MLB 2010 Playoffs: Why New York Yankees Should Fear Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins look to finally beat the New York Yankees in a playoff series starting tonight. We all know the Twins' struggles against the Bronx Bombers and everybody seems to agree on one thing: the Twins can't beat the Yankees.

The pundits will say that the Twins don't have a dominant ace to lead the rotation or a shut down guy in the back of the bullpen. They'll point to the past history between the two teams and declare the Yanks the prohibitive favorite to win even though the Twins made significant upgrades in the offseason and at the trade deadline.

Even if you tell this to New York believers, it won't matter because the Twins don't don the pinstripes every game or have "New York" written across its chest. 

Last year, Minnesota played the Yankees competitively despite great disadvantages heading into last year's series. One of the major disadvantages Minnesota faced was riding into New York still high off a memorable Game 163 victory over the Detroit Tigers. The Twins not only soaked themselves with a champagne celebration after they won, but they then had to travel to play the vaunted Yanks the next day.

Things are much different this time around, seeing as the Twins were the first team to clinch their division. This time they have a rested rotation that has had plenty of time to mentally prepare for the postseason.

What else has changed from last year to this year?

Quite a bit, actually.

CC Won't Be Seeing Any Scrubs

The 2009 Twins' postseason lineup: Denard Span, Orlando Cabrera, Joe Mauer, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, Delmon Young (keep in mind that last year's Delmon isn't even close to this year's), Brendan Harris, Matt Tolbert, and Nick Punto.

The 2010 lineup: Span, Orlando Hudson, Mauer, Young, Jim Thome, Cuddyer, Kubel, Danny Valencia, and J.J. Hardy.

CC Sabathia faced a much weaker lineup a year ago and won't get the luxury of pitching to Punto, Tolbert, and Harris three or four times a game. I still believe Sabathia has the ability to shut this Twins' team down, but it won't be nearly as easy.

It also won't be Brian Duensing on the mound this time for Minnesota, but Francisco Liriano, which leads in to my next point.

Where Have You Been Frankie?

Liriano burst onto the scene in 2006 before he blew out his elbow, which required Tommy John surgery to fix. It's taken three years for Frankie to resemble the pitcher he once was and now he is set to make the biggest start of his career.

Sabermetricians have fallen in love with Liriano this season and have consistently listed him as a top-five pitcher in baseball this season, while Sabathia generally came in lower. Game 1 will pit "old school" philosophy—which values more traditional stats such as wins and ERA—against "new school," which values more obscure stats that sabermetricians hold in high regard. 

The Twins will boast a new and improved lineup, along with their ace on the hill. But there's one last factor that can't be left out.

No Dome, No Problem

Smell that? Mhmmmmmm. That's fresh air at the Twins' new digs, Target Field, which has been kind to the Twins this season as they recorded a 53-28 mark in their first season away from the Metrodome.

Many said that by leaving the dome the Twins would be losing its dome-field advantage that saw wicked hops on the turf and fly balls disappear like they went over the Bermuda Triangle. It appears the move to the beautiful new ballpark hasn't hurt the team as so many thought it would.

In fact, Target Field is going to help the Twins beat the Yanks this time around. No longer will New York open in the confines of Yankee Stadium, where all you have to do is hit the ball in the air and it has a shot of going out.

Now they will open on the road in front of a raucous crowd, in a pitcher-friendly park that doesn't play to the strength of the power hitting Yankees.

Will a new ballpark, a veteran-laden lineup, and Liriano be enough to trump the mighty Yankees?

Nobody really knows until the two teams take the field, but I do know that the Bronx Bombers should fear the Twins.