The season’s over which means it’s now time to evaluate the 2006 team and determine who can help the squad in 2007. A decision will be made by the end of the week regarding Torii Hunter’s option, but there are a few players that might remain as question marks until the free agent period has passed. Now I’ll go through each player and give my opinion on how they fit into the picture for 2007. I’d love to hear your opinion in the comments.

Joe Mauer - C

There’s no question here. He’ll be the catcher in 2007 and hopefully for years to come. Will the Twins offer him a long-term deal. Hopefully they will. Mauer had a career year in 2006, so it’s not realistic to suggest he’ll hit .347 again next year. More likely he’ll hit around .310 and perhaps increase his power numbers to 20+ homers while playing solid defense.

Justin Morneau - 1B

Like Mauer, Morneau had a career year in 2006 and there’s no reason to think he won’t have a great career. He’ll be back in 2007 and if the Twins are smart they’ll ink him to a long-term deal to ensure that he’s still blasting homeruns in the new ballpark in 2010.

Morneau was somewhat of a question mark coming into 2006. We knew he had potential, but he hadn’t yet proven his full potential. There’ll be no questions in 2007; we’ll know what to expect.

Luis Castillo - 2B

Luis is clearly on the downward slope of his career as troubles with his knees and ankles plagued him all season long. There were a few occasions where he sat a few game to rest, but when he played he was pretty good. He hit right around .300 and provided the Twins with a quality leadoff hitter for about 3/5 of the season after Shannon Stewart went to the DL.

Castillo doesn’t run quite like he did in Florida, but he’s still speedy on the basepaths and plays gold-glove caliber defense at second base. He defensive value was quite apparent at the end of the season when Luis Rodriguez subbed a few games for him. Castillo will be back in 2007.

Jason Bartlett - SS

Bartlett played quality defense and hit exceptionally well in the #9 spot after being recalled in July. He certainly tailed off at the end of the year and looked terrible defensively in the playoffs, but there’s no reason the Twins shouldn’t hand him the starting job at the start of 2007. He’ll have to play well next year to secure a long-term spot with the Twins though.

Nick Punto - 3B

Nick Punto had a career year at the plate and was spectacular in the field after taking over for Tony Batista in June. However, he’s not a prototypical third basemen and it’s unlikely that he’ll ever hit .290 again. He simply doesn’t get on base enough to make up for his lack of power and he probably best serves the team as a utility infielder (especially if Castillo’s legs get any worse).

I’ll be dissapointed if the Twins head into 2007 thinking Nick Punto is the answer at third base.

Rondell White - LF

Rondell White is somewhat of a question mark for me. He was atrocious until the final 45 days of the season and the playoffs. If the Twins can sign him for a couple million he might be worth it, but I’m not sure he fits well into the Twins roster. He apparently can’t DH and his defense leaves much to be desired in left field. However, with the Twins payroll, you can’t have everything, so a cheap Rondell might be the best answer.

Torii Hunter - CF

Hunter isn’t getting any younger and he’s not the same player he once was in center field. However, he’s coming off one of his best offensive season, and he was pretty good in the stretch run of the 2006 season. The only way I’d accept the Twins letting Hunter go is if they sign a big name player for around $8 to 12 million a year. The Twins don’t have a history of doing much in the free agent market, so that seems unlikely.

My personal opinion is that the Twins should pick up Hunter’s $12 million option. That’s more than he’s worth, but it gives the Twins options for 2008 if Hunter’s health deteriorates further.

Michael Cuddyer - RF

At the start of the year I wrote that Cuddyer was probably on his last chance with the Twins and he needed to have a good year. He did just that, so I think he should be brought back in 2007. He doesn’t have great range in RF, but he’s gotten better and he’ll likely get better next year. Additionally, he’s always had a good arm which makes up for his lack of range.

Jason Kubel

Kubel could still be a great player for the Twins and might even be an option at DH next year if he can get his knees healthy enough. The second half of the year was definitely dissapointing for Kubel as injuries kept him on the bench virturally every inning. If Kubel loses a few pounds in the offseason that may help as well.

Jason Tyner

Jason Tyner got off to a good start when the Twins were in desperate need of an outfielder in August. Hopefully that won’t cloud the Twins’ judgement when planning for 2007. At best Tyner is a 4th outfielder.

Lew Ford

Ford had a dissapointing year in 2006 and if he remains with the team next year it will be in a pinch-runner, utility outfielder role.

Mike Redmond

Redmond is about as good a backup catcher as any team could hope for. Thankfully, he’ll be back in 2007 in the same role he’s had the past two seasons.

I’ll save the pitching for another day.