What went right, what went wrong, and what are the top priorities for the Minnesota Twins this offseason?
The last four years have been a roller coaster ride for the Minnesota Twins. They went from last place to second place to last place to second place and their win total jumped from 70 to 83 to 59 to 85. In their 83-win season in 2015, the Twins finished three games out of a wild card spot. This year, they claimed the second wild card spot before losing to the Yankees in the win-or-go-home game.
Paul Molitor has guided the team to winning seasons in two of his three years at the helm. Before his arrival, the team had four consecutive losing seasons that included three last place finishes and winning just over 40 percent of their games. He has a strong case to be the AL Manager of the Year for 2017 and was recently signed to a three-year extension that will keep him in Minnesota through 2020.
The team Molitor will continue to guide has young talent like Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano leading the offense, along with veterans Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer for at least one more year. Dozier will be a free agent after this season. Mauer has been with the Twins since he first came up as a 21-year-old in 2004. He’s heading into the final year of an eight-year, $184 million contract that kicked in with the 2011 season and he’s coming off the best year he’s had since 2013.
The 2017 Twins had a good offense, middle-of-the-pack defense, and below-average pitching. Their staff was typical of Minnesota pitching staffs. They were second-to-last in the league in strikeout rate. This combination of offense, defense, and pitching got them the second wild card spot, but they were 17 games behind Cleveland in the division. That gap will be tough to make up.
As the Twins hope to get back to the playoffs next year, let’s take a look at what went right, what went wrong, and the team’s top offseason priorities.