Minnesota Twins Seating Chart

After trading away ace Johan Santana for prospects and letting All-Star center fielder Torii Hunter leave via free agency, expectations were extremely low for the Minnesota Twins last season.

However, the Twins surprised everyone by battling for the division title down to the final series of the season. After overachieving last year, a division title has become the expectation heading into 2009.

Minnesota tends to struggle to put runs on the board and often resorts to small-ball to make it happen.

The backbone of the offense is catcher Joe Mauer and first baseman Justin Morneau. Michael Cuddyer has a steady bat, and outfielder Delmon Young has the ability to be a major force if he can cut down on his strikeout totals.

The Twins are expecting big things this year out of one of the prospects acquired in the Santana deal. Center fielder Carlos Gomez is a five-tool player whose inconsistencies and dumb mistakes were the source of a lot of frustration in his rookie season.

Despite the loss of Santana, the starting rotation was pretty good last year and should be even better in 2009.

Scott Baker appears to have taken over the role as staff ace after showing surprising success last year. Kevin Slowey isn't far behind Baker. Slowey is often compared to Brad Radke, but some would argue he has better stuff.

The big wild card in the rotation is Francisco Liriano, who was absolutely electric before Tommy John surgery. He experienced mixed results in his return last year, but did improve as the season progressed.

Nick Blackburn is a quality fourth starter, and the team will look to find someone to round out their starting rotation during spring training. Boof Bonser is always an option, but they like him more in the bullpen.

Speaking of the bullpen, Joe Nathan has quickly established himself as one of the top closers in the game. He doesn't get much press because he is overshadowed by Mariano Rivera and Jonathan Palpebon, but he might be better than both of those guys.

Look for the Twins to battle it out with a couple of other teams in a tight race in the American League Central Division.