who the hell are these guys?)

2012 Review: So I'm not going to lie, but I really have no clue about this team, other than the obvious parts of this team, they have been the worst team in baseball for a few years. Last year they had the first overall draft pick in the MLB draft, and because of the lack of coverage of college baseball or high school baseball, I have no idea of who the guy was. I know this, he was a shortstop, and he came out of high school. Last year was another bad year for them, and it cost their manager their job yet again, something that has been happening quite often since they lost the 2005 world series to the White Sox. 

2013 Outlook: As I said, I really have no clue about this team, or quite frankly who any of their players are with the exception of Humber, Norris, and Pena, oh and I've heard of Altuve.  Now they're moving into the stacked AL West, which doesn't lend itself to much confidence in them getting better this year or for a few years. This move was one of those provisions that Bud Selig put in when their new owner officially purchased the team before last year, that they move into the AL. This team, is made up of a few nice pieces but I just can't see much success from them at this point in time, even with the addition of Phillip Humber, who threw a perfect game last year for the White Sox. Just a side note, Craig Biggio, who was up for the HOF in his first year this year, really should've been in the HOF this year, but thats another topic for another day.

2013 Predicted wins: 50, I could also see them getting closer to only winning 40 with the division they're in. 

The only two guys I know that I mentioned in this post, Phillip Humber, Craig Biggio