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The surprise team of 2019 will be…the Minnesota Twins?

By Bill Felber

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - OCTOBER 25: (L-R) Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey, Manager Rocco Baldelli and General Manager Thad Levine of the Minnesota Twins pose for a photo as Baldelli is introduced at a press conference at Target Field on October 25, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - OCTOBER 25: (L-R) Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey, Manager Rocco Baldelli and General Manager Thad Levine of the Minnesota Twins pose for a photo as Baldelli is introduced at a press conference at Target Field on October 25, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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Minnesota Twins
BALTIMORE, MD- MAY 24: Eddie Rossario #20, Byron Buxxton #25 and Max Keppler #26 celebrate against the Baltimore Orioles on May 24, 2017 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland. The Twins defeated the Orioles 4-3. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images) /

With a roster primed to rebound statistically and smart offseason signings, the Minnesota Twins could be the surprise team of 2019.

Looking for a surprise team for 2019? Don’t look past the Minnesota Twins, perhaps the best-positioned team to make an unexpected move.

True, the Twins won only 78 games in 2018, finishing 13 games behind the division champion Indians and 19 games out of the wild card chase.

True, too, that the team has since undergone a leadership shift headlined by the retirement of its on-field leader, Joe Mauer and the ouster of manager Paul Molitor after four seasons. Having led the Twins to a 304-343 record and one post-season wild card loss, Molitor was replaced by freshman manager Rocco Baldelli.

At age 37, Baldelli will be the youngest manager in the major leagues, although that’s not the best reason to set aside a quid or two in their name. Rather, the Minnesota Twins will enter the 2019 season with an unusual mixture of elements indicative of a team staring right at a major rebound season.

Admittedly, that’s not the conventional wisdom. In Las Vegas, the winter book lists the Twins at 35-to-1 to win the American League pennant, making them only the ninth favorite of the 15 teams. Even the Angels and White Sox, who won just 80 and 62 games respectively last season, are better bets in Vegas.

Given the crapshoot format of the MLB post-season, where an excellent team suffering through a bad week can be ousted by an inferior club, predicting a pennant is asking a lot of any team. But predicting a post-season spot for the Twins? That’s totally foreseeable. All you have to do is look at the clues.

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