Nice Guys Finish Last

Well, another Minnesota Twins baseball season is finally over. Remember how the Twins went from last place in 1990 to first place and eventual World Series champs in 1991? Well, this time around, the Twins went from division champs in 2010 (the first MLB team to win their division, in fact, after playing a 163rd game for the division the previous 2 years) to WORST team in the American League this year with a 63-99 record, only ahead of the 1982 team that went 60-102 for the second-worst Twins team in their 51-year history in Minnesota. What the heck happened?

Well, there's several answers I can think of that caused their epic demise this year:

1. Injuries, injuries, injuries. From the position players in the Opening Day lineup, only 3B Danny Valencia avoided spending significant time on the disabled list. Notable omissions from the lineup on a regular basis include C Joe Mauer (what the heck really is "bilateral leg weakness" anyway?), 1B Justin Morneau (still suffering from concussion symptoms and other ailments), OF/DH Jason Kubel, 2B Alexi Casilla, CF Denard Span (also a concussion sufferer) and newly imported Japanese INF Tsuyoshi Nishioka.

2. Pitching. The Twins made a major mistake in not pursuing capable replacements when free-agent relievers Jesse Crain, Brian Fuentes and Matt Guerrier left after last season. Instead, we Twins fans were "treated" to the likes of Alex Burnett, Jim Hoey, Phil Dumatrait and Dusty Hughes, just to name a few of the lesser-known names in the Twins bullpen this year. We were also treated to down years by all of the starters, from ace Carl Pavano, Liriano, Brian Duensing, Nick Blackburn, Scott Baker and especially Kevin "I don't want to be here anymore" Slowey, who mailed in an 0-8 record with a 6.67 ERA this year.

3. A decimated farm system. I understand why Triple A Rochester's manager Tom Nieto was fired following consecutive 90-loss seasons, but their failure wasn't his alone. By making poor decisions (like trading young C Wilson Ramos to Washington for us to experience the misadventures of Matt Capps on the mound) and a lack of depth in the Twins' minor league system, the Twins front office played a big role in this year's disappointing collapse.

4. Poor free-agency decisions. Instead of keeping infielders Orlando Hudson and J.J. Hardy from last year's pennant winning club, this year the front office decided to jettison both players in favor of infrequently capable players like Alexi Casilla, Matt Tolbert, Luke "Skywalker" Hughes and the Japanese import Nishioka, who was signed to a 3-year contract and even admitted that based on his own poor play that he would have sent himself down to the minors this year. I think the Twins were expecting another Ichiro Suzuki, and instead got a Hideki Irabu.

5. Not playing the "Twins way." The thing that most clubs admired about the Twins while Tom Kelly was the manager was the "Twins way": timely hitting and good defense. In other words, doing the little things that help win ballgames. With the injuries and patchwork lineups this year, last year's AL Manager of the Year Ron Gardenhire was at times forced to put in players like Trevor Plouffe, Hughes and Tolbert who are not exactly known for their defense, as well as players like Rene Tosoni, Rene Rivera and Drew Butera who are not exactly known for their offense. The one thing that really bugged me about this year's team were the mental lapses some players had on offense, running the bases and on defense, which were not the same fundamentals that Kelly (who also helps out in spring training at times) preached for years.

6. A lack of conditioning. Entering the first year of a big contract, Joe Mauer had offseason surgery in December and he (and from the looks of it, many of Gardenhire's starters) took spring training as a kind of lackadaisical practice, going through the motions without putting much effort into it. And Joe wonders why his body wasn't ready in time for the regular season?!?

Some of the highlights this year included Liriano's no-hitter in Chicago, the team's touching tribute to Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew after he lost his battle with cancer, former pitcher and Twins broadcaster Bert Blyleven's induction into the Hall of Fame, Jim Thome's 600th career home run, and closer Joe Nathan breaking the team's career saves mark.

In their second year at the beautiful Target Field, Twins fans expected more out of this team. In 2009, Mauer and Morneau combined to hit 58 home runs. This year, that same duo clubbed 7 round-trippers. I think it's safe to say that Mauer underperformed in the first year of his 8-year, $184 million contract. Mauer doesn't often come across as a leader and keeps to himself, but by signing that large of a contract, it's virtually implied that he be a much-needed leader on this team, whether by example on the field or in the clubhouse. The Twins also have some decisions on players like Michael Cuddyer, Kubel and Nathan. I think either Cuddyer or Kubel will stay but not both - I just don't think they can justify the expense for the production they've been giving the team lately.

In narrowly avoiding becoming the 2nd MLB with a payroll over $100 million (it came in at around $115 million this year) to lose 100 games, the Twins sputtered to the finish line in August and September, but gave significant playing time to rookies like Chris Parmalee (whose four homers for the big league club tied him for fifth on the team this year), and OF's Joe Benson and Ben Revere (whose "somersault triple" remains one of the funniest things I've ever seen in person at Target Field). There is some potential there, but the team really needs to take some drastic action to avoid becoming another team of nice guys who finish last again in 2012.