MLB Analysis: Lessons Learned from the 2007 Minnesota Twins

Catchers get hurt at rates far exceeding those of other position players.  It’s not a new lesson; Bill James noted it over 20 years ago.

That truth was pounded home for Twins fans this year when Joe Mauer, Mike Redmond, and Jose Morales all wound up on the shelf before the season came to a close.

Some players are so important offensively that their absences from the lineup will cause tremendous losses in run production. Those players shouldn’t catch.

Joe Mauer is one of those players. Joe Mauer shouldn’t be catching for the Twins.

 

The Law of Supply and Demand Is a Law

The Twins had a shortage of hitting this year but a surplus of pitching.  The surplus of pitching could have easily been used to address the shortage of hitting on the open market.

But Terry Ryan never pulled the trigger.

Ryan is gone now, replaced by Bill Smith.  I hope Smith has a basic understanding of economic principles and utilizes them to the Twins' advantage.

There's a shortage of good arms on the market right now, and it would only take a few above-average bats to put the Twins in the 2008 AL Central race.

Treat the DH Position as a Roster Spot

There are two schools of thought when it comes to the designated hitter.

The traditional view holds that you find a specialized designated hitter to fill the role—think Edgar Martinez or David Ortiz.

Lately, it's become fashionable to not use a roster spot on a DH, but rather to use the DH as a way to give a day off to whichever regular starter might need it.

Both views have merit. If you don’t carry a dedicated DH, you can have an extra position player or pitcher on the roster. But watching the Twins' struggles at DH this season convinced me the classic approach is the way to go.

Look at the 2007 Boston Red Sox.

During the World Series, there was constant discussion about what the Sox were going to do with David Ortiz when the games moved to Colorado. Boston’s problem was that they had more good hitters than they had spots to play them—but no one mentioned the fact that the Rockies slotted their DH in the No. 9 spot in the order in the first two games.

The Red Sox had the better problem. In the American League, the DH needs to be taken seriously, because it does make a difference.

One team, one season, and more lessons learned than could be fit into a single column.

I hope to learn more from other Bleacher Report members in the days and weeks to come.

After all, there is no offseason for sports pundits.

 

*Changed to address computational error by author

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