Twins Have Some Tough Decisions Ahead

After the Twins left the field on Sunday following a 7-0 loss and three-game sweep to their arch-rival White Sox, it became clearly evident that this team is not ready to compete this season.  I know that sounds like I'm stating the obvious, but with a couple of promising weeks, it truly seemed like this team had turned the corner in June.  Given what we've seen over the past two weeks on the road, and then their return back to Target Field this past weekend, there is no question that they need to begin looking at 2012, rather than trying to look at the remainder of 2011.

The Twins need to focus on a couple key areas over the next six months.  In nor particular order:

• Figure out how to bring Michael Cuddyer back.
• Look at unloading a bit of salary, namely through Francisco Liriano, Matt Capps, and Delmon Young
• Make a decision on Tsuyoshi Nishioka
• Make a few lineup changes
• Find a way to bring in a front-line starter

With Cuddyer, the Twins need to find a way to bring him back to this team for the next couple of years.  There's no doubt his price tag has gone up, but given his value to this team, both on the field and in the clubhouse, it's imperative that they not lose the heart and soul of their team...AGAIN.  This happened before with Torii Hunter...not the greatest player they've had, but the face of the franchise and the best guy in the clubhouse.  Michael Cuddyer deserves to succeed in Minnesota, nowhere else.

Given their inability to perform this season, Liriano, Capps, and Young all need to find new homes, sooner rather than later.  Next season, the three combined will require about $20 million.  Their level of production this season warrants more along the lines of about $8 million.  Liriano lacks control, and doesn't seem to be paying much attention to Rick Anderson.  Capps lacks an overpowering array of pitches, which leads to him being knocked around all over the park.  Young is the biggest underachiever, having only one good season in 2010, and struggling at the plate in 2011.  The $20 million that would be occupied by all three would be better suited for other free agents.

The Nishioka experiment has been a failed one thus far.  Uncomfortable, over-matched, and lacking confidence.  Those adjectives are the most applicable to Nishi.  There seems to be a stigma with Japanese players that, once they're here, they have to remain in the majors.  Unless there's something we're not aware of in the contract that Nishioka signed with the Twins, there's no reason they shouldn't send him down to Triple-A for the remainder of the season to try and build up his confidence and comfort level with the American game.  What we're seeing right now is the equivalent of having a high-school junior quarterback into an NFL game.  It's too fast, everyone is too big, and the offenses run are far different than high school.  The same can be said for Nishi to the Majors.  The game moves faster, the players are bigger and more athletic in America, and the game has different nuances here than in Japan.  The better place for him to learn these things would be at the minor league level, as opposed to be thrown to the wolves at the Major League level.  If the Twins wish to turn the experiment into somewhat of a success in 2012, they need to consider this as an option, and not worry about hurting his feelings.

The last seven weeks of the season would be the perfect time to mess with the lineup, after all, what's the worst that could happen.  When you look at guys like Joe Mauer, Jason Kubel, Danny Valencia, and Delmon Young...would they be better suited hitting somewhere different in the lineup?  When the Twins get Justin Morneau and Alexi Casilla back, the lineup will probably look like this:  Span, Casilla, Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, Kubel, Valencia, Young, Nishioka.  There are a couple of issues, in my opinion, with this lineup.  The first is the third spot in the order, customarily held by Joe Mauer.  Again, we understand he's been hurt, but what people don't get is that Joe is not a third-spot hitter.  When you look around the Majors, the likes of Albert Pujols, Ryan Braun, Jose Bautista, Evan Longoria, Joey Votto, Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Hamilton, to name a few, are the guys you're seeing in the third spot in their respective batting orders.  Looking collectively at the other 29 guys in MLB this season hitting in the third hole, they sport the following numbers: .288, 16 HR, 57 RBI.  Joe's numbers this season: .286, 1 HR, 21 RBI.  Number three hitters should not be "table setters".  Those roles should be reserved for your lead-off and second hitters.  Joe's mentality at the plate is that of a table-setter.  His focus seems to be to get base hits, not to drive runners in.  If that's the case, then the Twins need to address the issue.  Either turn Mauer into an RBI guy, which means they should look at batting him 5th or 6th in the order, or have him be the single-slapping table-setter he seems to want to be and move him into the #2 hole permanently.  Coupled with that, why not put someone like a Jason Kubel or Delmon Young into the #3 spot in the order?  Kubel has been one of the better run producers on this club over the last couple of years, so maybe he is more fit for hitting third in the order.  Experimenting with the order now is the best time to do it.  If you happen to catch lightning in a bottle over the last seven weeks and make something happen...great.  If not, you've got a better understanding of what you can do next season with the guys you have.

With this weekend having been the reunion of the 1991 World Series Champions at Target Field, it brings to light a very glaring weakness the Twins have, and that is starting pitching.  What helped the '91 team succeed was the strength of their starting rotation, namely Jack Morris, Kevin Tapani, and Scott Erickson, who combined for a total of 54 wins during the regular season.  If the Twins' starters this season keep their current pace, they too will win 54 games this season.  The only problem: they're doing it with five starters, not three.  The "big three" in '91 won no fewer than 16 games.  The Twins might be lucky to have two 10-game winners this year.  The fact that the '91 team knew they had a great chance at winning every time those guys took the mound was crucial!  It's amazing what that feeling can do for a team.  With this team, you really have no idea what you're going to get.  Are you going to see the Francisco Liriano that blows people away, or are you going to get the one that walks six guys in four innings?  Are you going to get the Nick Blackburn that picks his spots and effectively works the strike zone, or are you going to get the guy that appears to be lobbing beach balls at opposing hitters?  When the offense doesn't have confidence in pitching, it brings a feeling of "how many runs are we going to have to score today in order to win?"  That's a feeling that won't get a team into the post season, let alone win a championship.  The Twins need to show a sense of urgency this fall and throughout the offseason, with regard to trying to land a front-line starter or two.  Yes, the bullpen has been a mess this season, but when you look at when the pen was at its collective best, it was in the month of June...when the starting rotation, for even a brief couple of weeks, looked dominant and had the ability to work deep into games. When they can't, the bullpen struggles.  The starters the team currently has, Carl Pavano included, seem to be inconsistent with what you're going to see.  Finding a true ace this offseason should be near the top of the Twins' "to-do" list.

Sadly, the team isn't far off from being a contender.  They've been down this road before.  They need to put together a game plan, and execute, no different than anything else.  If they can take care of a couple of these glaring issues, there's no reason this team shouldn't lock up the Central Division, and look towards playing into October next season.