What exactly is "Twins Baseball": Part 1

I'm only going to start on this subject tonight, but tune in for the next two parts this weekend.

We always here about "Twins Baseball" from coaches (who are among the best in baseball) and from the media folk that seem to think the twins can do no wrong, but I offer you this question: What exactly is "Twins Baseball". If you ask Gardy, who is in my opinion one of the top coaches in MLB (other than a few decisions recently I don't like...not putting Nathan in twice and going Gomez/punto at the top of the order) he would tell you it is playing great defense, having strong pitching and getting the most out of every batter and base runner. This was true for quite some time. However now we don't really do any of them well. Instead we have 5 hitters who are as good as ANY 5 on a single team in baseball right now. Span is solid as a lead off hitter. Mauer might be the best singles and doubles hitter in baseball (with a little more power this year) and draws walks as well as anyone who doesn't hit 40+ home runs a year. Morneau is a triple crown threat, Kubel is showing what coaches (and my buddy ZO) have been promising for years - an all star caliber hitter, and Cuddyer hits as well as any outfielder in his pay bracket. We aren't the same old Twins relying on the piranhas to carry us. We also have a guy in Crede who, when healthy, is a solid 7 hitter because he has some pop. Delmon is not living up to expectations at all, but he is hitting close to .270.

The problem with our line up is we are forced to play too much of this Twins BBall by playing Gomez (.239) Punto (.203) Buscher (.212) Tolbert (.178) and Casilla (.173).

What we need is a decent #2 hitter, or a decent 9 hitter - you know - a piranha. Someone who can get on base at a .350 clip, steal some bases and play some defense. A guy like Freddie Sanchez maybe, who is better than a piranha.

We will most likely not get a guy like that though for 1 reason....THAT IS TWINS BASEBALL!!!!

Twins baseball is doing just enough to keep fans happy. Its making sure we are good enough to stay in contention every year until other teams make moves to take that next step. Its dishing out just enough money every year to make it appear we are trying without breaking the bank.

One last thing for tonight: We will sign Joe Mauer to whatever he wants. If he wants $20 million he will get it, and you know why? So the Twins can say "look, we spent the money". In reality, its because they HAVE to sign him or risk losing a huge fan base that will come watch Joe even if we are in last place. Yes fans, THAT is a big part of what "Twins Baseball" has become.