Here's how far left the 2018 season went for the Minnesota Twins: they can't even claim to be among the top three most disappointing second-place teams in baseball.
The Twins entered the season with postseason aspirations. Following a loss to the New York Yankees in last fall's Wild Card Game, the Twins spent the offseason making seemingly smart additions. They signed Fernando Rodney and Addison Reed for the bullpen, grabbed Lance Lynn and Lance Morrison when no one else wanted them, and traded for Jake Odorizzi. Adding those helpers to a still-young roster should have enabled the Twins to push for a wild card spot.
Yet the Twins never stood a chance. They held the division lead for all of a day and topped out at three games over .500. They last held a winning record on April 18, and they didn't record a winning month until July -- they won exactly one more game than they lost. Depending on what happens this weekend, it could be their only one of the season.
Where did things go wrong for the 2018 Twins?
You can start with those nifty additions. Odorizzi bounced back, and Rodney did his job well enough to interest a contender. Beyond that? Morrison couldn't match last season's production as he dealt with hip woes, Reed gave up a ton of home runs for a high-leverage reliever, and Lynn didn't pitch like either his St. Louis Cardinals or New York Yankees self.
There were other issues at play, too. The Twins gave at least one start to 16 pitchers, tied for the second-most in the majors. Odorizzi combined with Jose Berrios and Kyle Gibson to give them a solid foundation. But they found it difficult to round out their starting five. Their bullpen also suffered from inconsistency, and is set to finish the year with the majors' seventh-worst ERA.
Minnesota's lineup was also below-average. Byron Buxton had a lost season. Max Kepler improved his underlying measures but not his overall production. And while the Twins had a number of players assert themselves as worth hanging onto -- Jorge Polanco, Eddie Rosario, and Jake Cave; you can throw Tyler Austin and Willians Astudillo in as well, although their work came in smaller samples -- this is a group that needs another impact talent or two.
The bright side for the Twins is they should be able to once again play around on the free-agent market. Three of their highest-four compensated players are free agents, and they stand to free up more than $35 million from the departures of Joe Mauer and Ervin Santana alone. Arbitration costs and the like will eat into the savings, but there's ample reason for Minnesota to go for it. With the exception of the Cleveland Indians, the rest of the division is rebuilding. Why join the others at the back of the line when there's the makings of another decent team in place?
Squint and the Twins have at least three parts of next year's rotation, in Gibson, Berrios, and Odorizzi. Michael Pineda could be the fourth, should his body allow. The Twins have a number of young, largely unproven options to throw out for the fifth spot, but could decide to add another veteran as a Plan A. They seem likely to add some experienced help in the bullpen, too -- although that applies to most every team, especially those with competitive aspirations.
As for the lineup, the Twins are probably looking at adding at least two or three new starters. Even if they re-sign Mauer for another season, they'll need a second baseman (Nick Gordon struggled in Triple-A, delaying his arrival) and potentially a third baseman, depending on what they do with Miguel Sano. Those are just the obvious holes, too -- it's possible the Twins decide to get creative and aggressive with their roster. Maybe that entails moving a piece or two from the core, or landing a marquee free agent,or maybe it's some combination thereof.
Whatever the Twins do, here's hoping it works out better for them in 2019 than it did in 2018. Otherwise, things are going to get testy in Minnesota as they wait on their new young core -- led by Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff -- to save them from their old one.
