Winning teams aren’t built overnight. With the exception of a few that are lucky enough to be both well run and heavily financed, they seldom last long.
The Minnesota Twins recognize that fact, creating a palpable sense of urgency for the upcoming season. They can see their talent and experience level surpassing owner Carl Pohlad’s willingness to increase the payroll.
“As a Twin, you’re always worried about that,” first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz said. “It won’t be a concern so much this year, but next year it’s going to get crazy. We’ll have 12 or 14 guys arbitration-eligible or free agents at the end of the year. This could be the last go-round for a lot of us.”
Players such as Torii Hunter, Jacque Jones, Cristian Guzman, Corey Koskie, Luis Rivas, A.J. Pierzynski, Joe Mays and Mientkiewicz first played together in a period from 1995 through ’98, when they were thrown together on minor-league teams in Ft. Myers or New Britain, Conn. They play together with a sense of teamwork few of their opponents can match and, as a result, have realized many dreams together.
A year ago, after surviving the threat that Pohlad would allow Major League Baseball to fold the revenue-challenged franchise, they won an American League Central title and upset Oakland in the first round of the playoffs. It was, in the words of reliever Tony Fiore, “a dream season.”
What price success?
But success doesn’t come without costs. Pohlad has allowed Terry Ryan, the team’s general manager and architect, to increase the payroll from $40 million to almost $55 million.
“They kept our group together,” said Hunter, the multitalented center fielder who was sixth in voting for the AL’s most valuable player. “They easily could have traded me, Jacque, anybody, to save money. Instead they jacked up the payroll a little bit. I think that’s a sign Carl Pohlad, Terry Ryan and the other guys want to win.”
It figures Hunter is happy. He and Jones were signed to contract extensions–four years, $32 million for Hunter; two years, $7.1 million for Jones.
But designated hitter David Ortiz, who ranked behind only Hunter and Jones in run production and was popular with his teammates, was released. Free-agent reliever Mike Jackson was not re-signed. Closer Eddie Guardado, who was 45-for-51 in save situations last year, angrily rejected the club’s offer on a two-year contract, leaving him eligible for free agency after the season.
The pending free agency of Guardado and setup man LaTroy Hawkins could create turmoil that the Twins didn’t have to deal with in 2002. Another subplot involves the status of veteran starter Rick Reed, who needs to throw 195 innings to receive an $8 million contract option in 2004, which would have major ramifications.
Seven players signed to long-term contracts are guaranteed about $10 million in raises for ’04. The list of potential arbitration cases includes pitchers J.C. Romero and Johan Santana as well as Pierzynski, Mientkiewicz and Rivas. These guys have come a long way since the days when they lived on the Big Macs and Whoppers that fit into their minor-league budgets.
“In the back of your mind, you wonder, `Will there be complacency?”‘ said bullpen coach Rick Stelmaszek, who is a holdover from the Tom Kelly teams that won the World Series in 1987 and ’91. “Our strength is playing as a team. You don’t want guys to start thinking about themselves as individuals. If that happens, it takes away from the team concept we’ve had going.”
Self-motivated bunch
As spring training was beginning, the Twins did not seem to have changed from 2001–when they led the division until Aug. 11 before finishing second with 85 wins–and 2002. Like the New York Yankees, they were at the top of the charts in early arrivals.
Hunter was in uniform last Tuesday, four days before the first organized workout for position players. Mientkiewicz, Pierzynski, Koskie, pitcher Eric Milton and outfielders Mike Cuddyer, Bobby Kielty, Dustan Mohr and Mike Restovich have been working out at the complex since early February.
“Business as usual,” Mientkiewicz said. “These guys are very self-motivated. We understand what we did last year was special. It’s also understood there’s a lot of room for improvement. Every team’s ultimate goal is to win the whole thing. The last two years, that’s been an unrealized potential for us.”
Before the Twins can improve on their postseason performance, they must get back to the playoffs. There are no guarantees for a franchise with the second-lowest revenues in the major leagues, one that hasn’t had three consecutive winning years since Hall of Famer Rod Carew was a rookie.
They expect to be pushed all season by the White Sox, who have added 20-game winner Bartolo Colon and closer Billy Koch since finishing 13 1/2 games behind Minnesota last season.
“We feel pretty confident,” Mientkiewicz said. “[The White Sox] have always been aggressive. A couple of years ago they added David Wells. They’re always trying to do things.
“We have to live with what we’ve got. Would we like to have Bartolo Colon? Damn right, we would.
“But this team right now does a good job worrying about the 25 guys we’ve got.”
Pitching, defense key
The top two teams in the Central couldn’t be more different. Minnesota hasn’t had a hitter with 30 home runs since Kent Hrbek and Tom Brunansky combined for 66 in 1987. During that span, the White Sox have had 15 30-homer seasons from five different hitters. The Twins have finished in the bottom half of AL teams in runs scored each of the last eight seasons. The Sox have been outscored by only Seattle over the last three seasons.
During that time, the Sox have outscored Minnesota by 345 runs. Yet for all those additional runs, the White Sox have only 11 more victories–and 15 fewer over the last two seasons.
With Hunter, Jones and the since-departed Ortiz as the only 75-RBI men, the Twins were 27 games over .500 while outscoring their opponents by only 56 runs last year. The White Sox outscored the opposition by 58 runs but finished 81-81.
It’s easy to pinpoint the difference. The White Sox led the AL by allowing 82 unearned runs; the Twins allowed only 50, fewer than everyone except Seattle.
“I’ve always been a fan of the White Sox,” Hunter said. “I’ve always said, `Those guys can flat-out rake.’ What you worry about is their defense.”
Lacking the resources to stockpile sluggers–Minnesota hasn’t signed a big-name free agent since Chili Davis in 1991–the Twins emphasize pitching and defense. They’ve ranked in the top half of the AL in staff earned-run average the last two years and haven’t been out of the top half in fielding percentage since 1995.
“We pitch and we catch the ball,” second-year manager Ron Gardenhire. “You can score 1,000 runs, but you damn sure better pitch and catch the ball. We take a lot of pride in that around here. We have good athletes who cover a lot of ground and catch the ball. We may not score a million runs, but we win a lot of baseball games because we don’t make many mistakes.”
Expecting to win
The Twins won 94 games last season without a starting pitcher winning more than 15 games or throwing 190 innings. They hope Brad Radke, Mays and Milton will be healthier this season, but open camp with concerns about Milton’s left knee and May’s surgically repaired elbow.
Perhaps nothing would lift the Twins more than Guzman recovering the explosiveness he had before hurting his right shoulder midway through the 2001 season. Likewise they hope Koskie will have a breakout season after playing through pain in his wrist last year.
No matter what happens to the individual parts, Gardenhire expects continued success.
“Last year we had to deal with a lot of obstacles, including the big `C’ word, contraction,” Gardenhire said. “Now people ask, `How do you motivate the team now?’ I don’t worry about that. They are motivated because they got a taste of something last year and they want to get back. The only way to do that is by working your butt off.”
For Mientkiewicz, Pierzynski, Jones and others on this tightly knit team, there might not be another chance to do great things together.
