Sports Illustrated’s Ben Reiter says the Minnesota Twins have hope.
“If you carefully peer through a magnifying glass, in good light, you can detect a route by which the club might soon again become the postseason fixture that it was not so long ago,” he avers, “and the possibility that 2016 will come to represent a mortifying detour.”
It starts with the offense, which as of Thursday is 11th in runs scored, specifically Brian Dozier and Byron Buxton.
“Thanks to the four-year, $20 million extension he signed in March of 2015, the Twins will have to pay him just $15 million combined over the next two years,” he writes, referring to Dozier’s contract. “A legitimate MVP candidate at that price represents a good asset with which to start any turnaround.”
And while he’s impressed with Dozier, he’s more bullish on Buxton’s development.
“Even more encouraging has been the recent play of the perennially disappointing Byron Buxton,” he writes. “Whether the fault lies with his lingering injuries, the Twins’ developmental system or Buxton himself, the fact was that despite raking in the minors, the electrically athletic centerfielder didn’t produce whenever he periodically reached Minnesota.
“No matter what Dozier does from here on out, September of 2016 might come to be remembered as the month in which the Byron Buxton era finally began.”
The pitching staff is a primary concern in his book, however, and he wonders if the Twins front office would be willing to spend in order to rectify this situation.
“What the Twins really need…is a big acquisition,” he writes, “and this week brought news that they will interview the ideal man to make it: 39-year-old Alex Anthopoulos is a candidate to replace Terry Ryan, who was fired in July, as general manager.”
He also addressed the Joe Mauer deal, which he feels may be holding the Twins back.
“Minnesota’s current struggles can to some degree be traced back to a single decision that at the time seemed, to many, to be more sentimental than economical, and now seems almost crippling: the signing of hometown hero Joe Mauer,” he writes.
“Mauer’s not going anywhere, but even despite the nadir the Twins have reached in 2016 there are at least some signs that he might end his tenure in Minnesota as what he probably should have been all along, which is a complementary player on a winning team.”
[Sports Illustrated]
