Ervin Santana, Twins’ wild-card game starter, believes in miracles
There is one category in which the Twins are decidedly ahead of the Yankees, regardless of the fact that most statistics make the latter a significant favorite in the American League wild-card game Tuesday night. The Twins are much better in having completed a stunning turnaround.
It is no secret that the Yankees have been surprising because they became contenders during what figured to be a transitional year. But that is nothing quite like the sight of Minnesota reaching the playoffs after having hit bottom with 103 losses last season.
“Obviously, it’s night and day,” said Joe Mauer, Twins first baseman and Twin Cities native who never has seen anything quite like the transformation from last year to this.
Paul Molitor, the manager then and now, called 2016 “a tremendous trial.” The numbers call it the worst season since the franchise moved from Washington in 1961. On October 3, 2016, the club announced that Derek Falvey was named chief baseball officer. Almost immediately, speculation began that star second baseman Brian Dozier was going to be dealt in the first step of a makeover.
“Last offseason was kind of hectic,” Dozier said, recalling that he retreated to hunting grounds in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where he happily had no cellphone service. It was not until the TwinsFest winter promotional gathering that Falvey told him, “We’re here, we’re rolling. Let’s go, get ready for spring training.”
Management did not deal Dozier or make major changes in the roster. In fact, describing how the turnabout came about is as complicated as actually going from 59-103 to 85-77. “To point out one particular thing, it’s tough to do,” Mauer said, adding that young players became more mature and veterans chipped in with professionalism.
Dozier said it all began to turn during camp, when the Twins had classroom sessions on baserunning, executing double plays, hitting cutoff men and other details. “Talent [alone] doesn’t win you games up here. Everyone is kind of all right there,” he said, holding his hand at about shoulder level. “When you get away from the fundamentals of the game, that’s when you lose 103 games.”
Molitor cited leadership among players — “I’m a big believer in that,” he said — as the key element in an overall resilient streak. He and the team pulled off a comeback within the comeback at the end of July. Within a week, Falvey appeared to have changed his approach to the season, first seeing the Twins as buyers, then as sellers. Six days after acquiring Jaime Garcia from the Braves to push toward the playoffs, the Twins dealt him to the Yankees. A day after that, Minnesota sent All-Star closer Brandon Kintzler to the Nationals.
“You look at what your role was in forcing those decisions rather than pointing your fingers at the people who had to make those decisions,” Molitor said. “I think some guys were a little more upset than others, but they’ve responded. For whatever reason, we played some of our best baseball since that time.”
Probably not coincidentally, centerfielder Byron Buxton returned from an injury at that same point, adding Gold Glove-caliber defense to the other improvements. “You mix all that together,” Dozier said, “and we’re here now.”