Kuzul

Let me start by saying I am not a White Sox fan. I grew up cheering for the Minnesota Twins.

As a Twins fan I remember Ozzie Guillen being a thorn in the Twins’ side as a player. Since taking over the White Sox he is now a thorn in the Twins’ side as a manager.

Yet, Guillen is one of my favorite managers in baseball. A lot of it is for the praise he has always had for the Minnesota Twins, and the mutual respect that Ron Gardenhire and he have for each other.

Guillen manages much in the same way he played—with passion, enthusiasm and a desire to win.

Guillen, who played 13 of his 16 big league seasons for Chicago, is the face of the White Sox. He’s said he loves what he is doing and wants to die doing it.

Considered a light-hitting, soft-handed shortstop, Guillen is among the White Sox leaders in games played, hits and at bats.

He may not have had the most decorated career, earning a single Gold Glove in 1990, and making only three All-Star games appearances, but you knew as a fan you were getting everything Guillen had to give. There was never any question about his desire and his effort.

Guillen was the 1985 American League Rookie of the Year. 20 years later, in 2005 he would earn the American League Manager of the Year.

In only his second season managing at the major league level, he would pilot the White Sox to their first World Series Championship in 88 years.

Since 2004 Guillen’s White Sox have been winning at a .528 pace, winning two AL Central Division titles. Among AL Central Division rivals, only the Minnesota Twins have a better winning percentage at .538. 

As a manager Guillen’s players will know where they stand, he is first to praise them, as well as the first to chew them out if he isn’t getting the effort the game deserves.

In 2006 he created a sensation in the Twin Cities when he referred to the bottom of the Twins’ lineup as “little piranhas.”

In no time there t-shirts everywhere touting the Twins’ Piranhas!

Going into the 2010 season the AL Central was considered to be a two-team race.

Everyone was talking about the Twins and Tigers battling it out. The White Sox did not get a lot of mention.

As late as June 9th this year the White Sox were 9.5 games back in third place.

Over the next month the White Sox became the hottest team in baseball, going 25-5 and leading the division by a half-game heading into the All-Star Break.

Guillen has the White Sox playing great baseball. They have picked up their defense and continue to lead the division in home runs.

This has turned into a three-team race for the AL Central Division, and if Ozzie Guillen has anything to say about it—we will all know exactly what that is!

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The Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians just concluded a three game series at Target Field.

Some big issues were being made over the smallest of plays—the bunt.

It started in the first game of the series when Cleveland left fielder, Trevor Crowe, was at the plate. With two outs and nobody on base he had the audacity to bunt for hit.

Television color commentator Bert Blyleven and dugout reporter Roy Smalley both questioned Crowe’s tactic. 

According to these two former major-league players, since there were two outs, Crowe should have been looking to put himself into scoring position. They went so far to say the only way to justify the bunt was if he intended to immediately steal second.

Their argument was lost on me.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, with two outs and runners on second and third, Denard Span attempted to reach base by bunting.

This move, although not criticized by Blyleven or Smalley, infuriated me!

Span’s failed attempt ended the inning, stranding two runners in scoring position.

Even if he was successful, the absolute best he would have done was to drive in one run.

Why wasn’t he swinging away attempting to score two runs with a hit to the outfield?

At the time the Twins were losing 2-1, why wasn’t anyone on the broadcast team critical of Span’s ploy?

Fast forward to the second game of the series: 

It’s the bottom of the sixth inning, the Indians are leading 3-1 with runners on first and second and one out, and Joe Mauer at the plate—the Twins’ best hitter.

I’m expecting Mauer to flair one down the left field line into the corner for a double, in true Mauer fashion.

In atypical fashion, he bunts at the first offering, attempting to put the ball down the third base line, and Cleveland catcher Carlos Santana throws Mauer out at first—two outs.

I guess it was better than grounding into a double play—a stat that Mauer leads for the Twins.

The bunt is a ploy best used to sacrifice one’s position at the plate in order to improve the team’s chances of scoring, usually by moving runners into scoring position with less than two outs.

None of these examples fit that description. Yet, Crowe was successful at reaching base safely—which should be the goal of every hitter, and he was criticized!  

When is it okay to bunt?

Many feel it’s unsportsmanlike if a player attempts to break up a no-hitter by bunting late in the game. Isn’t that what every player should be doing—trying to break up a no-hitter? Why is it any less admirable to do this by bunting?

There’s also the situation when a team is leading by a significant margin that bunting is deemed to be disrespectful. 

Why?

If he swings away and hits a home run isn’t this piling on?

Again, these arguments are lost on me.

Perhaps to avoid all controversy, a rule should be written down, that bunting is only allowed by pitchers when batting in National League ball parks.

Or when you are among the league leaders in grounding into double plays and this is the best way to avoid increasing your total.    

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When the Twins and Brewers swapped Carlos Gomez and J.J. Hardy in the off-season, Minnesota GM Bill Smith and Milwaukee GM Doug Melvin were looking to improve their squads.

As both teams crank up the second half of the season they find themselves in third place of their repsective divisions. Both players have spent time on the DL this season; Gomez for a strained rotator cuff and Hardy for a wrist injury. They also share the same number on their jersey, but the similarities end there.

So who’s gotten the better end of this deal?

Here’s my attempt to rate the performance of both players and the impact they’ve had on their team. I realize it’s a little like comparing apples to oranges, outfielders to infielders, or sports cars to sedans, but I’ll give a shot anyway. 

Let’s start with J.J. Hardy:

Hardy, currently batting .241, below his career average of .260. He has picked it up lately, batting .321 over the last past 10 games.

Like the Twins, he started the season displaying some power, hitting two home runs in in the first series of the season against the Angels. His last home run came on April 23rd against the Royals.

He is well behind his career average of 20 home runs for a 162 game season.

He has played in only 48 of the team’s 91 games this season. If he played every remaining game this year, he would only exceed his five-year career average of 114 by five games.

The Twins were hoping that a change of scenery would help Hardy to rebound from a down season in 2009. In 2010 his average is up, but not much else.  

With less than half the season remaining there’s no way Hardy can match his career averages of 29 doubles, 20 home runs, and 74 RBI. 

After 91 games in 2009 the Twins found themselves at 47-44, third place in the AL Central.

2010 they are only a game better at 48-43, still third in the division, two and half games behind the first-place White Sox.

Now looking at Gomez:

Gomez is batting .239, just below his career average of .245. Like Hardy he has done well over the last 10 games batting .267.

He has two more home runs than Hardy in 30 more at-bats. With five home runs going into the second half of the season he is sure to exceed his career high of seven set in 2009.

With eight doubles, two triples and 20 RBI, his numbers projected over the full season would match up well with his career averages.

Known for his speed, Gomez has stolen 10 bases this season. If he continues to swipe them at his current pace he should reach 20, which would be his second highest season total in his short career.   

For the Brewers, after 92 games in 2009 they were 47-45 in the NL Central, three games behind and in third place.

For 2010, they have dropped five games from 2009, currently at 42-50, again in third place, but nine games out of first, behind the Reds and Cardinals.

Based on the performances of each player the edge has to go to Gomez, who will perform closer to his average than Hardy. 

If you base it on the records of the Twins and Brewers, than Hardy might have the edge since the Twins are one game better and the Brewers five games worse.

The tie-breaker could in their salaries and the expectations of the management and fans for each club.

At $1.1 million, Gomez seems to be a steal compared to Hardy’s $5.1 salary.

At this point I give the edge to to “Go-Go” Gomez.

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The second half of the season is set to begin.

For Minnesota Twins’ fans, the hope is for a three-team race for the division title.

The Twins and White Sox open a crucial four game series at Target Field. For the White Sox, a sweep gives them a huge cushion over the third place Twins and could go a long way to making this a two-team race.

For the Twins, this is a chance to quickly get back in the race, letting the White Sox and Tigers know they are not going away. 

The race for the American League Central Division is going to come down to starting pitching, and as the trade deadline approaches, all three teams are rumored to be in the hunt for starting pitching.

The loss of Jake Peavy leaves a big hole in a White Sox rotation that has only used six pitchers to start a game so far this season. Freddy Garcia leads the team with a 9-3 record. John Danks and Mark Buerhle, both 8-7, have proven to be effective pitchers in the past and look to improve upon their records.

The Tigers may have the greatest need in starting pitching. They have used already eight different starters this season. Only Justin Verlander has won more than six games for Detroit, with an 11-5 record. The only other starter with a winning record is Armando Galarraga (3-2), who currently is pitching at Toledo, the Tigers’ AAA affiliate.

Even though Minnesota starters have only missed one start this season, they are a team without a true ace. Carl Pavano has emerged as the leader with a 10-6 record. But inconsistent starts by the rest of the staff have them searching for a solid starter to add to their rotation. The collapse of Nick Blackburn, who started the season 6-1, only to falter in June and July, going 1-6, to even his record at 7-7, correlates with the team’s fall from first to third in the division. Francisco Liriano, the AL Pitcher of the month in April, who started 4-0, currently sits at 6-7, a record that does not reflect his effectiveness.

The following table ranks the pitchers who have started a game for the White Sox, Tigers, and Twins by their individual WAR rating.  

Based on this ranking, the Chicago White Sox have the edge. The loss of Peavy will put a dent in their rotation, but based on WAR, he was their fifth best starter.

Chicago also has the best innings pitched per start at 6.22, followed closely by Minnesota at 6.13. For Detroit starters, they average less than six innings at 5.80, and as a staff are below the definition of a quality start (at least six innings and less than three earned runs).

The big question will be if Detroit can continue to win without starting pitching. The loss of Joel Zumaya will put more pressure on a bullpen that is already relied upon to pitch approximately 36 percent of the innings.

If championships are won with pitching and defense, the Tigers take another one on the chin. The Tigers have the worst defense of any teams in the Central Division, currently ranked 13th.

The Twins and White Sox have done a much better job of catching the ball with the second and fourth best defenses in the American League.

By many accounts, the battle should come down to the Twins and White Sox.

After two consecutive seasons with the AL Central ending in a tie, could there be yet another Game 163 on the horizon?

The deciding factor will come down to who wins the battle to add starting pitching.

As of now, I give the edge to the Chicago White Sox.

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The baseball world has lost a legend.

George Steinbrenner, though he never played a game in a Yankees’ uniform, was by far, one of the sport world’s most influential persons. 

Arguably, outside of Manchester United, the New York Yankees are the most recognizable franchise on the planet.

He did it by re-establishing the Yankees glory by winning championships.

When he purchased the team in 1973, it had been 15 years since their last world championship.

Within three years he had the Yankees back in the World Series. By the end of the 90’s the Yankees would dominate Major League Baseball, winning four championships in five seasons from 1996-2000.

Known as “The Boss” he was driven to win. Anything less was unacceptable.

In a Twin Cities radio interview today Jim Kaat, former pitcher and broadcaster for the New York Yankees, described Steinbrenner as a man who wasn’t afraid to spend money for players, and had enough of it to make up for any mistakes.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Minnesota Twins.

Steinbrenner’s presence has had a huge impact on Major League Baseball. 

Last year long time Twins’ owner Carl Pohlad passed away. He owned the Twins for 25 years. Like Steinbrenner, the ownership was a family affair, and his sons now run the team.

When Pohlad purchased the Twins in 1984 he was immediately lauded as a savior. 

Calvin Griffith, the previous owner was known as a tight-fisted owner, unwilling to spend anything to improve the team.

The Twins were known as the feeder program to Major League Baseball. Unwilling to sign anyone to lucrative contracts, they were traded away for prospects.

The Twins’ glory days of the early 60’s were long gone.

Like Steinbrenner, Pohlad was able to turn the franchise around. The team went from 102 losses in 1982, to a World Series Championship five years later in 1987, the third year Pohlad owned the team.

Another short four seasons later, and the Twins had won their second title.

Life was good. Pohlad was king.

That’s where the similarities between Pohlad and Steinbrenner end.

New York is MAJOR MARKET,  the largest city in America, while Minneapolis is the epitome of small market as the 47th largest.   There was no way Pohlad could compete with Steinbrenner.

Even when Minnesota set the single season attendance record in 1988, with over three million fans, it did not create enough revenue to sustain the Twins’ roster.

The team was once again trading stars for prospects.

In 1989 the Twins traded World Series MVP and Cy Young award winner, Frank Viola to the Mets. This move helped to earn their second World Series title, but in the end that would be all.

The trades of budding superstars would continue. Torii Hunter to the Angels, and Johan Santana to the Mets in 2008 are the most recent.

While the Yankees would be buyers, the Twins would be bargain hunters.

Over the years the Yankees would sign big names like Catfish Hunter, Dave Winfield, Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, and CC Sabathia, just to name a few.

Pohlad tried some of the same things that Steinbrenner did.

In 2003 the Twins, in an attempt to generate more revenue, launched their own cable network, Victory Sports One, modeling it after the Yankees successful ‘YES Network.’

Victory Sports One was unable to obtain enough carriage from primary cable television providers in the Twin Cities, or outstate Minnesota, and in 2004 the team re-signed with Fox Sports Net (FSN) North.

The dichotomy that are the Yankees and Twins can be seen in a perusal of the rosters over the past 37 years.

There were 13 Twins who would end up as Yankees, while only six Yankees who would eventually sign with the Twins.

Looking at the active 40 man rosters of the two clubs is also evidence of the different operating styles.

The Yankees’ roster is made up of 52.3 percent of players acquired from other major league teams (11 of 21). While the Twins’ roster has only 28.5 percent (six of 21).

Finally, perhpas the biggest difference between the Twins and Yankees could be in the attempt by Pohlad to contract the team to Major League Baseball in 2002.

Many saw this as a part of a threat to gain a new ball park. A ploy that some feel may have worked with the opening of Target Field this year.    

The thought that Steinbrenner would ever consider contracting the Yankees show how far apart these two franchises really are.

For a life-long Twins’ fan, Steinbrenner represented the “Evil Empire” that was the Yankees. He wasn’t Darth Vadar, but the Emperor himself.

Even so, Major League Baseball lost a legend!

Thank you George Steinbrenner for your contributions to baseball.  

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The Twins closed out the unofficial first half of the season salvaging the third game against Detroit with a 46-42 record.

Good enough for third place in the AL Central.

One definition for ‘frustration’ is when expectations exceed reality.  For Twins’ fans the first half of 2010 has been a lesson in dealing with frustration.

Even before the first pitch was thrown in 2010 the expectations were high.

The opening of Target Field came on the heels of an unprecedented surge to win the 2009 AL Central Division by forcing, and winning, game 163 to break a tie with the Detroit Tigers.

Expectations were made greater with the signing of hometown hero, three-time batting champion, and reigning AL MVP, Joe Mauer to a contract extension that will keep him in Minnesota for a long time.  

Once the season began the expectations were cranked even higher.

The Twins started by winning the first six series they played, and eight of the first nine, giving them a 19-9 record, good enough for a three and half game lead in the division. Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau were among the top hitters in the league, and Jon Rauch had eight saves in place of Joe Nathan who was lost before the season began. Francisco Liariano was named AL Pitcher of the Month in April with a 3-0 record and a 0.93 ERA.

Then reality set in.

Mauer’s average is currently at .293—equal to the lowest in his career.

Due to complications from a concussion, Morneau has missed the last two games and will miss the All-Star Game in Anaheim this week.     

Since April, Liariano is 3-7 with a 4.94 ERA.

This is Ron Gardenhire’s ninth season as the Twins’ Manager and he has found himself in this situation before. Gardenhire has never finished lower than third in the American League Central Division, winning five of the last eight division titles.

Twice the Twins have gone into the break with the third best record in the division.

In 2003, the Twins finished the first half of the season losing 11 of 12 games.

They saw a half game lead on June 30 fall to a third place finish at the break, down seven and a half games behind the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox, by July 13.  

The starting pitching ignited the team in the second half to win the division by four games.

Brad Radke (9-1), Johan Santana (8-1) and Kyle Lohse (9-2) lead the way as the team cruised to a 46-23 second half record.

Contrast that with 2007.

The Twins went into the Mid-Season Classic with a 45-43 record, again good for third place in the division, eight games behind the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Indians.

This time, however, there was no one to lead them to a division title. They went 34-40 to finish with Gardenhire’s only losing season at 79-83.

Carlos Silva led the starters with a 7-4 record. Santana and Scott Baker were the next best with 6-6 records.

If the Twins are going to repeat the accomplishments of 2003, they need a starting pitcher to step up and carry the team past the Tigers and White Sox.

Right now that pitcher appears to be Carl Pavano. His win against the Tigers ended a five game slide for the club and has him leading the team with a 10-6 record and a 3.58 ERA.

A peek at the stats for the Twins’ starters for the second half of 2009 does not bode well for a 2010 comeback.

Baker ended strong in 2009 going 8-2 to in the second half after starting the season at 7-7. 

Pavano was acquired in the second half from Cleveland and went 5-4.

Nick Blackburn went 3-7. He’s currently 7-7, but his 6.40 ERA is the worst on the team. He has not shown any indications he will be able to turn things around in the second half.

Liriano only went 1-4 last year. His 2010 record does not accurately reflect how good he is pitching. Exclude is last appearance (1.2 innings and seven earned runs) and his record would be a serviceable 6-6 with 4.22 ERA, more than two runs better than Blackburn’s.

That leaves Kevin Slowey, who did not pitch after the All-Star break in 2009 and has not regained the dominance he showed opening the 2009 season 10-3 with a 4.86 ERA.

If Gardenhire is to duplicate the type of success the Twins had in 2003, they will need to find at least one more starting pitcher to join Pavano, Liariano and Baker. There does not appear to be anyone ready to make the jump from AA or AAA to the majors.

In Rochester, the Twins’ AAA affiliate, Anthony Swarzak (1-5, 6.84 ERA) and Jeff Manship (3-5, 5.11 ERA) have both made spot starts for the Twins, but neither appear ready for major league hitters.

With Cliff Lee going to the Texas Rangers, that leaves few options for trades.

Unless the Twins’ find an ace-in-waiting or can trade for one, 2010 looks like it will be going the way of 2007—a third place finish in the AL Central.

Look at the bright side—there at least won’t be another playoff loss to the Yankees.

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With 82 games in the book, the Twins head into their final two series before the All-Star break.

With a new ballpark and the hometown hero Joe Mauer signed to a long-term contract, everything is rosy in Twins territory—or is it?

Following are the mid-term grades for the Minnesota Nine.

Stats are based on the first 81 games.

Begin Slideshow

It was just a matter of when Jim Thome would tie, and then surpass Harmon Killebrew for 10th place on the all-time home run list—not if.

With two outs in the bottom the second, on hot and humid Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis, Thome drove a 1-0 fastball off of Tampa Bay Rays’ pitcher Wade Davis 345 feet to left field for his 573rd home run in his 20-year career.

Then in the bottom of the fourth inning, again with two outs, on the very next pitch he saw from Davis, Thome drove another fastball into the Twins’ bullpen in left-center for his 574th home run, giving him 10th place all to himself.

The game was briefly stopped while a recorded congratulatory message from Killebrew was broadcast on the scoreboard.

The home runs are his ninth and 10th of the season, his first with the Minnesota Twins and the 20th of his career.

Now Thome finds himself only nine homers behind Mark McGwire for the nine spot on the list.

Thome has taken advantage of increased playing time during the Twins’ home stand as the Twins’ designated-hitter.  He has four home runs in five games against Detroit and Tampa Bay.  

With Michael Cuddyer seeing considerable playing time at third base, and Jason Kubel playing right field, Thome has provided a huge power surge as the Twins’ DH, coming when the team badly needed a lift as the Twins hit the half-way point of the season.

Congratulations, Jim Thome!

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Jim Thome is on the brink of a historic milestone. With his next home run, the 573rd of his career, he will tie Harmon Killebrew for 10th place all-time on the major league home run list.

The Twins have had a knack of signing veteran players just in time to make history.

On September 16, 1993 Dave Winfield became the 19th member of the 3,000 Hit Club with a single against the Oakland A’s. It was Winfield’s 20th season and first of two he played for the Minnesota Twins.

Three years later to the date, Paul Molitor became the 21st player to hit 3,000 hits with a triple against Kansas City. It was Molitor’s first of three seasons with Minnesota.

Now in the 20th season of his career, and first with the Twins, Thome is poised to complete a Hall of Fame career.  

It seems only fitting that Thome should surpass Killebrew’s home-run total wearing a Minnesota Twins’ uniform—a team Killebrew played 21 of his 22 major league seasons for.

The Twins are Thome’s fifth team in his 20th season in the majors. He broke into the majors in 1991 with the Cleveland Indians, a team he would play with for 12 years.

Thome has been a great player and teammate everywhere he’s played.

In a 2003 Cleveland Plain Dealer fan poll, Thome was named the most popular athlete in Cleveland sports history. (2003 was LeBron James’ first year with the Cavaliers—if he re-signs with the Cavs, without a doubt, if he is not already, James will be the most popular Cleveland athlete ever!)

After the 2002 season Thome signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia.

In his first season with the Phillies, Thome led the Senior Circuit in home runs with 47. At the time this was one shy of Mike Schmidt’s team record of 48. (Ryan Howard now holds the Philly season record with 58 home runs in 2006.)

After playing three years for the Phillies from 2003-2005, Thome’s popularity with the Philadelphia fans was still evident on June 19th of this year.

Thome received a standing ovation at Citizens Bank Park after hitting a two-run, pinch-hit, home run in the ninth inning.

After three seasons in Philadelphia, the emergence of Howard made Thome expendable and he was traded to the Chicago White Sox in November 2005. 

In April 2005, as the White Sox designated hitter, he set a team record for the most home runs in a month with 10.   

When he signed with the Twins for the 2010 season he knew his playing time would be limited, and he accepted this role with no complaints. 

As a future Hall-of-Famer, there’s no doubt that his presence has had a positive influence in the Twins’ clubhouse.

He has made the most of his opportunity, appearing in 53 of the Twins’ 78 games, and accumulating 117 at bats thus far.

Coming off of a nine-game, interleague road trip, where Thome had the one home run with only five at bats, he hit a home run in the first two games as the DH against the Detroit Tigers, back home at Target Field. 

Thome is currently third on the Twins with eight home runs, averaging a home run every 14.6 AB. This ratio is better than that of Justin Morneau who is leading the club with 16 home runs, and averages a HR every 17 at-bats.

If this is Thome’s last season it will mirror Killebrew’s in a couple of ways:

They will have hit their 573rd home run at the age of 39.

Their careers will have ended with another team within the division where their career started.

And both will be remembered at great players and good men.

Good Luck Jim Thome—here’s hoping your 573rd home run is hit at Target Field.  

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For the 2010 season the Minnesota Twins spent big money.

Their payroll, usually closer to the bottom of the league than to the top, is now the eleventh highest in Major League Baseball at $97.6 million.

They signed Joe Mauer to an eight year $184 million contract extension that will land him among the top five paid players in Major League Baseball in 2011.

All this and a new ball park has the expectations higher than ever for this perennial AL Central contender.

Yet, there is a hint of concern in the air of Twins fans.

Mauer is currently battling a slump with his average at a season low .303. If the season were to end today, it would be the third lowest in his six years for the Twins.

His lowest batting average of .293 in 2007 followed the season of his first batting title in 2006.

With a batting title and an MVP award last year will the drop-off be even greater? Mauer is already held to a higher standard than average players, or even All-Star players, and with big money comes big expectations.

So far for the Minnesota Nine Target Field is playing larger than it’s dimensions—almost the exact opposite as to how New Yankee Stadium opened last season.

There have been 50 home runs hit a Target Field, yet only 19 of these from the Twins, only two from the MVP tandem of Justin Morneau and Mauer—and none from last year’s batting champ and MVP.

So how does the 2010 version of the Minnesota Twins compare to the previous teams?

Looking back at the Twins’ record after 70 games to 2003, the season before Mauer was called up, may hold some surprises.

With a record of 40-30 going into Wednesday night’s games against the Milwaukee Brewers, this is the best record the Twins have had over the last eight seasons. 

Their previous best was 39-31 achieved in 2004 and 2005.

One game better? The expectations are much greater than that.

In 2005 they finished third in the AL Central at 83-79, 12 games behind division champions Chicago White Sox, the eventual World Series Champions.

With four division titles since 2003 (five if you go back one more year to 2002) the Twins appear to be sitting in familiar territory.

However, with a little more than half the season remaining, the Twins have the worst record among American League division leaders, while the Yankees have the best.

It looks exactly like every other playoff year—ending with a divisional playoff loss in four games.

As the summer heats, and the winds shift from the South, perhaps the Twins’ bats will heat up, and the Twins will make a run worthy of their payroll. With a key roster add before the trading deadline the Twins could still change their fortunes and October baseball in Minnesota may still be a possibility.  

If not, 

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