Credit where credit's due

By Cary
for BaseballMoves.com

Published: February 14, 2010

While I wrote an entire article praising the great off-season of the Seattle Mariners, I neglected to mention the experts in efficiency Minnesota Twins. They are simply an anomaly, successfully competing year in and year out in the current Aristocratic business climate occupying Major League Baseball. While three time batting champion Joe Mauer and former AL MVP Justin Morneau are no longer MLB’s best kept secrets, guys like Joe Nathan, Orlando Hudson, Michael Cuddyer, and Jason Kubel will never get their proper accolades. I believe that behind it all is the manager, Ron Gardenhire. I heard numerous stories about him at the academy about how he is simply put- a great guy who knows the game extremely well. With a managerial winning percentage (.547) better than that of shoe-in Hall of Famer Joe Torre (.540), Gardenhire is surely the next Bobby Cox (minus the quick temper). Put all of this together and you have the formula for the 2010 AL Central Champion Minnesota Twins.

I make this prediction with the same amount of skepticism met by my AL West prediction of the Mariners basically running away with the division. The reason for reservation is undoubtedly the presence of the perennial contending Chicago White Sox. With a staff anchored by ace Jake Peavy, the White Sox will easily be in the race right up to the end. Even the Tigers have a legitimate shot of taking the Central if they can stay healthy and remain consistent on both sides of the ball. This is the beauty of the middle market AL Central. You never really know who is going to prevail. That being said, I feel the Twins will take the division in the premiere of their Midwestern answer to New Yankee Stadium, Target Field. They complained for years that the Metrodome, while providing them with an indisputable home field advantage, left them unable to compete financially with markets like New York, Boston, Los Angeles or St. Louis. Some would hypothesize that we could be looking at a “be careful what you wish for” situation in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. I am not one of those skeptics, and feel we will we see them continue to win with efficient pitching, solid defense, and a markedly improved offense.

I waited until the end of this manifesto to mention future Hall of Famer Jim Thome. He only needs to add 25 homers to this lineup to provide some desperately needed punch to an offense that finished 9th in the American League in home runs. He will only add fuel to a potentially atomic offense that can beat you via the long ball, speed, or OBP. Their projected lineup is stocked with a synergistic mix of veterans and young stars. Add Orlando Hudson’s underrated offensive prowess to the mix and you have the makings of a repeat division championship.

Their pitching, which was uncharacteristically bad last season, will greatly benefit with a full season from Kevin Slowey. He can definitely make them miss with a career 245 strikeouts in 317 innings. Francisco Liriano is not the ace they envisioned before he had Tommy John surgery. However, he has above average stuff as a starting left-handed pitcher, a valuable commodity to any team. With Carl Pavano seeming to find himself again after 4 seasons of wacky adventures with the Yankees and Indians, the Twins can have a solid enough rotation to complement their offense and defense. Pitching, defense, and offense are the three molecular level rubrics by which to measure a baseball team. If you are adept at 2 of them, you can easily compete with anyone.

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