2000 Minnesota Twins season

The 2000 Minnesota Twins was the last Twins team in a consecutive-string record of eight losing seasons. The team finished with a 69-93 record, with weak hitting but slightly better pitching. One would not have suspected that this team, led by Manager Tom Kelly, would contain the nucleus of Ron Gardenhire's team that will reach the postseason only two years later.

2000 Minnesota Twins
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Carl Pohlad
General manager(s)Terry Ryan
Manager(s)Tom Kelly
Local televisionKMSP-TV
Midwest Sports Channel
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer)
Local radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Dan Gladden)
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Offseason

Regular season

Offense

The most solid offensive year came from the team's lone all-star representative, right fielder Matt Lawton. Lawton hit .305 with 13 home runs, 88 RBI, and 23 stolen bases. Also notable this year were shortstop Cristian Guzmán's major league leading 20 triples (a Twins record). Like most of his career with the Twins, David Ortiz spent much of the 2000 season rehabbing injuries. He did, however, play in 88 games as the team's designated hitter. The Twins also experimented with Butch Huskey in the DH spot. Not surprisingly, this was not a successful experiment, with Huskey playing in only 39 games at the position.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
HRJacque Jones19
RBIMatt Lawton88
BAMatt Lawton.305
RunsCristian Guzmán89

Pitching

The starting rotation showed flashes of brilliance with Brad Radke, Eric Milton, Mark Redman, and Joe Mays in for most the year. Radke, Milton, and Redman all had ERAs of under 5. The fifth starter was uncertain, with Sean Bergman making 14 starts, and J. C. Romero making 11. Romero's ERA of 7.02 did not suggest the dominant reliever he would subsequently become.

Despite uncertainty as to the identity of the closer, the bullpen was stellar. LaTroy Hawkins, Bob Wells, Eddie Guardado, Travis Miller, and Héctor Carrasco all had strong years out of the bullpen. Hawkins led the club with 14 saves.

One notable presence among the pitching staff was rookie Johan Santana, acquired from the Houston Astros via the Florida Marlins in the Rule 5 draft. In order for the Twins to keep Santana under Rule 5, Santana was required to stay on the major league roster for the entire season. He did, and his numbers did nothing to suggest he would one day win a Cy Young Award. His ERA was 6.49 and he struck out 64 batters in 86 innings. He was used almost exclusively in mop-up roles, although he did start five games. He spent most of the 2001 season in the minor leagues. The Twins' foresight in keeping him on the roster during the 2000 season must be regarded as one of the greatest uses ever of the Rule 5 draft.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
ERABrad Radke4.45
WinsEric Milton13
SavesLaTroy Hawkins14
StrikeoutsEric Milton160

Defense

The infield was mostly steady with Ron Coomer at first, Jay Canizaro at second, Guzman at short, Corey Koskie at third, and Denny Hocking backing them all up. The 2000 season saw the inception of the "Soul Patrol" outfield of Jacque Jones, Torii Hunter, and Lawton. Nobody was able to establish himself as the everyday catcher, with Matt LeCroy playing in 48 games at the position, Chad Moeller in 40, Marcus Jensen in 37, A. J. Pierzynski in 27, and Danny Ardoin in 10.

Season standings
AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago White Sox 9567 0.586 — 46–35 49–32
Cleveland Indians 9072 0.556 5 48–33 42–39
Detroit Tigers 7983 0.488 16 43–38 36–45
Kansas City Royals 7785 0.475 18 42–39 35–46
Minnesota Twins 6993 0.426 26 36–45 33–48

Record vs. opponents
2000 American League Records

Source: AL Standings Head-to-Head
Team ANA BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC  MIN NYY OAK SEA TB  TEX TOR NL 
Anaheim—7–55–44–63–65–56–67–35–55–85–86–67–55–712–6
Baltimore5–7—5–74–65–46–43–76–35–74–83–78–56–67–67–11
Boston4–57–5—7–56–67–54–68–26–75–55–56–67–34–89–9
Chicago6–46–45–7—8–59–35–77–58–46–37–56–45–55–512–6
Cleveland6–34–56–65–8—6–75–75–85–56–67–28–26–48–413–5
Detroit5–54–65–73–97–6—5–77–68–46–47–24–55–53–910–8
Kansas City6–67–36–47–57–57–5—7–52–84–84–85–53–74–68–10
Minnesota3–73–62–85–78–56–75–7—5–55–73–94–68–45–47–11
New York5–57–57–64–85–54–88–25–5—6–34–66–610–25–711–6
Oakland8–58–45–53–66–64–68–47–53–6—9–47–25–77–311–7
Seattle8–57–35–55–72–72–78–49–36–44–9—9–37–58–211–7
Tampa Bay6–65–86–64–62–85–45–56–46–62–73–9—5–75–79–9
Texas5–76–63–75–54–65–57–34–82–107–55–77–5—4–67–11
Toronto7–56–78–45–54–89–36–44–57–53–72–87–56–4—9–9

Notable transactions
  • April 1: Signed outfielder Dustan Mohr as a free agent.
  • April 4: Signed infielder Jay Canizaro as a free agent.
  • May 23: Selected Casey Blake off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays.
  • June 5: In the amateur draft, the Twins drafted future major leaguers such as pitcher Adam Johnson (1st round, second pick) and outfielder Jason Kubel (12th round).
  • June 22: Released pitcher Sean Bergman.
  • August 31, 2000: Midre Cummings was traded by the Minnesota Twins to the Boston Red Sox for Hector De Los Santos (minors).[4]
  • September 9: Traded pitcher Héctor Carrasco to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Lew Ford.
  • December 11: Brandon Knight was drafted by the Twins from the New York Yankees in the 2000 rule 5 draft.[5]
  • December 19: Signed catcher Tom Prince as a free agent.
  • December 20: Ron Coomer granted free agency; pitcher Mike Lincoln released.

Roster
2000 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO

Other post-season awards
  • Calvin R. Griffith Award (Most Valuable Twin) – Matt Lawton
  • Joseph W. Haynes Award (Twins Pitcher of the Year) – Eric Milton
  • Bill Boni Award (Twins Outstanding Rookie) – Mark Redman
  • Charles O. Johnson Award (Most Improved Twin) – Cristian Guzmán
  • Dick Siebert Award (Upper Midwest Player of the Year) – Darin Erstad
    • The above awards are voted on by the Twin Cities chapter of the BBWAA
  • Carl R. Pohlad Award (Outstanding Community Service) – Denny Hocking
  • Sherry Robertson Award (Twins Outstanding Farm System Player) – John Barnes

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Salt Lake Buzz Pacific Coast League Phil Roof
AA New Britain Rock Cats Eastern League John Russell
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Jose Marzan
A Quad Cities River Bandits Midwest League Stan Cliburn
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Jeff Carter
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Al Newman

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Elizabethton[6]

References
  1. Johan Santana Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  2. "Twins 13, Royals 7". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  3. "Twins 10, Indians 9". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/cummimi01.shtml
  5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/knighbr01.shtml
  6. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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