Minnesota Twins: Breaking Down the 2022 AL Central Rivals-Kansas City

The Minnesota Twins enter 2022, and the team is looking to compete in a much-improved American League Central. The team has made some big moves in the offseason, but the other teams in their division did as well.

To get ready for the season, we’re taking a look around at the other division rivals; their lineups, their rotations, bullpens and their offseasons. To do this, I enlisted the help of the other FanSided network experts to help break down their team. To start out, I talked to Mike Gillespie from Kings of Kauffman about the Kansas City Royals.

We’re breaking down the Minnesota Twins American League Central rivals, starting with the Kansas City Royals.

The Kansas City Royals finished last year fourth in the division, and raised their win percentage by 14%. They’ve been in a very long rebuild for several years, but the team seems to be consistently improving year after year. In 2022, they made several moves to help continue that process, so we’ll start off the breakdown off their offseason.

Minnesota Twins: AL Central Rival Important Offseason Moves

Key Kansas City Royals Additions: RP Amir Garrett, RP Taylor Clarke, SP Zack Greinke

Key Kansas City Royals Departures: SP Mike Minor, INF Hanser Alberto, RP Greg Holland, RP Wade Davis

For the rebuilding Kansas City Royals, most of their key moves weren’t all that big of a deal. The team is going to see at least of six of their Top 10 prospects and several more of their Top 30 Prospects this season, so it’s not a surprise that they didn’t make any major moves.

Trading Minor for Garrett adds a potential stud to the bullpen, and they replaced Minor in the rotation with Zack Greinke. Greinke, who started his career in Kansas City, is returning to a place he’s comfortable. Taylor Clarke is a solid option for the bullpen depth.

As far as departures go, Minor, Alberto, Holland, and Davis are far past their prime and all four didn’t have good years in 2021. Here’s how Mike Gillespie felt about the offseason:

Royals fans always want big moves but seldom get them. Signing Zack Greinke made this winter a bit different and is an excellent move. His tank clearly isn’t empty and he’ll be a great mentor for the team’s young starters, who definitely need good mentoring. And bringing him back certainly won’t hurt attendance. KC signed several relievers to minor league deals, but the best bullpen move was trading for Amir Garrett. Picking up Taylor Clarke, who’s having a good spring, may work out well.

Minnesota Twins: AL Central Rival Projected Lineup

• C: Salvador Perez
• 1B: Carlos Santana
• 2B: Nicky Lopez
• SS: Adalberto Mondesi
• 3B: Bobby Witt Jr.
• LF: Andrew Benintendi
• CF: Michael A. Taylor
• RF: Whit Merrifield
• DH: Hunter Dozier

What this offense lacks in pop, it makes up for in defense. Bobby Witt Jr., Michael A. Taylor, Adalberto Mondesi, Whit Merrifield, and Nicky Lopez are all very strong defenders at their position, and even Salvador Perez is still a solid backstop.

There are still some holes, with Dozier, Taylor, Lopez all struggling with their hitting and the bench being desperately thin. Here’s Gillespie’s thoughts on the lineup:

This club is a work in progress, but its biggest strength may be its defense up the middle. The presence of Gold Glover Michael A. Taylor in center speaks for itself and Salvador Perez is solid behind the plate. The plan is to return Adalberto Mondesi to shortstop and Nicky Lopez to second base where both are stellar fielders who have a lot of Gold Glove potential. But even if Mondesi can’t stay in the lineup, moving Lopez to short and Whit Merrifield from right won’t hurt the defense a bit.

Witt Jr. is the Number 2 prospect in all of baseball, and to see him make the Opening Day roster is awesome. For the Royals, the best part of the lineup may still be coming, with top prospects M.J. Melendez, Nick Pratto, and Kyle Isbel all scheduled to arrive soon.

Gillespie is excited about Witt too: “Bobby Witt Jr. will be in KC Opening Day. What more can we say? (Also look for first baseman Nick Pratto and catcher MJ Melendez to make their debuts sometime this season).”

Minnesota Twins: AL Central Rival 2022 Predictions

Unlike several of the other Minnesota Twins’ rivals, the Kansas City Royals have several Top Prospects that are coming up the pipeline. The team needs that group, Witt especially, to be ready to succeed right away for this team to have a strong year. Mike Gillespie agrees:

The best case for the Royals is to have a season like 2013, when they broke out, sniffed a playoff spot until late in the season, and returned to winning. It will take a lot but could happen if everything falls into place–the rotation is too shaky to make a .500 season a lock.

Unfortunately, there’s a whole lot more room for thing to go wrong. If there are any injuries, there’s no depth on the team. If the prospects aren’t ready and disappoint early, the team’s lineup will struggle. If the young arms don’t perform to their potential either, this team could drop 100+ games. That’s the worst case. Here’s Gillespie’s more realistic prediction:

The Royals are close, but it will take a lot of things to go right for a plus-.500 season. Fourth in the Central is definitely realistic but if the starters and Witt come through, Perez comes anywhere close to what he did last season, Mondesi stays healthy, Lopez proves his .300 hitting last year wasn’t a fluke, and Scott Barlow and Josh Staumont hold down the back end of the bullpen like they did in 2021, third isn’t out of the question, and a sneak into second isn’t impossible.

2022 is a key year in the Kansas City Royals’ rebuild, and it’ll be interesting to see how the team does this year. They won’t compete for the division crown, but this team should be a whole lot better.