How talented are the Twins?

by pagingstanleyroberts on Oct 12, 2009 11:19 AM EDT Comment 8 comments

As the name indicates, I frequent TwinkieTown's sister site Canis Hoopus and this is my first post here. I've closely followed every season of the Gardenhire era and followed through disappointments that seemed unfathomable. Joe Nathan turning into LaTroy Hawkins when playing the Yankees. The Twins losing so many playoff games at the dome that their earlier dominance in the World Series years is now the only thing that keeps them near the .500 mark in that stadium. But one constant has occurred: gutsy starting pitching, shaky bullpen work, anemic run production, and huge gaffes.

I'm just trying to get a handle on whether this team is overachieving during their winning seasons to the extent that they're overmatched in the playoffs or if their tendency to choke has cost them a series or two. Since Game 2 of the '02 ALCS, this team has looked like both at times. So my question is this: if the team that played the Yankees was ranked according to talent compared to the rest of the league, where would they rank? How about that same team with Morneau? My gut says they're at least top-6 in the AL and that they underachieved until Morneau got sidelined. And frankly, I'm not sure they're not better than the Rangers or the Tigers considering how they fared against them this year.

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I tend to be on the pessimistic side of things

but my sense is that this team was probably the 7th or 8th best team in the American league, behind the other 3 playoff teams, Tampa Bay, Texas, maybe Toronto, and maybe Detroit.

It was a fun year, on some levels. The last few weeks were great, and anytime you get to the postseason, as a fan, you have to appreciate that.

On the other hand, they won a pretty terrible division, barely, and have clear weaknesses that it’s hard to see them correcting.

As for their performances in the playoffs, it’s not one thing. Any team can win a short series. This year, they clearly were an inferior team. In 2006 they were a much better team (then they were this year), but still lost. Generally, they haven’t been a great team over the last 8 years, they have been a good team in a mostly weak division.

by Eric in Madison on Oct 12, 2009 11:35 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm a little more optimistic than Eric,

but I think he’s on point on a couple of things. Appreciation of the post-season, winning a terrible division, all that.

I do firmly believe that this team was definitely better than Toronto, and it was better than Detroit, even if it was only slightly. On talent, with Justin in the lineup, yeah…I’d say the Twins are probably the sixth or seventh-best team in the AL. Luckily those other five or six teams are outside of the AL Central.

And it wasn’t so much that the Twins underachieved until Justin got hurt…more that they over-achieved after he got hurt. Cuddyer, Kubel, Young, Punto, even Cabrera all got into the act and more than filled in that offensive void.

This team has more top-level talent than those early clubs, like the ‘02 Twins, but the role players aren’t nearly as strong and the bullpen isn’t as good.

by Jesse on Oct 12, 2009 1:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

+1

by what_would_gil_thorp_do on Oct 12, 2009 1:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Amazingly.....

The White Sox should be better with both Peavy and Rios. But, who knows.

Visit www.TwinsCards.com and check out "rosters" to see my collection!

by rosterman on Oct 12, 2009 2:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

we'll see

I think Peavy is a huge pickup for them, but Rios is a huge question mark; that will be an entertaining story whichever way it goes. If his mysterious collapse had happened after 2003, when testing began, there’s be an obvious explanation. But his best years were 2006 and 2007, and he was still pretty good in 2008. He did get a huge contract in April 2008, so maybe he’s one of those guys that just doesn’t give a damn once he’s gotten paid, and has better things to do with his evenings than sleep and eat right. This is total speculation mind you, but based on his treatment of certain fans I have a negative impression of his general attitude. I’d love to seem him just inexplicably collapse and take the Sox down with him.

by by jiminy on Oct 12, 2009 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

just like the Tigers

were handed the world series in 08 because of Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. I am a bit scared of the Sox and their pitching. Buerhle, Peavey, Danks, and Floyd is a damn fine starting rotation no matter who you throw in for #5. The thing now is who do they have on offense? They’re losing Dye likely, Thome too, Quentin and Ramirez came back to earth this year. I just don’t know how good their lineup is going to be with the loss of Dye and Thome as well as losing Crede last year. They’ve got the young guys like Beckham, Flowers, Getz, Ramirez, who all have potential but I don’t know if they’ll be able to replace all that power. It’ll be interesting to see what the White Sox can do next year.

Peyton's good but have you ever heard of Jeff George?

by halfchest on Oct 12, 2009 4:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs