Here are suggestions for the Twins as they start the off-season:
Delmon Young hit .300 after the All-Star break with nine of his 12 home runs and 35 of his 60 RBI coming during that period. See if that surprising productivity will appeal enough to another team to acquire quality pitching or infield help. Young hit .284 this season after a 2008 with these numbers: .290 average, 10 home runs and 69 RBI.
Tutor outfielder Carlos Gomez during the off-season in hitting and base running. Then let him learn more and polish his skills for a full season at Triple AAA Rochester in 2010.
Second baseman Alexi Casilla? See tutoring plan.
Move Joe Mauer to third base before next season. He will be 27 in 2010 and after six seasons of catching doesn’t need the physical abuse that goes with the position. A problem, though, is Mauer likely will resist moving to another position and during an off-season where the Twins want to sign him to a new contract Mauer has the leverage about where he plays.
Good luck in re-signing 34-year-old shortstop Orlando Cabrera. He will be a free agent and played for $4 million this season, according to Cott’s baseball contracts, https://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/minnesota-twins_17.html The guess here is Carbrera will be looking for more years (maybe three) than the Twins are willing to negotiate into his next contract.
If the Twins had played Sunday night’s playoff game against the Yankees outdoors instead of the Metrodome the temps would have been in the 30’s. TBS reported that the game time temp was 31 in Denver on Sunday night for the Rockies and Phillies. If the Twins had advanced to the World Series they would have opened the series at home on October 28.
It’s interesting that better baseball is played in the American League but the National League has superior average attendance. The AL won the All-Star game for a 13th straight year in 2009 and for the fifth consecutive season was 20 games or better in interleague play. National League franchises drew about 3,000 more people per game than American League teams last season.
One explanation is the National League has better baseball cities in California (San Francisco over Oakland and Los Angeles over Anaheim) and Missouri (St. Louis over Kansas City).
The Sporting News issue of September 28 named its best players and teams of the decade in baseball, basketball, football and hockey. Mauer was selected as the catcher on the all-decade baseball team and former Twin David Ortiz was the designated hitter.
Vikings guard Steve Hutchinson made the NFL all-decade team while former Viking Randy Moss was named a wide receiver. Former Timberwolf forward Kevin Garnett made the NBA all-second team. Native Minnesotans Larry Fitzgerald Jr. (wide receiver) and James Laurinaitis (linebacker) were first team selections on the all-college team.
Vikings coach Brad Childress talking about whether rookie right tackle Phil Loadholt could have played last Sunday against St. Louis with an injured ankle: “He said he could of, but you’ve got to believe what you see. We didn’t want to expose him to that (potential injury).”