Minnesota Twins: Youth a Problem?

With there still being no word on the possible Johan Santana blockbuster, the Twins' 2008 pitching rotation is looking good, but also extremely young.

The anchor of the Twins, besides Santana, is going to be the 2006 phenom Francisco Liriano. At 24 years of age, Liriano has both the potential to be a superstar, and demand a huge contract in the future.

Liriano, in 28 games in 2006, went 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA. He was looking very good. That is, until he got hurt.

Liriano had Tommy John surgery 14 months ago, and has since recovered 100 percent. But don't take it from me. Says Liriano:

"I'm throwing all my pitches now," said Liriano, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "Sliders, changeups, everything -- no problem...I can't say it hurts this much, or I still have this work to do, anything like that. I think I'm ready to go, right now. There is no soreness, no pain, nothing. It's the same every time I throw -- there's nothing for me to say because I can pitch normally."

-taken from ESPN 

Along with Liriano is the 26 year-old Scott Baker. Besides a near perfect game last year, Baker went 9-9 with a 4.26 ERA. Not exactly staggering numbers, but Twins fans hope he can get the job done when called on.

Boof Bonser, who struggled with his weight last year, will be somewhere in the middle of the pitching rotation. Statistically, he had an even worse year than Baker. Bonser threw a 5.10 ERA while going 8-12. Manager Ron Gardenhire put him on a weight training program for this off season. Let's hope it had some effect.

With the loss of Carlos Silva to the Mariners via free agency, and Matt Garza to the Rays via a trade, the Twins will almost be scraping their farm system to get pitchers. Some reports have Nick Blackburn as starting at the fifth spot in the order, but I think that is highly unlikely. My pick would be Kevin Slowey.

The right-handed Slowey pitched a 4.73 ERA while going 4-1 in 2007. Known for his control pitching, Slowey walked a total of 11 batters in 13 games.

Of course, Santana remains the main question mark for the Twins. While it would be great if he could pitch for the Twins in 2008, is GM Bill Smith missing out on the best offer available?

Overall, Minnesota has a very young team. While that's good for the future, will we be able to survive a possible shellacking in 2008?

With the help of our young bats and even younger arms, I think we can.