Saturday, May 19, 2012

Finally...the season ends (some would argue it ended months ago)

2011_Twins_suck

I figured I should throw in some Twins news as this dismal season finally came to an end last night. The season where anything that could go wrong...did (click HERE for proof). I won't get in to details about why things happened the way they did because I'd be accused of being a homer. What I do want to address? How non loyal the media was down the stretch, and what we can expect in the off season.

Want to call me a homer? Go ahead. But one thing I will NOT do, is cheer for my team to lose (especially when we already have the number two pick locked up in next summers amateur draft). This whole "hunt for 100" crap that KFAN and other media outlets were "cheering" for was lame. Cute? Maybe at first...but don't ride the shtick that long and actually cheer for them to lose. We're the Minnesota Twins, not the Kansas City Royals or Pittsburgh Pirates. Having a fan base and media outlets campaigning for one hundred losses is embarrassing.

We had a bad year...so what? We all knew it was coming. I don't think anyone thought it was THIS bad, but still...we all knew that the window of opportunity ended when Morneau went down and all of "good" players, become average. The window of opportunity started to close when we DIDN'T trade Torii Hunter and let Johan Santana dictate his trade situation. I won't beat a dead horse with a stick here, but look at how awful our minor league system is. Our best pitching prospect is out with Tommy John surgery, and our best hitting prospect is a lesser Kubel.

The Detroit Tigers built their new ball park and immediately sucked...I'm talking flat out sucked. No one was attending their games and they had zero talent outside of some steroid users. Ooooo then what happened? THEY WENT AND GOT GOOD PLAYERS! Miguel Cabrera, Magglio (though I'm sure he was on HGH or something) and guys were brought in to surround their up and coming prospects from when they were crap (Verlander). They turned it around and used their core to do so...and now it's the Twins turn.

It's going to get worse before it gets better. I'm sure they'll do better next year, but they won't be a post season threat. Their bullpen is junk, their offense is crap, and their defense is weak. I won't even get in to the problems we have in the rotation. One thing you can bet on is that Kubel or Cuddyer (and probably both) are gonzo. Both will get longer contracts and they'll take the job security. They'll never get this chance again...and I don't blame them.

Losing Kubel and Cuddyer (and Nathan, Capps and a few others) isn't a bad thing. This gives us a chance to go and get some fresh meat...either through free agency or through the farm system. We'll be getting a couple good draft picks out of next year's draft that we can expect to be in the mix in three years. That gives the Twins two and half seasons to piece together a core that will involve the "aging" Mauer and Morneau (though I could see Morneau never getting back to where he once was). If that means we go and get a top notch ace pitcher to go along with Gibson, hoping of course that Gibson returns to form, awesome. They can go and get a decent bat and some defense. I'd be all for bringing back Nick Punto at the right price (never thought I'd say that)...but Casilla, Nishioka and Valencia are NOT the answer. Let them be someone else's problem.

Overall...this year sucked. It was boring, stressful and everything in between. Hopefully the Twins learn from this and straighten things out. Maybe that means they all work harder and get back to basics (which is embarrassing that a major league baseball team should have to do that). Let's not become the Pittsburgh Pirates or Kansas City Royals. Hell, lets not even become the Brewers (they will miss Prince Fielder BIG time and come back to Earth). Let's become a stable franchise that players WANT to come and play for.

Pressures on gentlemen...

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