Minnesota Twins: Can Matt Capps Recover from Disappointing 2011 Season?

When Minnesota Twins fans were put out of their misery after a 2011 season that saw them narrowly avoid becoming just the second team to lose 100 games with a $100 million roster, they had to know that the 2012 team would look significantly different.

Surely Joe Mauer would see more action behind the plate, Justin Morneau would start launching balls into Target Plaza and Matt Capps, well, Matt Capps would be blowing saves for another team.

Only time will tell as to whether or not Mauer and Morneau will be able to get healthy in time for the 2012 season.

But if Matt Capps once again ranks near the league lead in blown saves it'll unfortunately be in a Twins uniform as he signed a one year deal worth $4.75 million this week.

The only question now is: which Matt Capps will we see in 2012?

Capps' first real action in the league came in 2006 when he went an impressive 9-1 with a 3.29 ERA, striking out more than six batters per nine innings while walking only one.

His win-loss record dropped to 4-7 in 2007, but his ERA also dropped to an extremely impressive 2.28 in 76 appearances, add to that a career low WHIP of 1.013 and he was a star in the making in Pittsburgh.

After relatively mediocre seasons in 2008 and 2009 Capps made his way to Minnesota to aid in a playoff push that would once again see the Twins fall to the New York Yankees in the ALDS.

Capps was impressive enough in Minnesota however (2-0, 2.00 ERA in 20 appearances) to earn a one year deal of $7.15 million, more than doubling his 2010 salary.

That move proved to be one of the errors the Twins would make leading into 2011 as Capps went a dismal 4-7 with a 4.25 ERA and blew more save opportunities than all but one pitcher in baseball.

It's really hard to put a finger on which Matt Capps will emerge next year because he really has had just about every type of season a pitcher can have, and at only 28 that's probably why GM Terry Ryan took the opportunity to sign him at a discounted rate from his 2011 salary.

With Joe Nathan out of the picture he won't have to worry about another closer standing over his shoulder in 2012, but the emergence of Glen Perkins as a late inning option could ultimately change that.

Given Capps' reaction to the new contract it's clear that he has something to prove to the fans:

""I don't blame them; I know that's part of the deal. It's a pride thing with me. They were booing me, and I didn't like it. I want to show them I can be better than I was in 2011.""

No matter how things unfold, Capps can take comfort in knowing that not only he, but the entire roster, needs to prove they're better than they showed in 2011.