Spring is supposed to be a time of hope and optimisism for baseball fans. Unless you’re a Rockies or Royals fan there’s hope that this could be the year your team gets to the playoffs and maybe even further. There are new players that are expected to do great things for your team, young players that are due for their breakout season, and old players that you can count on year in and year out. For these reasons I almost feel bad about the topic of this post, but I think it’s worth discussing so I’ll drop the doom & gloom thoughts on you anyway. So now that you’ve been warned, let’s get into it.

What’s the single worst thing that could happen to the Twins in 2006. I’m not talking about things like them not making the playoffs or the team getting c********d. I’m talking about a single event that could diminish any chance of seeing the postseason, injuries being the most obvious example. I’ll throw out a few really ugly situations and end with what I think would be the worst thing that could happen to this team in 2006.

Santana Gets Injured

Ouch, what a way to start it off, huh? Well, there’s no doubt this would be extremely bad. Losing arguably the best pitcher in baseball and a preseason pick of many for AL Cy Young seems to be about as bad as it could get. There’s nothing better than having a dominant starter that you can count on every fifth day to give the team an excellent shot to win. In the postseason, having a dominant starter is even more important. Is it the worst thing that could happen to this team though? I think not. The reason is the Twins have decent pitching even without Santana. Radke, Silva, Lohse, Baker, and Liriano still make up a rotation that gives the Twins a chance to win on any day of the week. Even though Santana is the best player on the team, I think the Twins could survive without him.

Mauer Gets Injured

This again would be pretty bad. The Twins are counting on Mauer to be a strong hitter in the #3 spot of the lineup. He’s also a pretty good defensive catcher. Would his loss be the end of the world though? Again, I say no. The Twins have a pretty formidable backup in Mike Redmond. Redmond was once a starter and although he’s no longer an everyday catcher, he could fill the void well enough to keep the team afloat.

Hunter Gets Traded

I’m not sure how realistic this is. The only circumstance in which I see Hunter being traded is if the Twins are already out of the playoff race. I’ll entertain the thought anyway. Hunter is the face of the Twins and a big part of the clubhouse atmosphere. One could argue that he makes everyone around him a better player. Hunter probably wins a handful of games just with his glove. However, the Twins have guys that could step in. Lew Ford could play center while Kubel plays right field. Jason Tyner will also be waiting in AAA for a chance to play. It’d be tough, but I think the Twins could manage without Hunter for a half season.

Morneau Doesn’t Hit 30 Homers

Twins fans are counting on Morneau to bust loose this season. He had a dissapointing season last year, but that’s been blamed on injury. This spring he’s worked hard and he’s healthy; Twins fans expect him to drive the Twins to the pennant. What if he doesn’t reach that potential? Well, the Twins have had success without a big power guy before and with their pitching there’s no reason to think they can’t do it again. Certainly a big RBI guy would be a major boost to the anemic offense, but even if he doesn’t have a breakout year, the Twins still have a shot.

Batista Disappoints

Who’s he gonna disappoint? Everyone is expecting him to be terrible. Moving on.

Castillo Gets Injured

The Twins have been terrible at 2nd base the past few years, and finally the Twins have brought in a proven guy who can play the field, hit the ball and run the bases. If we lose him to injury we lose a pretty good number two hitter and a pretty good defensive player in the infield. Considering that the left side of the infield is already a huge question mark (both defensively and offensively) losing a guy like Castillo would be devastating. Nick Punto or Luis Rodriguez would most likely take over that position. If you recall, we had those two last season, and neither left me with much to be excited about. Also, if we lose Castillo, who hits in the #2 spot? Castillo is a big part of this team, and for these reasons I have decided that losing Castillo to injury is the worst thing that could happen to this team in 2006.

What do you think?