A Brief Twins Season Recap

Well, it was a good fight, but Jim Thome and Ken Griffey Jr. pulled off a feint and counter right hook that knocked the Twins out of the postseason. Great pitchers duel from Blackburn and Danks, too bad the lineup couldn't find their mojo at any point.

This season was a very welcome surprise for the Minnesota faithful as they outplayed how everyone thought they would after losing Johan Santana and Torii Hunter in the offseason. The question raised now as we head to the offseason and next year is were they overachievers or the real deal?

A young pitching staff laid the groundwork for becoming a very solid pitching group for years to come as all Twins pitchers who started a game posted at or above .500 Win-Loss marks, led by Glen Perkins at 12-4, and Scott Baker at 11-4. Kevin Slowey and Nick Blackburn also posted 12 and 11 wins respectively, and the Franchise returned (perhaps a week or two late) to go 6-1 in the stretch toward the playoffs. The youth and ability of these pitchers should be encouraging for all Twin fans as the future is very bright for these guys who should be together as a Staff for at least the next few seasons. Scott Baker showed he's ready for top of the line status, Francisco Liriano returned to the 'Ace' position late in the year despite a dropoff in velocity, Kevin Slowey and Nick Blackburn were Radke esque, and Glen Perkins showed he has what it takes to be a starter in the majors.

The bullpen started the season strong but then fell off dramatically toward the end of the season. Joe Nathan is still one of the best closers in the game, but he can't do much if the bullpen doesn't hold a lead for him going into the ninth. Pat Neshek going down hurt them big time, but AL hitters figuring out Matt Guerrier and Jesse Crain, Dennis Reyes, and Boof Bonser being inconsistent (and very hittable) didn't help. The emergence of Craig Breslow and Jose Mijares toward the end of the year was nice, but it was just a little too late. They offer hope for next season though.

Justin Morneau again put together a fantastic season, posting a team high 23 HRs and 129 RBI (2nd in AL) and was a big part of the MVP conversation up until his semi-slump in September. Much like in '06, I think if the Twins made the playoffs and he led the AL in RBI's that he would be the MVP. But mediocre HR numbers and the playoff failure knock him out of consideration. Joe Mauer won his second career batting title at the age of 25 (amazing), at the catcher position (more amazing). Jason Kubel contributed 20 HRs to the offense, but only one other player posted double digits in HRs, and barely, with big offseason acquisition Delmon Young slamming 10.

This is the biggest dificiency on this teams offense that needs to be addressed for the second straight year. The Twins need a RH power swinging bat. You can make the argument that they scored a lot of runs this year, but that was while they hit for an extraordinary average with runners in scoring position, and that will not stay consistent. They would be amazing if there was ONE guy who could come up with a big homerun in a close game (not sure if that happened once all season...at least it seems like that).

But overall, I was very excited to see these young guys succeed as much as they did, and lets hope they move forward and improve even more next year, a season I think they could be dangerous with all the SP returning and a year under the belts for guys like Span, Gomez, Young, Buscher, and Harris and some viable talent coming up in the Minors.

'Til next time...