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2009 Twins season in review - offense
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This is the sixth installment of a ten-part series analyzing the Twins 2009 season. For previous entries, please check the Minnesota Twins Examiner homepage.
The 2008 Minnesota Twins charged to a regular season tie for the AL Central Division title thanks to great seasons from the middle of the order and to some offensive over-achievement by the bottom of the order. The run producers like Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, and Jason Kubel delivered fine offensive seasons, but it was the offensive performance of players such as Denard Span, Alexi Casilla and Nick Punto who got on base and set the table for the run producers.
The Twins rewarded Punto with a two-year, $8.5M contract before the 2009 season and were set with him as the everyday shortstop. Casilla was penciled-in as the second baseman. To address a hole at third base, Twins' GM Bill Smith signed former Chicago White Sox mainstay Joe Crede to a pedestrian one-year deal, and the thought was that the injury-plagued Crede would be able to provide some punch in an area the Twins have been devoid of production since Corey Koskie's departure after the 2004 season.
None of these options worked out as planned for the Twins.
Punto simply did not hit to justify his contract. Although he had a fine September in which he hit .292/.407/.375 with 6 doubles, 7 stolen bases, and 9 RBI, his overall numbers were not good at all. His full season line of .228/..337/.284 represented a sharp drop from the more adequate 2008 line of .284/.344/.382.
Casilla's season was nothing short of a disaster. After hitting .281/.333/.374 after his 2008 recall, he slumped mightily in 2009 to .202/.280/.259. His defense also suffered along with his struggles at the plate, and the youngster was demoted to AAA twice in the season. When he returned the final time, Punto had supplanted him at second base, and Casilla was limited to 17 at-bats in September and October. Of course, Casilla did deliver one of the season's most memorable hits of 2009. His walk-off single through the right side of the infield scored Carlos Gomez from second and gave the Twins the AL Central Division title in the tiebreaker game.
Crede did provide production in 2009 - when healthy. He knocked out 15 HR and added 17 doubles and 48 RBI. However, he was limited to just 90 games with a variety of injuries. His season ended prematurely with another back surgery.
All was not doom and gloom for the Twins' offense in 2009, however. Span established himself as one of the league's premier lead-off men. He followed-up his .294/.387/.432 rookie campaign last year with a fine .311/.392/.415 2009 season. Span also added 16 doubles, 10 triples, 8 HR, 68 RBI, to go along with 23 stolen bases. He was a perfect catalyst for a potent middle of the order.
The Twins addressed their shortstop issues by trading for Orlando Cabrera at the trade deadline. The deal provided immediate dividends for the Twins, as Cabrera knocked out hits in his first nine games with the Twins. He sputtered after that, but picked it up in the season's final two weeks, going 27-66 (.409) in the season's final 14 games while adding 2 HR and 16 RBI. Overall with the Twins, Cabrera hit .289/.313/.430 in 59 games with 13 doubles, 3 triples, 5 HR, and 36 RBI. He is a free agent this winter and the Twins definitely have a decision to make on Cabrera.
Another player who turned it on down the stretch to save an otherwise dismal season was Delmon Young. One season after arriving in Minnesota, Young was often the odd-man out in the Twins' outfield rotation and played on a part-time basis during the season's first four months. Through July 31, Young was hitting just .264/.291/.346 with 3 HR and 27 RBI. Starting in August, manager Ron Gardenhire gave Young more consistent playing time and forced Gomez to the bench. After Morneau's injury, Cuddyer moved to first base and Young played every day in right field. He rewarded the Twins for the regular PT by putting up some nice numbers in the season's final two months. Young went 57-187 (.305) during this time with 9 HR and 33 RBI, creating more decisions for the Twins to contemplate during the off-season about the outfield logjam again next season.
The offense as a whole enjoyed a fine 2009 season. The team hit .274, which ranked third in the American League. They knocked out 172 HRs and scored 817 runs, figures which ranked 9th and 4th, respectively. This is largely due to the production of Mauer, Morneau, Kubel, Cuddyer, and Span, and masks the disappointments of Punto, Casilla, and Gomez. However, the offense was potent as a whole and a definite strong point heading into 2010.
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