Today the Minnesota Twins will begin their 55th Major League Baseball season. This 55th season brings a lot of questions and a new manager to lead the way.
The Twins finished spring training with a record of 14-16-3, which some casual fans may say is not so bad. Paul Molitor, former All-Star who played with the Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, and Minnesota Twins, is now leading the ship over at Target Field. Ron Gardenhire, who managed the Twins since 2001, was let go during the offseason as the Twins had just completed their fourth consecutive 90-loss season. As a big Twins fan, every year of the past four seasons was a pill harder and harder to take. The front office of the Minnesota Twins had finally had enough, at least that is what they say. Along with replacing Gardenhire, they also terminated the services of pitching coach Rick Anderson. Many were big fans of Rick Anderson and as time went on, I was not. It was hard seeing so many pitchers leave the Minnesota Twins and become big successes. Francisco Liriano had a near Cy Young award winning season in 2013 and he wasn't the only pitcher to do well. Kyle Lohse also had a high level of success after leaving the Twins, which included a big pay day contract in the middle of it all. Kyle Lohse also got to taste the World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals. Johan Santana, who was outstanding with the Minnesota Twins and like so many other players, became too expensive for the Minnesota Twins checkbook. Johan Santana did not go on to a World Series, but played in a big market with the New York Mets where he went on to throw the ever elite No-Hitter. This is just a few of the examples of pitchers who left and became success stories and in some cases household names. There are more, but this is why I felt that Rick Anderson needed to leave along with Ron Gardenhire.
Ron Gardenhire didn't have that same fire that he had when the team was successful. When Gardenhire was given somewhat of an ultimatum after the 2013 season, you would like to think that it would serve as a wake up call. It appeared that it did not as Gardenhire's team in 2014 showed no improvement. The sad thing about the 2014 season is that Target Field was the featured ballpark by hosting the elite Major League Baseball All-Star Game. This was the first time the Minnesota Twins were the hosts of this game since 1985 when the game was played in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Thankfully, out of sympathy, the Minnesota Twins did have two players on the 2014 All-Star squad. Hometown kid Glen Perkins and catcher Kurt Suzuki were able to play in the mid-summer classic, unlike hometown hero Joe Mauer, who is currently getting paid $23 million dollars a season to be an average base hitting player.
I don't like being negative, but the Minnesota Twins have a lot to prove to win their fans back. These fans are willing to spend their hard earned money to be competitive. I am not saying they have to necessarily win, but they need to be competitive. It is hard to be a Minnesota summer sports fan when you know you baseball squad is out of it by the All-Star break.
While the Twins did make some changes in leadership, brought in Starting Pitcher Ervin Santana in the highest free agent contract in Minnesota Twins history at four years for $55 million dollars, and brought back fan favorite Torii Hunter, they fans had something to maybe buzz about. The reality is that the central division in the American League may be the most difficult in all of baseball this season, which doesn't bode well for the Twins. Sports Illustrated in fact went out on a limb and predicted the Cleveland Indians, who have a young powerful starting rotation, to the World Series champs this year. The Detroit Tigers lost Starting Pitcher Max Scherzer, but brought in prized pitcher David Price who shut down the Twins today on Opening Day in Major League Baseball. The Kansas City Royals made it to the World Series last year and are ready to prove that they are not just a fad with their young and talented squad. The Chicago White Sox also made many changes in the offseason to improve their team with their focus on another Central Division title. So the Twins have a challenge this year with the division mates being all competitive. Just a couple of days ago, the Twins were also dealt with some more bad news. Their big money free agent pitcher, Ervin Santana, was informed that he failed a test for a banned substance and was dealt an 80-game suspension as a penalty, which is half of the season.
In closing, I hope the Twins can put a spark in our summer sports season like the Minnesota Wild have done in the NHL during the late winter and spring. It would be refreshing to be talking again about the successes of the Twins. The last four seasons for the Twins have proved one thing. If you lose badly in Major League Baseball, that trend can continue for many consecutive years if it isn't addressed immediately. The Twins skid is now nearing a half of a decade and they barely fill half of their beautiful stadium that is only five years old. Good luck Paul Molitor and the Minnesota Twins!
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