MLB Analysis: Lessons Learned from the 2007 Minnesota Twins

Every year, each MLB team offers fans numerous opportunities to learn more about the game of baseball.

I’ll be focusing on the Twins, but budding analysts will find plenty of lessons wherever they look.

My proposal to members of the Bleacher Report MLB Community: Study your own favorite teams, and share the results on the network.

I'll kick things off with the view from the Twin Cities...

One Hitter Does Matter

The Minnesota Twins were a few games over .500 before the trading deadline this year.

Their record wasn’t anything impressive, but there was plenty of season yet to play.  Instead of looking to upgrade the offense, though, GM Terry Ryan traded Luis Castillo to the Mets for a couple of minor leaguers.

Big mistake.

Castillo was the leadoff man for the Twins. While he wasn’t a great hitter, he had good on-base numbers and ran well.

The Twins offense was far from robust, and Castillo was one of the only reliable producers on the club. After the Twins traded Castillo, the team went into a tailspin and ended the season below .500.

All told, the move probably cost the Twins 5 wins*.

Ryan should have learned his lesson here six years ago. In 2001, the Twins were in the middle of a battle for the division title despite a questionable offense. To address injuries on the pitching staff, Ryan traded away Matt Lawton, the club's top on-base guy, for a veteran hurler.

The Twins played well below the .500 mark for the rest of the season.

It’s clear to me that one hitter does matter. If you have a team struggling to score runs, the last thing you want to do is dismantle the parts of the offense that work.

The Twins lineup is never going to be so solid that it can afford the loss of any key piece. Small market rosters are inherently fragile—which means special care needs to be taken in finding and keeping talented hitters.

Guys in the Bullpen Need Protection Too

Starting pitchers are huge investments—hence pitch counts for starters to protect their arms.

But protecting bullpen arms is no less important.

Pat Neshek nearly made the All-Star Game this year before being shut down for the last month of season with arm problems. While it’s impossible to tell what exactly caused the problems, it’s clear to me Neshek was overused.

Neshek made a number of appearances in which the game had already been more or less decided. Good relief pitchers should only be used when the game is on the line.

The arm problems may have still appeared even if Neshek were used properly—but at least the Twins could have gotten more high-leverage innings out of him.

Catchers Get Hurt

All players get hurt. Some players get hurt more often than others.

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