My seemingly healthy 51-year-old aunt died of a brain aneurysm on Sunday. Nothing puts a baseball season into perspective than something like that. I watched every pitch of the game on Tuesday, nervously, partially because it kept me from thinking about what I had to face at visitation and the funeral, but partially because I loved the team so much, I couldn't not watch them. It hurt like everything when the game was over and we lost, but the Twins will be back. Some of the names and faces may change, but there will still be nine guys in the batting order, nine guys on the feld, five men/boys in the starting rotation, a bullpen of six or seven, a decided lack of power hitters. Morneau will still be there. Mauer will still be there. Nathan will still be there. Of the group of Baker, Slowey, Liriano, Blackbunr, Slowey, Redmond, Casilla, Tolbert, Punto, Buscher, Kubel, Young, Cuddyer, Gomez, Span, Pridie, Neshek*, Crain, Breslow, Mijares, Guerrier, and others I'm likely forgetting, I'd bet most of them will be in Twins uniforms in March--for better or for worse. And I'd guess many of them will be wearing Twins uniforms well into April, too. The Twins will be back, to disappoint us, frustrate us, but probably make us fall in love with them all over again.

Right now we're faced with five months without any Twins baseball, and six months until official games begin. We've got one month left of baseball. And that's just too long.

*He'll be there in March. Based on what happened with Liriano, I'm nervous that TJ might be necessary for him, too.

I haven't spoken to anyone who has Bill James online, I figure for $3 for a month it is worth a shot, right?

I hope Cuddyer rebounds; but, like ubelmann once pointed out, he does have trouble getting through a season without trips to the DL and some injury that puts a crimp in his performance. The last two seasons he's had injuries to his fingers, which could continue to mess with his swing if his hands aren't well, and next year he'll be three years removed from his Age 27 breakout season--which is starting to look like an anomaly.

It was a huge break for the team to get such good production from Span, in Cuddyer's place, this year. He looked pretty good this summer, and he certainly has tools and all the enthusiasm in the world, but I'm just not completely convinced that it wasn't just a few months of rookie magic. That minor league track record still nags at me. That goes for Gomez, too. I know that Gomez has been rushed through the minors--and he probably should've spent this season at AAA, really--but it's surprising to see just how mediocre his minor league stats have been.

Good point on Cleveland and Detroit. This year the Twins really took advantage of the fact that two expected contenders fell flat and left the division without a dominant team. If one of those teams or Chicago puts up a better fight and wins ~95 games next year, can the Twins still improve enough to keep pace? I think Bill Smith probably needs to make a few shrewd moves this winter.

Anyone subscribe to that and have any insight on whether someone should subscribe or not?

I thought it was him, but I wasn't 100% sure.

The Twins should approach the Neshek situation like he'll never be an effective pitcher again. You just can't bank on that happening.

But, I think that Cleveland and Detroit will be better.

I'd guess that next year we'll see some regression from at least two members of the starting rotation (and I'll nominate Baker and Perkins here), as well as from a few guys in the lineup (say, Span, Punto, Buscher, and maybe Kubel and Morneau to some degree). But maybe a full season from Liriano, and retooled bullpen, and improvements from Young and Casilla would make up for it, and then some.

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2008 Opening Day Salaries
Yankees: $209,081,577
Red Sox: $133,390,035
White Sox: $121,189,332
Angels: $119,216,333
Twins: $56,932,766
Rays: $43,745,597

I'd say the White Sox are pretty free spenders, too, just $12 million less than the Red Sox and a couple million more than the Angels. But man, that Yankees payroll is appalling for a team that didn't make the playoffs. For the sake of comparison, the nation of Tonga has an annual gross domestric product of $219 million.

Hold your head high, FTLT. Nothing to be ashamed of, and so much to look forward to. With a few tweaks, there's no reason to think this current team can't contend for the next 5-6-7 years. Just you watch.

In the meantime, Go Tampa Bay (Ybor City)!

The biggest thing the Twins need to improve on is the bullpen, but that might be solved in-house. A healthy Neshek is the biggest addition. Crain will be a full year from surgery. Mijares will have a full spring training with the team and all the experience of the last couple weeks. Boof will be more used to relieving and/or will be traded for help. Nathan is Nathan and I doubt he will blow six saves next year. Plus, Korecky will be fighting for a job in spring training, Humber is out of options, and Robert Delaney should be ready by midseason, if not sooner. I'm sure Craig Breslow will be back and will be with the team for the full season, although it would be difficult to expect him to be as good next year as he was this year for the Twins.

The next most important thing to improve upon is the defense. Tops on my wish list is Orlando Hudson. Yes, he's a second baseman, but Casilla's natural position is shortstop. Hudson would be a great No. 2 hitter (he hit third for the Diamondbacks) and a top of the order of Span, Hudson, Mauer, and Morneau is downright scary. As a free agent he would be expensive and he would cost the Twins a draft pick as well, so this is probably unlikely to happen.
Adrian Beltre is another one I would like to get, but that also is probably a pipe dream. Orlando Cabrera is a free agent and won't be re-signed by the Sox. He's a very good defender and can hit pretty well as long as he's down in the order. He might still be too expensive for the Twins, however. If you want just great defense and aren't worried about offense, then Cesar Izturis is an option, but how much better defensively he would be than Punto is up for debate.

The Twins also need to add more power and protect Morneau better to provide a more balanced lineup that will be more consistent. Losing five 1-0 games is going to stick with me for awhile, as well as all the late blown leads the last six weeks of the season.

Two guys I think the Twins should target significantly this off-season:

Adrian Beltre
Juan Cruz

If the Twins did that, and nothing else externally, I'd be pleased...very pleased.

It was symbolic for me as it was the passing from one of my passions (Twins baseball) to another (Wild hockey).

Lasting thoughts on 2008... Wow!! How the hell did we do it? No Santana, or Hunter. All of our pickups (Lamb, Hernandez and Everett) were horrible. We lose Neshek and Cuddy for most of the year. LIriano misses the first half. DYoung has a down year. Crazy that we were even able to compete for the title.

Thoughts of next year.... A rotation of Baker, Liriano, Slowey, Blackburn and Perkins should only improve. We have some depth at starting pitching with Humber, Boof and whatever washed up veteran we pick up and place in Rochester.

Barring injury, a bullpen with Nathan, Neshek, Mijares as anchors looks pretty good to me. If we can get Guerrier back on track or Crain, we should be fine.

DSPAN2, Casilla, Mauer, Morneau, Kubel/Cuddyer, DYoung/Cuddyer, Harris/Buscher, Punto and Gomez for a lineup looks acceptable to me.

However, I would love it if we somehow picked up a quality middle reliever, and a right handed power bat in the off season through FA or trade. The bat would preferably take residence in the left side of our infield. I could see Punto back at utility, spelling Casilla, shortstop and 3rd base.

BTW for hockey fans out there.... Backstrom looked pretty sharp last night. Koivu and Gaborik already look fast and tenacious, and the Boogeyman looks a little more pissed off this year. If Burns and Gaborik can stay healthy, I like our chances this year.

I cheered for the White Sox in 2005, and was glad they won the series. However, I'm not too prone on cheering for a team to win a second this soon after their last. That's why the Rays are the only AL team I really want to cheer for. On the NL, I'll also be cheering for the winner of the Phillies-Brewers series. (I would cheer for the Cubs... but it's just so much fun watching them lose). I have a lot of respect for the White Sox. I like Ozzie. He's nuts, but he makes the game interesting. AJ's a pain, but he was our pain first. Thome's a killer, but damn can he hit. Dye, Konerko, Quentin, even Griffey, all of them are good guys, they're just on the wrong team.

For all the times the Twins won the division this decade, I'm okay with the Sox taking only their second. We'll get our revenge next year, and this rivalry will live on.

I think as a tribute to this year, I'll finally get my 1988 Homer Hanky framed and put up with the others. Oh, and "Go Rays!"

I guess I take a shower, get dressed, put on my Twins cap, and go to work like any other day.

I just really hope that I don't see any White Sox fans today. Because I will tell you what, if a single one of them makes a smart ass remark I am libel say something pretty nasty.

I woke up this morning thinking how it's just not right that the Twins don't have a game today. I'm never really ready for the season to be over, but it seems like this year I'm even less ready than normal. Maybe it was the suddenness of it, I don't know.

Baseball is such a strange game. For six months, every day, day after day, you have a game. And then, all of a sudden, you don't any more.

I look at and watch all the commercials and game previews done by TBS, ESPN, etc...and think, "man, it'd be AWESOME to hear them breaking down a series with the Twins involved." Or watching Mauer and Morneau highlights on TBS's postseason promotion commercials with the music and everything.

I have never been one to swim in the joy of consolation or moral victories...whether it be personal or as a fan...but honestly, that's all I have right now...and it stinks.

you know, baseball is a lot like family. It may give you heartache, sweaty palms, indigestion. But it gives back a lot of little joys and love over the long haul, too. You don't even have to finish in first, or second, or even contention (as I'm sure talkinproud can attest, or any Royals fan). a win over the Yankees in April or a GoGo bunt hit when everyone in the stadium knew he was going to bunt...or, as ubelmann reminded us on sunday, just the stories. Those are the things we'll really treasure.

ahh, screw it! that's loser talk. I hope the Rays kick some BitchSox @ss!

Y'know, I remember reading that post back in August and I think I told you to just enjoy the overachieving, for whatever it was worth. Hell, you even got me hooked if only to root against the current baseball status quo.

On the drive home I had a similar thought and then upon reading this post my reflection was reinforced. When the Sabres lost 1-0 in Ottawa during the ECF two seasons ago, I left my girlfriends house barely being able to speak. I mumbled some goodbyes but my throat was dry and my head was spinning. It wasn't a do or die situation but like tonight, you knew it was over.

Did she get it? I had hoped so. Does anybody get it? Well, that's why posts like yours come out -- to explain the glorious heartbreaking triviality of being a sports fan.