MLB Preview: Minnesota Twins

The 2007 season was a season full of disappointment for the Twins as they finished with a losing record for the first time in seven seasons. The Twins disappointing season was in large part due to a number of mistakes the front office made in the off-season. The Twins signed Sidney Ponson, and Russ Ortiz to take the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation, neither player was able to stick with the Twins past the All Star break.

The Twins have a plethora of pitching talent in the minors, and that talent allowed the team to trade Matt Garza to the Rays for the talented outfielder Delmon Young. Young should be able to give the Twins offense an added boost this season, as their offense was absolutely dreadful last season.

Now it's time to answer three questions surrounding the 2008 season for the Twins.

(1) Will the Twins be able to count on Francisco Liriano returning to his 2006 form?

Francisco Liriano was perhaps the most dominant pitcher in all of baseball for a two month stretch during the 2006 season. That season was cut short as he missed the last two months and the 2007 season because he had to go through Tommy John surgery.

Liriano will not return to his 06 form this season, but the Twins should be able to count on him being a productive member of the rotation, and can only hope he'll regain his 06 form next season. That is probably a best case scenario for the Twins as they simply don't have the talent to contend this season in the Al Central.

(2) Did the Twins receive enough in the Johan Santana deal?

The resounding answer to this question is no, but the Twins didn't have a much choice as Santana held all of the chips in the negotiations. Santana turned down a healthy contract from the Twins earlier, and held a no trade clause, which basically limited the Twins trading options to the two New York teams and the Red Sox.

The Twins had received better offers from the Red Sox and Yankees during December, but simply felt they should be getting more in return for the games best pitcher. In the end it seems as if the Twins settled on the fact they weren't going to get market value for Santana, and didn't want to go through a distraction filled season with Santana on the team.

Although The Twins didn't get market value for Santana, they still did receive some talent, and some of that talent may be able to help the Twins this season. The big chip in the deal is Carlos Gomez, and although he has struggled defensively this spring, his transition to the Majors should go smoothly as he becomes accustomed to being an everyday player.

The Twins also acquired Phillip Humber, who had been a top pitching prospect for the Mets in previous years, but like Liriano he also underwent Tommy John surgery. Humber seemed to have recovered well from surgery in 2006 as he posted a sub 3 ERA in the minors. He had an awful season last year, and became expendable as the Mets were in desperate need for an ace like Santana.

The other pieces of the trade will take time to develop and aren't projected to be much more than fill in players, but if Humber and Gomez are productive Major Leaguers the Twins front office can take a deep breath.

(3) Will Delmon Young be enough to improve the Twins anemic offense?

Delmon Young is a good start for the Twins offense, but the Twins simply don't have enough bats in their lineup to be considered anything close to a contender in 2008. The team still has significiant holes at third, ss, and 2nd base. Nick Punto should not be anything more than a defensive replacement, but it's possible he will get 3 to 4 hundred at bats this season. Adam Everett is a great defensive shortsop, but the team simply needs someone to produce at the plate from that position.

Brendan Harris is the front runner for the second base job, and Mike Lamb will aslo compete with Nick Punto and possibly Brian Buscher for the third base job. The Twins really only have two offensive positions where they can feel comfortable and that is catcher and first base, as Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are solid building blocks for the organization.

Delmon Young will be able to split up the two left handed hitters in the middle of the order, and with Michael Cuddyer also in the lineup the Twins should be able to see a slight improvement in their offensive production this season.

The Twins biggest challenge this season will be to find out which 5 of their young starters will be ready to take the mound in 2009, and hopefully lead the team back into contention when their new stadium opens in 2010. The Twins would help themselves if they continued their rebuilding phase by trading Joe Nathan, instead of trying to resign him to a multi-year contract, as a closer on a rebuilding team simply isn't important.

Regardless, the Twins will be an interesting team to watch this season as Young has the potential to be one of the games more exciting players, and the progress of Liriano will be extremely important for the long term success of the Twins.