(AP Photo: Jim Mone)
First and foremost, thank you Paul Molitor for finally getting the Twins over the .500 mark for the first time since 2010. Minnesota is already one of the most depressing places to be a sports fan, so I'm grateful for the light at the end of the tunnel. However, Minnesota is great place to live if you are not a sports fan, can survive ice-cold winters, and passive aggressive comments like "you look great today" when you know you look butt ugly.
It's nice to have a winning team on the diamond that we can watch once again. I, for one, didn't really know what to think when Molitor became the head coach because I didn't know to much about his coaching career. Of course, growing up in Minnesota, I knew all about his playing career because his name was mentioned all the time. He put up some pretty neat statistics, won some shiny awards for hitting like a champ, and even became a champ in 1993 (also the MVP of that series). So basically he's a guy who knows how to win and I love those types of guys because I'm a winner. Oh, what have I won, you ask? How about 1st place in my summer basketball league's shooting contest when I was 13, punk! Yeah, I know what it takes to be a winner.
Last year, the Twins needed a change because things were getting ugly real fast. I have always had the mentality that bringing in a new coach can always jolt the system enough to produce positive change, and Molitor did it in his first year beyond what I could have predicted. Going from 70 wins to 83 wins is a pretty big deal. And for all you superstitious people out there, we got 13 more wins and the whole team didn't die! Huzzah!
(Getty Images: Leon Halip)
Our starting pitching looks like it's on the rise. Maybe. Possibly. With Ervin Santana (7-5 record) not spending half the year on the bench because he wanted a juice smoothie, we should have the #1/2 spot filled next to Phil Hughes. I say 1 or 2 because I don't really know if Hughes is a #1 in my eyes. He's very inconsistent, but I think we knew that when we got him. After a nice 16-10 year, he followed up with a 11-9 meh year. With Gibson, Milone, and Duffy finding their own, we should have a pretty decent rotation. However, I fully expect Jose Berrios to come up this year and nab a spot in the rotation. But who will fall out of the lineup when he shows up on a chariot made of gold and fine marble? My guess is Hughes, who will be traded midseason for something like a pick and minor league players. Or a solid, full-eye-contact high five. He's my odd man out because Milone and Duffy will out play him and he will slowly have one of his meh years again. (I could be wrong, but at that point you won't remember what I predicted. If I'm right, I will remind you that I was right. Win-win for me.)
The defense looks to be set up to an extent. I could see Buxton being moved back to the minors if he doesn't figure out the major's pitching yet. Santana (Danny) or Rosario can play center if we need them to. I guess they are putting Sano in the outfield as well, which still confuses me. I mean, did we really need to keep Plouffe at 3rd? Sano should have been put there, and Plouffe should have been sent packing. The only reason I say that is because we have players like Buxton, Rosario, Kepler, and Walker all coming into their own, why put another guy in the outfield and ruin what you have? Maybe Sano will play one year in the OF and we will move Plouffe at some point so Sano can replace him at 3rd. Well, a boy can dream, right?
Oh, and I do think Mauer needs to go too! (I'll go into more of that later. Sorry ladies who love him for his face. Sorry guys who awkwardly still love him for his 'talent'. Sorry mom for not achieving anything in my life yet. Sorry for making so many Nickelback jokes.)
(No. No I'm not. I'm not going to say sorry to you for my Nickelback jokes. They will never get old. You know who you are...)
(Getty Images: Leon Halip)
Leaving Mauer out of this, I don't know what to think of the infield. Dozier is the only guy who I think is a solid fit. Plouffe...buddy...I don't know whose balls you juggled to pull off 7.25 million for this year, but that is way too much for a .244 batting average. You must have some special 'Jazz hands'. Escobar at short stop was pretty decent, but I would definitely like to see some more consistent batting from him. Still a solid guy all around.
Mauer? No, not right now. I'll deal with you later. Hopefully Byung-ho Park will transition well into the MLB to where we can dump the chump at 1st.
The bullpen should be a lot more consistent this year with the addition of Abed, to tag along with Perkins, Jepsen and Pressly. We will talk about them more later in spring training as well. I've rambled on too much!
Farewell my Twin brothers and sisters! I'm excited for this new year to begin!
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