Twins 2009 Outlook
February 17, 2009
With Spring Training finally underway, it is time to look at the upcoming 2009 season for the Minnesota Twins.
After losing Torii Hunter and Johan Santana to the Angels and Mets respectively, 2008 and 2009 were to be rebuilding years for the Twins. The youth prevailed and proved the critics wrong, however, as the team won 88 games and lost a one-game playoff against the White Sox to come within one game of winning their fifth American League Central titles in seven years.
Proving that they can be contenders today, it comes as no surprise that the majority of the roster looks nearly identical to the one that ended the 2008 season. There are some glaring holes, though, that most fans wished would be addressed during the off season that as of today still haven’t been taken care of. The biggest of which, in my opinion, is that of the bullpen.
Imagine if you will if the middle relief was able to step up, keep a lead, and win just one single game during the horrendous 14-game road trip at the end of August. You know the one I am talking about, when then went 5-9 with a pair of losses at the hands of the Angels, Mariners, and Athletics, plus a three game sweep by the Blue Jays. A majority of those games were won by a run or two and had the Twins come out on top in any one of those games, the 163rd game of the season would have become a moot point.
On the other hand, if the Twins possibly had another strong bat in the lineup, some of those one or two run games could have easily ended in their favor. It is no secret that the Twins rely on small ball and the speed of their runners to put runs on the board. As a team, they hit the fewest home runs in the majors in 2008, and another hole that the team has yet to fill is finding a decent hitting, everyday, third baseman.
I will give the organization credit, though, as they haven’t signed the first, cheapest, third baseman on the market as they have in years past. Ever since Corey Koskie left in 2004, the Twins have tried to patch the hole at third base with the likes of Tony Batista, Jeff Cirillo, and Mike Lamb. None of which lasted a full season at the hot corner or with the ball club.
With that said, they have let a long list of potential third basemen fall to the wayside with the likes of Casey Blake, Ty Wigginton and Garret Atkins. Joe Crede is another name on the list that the team has been watching but nothing has been acted on due to Crede’s high asking price and his history of back problems. For the time being, the Twins feel confident in platooning Brendan Harris and Brian Buscher at third base if need be.
As for their bullpen troubles, the Twins have trimmed some of the fat by letting Dennys Reyes and Eddie Guardado fall to free agency and picking up Luis Ayala and knuckleballer, R.A. Dickey. Jesse Crain also has one full season under his belt after missing the majority of 2007 due to injury and Matt Guerrier is hoping to bounce back from his subpar season last year. It also remains to be seen if Jose Mijares will make it back on the squad and if he can perform at the level he did last September. All three may have to step it up a notch since losing their primary setup man, Pat Neshek, who will miss the 2009 season after receiving Tommy John surgery in November.
For the most part, it has been a very quite winter for the Twins. Although it seems that their problems haven’t been addressed, it really is a blessing that they didn’t have too many to begin with. All in all, the Twins still have a good team of young, talented, players that can be contenders in the AL Central and hopefully beyond.
It will be interesting and exciting to see how 2009 plays out and if nothing else, at least Major League Baseball removed the coin flip rule to decide who has home field advantage in the event of a tie.
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