Greg Miller, Staff Writer

The Minnesota Twins made some big moves this offseason, making a splash in signing former American League (AL) MVP Josh Donaldson and trading away a top prospect to get the rock-solid Kenta Maeda, and it paid off. The Twins went 36-24 in the shortened 2020 season, winning the AL Central and finishing 3^rd in the AL.

In the 2020 playoff format, the Twins play their three game wild card series against the hated Houston Astros who finished the season below .500 (note when writing this the series has yet to start but once published the series will be over, so fingers crossed we win). The Twins have put together a solid squad this year. Here are some reasons why they will (and won’t) win the 3^rd World Series in franchise history. 

Why they will: They aren’t playing the Yankees in the first round. This can help them get a little bit of playoff experience and end their 16 game playoff losing skid. The Twins have a very solid well-rounded team, Maeda, Berrios, Pineda, and Hill can all give quality starts, followed up by a good bullpen, and more than enough solid position players to rotate around during this onslaught of potential postseason games that would be required to make it to the World Series. The Twins are a well-rounded team that can put up big offensive numbers or shut down the opponents’ bats on any given day (also if they did happen to play the Yankees it wouldn’t happen until the ALCS). Why they won’t: Two main things that make me scared as a Twins fan this postseason are injuries and our terrible postseason history (see 16-game playoff losing skid mentioned earlier). Many Twins players saw stints on the injured list this season and the lack of consistency showed as many players’ numbers near the end of the season. Couple that with the fact that every detail is crucial, and this team may buckle under the pressure of the playoffs.