Picking Up the Pieces: Can the Twins' Bullpen Return to Dominance in 2009?

As the Twins entered the stretch run of last season, they found themselves locked in one of the tightest races in baseball with the Chicago White Sox.

The starting rotation had solidified, the offense was keeping the Twins in most of their games, but a weakness emerged in an unexpected place: the bullpen.

The year before, the Twins had one of the most dominant bullpens in either league, shutting opponents down after the seventh inning. The story of 2008, however, was fatigue.

The loss of Pat Neshek before the season got going put the Twins at a disadvantage right from the start.Ron Gardenhire's decision to keep his young staff on a strict pitch limit put an even larger burden on the relievers, and the clear difference between those who could help the team and those who were basically dead weight put that increased burden on even fewer shoulders.

Matt Guerrier, one of the Twins' most consistent pitchers in 2007, broke down as the season progressed. He was used in almost half of the Twins games and as the season wore on, he went from go-to man to pitcher of last resort.

Juan Rincon was so bad, the Twins gave him his walking papers in early June. Had Craig Breslow, whom the Twins picked up to replace Rincon, not been such a stellar stop-gap, the bullpen problems would have gone from bad to very bad.

Jesse Crain was less than a year removed from major shoulder surgery, Boof Bonser didn't handle his demotion from the starting rotation well at all, Eddie Guardado returned to the Twins for the first time since 2003 but managed to give up six runs in seven innings.

The lone bright spot in the morass of mediocrity was Joe Nathan. Nathan is one of the most consistent relievers in baseball, and arguably the best closer.

He may not have the save numbers of Francisco Rodriguez or Mariano Rivera, but Nathan's low ERA, BAA, and WHIP made nearly any lead the Twins gave him good enough.

Nathan will reprise his roll as the Twins stopper after he closes games for Team USA in the World baseball Classic. There's no reason to believe he'll regress much from last year; all-star form isn't too much to expect from such a dominant pitcher.

The eighth-inning bridge was the subject of nearly as much debate as the third-base vacancy this offseason. The Twins nearly brought in Eric Gagne to fill that role, but chose instead to pick up Luis Ayala for one-third the cost.

Ayala struggled mightily last season, though he was fighting a hamstring injury for large parts of the season. Before last year, Ayala never posted an ERA+ lower than 132. So if last year was an injury-induced aberration, the Twins may have just gotten very solid production for next to nothing.

Jesse Crain should be better than he was last year, now that he is one more year removed from his injury; Craig Breslow is due for a regression, but that doesn't mean he won't be effective.

Jose Mijares will likely make the team out of spring training and will be a player to watch. His September call-up portended great success going forward, but it was a small sample size.

Nevertheless, his obvious talent could be a large part of the solution the Twins needed last year. Having extra arms to slot in when players like Crain and Guerrier are getting overworked.

Mijares' biggest weakness right now is his rather explosive temper, which caused him to be dismissed from his winter league team. The Twins don't tolerate immaturity well, and would have no hesitation in sending Mijares back to AA or AAA.

Long relief will be a bit of a trick this season. The Twins will turn to Boof Bonser or Philip Humber to tie down that role, with the other likely being traded during spring training since both are out of options.

There is no reason to believe that Matt Guerrier will struggle again this year. The Twins would be smart to monitor his workload carefully, but if they can keep him away from the 76 appearances he had last year, Guerrier should return to form.

The Twins do have a pitching depth in the minor leagues, which may push Glen Perkins to the bullpen if he struggles this season the way Boof Bonser did last year.

Kevin Mulvey and Anthony Swarzak both had strong ends to last season and could be read for a big league test early in this season depending on how hard they worked this offseason.

While I don't see the bullpen being as imposing as it was in 2006, I see plenty of improvement. Only Craig Breslow pitched out of his depth last year, and the Twins can make up any downturn he shows by running Mijares out late in games instead.

The starters are a year older and will hopefully pitch deeper into games, which will take a lot of the pressure off the bullpen as well. While they will miss Pat Neshek, there is no reason to believe that they won't be able to cover for him.

There are a lot of questions surrounding this group, especially around Ayala, Bonser, Mijares, and Crain. The ceiling of this group is very high, and I don't get the sense that their floor is as low as it was last year.

All these guys need to do is hold the line until Joe Nathan gets warmed up. After that it's good evening, folks, we'll see you tomorrow night.