He is an immense talent that still needs to develop some plate discipline, but still could put up Hunter-type numbers beginning this season. He hit 13 HR and 93 RBI with a .723 OPS last season as a rookie.
The hot competition in Twins camp this spring is to see who will start opening day in center field for the departed Hunter.
Young prospects Denard Span, Jason Pridie, and newly acquired Carlos Gomez are battling for the spot.
Gomez is the only of the three with any major league experience, playing in 58 games with the Mets last season. Gomez should earn the job, as the others have seemed to become stuck in AAA.
Look for more of the same from right fielder Michael Cuddyer this season.
He did slip some in power numbers from his 2006 totals, but his career slugging percentage is closer to last year's than 2006's, so expect about 20 home runs and 85 RBI.
His average will likely stay similar. His strikeout-to-walk is improving. He struck out 23 less times while walking one extra time over 2006.
Jason Kubel is also back and looks to build off of his strong second half performance as the teams DH.
He hit 13 HR and 65 RBI while posting a .786 OPS. The last piece of the outfield is Craig Monroe. Don’t look for much from him as his lack of plate discipline is catching up to him, causing his batting average and power numbers to suffer.
Grade: C
Starting Pitching
The amount of success the Twins will enjoy this season really lies on the shoulders of a young pitching staff.
A key to the Twins making all of these moves this winter was knowing they would be welcoming back Francisco Liriano from Tommy John surgery.
They sat him down last year after his amazing rookie campaign of 2006 when he finished 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA and 1.00 WHIP.
You could argue that Liriano was even better than Santana that season. Also, with the improving success rate of pitchers recovering from Tommy John surgery, Liriano should fill in quite well for the departed star.
Other starters filling out the rotation will be Scott Baker, Boof Bonser, Kevin Slowey, and recently-signed Livan Hernandez.
Baker and Slowey each are control-minded pitchers in the mold of a Brad Radke.
Each should have their shot at starting the season in the rotation with potential to finish the season. It remains to be seen if they will remain starters because they give up lots of hits.
Boof Bonser will be another young anchor to the rotation in 2007.
He will be looking to build on a disappointing sophomore campaign that saw him finish 8-12 with a 5.10 ERA and 1.53 WHIP.
At 26, he still shows promise and will probably eat up a lot of innings this season.
Rounding out the rotation will be veteran right-hander Livan Hernadez. He was signed to a one-year contract to help give some stability to the rotation.
He will be looked upon to give guidance and good numbers. Don’t expect much more from him than being a five-starter.
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