Looking Forward to 2008: Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins looked like they could be in the hunt to win the AL Central, that was before Torii Hunter departed via Free Agency and they traded their ace Johan Santana to the NY Mets.

Now, the Twins seem in a little bit of a rebuilding mode, though they are a young team, they should still be a fun team to watch in 2008.

The Twins did show, however, that they were willing to keep around a few familiar faces of their franchise, locking up Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau to long term deals. Along with those familiar faces, will be some new ones that should bring veteran presence, guys like Adam Everett, Craig Monroe and Mike Lamb.

Arrivals:

SS Adam Everett

3B Mike Lamb

IF Brendan Harris

OFs Delmon Young

Craig Monroe

Jason Pridie

Livan Hernandez

Carlos Gomez

Deolis Guerra

Kevin Mulvey

Phil Humber

Departures:

Torii Hunter

Johan Santana

Rondell White

Lew Ford

Jason Tyner

Jason Bartlett

Matt Garza

Carlos Silva

With Johan Santana, Matt Garza and Carlos Silva missing from the rotation, the Twins will have to see who they will fill those rotation spots with. Will it be nearly as strong without those 3? That's still yet to be determined. Though, even with those 3 in the mix, the Twins still finished 4 games under .500.

Though their pitching staff will be different from that of 2007, offensively, this team might surprise some people. Catcher Joe Mauer, 1st baseman Just Morneau, outfielder Michael Cuddyer and DH Jason Kubel lead the Twins' offense, but let's not forget new additions Adam Everett, Mike Lamb and Craig Monroe who can also give opposing pitchers fits.

Prediction Time:

I can't imagine losing Santana, Hunter and Silva is going to help this ballclub, but if the players they received in return from the Mets for Santana can pull their weight and the trio of Mauer, Cuddyer and Morneau can have big years, maybe the Twins can be a pain in the sides of the Indians and Tigers.

Twins - 70-92