All Ex-Twins Team, 2009

by Jesse on Oct 25, 2009 10:09 PM EDT in News Comment 17 comments

2008 Roster
2006 Roster

For the second year in a row I tried to put together a full 25-man roster, and while I made the cut this team has some pretty big holes. Generally it's old, which is surprising, and there's going to be some pretty bad defense in places, but if any of the three outfielders get hurt there's nobody to be a fourth outfielder. Luckily, none of the guys on this team have to play a single game.

Without further ado, your batting order:

Name	Pos	AVG	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI	'09 Team	With Twins
Jason Bartlett	SS	.320	.389	.490	14	66	Rays	'04 - '07
Luis Castillo	2B	.302	.387	.346	1	40	Mets	'06 - '07
Garrett Jones	RF	.293	.372	.567	21	44	Pirates	2007
Torii Hunter	CF	.299	.366	.508	22	90	Angels	'97 - '07
Casey Blake	3B	.280	.363	.468	18	79	Dodgers	'00 - '02
Randy Ruiz	1B	.313	.385	.635	10	17	Blue Jays	2008
David Ortiz	DH	.238	.332	.462	28	99	Red Sox	'97 - '02
A.J. Pierzynski	C	.300	.331	.425	13	49	White Sox	'98 - '03
Craig Monroe	LF	.215	.287	.354	3	16	Pirates	2008

All in all that's not a bad offensive lineup. According to Baseball Musing's Lineup Analysis tool, this offense would blow last year's out of the water: 5.741 runs per game, or about 930 runs over the course of a full season. Even with Jones and Monroe being stone defenders in the outfield corners, those runs are going to make up the difference.

The tool also insists that all of the best lineups would have Monroe hitting 8th and Castillo 9th, while a vast majority of the best lineups still have Bartlett leading off, but they also have Ruiz batting cleanup with his massive OBP and SLG in limited time.

Your bench? Outfielder-less. Henry Blanco of the Pirates is your catcher, followed by a trio of infielders: Cristian Guzman (Nationals), Adam Everett (Tigers) and Juan Castro (Dodgers).

Next up? Your starting rotation:

Name	W-L	ERA	IP	K	BB	'09 Team	With Twins
Johan Santana	13-9	3.13	166.2	146	46	Mets	'00 - '07
Matt Garza	8-12	3.95	203.0	189	79	Rays	'06 - '07
Kyle Lohse	6-10	4.74	117.2	77	36	Cardinals	'01 - '06
Livan Hernandez	9-12	5.44	183.2	102	67	Mets/Nationals	2008
Sidney Ponson	1-7	7.36	58.2	32	25	Royals	2007

I want you to know that I seriously considered going with a three-man rotation, a three-man bench, and then having a nine-man bullpen, but the reality is that even the bullpen pickings get a little thin once you get six or seven deep. As far as other starters I could have considered, there aren't many guys out there right now. Carlos Silva? Absolutely not.

Last season saw Santana, Lohse and Garza as the top three in the rotation as well. Moving onto the bullpen, last year I had Balfour closing, but this season I'd probably tab Hawkins.

Name	W-L	ERA	IP	K	BB	'09 Team	With Twins
LaTroy Hawkins	1-4	2.13	63.1	45	16	Astros	'95 - '03
Craig Breslow	7-5	2.60	55.1	44	18	Athletics	'08 - '09
J.C. Romero	0-0	2.70	16.2	12	13	Phillies	'99 - '05
Joe Beimel	1-6	3.58	55.1	35	19	Nationals/Rockies	2004
Grant Balfour	5-4	4.81	67.1	69	33	Rays	'01 - '04
Eddie Guardado	1-2	4.46	38.1	20	15	Rangers	'93 - '03, '08

Even in limited time, Romero is still managing to escape at least the appearance of damage in spite of some unnerving peripherals. Like the bench and the back of the rotation, this one of this team's weaker spots.

If injuries weren't a factor, how would this team fare over a season? Would an offense like this be able to keep this team afloat with the help of a strong 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation? Or would those unproven bats pair up with some older arms to bring the team's fortunes crashing to earth?

Guys who have made the team each of the three years: Pierzynski, Blake, Ortiz, Beimel, Romero and Hawkins.

Poll

How would this team fare?

They could compete for a division title

169 votes

Probably a .500 team

322 votes

Bottom dwellers, for sure

181 votes

672 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

It seems like they are the Tornto Blue Jays

"I don't think it's nice, you laughin'. See, my mule don't like people laughing. He gets the crazy idea you're laughing at him. Now if you apologize, like I know you're going to, I might convince him that you really didn't mean it . . ."

by Skippy tastes better than Jiff on Oct 25, 2009 11:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Incredible hitting, no pitching

I’d rather have Silva than Ponson probably. Hell, maybe even Livan Hernandez…

But a couple of those hitting lines are part time, so…

"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."
~ Earl Weaver
"In God we trust. All others must provide evidence."
~ Billy Beane

by AdamOnFirst on Oct 25, 2009 11:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Part time

Ruiz especially, don’t expect anywhere near that production over a full season.

by Adam Peterson on Oct 26, 2009 9:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What a sucky team

Craig Monroe? Bartlett and Ortiz weren’t much good as Twins. Except for Torii and Johan, not much there that I miss.

"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett  
—Hasta la victoria siempre ¡Patria o Muerte! –Ernesto "Che" Guevara

by less cowbell, more 'neau on Oct 26, 2009 12:25 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I know Bartlett wasn't great as a Twin

but I do miss him.

Glad to see he’s become a good player with the Rays, though. Good for him. :\

by fischean on Oct 26, 2009 12:32 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bartlett

Bartlett wasn’t too bad as a Twins once he was a little more established. Probably the best SS we had this decade after Guzman’s good years.

by AdamOnFirst on Oct 26, 2009 2:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bartlett was very good as a Twin

He compared favorably to Greg Gagne in his second year with the Twins. We always knew he would hit better than Gagne once he got used to the league.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Oct 26, 2009 8:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Breslow

Hmmm. Kinda wish we hadn’t let him go. Not that it makes a huge difference going forward, but that sure was shortsighted.

by Milt on Tilt on Oct 26, 2009 12:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It was weird

They did it so they wouldn’t lose Henn, who had an out clause on his contract. What they said was that they didn’t want to lose Henn because guys who throw in the mid-90s from the left side are hard to come by. Thing is, when they brought Henn up, he broke 92 like twice out of 120 pitches. Breslow threw more pitches above 92 than Henn. So how could they miss the radar readings so badly? And why did they care about radar readongs more than mere effectiveness. That doesn’t sound like the Twins. Breslow is the kind of pitcher Anderson likes. It was a baffling move.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Oct 26, 2009 1:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i guess they thought

that he’d lost his control for good. Oh well. We made the playoffs despite the move.

by Milt on Tilt on Oct 26, 2009 5:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Does Alex Romero count as an ex-Twin?

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Oct 26, 2009 1:58 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yeah probably ...Trenton Ojetjen should as well

basically about 1/4 of the D’Backs roster….

Deolis Guerra = Daniel Cabrera ?
I tend to think so

by SteveHoffmanSlowey on Oct 26, 2009 3:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He does.

I actually counted him last year at a stretch…but I try to take only guys who actually played for the Twins MLB club. Still, when it came down to him and Monroe…it was a tough call.

by Jesse on Oct 28, 2009 6:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Below average lineup at best

Fun exercise. Using more-or-less up-to-date projections for the ex-Twins listed, I get a team OPS of around 760, very slightly below average, which is about where the Twins will be next year absent free-agent additions. My eyeball comparison of the pitching is about a wash (Real Twins: better bullpen, worse starting), though I’d give the edge to Real Twins. Add defense into the equation I think the Real Twins are a solid favorite.

Based on 2009 numbers, I think the Former Twins are more expensive too, but with a big Mauer raise in 2010, maybe not so much more.

Can Radke come out of retirement and pitch? I’d take Silva over Ponson, though you might as well forfeit on the 5th day, whoever pitches. Bullpen would blow as many Johan wins as the current Mets have.

by Mauer4evauer on Oct 26, 2009 2:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Theres no doubt in my mind that when Morneau went down....

and Cuddyer moved to 1st base that Garrett Jones would have been a near perfect fit in Right Field to replace Cuddyer and our lineup wouldn’t have looked that much different without Morneau…

you give the 2009 Twins Jones and Garza and maybe 1 more player from that list and you have a team that could have beaten those NEW YORK Yankees….

!!! yeah thats rigth even the team left the way it was should have taken those Yanks to game 5!!! ….

Deolis Guerra = Daniel Cabrera ?
I tend to think so

by SteveHoffmanSlowey on Oct 26, 2009 3:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Former Twins.....

We have to stay away from Romero, Whiteside, Oeltjen and others that…well, prospects.

Catchers abound, Danny Ardoin, Corky Miller. Humm…Augie Ojeda and Luis Rodriguez. Darnel McDonald was out there somewhere. As was Dougie M.

Eric Milton got a start or two with the Dodgers.

Dennys Reyes, Mike Lincoln, Juan Rincon, Willie Eyre! Brian Bass joined by Sean Henn!

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

by rosterman on Oct 27, 2009 11:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Add Darnell McDonald

He played quite a bit late for the Reds this year and hit better than Monroe. McDonald can play all three OF positions and would be a good fourth OF on your ex-Twins team.

by Alexi Casilla All-Star on Nov 6, 2009 11:26 PM EST reply actions 0 recs