MLB Playoffs: Five Reasons the Minnesota Twins Will Beat the Yankees in the ALDS

The New York Yankees swept the Minnesota Twins last year in the American League Divisional Series.  The Twins won just 2 of the 6 games between the two teams this year.  Despite both of those facts, there are five good reasons the Minnesota Twins will beat the Yankees in the postseason this year. 

Reasons 1 & 2:  1987 and 1991. 

Going into the playoffs this year, the Twins have lost eight of their last ten games.  Not only were they swept by the lowly Detroit Tigers, but they dropped two out of three to the Kansas City Royals as well.  However, history has shown us that this is no reason to panic. 

In 1987 the Twins lost seven of their last nine regular season games.  The '87 team went on to win eight out of their next twelve games on their way to becoming World Series Champions.  Similarly, in 1991 the Twins lost seven of their last eleven regular season games and also went on to win the World Series. 

History does not dictate the present by any means, but the idea of teams needing momentum heading into the playoffs is not entirely true. 

Reasons 3-5:  1995, 1997, and 2007. 

The New York Yankees are the most successful postseason team that Major League Baseball has ever seen.  Despite the fact that they won the World Series last year, history is not on their side.  In 1995, the Yankees earned a Wild Card berth but lost a close five game series to the Seattle Mariners after winning the first two games. 

In 1997, the Yankees lost again as Wild Card contenders to the Cleveland Indians.  They blew a 2-1 lead in that series as well.  More recently, New York lost again to Cleveland in the Divisional Series as the Wild Card team in 2007. 

These losses may have little or no impact on the upcoming series between the Twins and the Yankees, but New York is a glaring 0-3 as a Wild Card team in the playoffs under the current postseason format.

 There is no sure-fire way to guess the outcomes of professional sporting events.  If there were, I would be a much wealthier man.  Histories successes and failures may give some indication about the outcome.  All of that aside, these are five good reasons the Minnesota Twins will beat the New York Yankees in the American League Divisional Series this year.