CTOD: Minnesota Twins

2010 was a good year for the Twinkies. If you believe that what separates playoff teams from non-playoff teams are a series of fortunate bounces over the course of a long season then last years Twins are your team. Jim Thome replaced an unimaginably hot Justin Morneau and entered the MVP discussion despite only 340 plate appearances. Other "breaks" included  Francisco Liriano returning to his pre-injury dominance, Carl Pavano being healthy for a second consecutive year, Matt Capps filling in admirably for Joe Nathan, and Delmon Young playing like a corner outfielder for the first time in his career. Overall, the pitching, defense, and offense all clicked together and the Twins racked up 94 wins and ran away with the AL Central.

Can the 2011 Twins continue to click together in all facets of the game? PECOTA projections are reluctant towards the fortunes the Twins had in 2010 and peg them for an 82-80 record despite minimal roster changes in the offseason. Obviously, many questions surround the Twins going into this season. Is Justin Morneau finally healthy? What will all that time away from the game do to his performace? Is Delmon Young finally for real? Can Jim Thome continually defy the aging process? Can Carl Pavano continue to be a successful pitcher without striking anyone out? Can Liriano pitch more than 190 innings again? Is Joe Nathan ready to go?

Fortunately for the Twins to reach the postseason again they don't need to catch every single of these breaks. The AL Central isn't exactly a beast of a division and the Twins will mostly be competing against an equally flawed White Sox team. Depth in their rotation should help alleviate bullpen concerns and the fact that Morneau is starting to get some spring training hacks in is reason for optimism.

Prediction: First in the AL Central. Tough to bet against Ron Gardenhire and his continual ability to get the most out of his teams.


Surprise Player: Francisco Liriano.

Don't let the 3.65 ERA and 14 wins fool you, Liriano was a monster last year. He was just as good as King Felix in almost every pitching metric but wasn't quite the innings eater that Hernandez was. In many ways it is mind boggling that the Twins may be considering trading him and also that Pavano was named the Opening Day starter. Liriano is a legitimate ace, possibly one of the top five pitchers in baseball, and if he can become a workhorse he is definitely my call for the AL Cy Young this year.