Minnesota Twins

As every Twins fan knows, being in a small market sucks.

Every year, the Minnesota faithful watch their team become obsolete in free agency while the likes of the Yankees, Red Sox, and now even the Rays and Indians spend money to improve their teams and make the AL competition that much tougher.

But there is one thing the Twins can do well: overcome adversity and compete. This club is able to contend every year, despite their payroll being significantly less, and it all starts with a solid foundation. Minnesota was truly built from bottom to top.

The Minnesota Twins have had serious struggles with their bullpen so far this season, just as they did at the start of last year. Last year, they cut bait on Juan Rincon, added Craig Breslow and saw almost immediate improvement.

They'll hope for the same effect from Juan Morillo this season.

Morillio was claimed off waivers Friday from the Colorado Rockies, where he'd spent his entire career. Morillo is just 25, hits 95 to 96 on the radar gun, but is a walk machine. In 2006, he struck out 132 hitters in AA, but also walked 80.

It's official.

The Minnesota Twins are in a freefall.

After splitting a season-opening series with the Seattle Mariners, the Twins proceeded to drop the rubber match of a three-game road series against the White Sox.

They then dropped three of four games against the visiting Blue Jays. Only a clutch hit by Joe Crede in the 11th inning Wednesday saved them from being swept by the invaders from the North.

The Twins (4-7) will open a three-game set in the Metrodome Friday against a team that's having just as many problems they are.

The Minnesota Twins boast one of the best young rotations in all of Major League Baseball. Francisco Liriano is the ace of the rotation, but he has started off the season slow, with a 0-2 record with a ERA of 6.94.

Does Liriano have what it takes to rebound from these numbers?

The Minnesota Twins fans and organization were thrilled to make the addition of Joe Crede to their team. 

The offensive threat at third base is what the team has been looking for since the days of Corey Koskie.  Currently Crede is hitting with a .154 batting average with only 1 RBI off a home run he hit against his former team, the Chicago White Sox on Friday. 

It's way too early for General Manager Bill Smith, Manager Ron Gardenhire or anyone else in the Minnesota Twins organization to be pushing the panic button or contemplating wholesale changes.

After all, the Twins are still 3-4 following two losses to the Chicago White Sox at US Cellular Field. They are just one game back of the division-leading Detroit Tigers and one-half game behind both Chicago and Kansas City.

Yet, it was those losses in the final two games of the three-game weekend set with the White Sox that may trigger some mild concern.

It looked like all it took to rejuvenate the Minnesota Twins offense was a whiff of U.S. Cellular Field.

This perception was a wrong number, as the Twins dropped an 8-0 decision to the White Sox Saturday afternoon. 

There are two players that the Minnesota Twins and their fans can't wait to see play in meaningful games. Those players are Joe Mauer and Scott Baker, players that are considered the team's ace and best hitter, respectively. 

In recent days, the news on both players has gotten better. Scott Baker on Friday night started for the Fort Myers Miracle, and assuming he feels okay in the next day or so, is expected to return to the rotation when the team returns to Minnesota next week.

By now if you're reading this, it's likely that you know how the Twins lost, what went wrong, what could have went better, and everything in between. It was game one, and there are still 161 remaining.

With the heavily anticipated day now over, it's time to just focus on baseball and they'll start that tonight with Nick Blackburn against Erik Bedard.