Twins Get Swept

When one team is 0-10 for the year against another, it is pretty safe to say that that second team, in this case the Yankees, is better than the first, in this case the Twins; so it is not really worth harping on a) the Twins’ fatigue in Game One; b) the ump’s bad call on Mauer’s ‘double’ (the worst call I’ve ever seen in the Majors) in Game Two; or c) Punto’s baserunning gaffe in Game Three. As Mike Lupica opined on Sunday morning, the Yankees would still have found a way to win these games. They not only have a decided edge in talent, they have a not unrelated psychological edge that will only dissipate once the Twins win a series against them.
Nevertheless, the ALDS just concluded was instructive in pinpointing the gaps between these Twins and a championship-caliber squad. The most obvious is the closer. The Twins would have won Game Two if Joe Nathan hadn’t surrendered a two-run homer to A-Rod on a fastball right down the middle, and they would have had a slight chance in Game Three if he hadn’t given up hits to the first two batters he faced in that ninth inning. Nathan has great save stats, but I’ll bet that less than half are what I would call ‘quality’ saves (see The Save). His huffing and nervous mannerisms make me nervous and make me admire, all the more, Mariano Rivera, who comes in and calmly throws strikes. Fuentes of the Angels, the Majors’ saves-leader, inspires similar confidence. But we all know that the Twins are lucky to even have Nathan, and an upgrade in this area is not foreseeable.
Partly that is due to the shortcomings of the relief staff leading up to him. I had high hopes for Pat Neshek two years ago, but his effectiveness after Tommy John surgery will be a question. Jose Mijares looked like a stopper mid-year, but he got, literally, no one out the last two weeks and looked lost on the mound. Matt Guerrier is serviceable, no more, and I hope we can keep Jon Rauch; but the end of the game is no longer the lock is used to be when the Twins had a lead after seven.
Cuddyer and Span blossomed into front-line players – I could even see them cracking the Yankees lineup. I have no doubt that we will see another season of Punto, Tolbert and Cabrera in the middle infield. Morneau will be back at first, hopefully with more consistency; and despite his being overmatched this last week, I think Jose Morales will be an upgrade on Mike Redmond as backup catcher.
If Delmon Young continues to improve, which is possible, he can contribute. A platoon with Jason Kubel would limit the defensive liabilities of both. If we keep Pavano, the pitching is set: Slowey, Baker, Pavano, Duensing, Blackburn is a solid five, without even considering Perkins, Liriano or Bonser. That leaves holes, big holes, at third base and DH, both places where power is needed. As the playoffs with the Yankees showed, three singles is not as good as one home run.
Unfortunately, the Twins will have to spend all their money on retaining Mauer, not to mention Pavano and Cabrera, and it is not likely they can get a third baseman in trade for, say, Carlos Gomez and Bonser (throw in Liriano, too). Still, this team showed over the last month what it can do when it is inspired. If it remembers and plays at that level for the whole summer in the new ballpark, 2010 could be fun, indeed. We might even beat the Yankees.

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