Minneapolis

After a charmed season in which they seemed to be able to beat every team in the American League except the Yankees, the Twins now enter the offseason filled with hope and a hunger for more success.

Here are 12reasons why Twins fans should be optimistic for the future.

1. Joe Mauer

With the departure of Carlos Gomez , the role of most scrutinized player in the outfield has unequivocally been awarded to Delmon Young . His status as a below-average defender has been well-documented, and 2010 will be a do-or-die season for him. If he can't find some success at the plate, there will be little reason for the Twins to hang onto him.

The emergence of Rene Tosoni , 23, certainly isn't helping Young's cause. Should Young struggle in 2010, Tosoni could be a candidate for an early or mid-season promotion.

The Minnesota Twins came into this offseason with three major goals:

1) Sign Joe Mauer to an extension
2) Improve the infield
3) Add at least one veteran arm to the rotation

General manager Bill Smith got off to a quick start on his offseason “to do list” by acquiring shortstop J.J.

In both my 2009 postmortem and my 2010 offseason plan, I laid out two key points.

On Friday morning, the Milwaukee Brewers traded shortstop J.J. Hardy to the Minnesota Twins for outfielder Carlos Gomez.

Gomez likely has the inside track to replace free agent Mike Cameron in center field for Milwaukee and doesn't turn 24 until December. He batted only .229 last year but is one of the fastest players in all of baseball.

Boof Bonser is out of options, both literally and figuratively.

Just two years removed from serving as the number two starter in Minnesota’s rotation, Bonser, 28, is in the uncomfortable position of not knowing what his future with the organization may hold or if he even has a future with the organization.

Delmon Young is at a crossroads.

It may seem strange to read that line about Young, as usually you read about aging veterans reaching a crossroads, not 24-year olds who seemingly have their entire career in front of them.

The Minnesota Twins cannot afford to trade Joe Nathan.

Period.

Not now. Not later this offseason. Not at any point before next year’s trade deadline, if at all.

With the Joe Mauer situation on the back-burner, the Twins now can turn their attention to which of their internal free agents they would like to retain for the next season. With five guys slated for free agency, the Twins will obviously have to make the tough decisions on who they should bring back and who they shouldn't.

Despite playing just over half of the season, Joe Crede managed to be Minnesota's second most-valuable infielder. That's obviously not saying much—considering how Matt Tolbert and Alexi Casilla combined for 454 plate appearances this season—but for a guy who appeared to be his own voodoo doll, it's quite the accomplishment.