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World Series 2019: What the Minnesota Twins can learn from the Nationals and Astros

By Chris Schad

ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - OCTOBER 12: Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals prepares to deliver a pitch during the third inning of game two of the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on October 12, 2019 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - OCTOBER 12: Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals prepares to deliver a pitch during the third inning of game two of the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on October 12, 2019 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 15: Gerrit Cole #45 of the Houston Astros celebrates retiring the side during the sixth inning against the New York Yankees in game three of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 15, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 15: Gerrit Cole #45 of the Houston Astros celebrates retiring the side during the sixth inning against the New York Yankees in game three of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 15, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Invest in your starting rotation

It used to be that in order to win a World Series title, you better come ready with a starting rotation that’s three or four pitchers deep to even get out of the first round. However, teams seemed to get away from that after the success of the 2015 Kansas City Royals and 2018 Milwaukee Brewers, who both used their bullpens to make deep runs and in the case of the Royals, a World Series championship.

While it’s not a new phenomenon, starting pitching made a comeback in this year’s playoffs with the Astros and Nationals taking center stage.

The Nationals took charge of their starting rotation in 2015 as they signed Max Scherzer to a seven-year, $210 million deal in free agency. Washington would double down the following year by signing Stephen Strasburg to a seven-year, $175 million contract extension and finished things off with a six-year, $140 million contract to Patrick Corbin last offseason.

Meanwhile, the Astros haven’t spent the same amount of money, but have been shrewd plugging big names into their rotation. Houston acquired Justin Verlander for three prospects (Franklin Perez, Daz Cameron and Jake Rogers) in August of 2017 during their push to their first title. The following offseason, the Astros added Gerrit Cole for Joe Musgrove, Colin Moran, Michael Feliz and Jason Martin.

To cap things off, Houston went all in at this year’s trade deadline by trading three of their top five prospects to acquire Zack Greinke. The result has been a dominant rotation that might lose Cole this offseason, but is still sustainable with Verlander and Greinke signed through 2021.

Next. Why the Twins should trade Eddie Rosario. dark

As you will note, neither of these teams are considered big market teams, but still shelled out top dollar and top prospects to upgrade their pitching staff. This kind of aggressiveness has been missing from the Twins over the years and while dealing Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff may be unwise, using other top prospects (or cash) to get a deal done can pay off in the end.

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