Minnesota Twins Post-Season Analysis

Well, another Minnesota Twins season came limping to a close Saturday night after another playoff series sweep by the dreaded Yankees. Although this is the Twins' 6th playoff appearance in the last 9 years, manager Ron Gardenhire's team has lost 12 consecutive playoff appearances. With that in mind, here's what I thought about their first year at Target Field:

What I liked:
1. Target Field - what a gorgeous new ballpark - first time we've had outdoor major league baseball in Minnesota since 1981!
2. The play of rookie 3B Danny Valencia - ever since an injury to glorified utilityman Nick Punto opened the spot at third, Valencia has been a pleasant surprise, hitting and fielding very well in his rookie year. It should be interesting to see next year how he handles a full season at the hot corner.
3. The improved play of LF Delmon Young - Delmon really improved his approach at the plate and has improved his outfield play. His three-run shot against the Braves on June 13th has been the only Twins homer I've seen in person at Target Field so far.
4. The power surges of DH Jim Thome - the veteran Thome crushed some balls late in the year, including a homer off a flagpole in right field that traveled an estimated 480 feet!

What I didn't like:
1. The lack of competitive swagger in the playoffs - once again, the Twins played like a team that was happy enough just to make the playoffs, and let the Yankees dominate them mentally. The team is really lacking the confidence of say Kirby Puckett in 1991, when he encouraged his teammates to "get on his back" during game 6 of the World Series that year.
2. Pitching inconsistency -the one complaint I really have against Gardenhire is that he leaves struggling pitchers in the game too long, something I saw on TV in the playoffs and in person at the three games I attended at Target Field this year.
3. The utter lack of emotion on the field by C Joe Mauer - heading into the first year of an eight-year, $184 million contract, Mauer needs to lead by example and get his pitchers and the rest of his teammates more invested in the games. He shows almost no emotion on the field, and you need to lead with your heart sometimes during games.

Overall, the season was a success, with over 3.2 million fans in the ballpark. I'm sure I'll go to a few more games at Target Field next year. Although I do think the team needs to spend more money and get an ace starting pitcher, a quality reserve corner infielder/outfielder (in case Justin Morneau's career at first base is over due to concussion), and dump a few lightweight players (Blackburn, Slowey, Harris and Punto immediately come to mind), I think they'll have another run for the AL Central Title next year. Go Twins!