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THROWING YOU A CURVE
LOOKING FORWARD TO THE 2006 TWINS SEASON With the season ending yesterday with a Twins win, lets look at some of the 2005 Twins’ baseball highlights. The Twins finished with an 82-79 record to finish above .500 for the fifth consecutive season, but they finished in third place, 16 games behind the Central Division Champions Chicago White Sox and it was a disappointing season. In the game of baseball if you don’t win your division and go to the post season, it should be a disappointing season. Sure there were some players that had a good season, but only a handful. Overall, the pitching staff was very consistent throughout the season, but the offense never really supported this staff. Johan Santana made the season exciting ending with a 16-7 record and the second best earned run average in the American League. He also finished with the most strikeouts in Major League Baseball, a first ever for a Twins pitcher. Maybe he’ll win his second straight Cy Young Award? Carlos Silva and Brad Radke were very consistent and gave the Twins a chance to win in almost every one of their starts. Young Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano give the staff a solid rotation going into next season. The bullpen, anchored by Joe Nathan, who ended with 43 saves, also looks strong going into next season. The pitching is not the problem as the Twins front office heads into the Winter months. The BIG question they have to address is the offense. How do they find the right players to support this good pitching staff? What do they have to give up to get this accomplished and/or can they sign a free agent with power? Catchers Joe Mauer and Mike Redmond were very consistent offensively and defensively behind the plate, but that’s it. Looking at next season Joe, Mike, Justin Morneau, Shannon Stewart, and Torii Hunter are the only every-day players that can come into Spring Training with a position secured. The Twins are going to lose Jacque Jones to free agency and I am personally going to miss his smile and his gamesmanship. Hopefully he will find a new club that he will be successful with because he works as hard at his game as anyone. He is another player lost over the past four seasons that will be missed not only on the field but in the clubhouse. Throughout the season, we have seen a group of players that weren’t always on the same page. The ship was sailing but everybody wasn’t always rowing in the same direction. Way too many things happened throughout the season that made the season a disappointment on and off the field. Look for the Twins to address this problem this Winter. If you have talent at whatever you do but you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, what good is this talent? Everybody has different personalities and you have to find a way to work with everyone around you. Thank you for reading this column, and if you have any comments you can e-mail me at bert@bertblyleven.com. I will get back to you as soon as possible. Have a safe Winter and remember there are 186 more days until my birthday. Sorry but I had to get that in.
You are "Hereby Circled",
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