Ranking Minnesota Twins position groups heading into 2023 based on projected WAR

3. Centerfield - Projected WAR: 4.8

Top Player: Byron Buxton (3.4 WAR)

Minnesota's two best players are Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton, and it's not particularly close. So it comes as no surprise that centerfield is this critical to the team's success or that Buxton largely accounts for why it ranks so high.

Like Correa, Buxton makes up almost all of the projected WAR in center. However, unlike Correa there's some serious support behind Buxton that could help offset any time he neds up missing this year.

Trading for Michael A. Taylor did a few things for the Twins, not the least of which was add his 1.1 WAR to the outfield platoon. Taylor is one of the best defensive centerfielders in baseball, and paired with Buxton creates an insane duo that could end up being one of the best in the league in the field.

In fact, it's hard to find a better duo than Buxton-Taylor elsewhere on the Twins depth chart.

4. Second Base - Projected WAR: 3.8

Best Player: Jorge Polanco (3.2 WAR)

Jorge Polanco leads the charge at second, accounting for the majority of projected WAR in the position group. Don't read too much into that, though, as the addition of Donovan Solano is a sneaky good signing by the Twins that will pay off more than his 0.3 WAR implies.

One area where Solano will add immense value is against left-handed pitching. As good as Polanco is everywhere else, he's pretty rough against lefties which is going to be where Solano steps in. Doing so will allow Polanco to get some days off he otherwise might not have, and gives the Twins more options for strategizing against lefties and keeping guys like Polano on the bench to factor in as a pinch hitter once opponents start dipping into their bullpens.

That's not reflected in his indiviual WAR, but it's something resting inside the numbers that boosts Solano's value to the position group.