We begin another week of uncertainty, as any one of several Twins veterans could have a new team by tomorrow afternoon. Fortunately, we’ll be able to leave the rumor mill behind and focus on the rest of the baseball season after that.

The week starts with three games at home against the Chicago White Sox. This series offers a chance for the Twins to get some revenge for last week’s debacle and play the spoiler role. More importantly, they’ll get a chance to face Liriano on Tuesday night. After Chicago leaves town, the Twins trade one color Sox for another as they fly to Beantown and meet the Red Sox in a four game stint. The White Sox look like a team on the rise, but the Red Sox seem almost ready to throw in the towel in the AL East.

Twins Goals for the Week Ahead:

1. Beat Liriano. The return on the trade was disappointing because Liriano had far less value than most biased Twins fans expected. Hopefully the Twins can prove they didn’t get ripped off by knocking the ball around in Liriano’s first start with the Sox.

2. Stop the White Sox momentum. Chicago came into last week’s series with a five game losing streak, then they swept the Twins and won a weekend series against the formidable Rangers. It would be nice for the Twins to win the White Sox series and take a little bite out of Chicago’s growing confidence.

3. Win some games at Fenway. The AL East has been a big, ugly menace for the Twins recently. It’s far too late to salvage the 2012 season, but Minnesota could at least salvage some pride by proving they can beat a team in the Eastern Time Zone.

Morneau and Willingham: Weekly Winners. Photo by Jesse Johnson-US PRESSWIRE

Weekly Winners:

Justin Morneau. Morneau was a winner in baseball and in life this week. He missed the week’s first game because he was spending time with his wife, who gave birth to the couple’s second child. When he came back to the field, he raked. Morneau hit .458/.535/.625 with a pair of homers. His batting average for the season is up to a respectable .260, and he’s just two homers away from 200 for his career.

Josh Willingham. He only had five hits this week, but four of them left the ballpark. That puts him at 27 on the season, on pace for 44 when all is said and done. This Puckett’s Pond writer is starting to hope that Willingham really can become the first Twin to break the 35 barrier since 1970… and he’s really starting to regret his argument that the Twins should trade Willingham earlier this season.

Scott Diamond. Diamond wasn’t the only Twins starter to excel this week – Sam Deduno, Cole DeVries, and Brian Duensing all had solid outings as well – but he makes the winner’s list for throwing a three hit shutout. Not only was it by far the most dominant performance by a Twins pitcher this season, a six strikeout, sub-100 pitch effort that only a no-hitter could beat, but it came right on the heels of Diamond’s two worst starts of the year. Great bounceback.

Weekly Worst:

Nick Blackburn. Ugh, that was a bad start by Blackburn. 10 hits and a pair of homers in less than five innings against the White Sox gave the Twins no chance to win. Despite a contract that pays him through 2013, it’s very difficult to see how Blackburn could figure into any of the Twins’ future plans.

Tyler Robertson. The Twins could have won one of the games in Chicago. On Tuesday they held a 4-2 lead when Robertson took over for starter Cole DeVries. ThE. Robertson surrendered a walk and a tw0-run homer, thus blowing the save chance. He allowed another two-run bomb in Saturday’s game against the Indians, but fortunately the Twins were well ahead by that time.

Jeff Gray. Hard to land someone on the Weekly Worst list if he only pitches 0.2 innings in a week, but when that pitcher has a 40.50 ERA in those 0.2 innings, it’s hard to keep him off. Gray relievE. Robertson on Tuesday night, and he stood on the mound as the Sox turned a close game into a laugher.

Lester Oliveros has been cut. It's a good thing the Twins don't need relievers! Photo by John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

Hard to believe that there are still 48 long winter days until Twins pitchers and catchers report to sunny Ft. Meyers for Spring Training on February 18, 2012.  The only other team reporting that early is the World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals, so the Twins are in pretty good company.

If Terry Ryan and the Twins do not make any additional moves leading up to Spring Training, the starting roster should look something like this:

C – Joe Mauer

1B – Justin Morneau

2B – Alexi Casilla

SS – Jamey Carroll

3B – Danny Valencia

LF – Ben Revere

CF – Denard Span

RF – Josh Willingham

DH – Trevor Plouffe

With Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Luke Hughes, and Ryan Doumit on the bench.  That leaves room for an extra positional player, such as Joe Benson, Chris Parmelee, Drew Butera or Rene Tosoni to make the team.  With questions about Morneau’s health and ability to play 1B on a regular basis, Parmelee could have the inside track after a strong showing at the end of last season that led to a 1.035 OPS in 88 plate appearances.  With Doumit serving as a potential 3rd catcher, the team will be able to give Mauer’s knees some rest playing 1B, and moving Morneau to DH, leaving Revere and Plouffe to platoon in Left Field.  However, Butera has been with the team each of the last two seasons, pitchers have apparently enjoyed his low catching target, and Ron Gardenhire seems enamored with the light hitting catcher, so it will be an interesting Spring Training for fringe bench guys.

While there is really only one spot open for a positional player heading into Spring Training, things are much more uncertain among the 12 man pitching staff.  The Twins’ projected starters are:

Carl Pavano – RHP

Scott Baker – RHP

Francisco Liriano – LHP

Jason Marquis – RHP

Nick Blackburn – RHP

Blackburn is arguably the weakest of the five starters, but if he can stay healthy he is not a terrible option as a #5.  Marquis pitched well in the first half of last season before breaking his leg, and if he can return to that form and eat up innings 200+ innings in 2012 then he will earn every penny of his $3 million dollar 1 year contract.  Liriano comes into 2012 with huge question marks.  After a successful 2010 campaign Liriano was unable to find the strike zone consistently with his fastball, and was pitching from behind in counts, allowing opposing hitters to lay off of his slider.  Liriano didn’t pitch winterball this year, instead working out at the Twins’ Dominican facility.  Carl Pavano needs to continue to avoid injuries and eat innings.  He should benefit from an improved defense behind him, but his inability to strike hitters out could come back to haunt him if either Jamey Carroll or Alexi Casilla can’t hold down their starting spots.  (more…)