Early in the week I did a player-by-player rundown of the 2006 season. Now it’s time for the pitchers.

Johan Santana - SP

Johan will win his second Cy Young in 3 years and probably should’ve won it in 2005 if so much consideration wasn’t given to win totals. He struggled with a blister on his pitching hand most of the season, but it didn’t seem to matter. The Twins could always rely on him for a chance to win and he’s been the key to their success for the past few years. He’ll be back in the same role in 2007.

Francisco Liriano - SP

Liriano had somewhat of a roller-coster season. He barely made the opening day roster and then spent the first month and a half of the season in the bullpen. With the Twins season slipping away the Twins finally put him in the rotation and he become the most dominant pitcher in baseball.

Arm trouble derailed his season and leaves question marks about how his career will eventually pan out. Everyone’s hopeful that he’ll be the #2 next year and stay healthy all season long, but the Twins would be foolish to not have a contingency plan.

Brad Radke - SP

It’s hard to imagine a situation where Radke returns next year. His 2006 season was certainly not his best, but that’s certainly understandable considering the pain he pitched through. He was terrible early in the season and then we found out that he wasn’t pitching at 100%. He came back and pitched well before missing most of September.

Carlos Silva - SP

Silva had a pretty dissapointing year, but it looks like the Twins plan to bring him back for another chance in 2007. I’m not so sure they wouldn’t have better luck spending Silva’s salary on a middle of the rotation starter from free agency. At the very least, I’d like to see the Twins bring in one new proven starter so there aren’t multiple question marks in the 5-man rotation.

Boof Bonser - SP

Bonser pitched pretty well after his final call-up making him a likely fixture in the 2007 rotation. He’s not a #2 or #3 starter, but could be a pretty good back of the rotation guy. His track-record is still too short to simply hand him the job next year. He’ll still have to pitch well in the spring and compete with the Twins other young pitchers for a spot in the rotation.

Scott Baker - SP

Baker entered 2006 as the Twins #5 starter and with the exception of a good start against the Yankees early in the year he never really looked good. Fortunately, his problems seem to be a result of lack of focus and poise on the mound. He always pitched well in the minors and he has good enough stuff. Baker can still be a starting pitcher for the Twins, but he’s got more competition than ever.

Matt Garza - SP

Matt Garza was rushed through the minor league system and when he finally made it to the majors in late August he did what one would expect from a young pitcher; he was inconsistent. He’s got the potential to be a #1 or #2 starter, but will he need more fine-tuning in the minors before reaching that level? I wouldn’t mind seeing him take one of the final two spots in the Twins 2007 rotation.

Matt Guerrier - RP

Guerrier finally got his first win in 2007 and had a great year despite spending over a month on the DL after taking a ball off his hand. He’s been a quality long reliever for the Twins and even provided them with a spot-start at the end of the season. He doesn’t often find himself in critical situations, but he provides value in the number of innings he can eat up for his bullpen.

Willie Eyre - RP

Willie Eyre wasn’t very good throughout the season, but managed to remain on the club all year long. He’s not the type of pitcher who’s difficult to replace.

Pat Neshek - RP

Pat Neshek was brought to the club in July and was pretty dominant. Almost instantly Gardenhire was using him during critical innings and almost every time Neshek came up with a big out. Batters never seemed to figure out his deceptive motion and the only real criticism of Neshek was his high homerun rate against lefties.

He was a closer in the minors, and could find himself as a setup man in 2007.

Jesse Crain - SP

I didn’t always feel comfortable with Crain on the mound in big situations. He seemes to throw the ball to hard when the game is on the line and loses his command. Still, he’s a quality relief pitcher that contributed to one of baseball’s best bullpens.

Dennys Reyes - RP

Reyes had a miniscule ERA in as a lefthander specialist in the Twins bullpen. He received much praise throughout the season and was even given a 2 year extension. He walked a lot of batters in the final weeks of the season which was a bit concerning. Reyes had a career year in 2006 and hopefully he can maintain it to some extent into next year.

Juan Rincon - RP

Rincon struggled a bit near the middle of the season, but seemed to come back near the end and in the playoffs. He role as Nathan’s setup man was lost to Crain and Neshek at points throughout the season, but he could still fill that role in 2007.

Joe Nathan - RP

As Mariano Rivera gets older Joe Nathan might be becoming baseball’s best closer. The Twins offense had a way of “stealing” saves from Nathan in the 8th and 9th innings, but when he did get his save opportunities he usually converted. He saved 36 of 38 save opportunities, but the Twins still managed to win when he blew saves.