2007 Record: 79-83
Key Additions: Delmon Young, Carlos Gomez, Craig Monroe, Mike Lamb, Adam Everett
Brendan Harris, Livan Hernandez
Key Losses: Johan Santana, Torii Hunter, Carlos Silva, Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett
When small market teams lose their top three starting pitchers, including the best pitcher in baseball, and a franchise outfielder from a team with 79 wins, you’d expect a dramatic drop in wins the next season, right?
Having already lost Torii Hunter via free agency, the Twins were faced with the fact that they would likely not be able to resign Johan Santana after the next season.
They had to decide whether to play the season out and hope for a chance at the playoffs in a tough division or make a trade and build for the near-future.
Management decided to go with the latter, and it seems they have found a way to stay competitive while building a solid foundation for future success.
It would be a stretch to say they will contend with the Indians and Tigers for the division title this season, but the future does look bright for the Twins.
Infield
Catcher Joe Mauer and 2006 MVP Justin Morneau are the lone remaining players who will start from last years’ infield.
Both took steps backward from their 2006 performances and should rebound and provide a kick start to an offense that finished 12th in the league a year ago.
The rest of the infield has been replaced and includes new starters Mike Lamb, Adam Everett, and Brendan Harris. While none of these are going to the All-Star Game, they will be nice replacements.
Mike Lamb takes over for Nick Punto at third base. Punto has been moved into a utility role.
This is an immediate upgrade as Punto was as bad as you can get with a .562 OPS last season.
While Lamb isn't a long term solution, he does have a little pop in his bat and averages about 12 HR and 50 RBI while posting a career .766 OPS.
At shortstop, slick-fielding Adam Everett takes over and should produce similar numbers as Jason Bartlett.
The only difference is that Everett will not steal as many bases, but his better defense should make up the difference.
Brendan Harris will likely take over at second base as he battles young Alexi Casilla for the job.
Harris hit 12 HR and 59 RBI with a .777 OPS in his first full season with Tampa Bay before being traded to Minnesota with Delmon Yong and Jason Pridie.
Casilla is a virtual clone of Luis Castillo with better defense. He will likely force his way into the lineup before too long, though Casilla only posted a .516 OPS in 186 at-bats in his opportunity last season.
Grade: B-
Outfield
Another new acquisition, Delmon Young, will be playing left field. His addition gives the Twins a player that helps ease the loss of Hunter.
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.
His innings pitched and strikeout totals have been decreasing recently while his hits allowed have been increasing. He posted an awful 1.60 WHIP last season.
In the background waiting for a chance to pitch will be prospects Nick Blackburn, Philip Humber, and Kevin Mulvey. Humber is the closest to the Major League level, and will likely be the first called upon when needed.
Grade: C
Bullpen
This core of relievers seems to have been together for a long time now, which is hard to do in baseball these days.
Joe Nathan will still be the dominant closer we all know, along with the sidearming wonder Pat Neshek setting him up.
The middle relievers will consist of Matt Guerrier, Jesse Crain, Juan Rincon, Glen Perkins, and Dennis Reyes.
There is reason to worry about Rincon and Reyes. Rincon has been going the wrong way for about three years now, and Reyes struggles with inconsistent command of the strike zone.
A healthy Jesse Crain will help to steady this as well as an emerging lefty, Glen Perkins.
Guerrier and Neshek were about as good as any pair of setup men in the league a year ago, and there looks to be no reason why they can’t do it again.
Grade: A-
Prediction
The Twins will not be serious contenders for the division title this season with the powerful Indians and Tigers ahead of them, but the Twins are not going to go away.
They have reloaded their pitching and outfield depth with young prospects. The Twins seem to have a knack for finding and developing these prospects into quality players.
The key to any success they will enjoy this season will be square on the shoulders of their young starters.
If they can find a way to keep in games and eat up some innings, this will let their improving offense and great bullpen do their job and win some games.
I just don’t see enough of it happening this year though. With youth comes inconsistency and there will be a lot of adjustments this season.
Twins fans shouldn’t have to wait long though; they will be back in contention very soon.
Projected 2008 Record: 80-82, Third Place
We'd like to send you the most entertaining Minnesota Twins articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
5 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete