The Twins roster is set for opening day, so it’s time to give a player by player rundown of the team. 25 players is a lot, so I’ll start with the hitters in this entry.

Catchers

Joe Mauer

Joe Mauer is coming of the best season of his career and has established himself as the best catcher in baseball. Almost 24, Mauer already has an AL batting title for his tophy case. He’s missed some playing time this spring with a “stress reaction” in his leg. It’s not a serious injury, and he’ll be ready for the season, but it is something to take seriously for a catcher who always takes a beating anyway.

Expecting Mauer to post a .429 OBP and a .347 average might be too much, but he’ll still get on base a lot and look for him to get closer to the 20 HR mark.

Mike Redmond

It’s nice to have a backup catcher you can count on. Redmond was reliable throughout the 2006 season in his backup role. While his batting average rivaled Mauer’s last season, he did it in just 179 at bats and walked very little (just 4). Redmond will turn 36 this year, but for a guy who only plays once or twice a week, it won’t be an issue. Expect more of the same from Redmond in 2007.

Chris Heintz

We saw a little (very little) of Chris Heintz in 2006. He’s basically filling up a roster spot as an emergency catcher. Once Mauer has proved that he’s healthy then Heintz will likely be shipped back to AAA Rochester.

First Base

Justin Morneau

Morneau is also coming off a breakout season in which he belted 34 homers and drove in 130 RBI to win the AL MVP award. He snapped the Twins’ drought of seasons without a 30 HR hitter and perhaps this year he’ll try to turn it into a consecutive 30 HR streak. He also showed exceptional discipline at the plate for a power hitter. He admits he power numbers fell off late in the season (4 in August and 2 in Sept/Oct), but he claims he trained hard in the offseason and he’s ready for a full season of great baseball in 2007.

Second Base

Luis Castillo

Luis Castillo was a breath of fresh air in 2006 after a long string of years with horrible second basemen (namely Luis Rivas). Castillo provided an exceptional leadoff bat and although he’s not as speedy as he once was, he still led the team with 25 stolen bases. His knees gave him problems all last season, so that definitly creates concern for 2007. The Twins don’t really have an able backup plan unless Alexi Casilla in AAA can be ready sooner than expected. Luis Rodriguez is currently the utility infielder for the Twins.

Third Base

Nick Punto

Nick Punto got his first shot at an everday job after the Twins finally parted with the miserable Tony Batista experiment last spring. He mostly batted out of the #2 spot in the lineup and did provide some speed on the basepaths. He stole 17 bases as he became affectionately known as one of the piranhas.

I’m not optimistic that Punto can repeat his success of last season. It wasn’t until May that he started playing every day and even with the late start he seemed to wear out late in the season. He put together just a .266 OBP in the final month of the season. I’ve alway felt Punto was more of a utility infielder (and he’d be a very good one). The Twins don’t really any other good options, so they have no choice but to hope for the best from Punto in 2007.

Shortstop

Jason Bartlett

Bartlett will finally get his first full season at the big league level. He was overlooked in 2006 in favor of Juan Castro, but he was finally called up mid season and he made the most of it. He batted in the less significant 9 spot in the lineup, but he produced and he played decent defense at SS. He batted .309 for the season, but like Punto, he suffered from a late season drought.

The Twins don’t have a good backup option for SS. The position isn’t Luis Rodriguez’s best position and the Twins even tried long-time 3rd baseman, Jeff Cirillo, at the position a little bit in the spring. I expect Bartlett to get very few off days this season, so it will be very important that his body will be able to endure the long season.

Left Field

Rondell White

Rondell White was supposed to be the answer at DH last season for the Twins. It didn’t work out at all and frankly, I’m still a little surprised the Twins stuck with him through the season. Rondell did start to produce late in the season as he began to play everday LF. It definitely was a tale of two seasons for Rondell:

Before All-Star break: 0 HR, .424 OPS After All-Star break: 7 HR, .892 OPS

Those numbers definitely give hope for a good 2007 season from Rondell White. If he can produce all season long than it could go a long way to helping the Twins erase a few of the 28 losses they racked up in the April and May last year.

Center Field

Torii Hunter

Hunter has had to deal with injuries the past couple years, but he still managed to produce decent numbers last season. While his defensive ability has clearly declined, he’s still one of the better center fielders and he finished with 31 HR and nearly 100 RBI last season. He says he’s healthy this year and it’s a contract year for him, so I don’t see any reason why he can’t have a great season.

Right Field

Michael Cuddyer

Cuddy was another of the breakout players that helped the Twins to contention last season. He was, arguably, on his last chance with the Twins last spring and he busted loose just in time. He drove in 109 RBI (second on the team) while belting 24 homers. He also had over 100 runs scored, so he was involved in a lot of Twins scoring last season. He’s not the best fielding right fielder, but his strong arm helps to make up for many of his awkward fielding moments. I expect Cuddyer to be a force in the middle of the Twins lineup again in 2007.

Designated Hitter

Jason Kubel

Kubel has long been a promising prospect for the Twins, but a freak injury in the fall league if ‘04 sidetracked the early part of his career. The plague of that injury continued into last season as he struggled with both legs and minus a couple highlights (homerun against Boston) he had a pretty bad season and hardly played at all in the second half. There’s reason to think he can be healthy and he has dropped a little weight (which should help the legs). The Twins are going to try him as a DH and I’m very hopeful that he can have a breakout season.

My only concern is that his extreme lack of playing time over the past two years has derailed his development as a player. He has a lot of potential though and I’d put my money on him having a good year.

The Rest

Luis Rodriguez

Luis Rodriguez will play the backup role in the middle of the infield. He’s not the most capable of infielders, but the Twins can feel comfort in knowing that some of the younger up-and-comers are getting regular playing time in the minors while Rodriguez fills the bench role.

Jeff Cirillo

At age 37, Jeff Cirillo’s best days have passed, but he’s had a solid career. He is still a capable backup option at 3rd base and might even see some playing time at other positions in the infield such as 1st. He will likely also be called upon as a pinch hitter at time through the year.

Jason Tyner

One of the Piranhas last season, Tyner will be the 4th outfielder to start the year. In 62 games, Tyner batted .312, but is not a very productive hitter. He lacks power and doesn’t walk much either. With his weak arm he’s also average at best in the outfield. He does offer the element of speed, which will suit him to pinch hit and pinch run opportunities late in ballgames.

See also: Twins 2007 roster - pitchers