Jon Laging, Sports Talk

I ran into a friend and his son last night in our small town grocery store. We all felt it has been a sad year for Minnesota sports. Both for the Gophers and the Timberwolves.

Naturally, the talk turned to cremation vs. burial. Mostly about what we individually would prefer.

After having once taken an MRI in the Mayo Clinic’s version of a coffin I came out in favor of cremation and being scattered in a pretty place by a loved one. The Root River seemed good.

After discussing those morbid subjects our reflections turned to a Minnesota team we hope will fare better than the basketball teams and brighten up the rest of our sports year. The Minnesota Twins.

There has been some discussion by baseball bloggers, that this is a training year. The year for the team to contend is 2007 not 2006. This was based on their thinking that the Twins weren’t ready yet and would be a better team after a year had passed in order for some of the players to get additional experience.

The thinking was that Mauer and Morneau would be much better after another year in the &8220;Bigs,&8221; particularly Morneau. Another year would do nothing but help Jason Bartlett at shortstop. That Jason Kubel would be fully recovered from his knee injury and be ready to go as a full time major league corner outfielder. And that new pitchers&8217; Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano would benefit greatly from 2006.

I don’t agree with that thinking. Even if I did agree, how many times does the &8220;next year&8221; philosophy work out? How often have you heard we’re building for next year and next year doesn’t happen because of injury, drop off in productivity or the inability of the team to sign a key player? Not only that, the following often occurs, perhaps not as often as the above scenario, but often enough. The team matures earlier, the potential is realized and they become champions.

I think this year is important to the team: 1. How long is Johan Santana going to be the dominant major league pitcher? Much like the Timberwolves’ Kevin Garnett, he has a definite shelf life. He may continue on for a number of years and he may not. 2. While Brad Radke is not a dominant pitcher he is certainly a good one and he keeps insisting this is his last year. 3. This year the Twins have a wonderful mix of pitchers. The best lefty in baseball and three above average righthanders with two wonderful rookies in the wings in Baker and Liriano. One a possible future Santana and the other an improved version of Brad Radke.

As far as the position players are concerned, I believe this is the breakout year for Joe Mauer. He will add power to his batting arsenal and be the best catcher in the &8220;Majors.&8221; If Morneau doesn’t cut it this year, why would we expect him to be better in 2007. I’m afraid it’s now or never for Morneau. Bartlett needs to become a major league shortstop this year. The man is 26 years old and it’s time to get it done. This year we still have Torii Hunter, perhaps for the last year as in 2007 he will command 12 million.

I see where some of the thinking is coming from, for hopefully there will be superior substitutes for White, Batista and Sierra in 2007. But they are what we have and based on their past performances they will help mightily in 2006. Not only that, I don’t see any new rookies on the immediate horizon for 2007. It’s also true that Kubel’s knee will probably be better in 2007, but his swing will be the same and the league will have time to search out his weaknesses. I don’t believe there will be that much difference between the Kubel of 2006 and 2007.

Given all of the above and with their present pitching this is the year, for not only good things can happen next year, but bad things.