Are the Twins Still a Joke?

After finishing my post on the Kansas City Royals, I thought that writing a little bit about the rest of the American League Central would be a fun idea.  Like most fans of the game, I am getting needy for baseball.  Most people look at the AL Central as a bit of a joke because there is not much competition.  It's a fair assessment.  Three of the five teams are rebuilding.  The other two are going to fight for the division while the rest slowly creep up on them.  But they won't creep up on me.  I'm always watching out for teams with great farm systems.  Great farm systems means that they have great players that will one day be ready. 

Let's talk about the Minnesota Twins.  As of late, they have been sitting at the bottom of the AL Central.  And after game 163 (Tigers fans understand), they belong there.  All anger aside, I enjoy the way the Twins have played the game for the past couple of years.  Relying more on running and contact hitting as opposed to trying to get all the runs with monster swings.  I like the way the organization is run.  Producing and developing their talent from within.  Being a small market team, much like the Kansas City Royals, they have to develop their players as opposed to going out and signing the big name free agents.  They pick up a few players here and there, but it isn't anything that turns heads.  The problem is that once the talent is developed, there is a small window of opportunity with these players.  Once they are able to hit the free agent market, they go for the money.  Not for love of the game.  A statement about the sporting world if there ever was one.  

One of the smartest things that the Twins did this offseason is move Joe Mauer to first base.  The man is your franchise player and has been absolutely destroyed the past two years behind the plate.  With concussion problems and knees issues, this was the smartest thing they have done since letting Jack Morris pitch in the tenth inning in '91.  His career is going to be extended quite a few years because of it.  Last year, Justin Morneau and the Twins parted ways.  It was that move that let everyone know that they were ready to start rebuilding.  Morneau, much like Mauer, was a mainstay in the Twins lineup.  

Big questions surround their pitching rotation.  The rotation is pieced together right now until their pitching prospects are ready to go in a couple of years.  But they need to hurry because watching the current rotation is painful, even for a casual fan.  Their two key offseason signings were Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes.  Not major signings, but veteran guys that can help some of the younger pitchers (although Hughes is coming off a horrible season, so they may not look to him for advice).  Not the best signings, but it gives the prospects at least another year.  

So, are the Twins any kind of threat?  Not this year.  Or the next.  Or the one after that.  Despite the fact that they have one of the better farm systems in the league, that doesn't always equal MLB ready.  Their top two prospects (Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano) are close to being ready, but still a few years away in my opinion.  The Twins might not want to rush their prospects after what happened to Aaron Hicks last year.  This is one of those teams that five to seven years down the road, if everything pans out for them, that can contend again.  At least within the division.  

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