2015 Twins

[Nationals]

After a successful 2014 in which the northerners stayed in contention up to the last week of the year (take that, Mr. Hamlin, for your prediction that we'd be a bottom-10 team), the team is in prime position to improve upon its success in 2015, riding a rotation that surely will provoke envy..

Lineup

C - Jason Castro (.223/.288/.367; 1.4 WAR)
1B - Jon Singleton (.168/.287/.336, -1.3 WAR)
2B - Brian Dozier (.239/.345/.409, 4.2 WAR)
SS - Didi Gregorius (.220/.288/.366, .4 WAR)
3B - Conor Gillaspie (.285/.340/.423, 1.4 WAR)
RF - Jorge Soler (.329/.363/.658, .8 WAR in 80 MLB at bats, .340/.432/.700 minors)
CF - Austin Jackson (.261/.313/.355, 1.2 WAR)
LF - Joc Pederson (.303/.435/.582 at AAA)
DH - Jake Lamb (.327/.407/.566 in the minors)

Bench

C - Ryan Hanigan
1B/OF - Garrett Jones
OF - Jonny Gomes
IF - Logan Forsythe

In a few sentences, the offense looks rather underwhelming. I feel that the team is pretty well set at 2B, 3B, and in the OF corners and Castro/Jackson shouldn't have projections that are all that bad. But man, Singleton had his struggles this year coming up...he should be fine, long-term but next year won't be all that pretty.

Rotation

Madison Bumgarner (2.98 ERA, 5.09 K:BB, 3.6 WAR)
Garrett Richards (2.61 ERA, 3.22 K:BB, 4.1 WAR)
Julio Teheran (2.88 ERA, 3.75 K:BB, 3.2 WAR)
Michael Wacha (3.18 ERA, 3.00 K:BB, 1.7 WAR)
Jason Hammel (3.54 ERA, 3.48 K:BB, 1.5 WAR)

Also receiving consideration:
Kyle Gibson (3.76 FIP, 1.87 K:BB, 2.5 WAR)
Matt Harrison (really did not play, health)
Noah Syndergaard (AAA-3.70 FIP, 3.37 K:BB)
Daniel Norris (minors-2.53 ERA, 3.79 K:BB)
Nick Kingham (minors-3.34 ERA, 2.25 K:BB)
Matt Barnes (minors-3.95 ERA, 2.24 K:BB)

Bullpen

Cl - Kenley Jansen
LHP - Brian Duensing
LHP - Jerry Blevins
RHP - Tim Stauffer
RHP - Brandon Gomes
RHP - Josh Kinney
Long relievers from the "other starters"

In brief, I'll put this rotation up against most any other rotation in the league. It's young, talented, and it has a ton of depth. Richards shouldn't miss more than a month and to get a full season out of Wacha would be fantastic (hell, perhaps this year would have turned out differently...but that's neither here nor there). Jansen anchoring the bullpen is great, though it's still a rather non-descript assortment of arms, though the bullpen has been, historically, an easy area to fill.