Puckett's Pond » Brendan Harris

What Could Have Been

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:30:29 +0000

Every MLB team makes some mistakes. And every team suffers devastating injuries on occasion. Even though some of these misfortunes cause fans to cry into their beers, it’s a part of the game that cannot be completely avoided. Still, sometimes it is interesting to think about how things might have turned out differently.

Despite the largely successful on-field product the Twins produced over the last decade, they have had more than their fair share of misfortunes as well. With a little more luck (or better planning) the hometown team could own a couple more World Series trophies instead of an embarrassing 12 game playoff losing streak. They might be making another playoff run right now instead of competing for next year’s top draft pick.

Here’s a look at a few of the biggest What-Ifs for the Twins in the last decade:

What if David Ortiz Re-Signed?

Ortiz was a promising young hitter, but he never quite put it together with the Twins. Knee injuries took away from his playing time seemingly every year. Still, he hit 20 homers for the 2002 Twins, and was definitely a player on the rise. The Twins, who at that time were still a penny-pinching small market club, chose to let Ortiz walk away and sign with Boston that offseason. Ortiz immediately made that decision appear foolish by becoming one of the game’s premier power hitters. He hit 31 homers in 2003, 41 in 2004, 47 in 2005, and an astounding 54 in 2006. (more…)

The Winning Teams: 2008

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 05:31:12 +0000

This is part ten in a series examining every Twins team that has made the playoffs. Whether the current version of the Twins is 20 games over .500 or stuck in last place, fans can always hold onto memories of successful teams past.

Previous articles in the series: 1965, 1969, 1970, 1987, 1991, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006

The Twins did not make the playoffs in 2008. Technically, the 2008 team should not be a part of this series, since The Winning Teams is supposed to be about playoff teams only. But the 2008 Twins came as close as they possibly could to the playoffs, and they were still playing after the regular season schedule ended, so it would be a major oversight to ignore them.

2008 was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Twins. After a string of four division titles in five years, Minnesota finished under .500 in 2007. That offseason saw the team undergo one of the biggest personnel shuffles it has ever seen. The changes went all the way to the top, as GM Bill Smith replaced Terry Ryan, the architect of the Twins’ rise to relevance. Smith presided over the departure of two big stars: Torii Hunter signed with the Angels as a free agent, and Johan Santana was dealt to the Mets for four minor leaguers. Meanwhile, Smith also sent P Matt Garza and SS Jason Bartlett to the Rays for IF Brendan Harris, OF Delmon Young, and OF Jason Pridie. In an attempt to fill the constantly gaping holes on the left side of the infield, the Twins brought in a pair of former Astros: SS Adam Everett and 3B Mike Lamb. And veteran junkballer Livan Hernandez joined the pitching staff. (more…)

Departed Twins: Where Are They Now? (Part 1)

Wally Fish — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 04:03:18 +0000

After 133 games this season the Twins are 56-77 and have already lost 9 more games than they did last season when they finished 94-68. The 2011 Twins are winning at a rate of 42.1%. If that holds through the end of the season it will be their lowest mark since 1999 when they won just 39.4% of their games and finished 63-97.

So many things have contributed to this collapse that it’s hard to recount all of them. For me, the primary reasons are the seemingly endless rash of injuries and the disappearance of Francisco Liriano as an average starter let alone the top of the rotation guy he was supposed to be. Certainly there’s plenty of room for debate and discussion to figure out exactly what went wrong but we know for certain that 15 players that contributed last year were not in the organization on Opening Day this spring.

Would the team’s fortunes be different if any of these players remained on the roster? It’s impossible to know of course since one change could have a ripple effect. Perhaps if the Twins front office had kept the most minor of these guys, Liriano would have been the ace we were hoping for. Perhaps Morneau and Mauer would have managed to avoid the DL. The universe works in mysterious ways after all.

The point of this 2-part article isn’t to state, emphatically or otherwise, where the organization went wrong in it’s decision making, but rather just to check in on where each of these guys are and how they are doing in 2011. I hope you’ll follow along, enjoy, and maybe even recall some of the great moments from 2010 in the process. (more…)