Twins rotation will be their downfall
Spring is here. The calendar says it, the weather says it and on Sunday, Major League Baseball will officially says it’s spring.
Yes, opening day is just around the corner. Every year the season tends to come a bit too early for me, but not this year. After the Minnesota Twins disappointing and stunning first round embarrassment last year, die-hard fans are itching to start the season and wash away the bitter taste of the 2006 postseason.
The 2007 Twins season looks relatively promising as the team enters opening day with a very similar roster to last year. The only major losses are Brad Radke (retirement) and Francisco Liriano (surgery.) Terry Ryan has brought in veteran pitchers Ramon Ortiz and Sidney Ponson to try and plug the holes in the rotation.
The starting rotation has been the hot topic in spring training. With only Johan Santana a “lock” coming into camp, there were seven or eight guys with a chance to make the rotation. It seems now the rotation is almost set. Santana will be the top starter with Boof Bonser, Ortiz and Ponson behind him.
As of Wednesday morning, the fifth starting spot has come down to struggling Carlos Silva and rookie Matt Garza.
My gut says Ron Gardenhire will make a huge mistake and go with Silva for the fifth spot. Silva has shown no improvement this spring from last year’s debacle while Garza has been stellar throughout the spring and more importantly has the upside and potential Silva does not. Garza could be the spark Liriano was last year.
The starting rotation decisions facing the club are very similar to last spring’s lineup decisions. Gardenhire went with stiffs Tony Batista, Juan Castro and Ruben Sierra while struggling out of the gate.
Management nearly waited too long before turning to Plan B: youth. When the team turned toward youth, success followed. This year the Twins are starting with the washed-up veterans once again. Ortiz, Ponson and Silva are all questions marks in the rotation while young guys like Garza, Glen Perkins and Kevin Slowey are waiting for a shot to prove their stuff.
So why doesn’t management go with youth this year? One of the reasons is the almighty dollar. The Twins have millions of dollars tied up in Silva, Ortiz and Ponson. For a small market team it’s not easy to throw away money, even if it’s in the best interest record-wise.
Another reason may be that if the young guys fail, the team has nowhere to turn. Whereas if the veterans fail, there will be a healthy supply of youthful arms waiting for a shot.
With the lineup and bullpen nearly identical to last year, the success of the 2007 Twins team will come down to the starting rotation. Since the rotation is filled with major question marks after Santana, it’s anybody’s guess how the team will fare.
It’s the reason preseason polls have the Twins anywhere from third to 17th in the league.
As a Twins fan I’m cautiously optimistic about their chances. As an objective observer though, I have a hard time placing the Twins ahead of rivals Cleveland and Detroit due to the Twin’s suspect rotation. Sadly, it will be another year without a championship ring (15 and counting) and another year of Santana wasted.
Mark is a junior studying journalism, broadcasting and mass communications technology.
Columnists' opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of The Spectrum