Twins 2012 season outlook

Baseball is a funny game. In 2011 the Minnesota Twins ended up a single loss short of 100 (63-99) which has many fans, writers and bloggers thinking that the stars will have to all align just right for the Twins to have any chance of fielding a playoff caliber team in 2012. And of course it's hard to argue that point. So far the moves the Twins have made have been small ones and while most people seem to think they are good ones, you would be crazy to think that signing Jamey Carroll will turn the Twins into a 90 win team.

That being said I think many people are forgetting something. As recently as 2010 the Twins actually won 94 games (94-68) and that team features many of the same players who were part of the 2011 disaster. I started thinking about this the other day and wondered if maybe the Twins are closer to being a contender then most people are giving them credit for. So what were the big differences between 2010 and 211?

• Health -- Everyone on the 2011 Twins team seemed to be injured at some point. While Justin Morneau was injured for much of 2010, he was joined on the DL by Joe Mauer and pretty much everyone else in 2011.
• Bullpen -- It went from one of the best to one of the worst. This is the area that really did change personnel wise between the two years. I fully believe the front office would have made some trades to improve it in 2011 but the team got off to such a terrible start that they never had a chance.
• Depth -- The Twins just didn't have any young players that could step in and play at a major league level in 2011 and this hurt them.
• Starters -- While the group of starters was basically the same, they sure looked like a different group. Especially Francisco Liriano who showed glimpses of being an ace in 2010 and looked like a guy who could loose his rotation spot in 2011.
• Defense -- Blame it on the lack of depth perhaps which was showcased due to the injuries but it's hard to defend the 2011 defense. Really it wasn't spectacular in 2010 either but it was at least average.

So looking at this list a few things are obvious. As most people have correctly stated, the Twins need their star players to stay healthy. This takes some luck but can probably be said of any team that is not the Yankees. Next the Twins need more depth and this is the issue they've seemingly been addressing the most this off-season. Finally they need better pitching. The bullpen needs to be improved (still waiting on that) but more then that they need their core starting pitchers who will remain mostly the same as the past few years, to bounce back. Someone needs to have a big season in that rotation.

So I guess the in a way stars kind of do have to align but they've done it before and I for one wouldn't be surprised to see that happen. This main group has done it before and looking back over the past several seasons, 2011 seems to be the year that is unusual. For sure they still need some pitching help but so far I'm impressed with the minor improvements they've made. Don't be shocked it this team can return to being a contender without any big moves.