The Minnesota Twins, who surprised everyone last year by doing well enough to get trounced by the New York Yankees in a one-game playoff, lived down to their expectations once again this decade. They finished at 78-84, good enough for second place in the American League Central, but not good enough to prevent the Cleveland Indians from winning another division title.
Once again, injuries and ineffectiveness ruined the season for the Twins. Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano--the alleged future of the franchise-- are this close to wasting their potential, spending time in the minors because either they got hurt or got fat (or both). The free agents the team spent a ton of money for last winter didn't work out. And the trades of popular players such as Brian Dozier (Los Angeles Dodgers), Fernando Rodney (Oakland Athletics) and Eduardo Escobar (Arizona Diamondbacks) in midseason were signs that the Twins were looking to the future.
Bright spots? Jose Berrios had a great year on the mound, while Max Kepler hit 20 home runs. And that's about it.
Then there's Joe Mauer. With his massive and controversial contract expiring and talk of retirement in the air (he's played 15 seasons), he sure acted like he wanted to call it quits after the final game of the regular season at Target Field against the Chicago White Sox. He got a standing ovation, had his daughters with him on the field, and donned catcher's gear one last time in the ninth inning to catch one ball. After all this, why would Mauer want to stick around for another season or two?
Derek Falvey and Thad Levine, the brain trusts of the Twins organization, now must decide what to do with this team for the 2019 season to make them more competitive. The first thing they did was to fire manager Paul Molitor, one season after he was named the American League's Manager of the Year for taking the Twins to the playoffs. Molitor, who had two years left on his contract, did the best he could with the talent that he was given. But if Falvey and Levine wanted to go in a different direction, then so be it.
As it stands, 2019 will provide another chance for the Twins to prove they can baseball. And for the marketing department to come up with a better tag line than that.
UPDATE (10/25/18): The new manager is Rocco Baldelli, who previously worked as the Tampa Bay Rays' major league field coordinator (don't ask). He'll be charged with the task of bringing this team together, while paying attention to the numbers side of the players' equation to see which of them is more effective on the field. It's called analytics, and not everyone understands how it works. Not to mention that the Twins are one of the last teams to employ analytics, which they hope will translate to success on the field. With this team, however, the numbers just don't add up. That's what Falvey, Levine and Baldelli are facing.
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Our projected World Series matchup: Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Dodgers.
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