Not so long ago, the Minnesota Twins were at the top of the Central Division. Year in and year out, the playoffs would be not an aspiration, but an expectation. The hope of winning a championship, however, never came to fruition.
Despite winning the Central in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2010; Minnesota made it to the ALCS only once in that stretch...all the way back in 2002. The Twins have not won a playoff game since 2004, getting swept out of the ALDS in their last three consecutive playoff appearances.
2011 looked like it had the potential to be another year that the Twins would finish in first place, but the team faltered and key pieces of its core were shipped away. Jason Kubel, Delmon Young, and Michael Cuddyer were all shipped away, and the Twins finished in the cellar.
2012 resulted in another last place finish, leaving Twins fans in an unfamiliar situation as they watched their rival Detroit Tigers win the American League pennant.
Due to the futility of the Chicago White Sox, Minnesota will likely not finish in last for the third straight season, and things are starting to look up once again for the Twins.
The team is incredibly young, but it has a ceiling for the future that will be tough to match.
When it comes to hitting, the Twins are loaded with prospects with a bunch of upside.
Outfielders Oswaldo Arcia and Aaron Hicks are the future of the Minnesota outfield. The 21-year-old Arcia is a solid all-around hitter and has been having a decent season, while the speedy 23-year-old Hicks has been disappointing in his rookie year despite showing a little bit of pop in his bat with eight homers.
Nevertheless, Hicks’s speed gives him an opportunity to be a consistent leadoff man some day if he can get the bat working.
Joe Mauer, arguably the best catcher in baseball, is locked up for a little while longer and he is still playing at the top of his game. Even though fellow M&M Brother Justin Morneau may not be a Twin for too much longer, Brian Dozier has been joining the two as a major offensive leader on the team.
Dozier is quite the power hitter for a second baseman, and he has been getting some huge clutch hits throughout the year for the Twins. He also has a little bit of speed, making him dangerous on the basepaths.
Third baseman Miguel Sano is another name that will certainly be thrown around. Sano is ranked the #1 third base prospect in baseball, and while Trevor Plouffe has been decent at times for the Twins, the hot corner in Minnesota will soon belong to Sano within the next few years.
As far as pitching goes, young arms like Andrew Albers and Samuel Deduno have been dynamite, creating all sorts of optimism for the future. Both have been impressive in their stints this season and look to have a pretty good upside.
18-year-old Kohl Stewart may be the the ace of the staff in the future. He was selected fourth overall by the Twins in the 2013 MLB Draft and will look to make his way up the ladder quickly.
However, the name that will be heard over and over again when it comes to the future of the Minnesota Twins is Byron Buxton.
Buxton, a 19-year-old outfielder chosen with the second overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft, is one of the top prospects in all of baseball and has been tearing up the minor leagues.
He has the potential to be a 5-tool superstar, hitting for both power and contact while displaying all sorts of speed in the outfield and on the basepaths.
If the young prospects pan out for the Twins, the American League Central could become a three dog race, with Minnesota battling the currently-dominant Detroit Tigers and the on-the-rise Kansas City Royals.
While the Twins have not been exciting to watch in the past three seasons, the future is looking extremely bright. It may not be long before they once again return to the top of the American League Central.