Minnesota Twins Quick 2008 Preview
By Bret Weigel - Special Contributor
11/12/2007
How will the Twins fare in 2008?
I can't say that I buy into the Scott Rolen rumor, although that certainly is a position of need. The rumor that makes the most sense to me is a pitcher (Garza, Slowey, Baker) to Tampa for either Baldelli or Young.
If I was running the Twins, I would re-sign Hunter since there is nothing in the pipeline in the minors and I would look to take the prospect package that the Dodgers could offer for Santana.
That would leave a lineup something like this:
SS Bartlett
C Mauer
RF Kemp
1B Morneau
CF Hunter
LF Cuddyer
DH Kubel
3B Laroche
2B Casilla
And a rotation like this:
Liriano, Bonser, Baker, Garza, Slowey (with Kershaw in AAA and Perkins in the pen).
If Liriano returns to form, this team would be able to compete with Detroit and Cleveland. And I can’t just leave you with that comment without putting out a projection on Liriano.
That is a tough call. I'll use AJ Burnett as a comp and use his 2004 as a starting point: 120 IP and a 1.17 WHIP: I am going to get a little bullish on the IP total and say 140, and a little bearish on the WHIP and say 1.27. We’ll see what happens next year!