Article: 2013 Twins Postmortem: What Went Wrong

[Thegrin]

2013 went predictably wrong. The Twins started with only 4 proven major league hitters: Mauer, Morneau, Willingham & Doumit. In 2012 we had the same 4 + Span and Revere.

That is 6 proven major league hitters. We all know that Florimon, Parmalee, Hicks have all flopped as hitters and Willingham and Doumit have had terrible seasons. Plouffe and Dozier had mixed results. Despite the lack of hitting, the Twins will lose about the same number of games as past years, despite worse starting pitching.

[Mr. Brooks]

I don't really think anything went wrong. The players we have are just not that good (with a few exceptions). Anything that went wrong was well before the season started. Expecting my 03 Chevy Impala to win the Indy 500 is just unrealistic. In other news bring on Sano, Buxton, Rosario, Meyer,etc. Can hardly wait for 2014! Even though we'll probably still suck, it should be fun to watch.

 

What if you were given an adequate budget to build an Indy car, but instead pocketed that money and decided to enter the race with your Impala instead? Do you still blame the car, or do you blame the guy in charge of building a competitive car?

[darin617]

Or we could just ask what went right and it would be a whole lot easier......

[Rosterman]

The Twins inability to shed not only salary but potential free agent Pelfry, as well as taking something, anything, for Correia and Willingham. Maybe they can bring back something more in 2014.

 

The bullpen got worn out. Not just because of innings, but appearances.

 

The Twins may have had the ability to deal from a position of strength, finding new homes for Swarzak, Duensing, Roeincke, Burton...but they didn't. All of the aforementioned pitchers are replaceable.

 

They made a decision on Perkins. We get to see if he can hold onto his status in 2014 when he is still dealable, or re-signable beyond his option.

 

Hicks was an enigma. The Twins actually thought they had strength and competition going into the season: Benson, Mastro and Hicks. They gave up totally on Benson. mastro has lost his speed with injury. Hicks should've gone down sooner and worked his arse off at AAA. Thomas is a bad placeholder. We all miss Revere, Span and Gomez...and almost wish Hunter had come back, although the Twins still couldn't afford him.

 

To think Cole DeVries was in the rotation to start the season. And now he's in the rotation to end the season. So many arms. So much work. Who will step forth in 2014. Albers and Deduno have had ups and downs. Correia is steady. Hendriks, Gibson, Hernandez, Diamond are all on the bubble. Maybe a couple could do long-relief (which made the non-trading of Swarzak and Duensing unbearable in my mind).

 

Line-up construction. Considering the only guy who produced at one point was the #7 prospect. But still...no one getting on base made Mauer pretty lonely out there in the infield when he reached base.

 

The rroe I think about Morneau, I can live with him being gone and not coming back. But who's on first? Looks like Mauer. Pinto has been a ray of sunshine.