The 2010 Minnesota Twins, while having a great season with a 94-68 record, won their 6th American League Central Title since 2002.
The post-season struggles of the Twins have been well documented. The Twins will need to have another stellar season to stave off the reloaded Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers.
The Twins should have the following list of New Year’s Resolutions in order to get back to the playoffs, and wreak some havoc should they make it there.
As the Twins head into the winter there are some questions that need to be answered.
Among them, who will be the starting outfield for the second season in Target Field?
Will Michael Cuddyer return to right field, pushing Jason Kubel to a backup role?
Perhaps Joe Mauer will move to left field in order to save the wear tear of catching an entire season, and Delmon Young would move to right.
Is Denard Span better suited as a platoon player? As the everyday center fielder this past season he had the lowest batting average and slugging percentage in his short three year career.
I compared the outfield for every Twins team since they moved to Bloomington in 1961.
Here are the top 10 outfields in Minnesota history.
The ranking is based on fielding percent, total errors, and assists.
Home runs and RBI were included because, especially for corner outfielders, these are typically considered power positions.
The total wins for each team was included to break any ties.
Well at least Joe Mauer, Jim Thome, and the rest of the Minnesota Twins will be well rested. They only needed to put in 27 innings of postseason baseball.
After the Twins clinched the AL Central division title on September 21, manager Ron Gardenhire put the team on cruise control allowing his regulars to rest and get healthy.
With another early exit to the Evil Empire known as the New York Yankees, Gardenhire’s strategy backfired, and now the manager of the year candidate may find himself on the hot seat.
Instead of having a well rested, finely tuned ball club that won the most games in the second half of the season, they entered the playoffs rusty, and ill prepared after losing eight of their last 11 games of the season.
Even having the home field advantage in pitcher-friendly confines of Target Field, where the Twins had the best home record in the American League, could not help them.
Yet once again the Twins have gone down to defeat at the hands of the New York Yankees in the divisional round of the playoffs. Gardenhires’ playoff record is 6-21, and 1-10 against New York.
In consolation they can point to the fact that they were not the victims of a no-hitter, and nearly beat Cy Young candidate CC Sabathia.
Mauer, the reigning AL MVP, was not a factor in the series going three for 12 with no runs scored and no RBI.
Delmon Young, who led the team with 112 runs batted in, did not drive in a single postseason run.
Only four Twins in the series had two hits in the same game.
The Twins who entered post season with the third best regular season batting average of .273, could only muster a .220 average against the Yankees, while New York hit a playoff best .292 in sweeping the Twins.
With a brand new stadium and the tenth highest payroll in baseball, the expectations this year were far greater than any other year in Gardenhire’s tenure as manager.
Winning the AL Central, the sixth title in his nine seasons, is no longer enough.
The Twins go into the off season with several questions and concerns.
Will Justin Morneau be able to return from the concussion he suffered in July, or like former Twins’ third baseman, Corey Koskie, never shake the effects and end up retiring?
Was the wear and tear of catching too much for Mauer and caused his poor performance in the ALDS?
Speculation around Mauer changing positions will resurface—in the event Morneau does not return, should Mauer be the Twins’ next first baseman?
Will general manager Bill Smith address the desperate lack of power this off season?
Can and should Smith sign Thome for next year, who led the Team with 25 home runs this season?
Yet, there are still some bright spots from 2010.
There’s hope for next year if 26-year-old Francisco Liriano, and 27-year-old Brian Duensing can continue to improve and develop into consistent starters.
Along with Carl Pavano, these three make a pretty good foundation to build a starting rotation, but one of them has to emerge as the clear ace of the staff.
Young had a breakout year, finally producing like many people expected. Only 24-years old, Young has the opportunity to be a cornerstone player along with Mauer.
The 2011 season will be a pivotal one for Gardenhire. The novelty of Target Field and the lure of outdoor baseball will still draw big crowds to the park, but anything short of making it to the World Series could spell the end of his reign as the Twins’ skipper.
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At the time of year when all the talk is of MVP hitters and Cy Young pitchers, many important players are often not even considered. Although MVP does include the term valuable, that award is usually given to the player who has produced the most offense, and the Cy Young to the pitcher with the lowest Earned Run Average.
But there are so many more players—25 per team and 200 in the postseason total—all of them designated to a certain role. But the production of some players is more important to their team than others. So which players will be the most heavily relied on in this year’s playoffs?
The Minnesota Twins clinched the American League Central earlier this week. Every year, the Twins seem to make the playoffs even if they don’t have the best talent.
Joe Mauer is the best player and linchpin of this Twins team, but there are many other players you don’t know that are crucial to the success of this team.
Here are five players who need to have a big postseason for the Twins to have a shot at winning the World Series.
The Minnesota Twins were the first MLB team to punch their postseason ticket on Tuesday night after defeating the Cleveland Indians 6-4 at Target Field.
The Twins are currently a game back of the Yankees for the best record in baseball after their division clinching victory improved them to 91-60 on the year.
Minnesota clinched their second straight AL Central title, and they will be one of the top World Series contenders when the playoff get underway in October.
Despite winning the division five times in the past decade, the Twins have been able to get over the playoff hump and into the World Series.
Here are five reasons why this will be the year the Twins get back to the World Series for the first time since 1991 and will ultimately win it.
With the 2010 Major League Baseball season nearing the final six weeks of action, it’s time to take a quick glance at 10 worthy Most Valuable Player candidates that no one is talking about.
And from Delmon Young, to Carlos Gonzales, to a handful of other overlooked stars in the majors this season, we’re going to be counting down the 10 MLB MVPs no one is talking about.
As a side note, let me mention that for “fairness reasons,” I have decided to include five players from the National League and five from the American League, breaking it down by a majority of overlooked batters and one or two under-the-radar pitchers that deserve mention in the MVP category.
So, without further ado, let’s begin…
After shellacking the Chicago White Sox 12-6 on Tuesday night, the Minnesota Twins have moved into first place in the AL Central by one game.
Both teams are hot, with the Twins winning 12 and the White Sox winning 10 of the teams’ last 15 games. White Sox have gone 39-16 since June 8th, overcoming a horrendous start to get to this point, while the Twins have gone 19-10 since the All-Star break without one of, if not their best, hitters.
It looks as though the race in the AL Central will once again come down to the final week of the season, and perhaps another 163rd game is in order.
For the Detroit Tigers, the season is all but over, as the team went from leading the division a day before the All-Star break to sitting 10 games back in third place thanks to a 5-22 record since then.
For the most part we know what we are getting from the players on the White Sox and Twins; however, there are players on both squads who can fluctuate either way and will eventually make or break their team’s chances of getting to the postseason.
Today we will take a look at five players who could decide the AL Central.
If I had more title space, I would have called this the “Twins Edition.”
With the Twins turning the tide at the beginning of the second half, it’s time to look at some of Minnesota’s big guns and the effect they may have on the American League.
Awards, playoffs, whatever works. I’ve got enough odd/frightening/bewildering/upsetting predictions to last us until next season.
Roy Halladay is having an amazing year, and he’s been pretty special over the last month or so as well. In six starts, he has gone 3-2 with a remarkable 1.91 ERA while holding his opponents scoreless three times. This streak includes a game where his opponent took a perfect game into the ninth inning, and Halladay threw nine shutout innings without getting a win, complete game, or shutout for his efforts.
But Halladay you know about. Here is a list of 10 other players who are currently lighting the major leagues on fire, but doing so quietly.