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2000 Minnesota Twins season

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2000 Minnesota Twins
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionCentral
BallparkHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
CityMinneapolis
Record69-93 (.426)
Divisional place5th
OwnersCarl Pohlad
General managersTerry Ryan
ManagersTom Kelly
TelevisionKMSP-TV
Midwest Sports Channel
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Dan Gladden)
← 1999 Seasons 2001 →

The Minnesota Twins complied a record of 69–93 during the 2000 Major League Baseball season. It was the team's last of a consecutive string record of eight losing seasons and it was characterized with weak hitting but slightly better pitching. The team was managed by Tom Kelly and contained the nucleus of future manager Ron Gardenhire's team that would reach the postseason only two years later.

Offseason

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Regular season

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Offense

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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
Statistic Player Quantity
HR Jacque Jones 19
RBI Matt Lawton 88
BA Matt Lawton .305
Runs Cristian Guzmán 89

Pitching

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The starting rotation showed flashes of brilliance with Brad Radke, Eric Milton, Mark Redman, and Joe Mays in for most of 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
Statistic Player Quantity
ERA Brad Radke 4.45
Wins Eric Milton 13
Saves LaTroy Hawkins 14
Strikeouts Eric Milton 160

Defense

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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

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AL Central
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago White Sox 95 67 .586 — 46‍–‍35 49‍–‍32
Cleveland Indians 90 72 .556 5 48‍–‍33 42‍–‍39
Detroit Tigers 79 83 .488 16 43‍–‍38 36‍–‍45
Kansas City Royals 77 85 .475 18 42‍–‍39 35‍–‍46
Minnesota Twins 69 93 .426 26 36‍–‍45 33‍–‍48

Record vs. opponents

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2000 American League record

Source: AL Standings Head-to-Head
Team ANA BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC  MIN NYY OAK SEA TB  TEX TOR NL 
Anaheim — 7–5 5–4 4–6 3–6 5–5 6–6 7–3 5–5 5–8 5–8 6–6 7–5 5–7 12–6
Baltimore 5–7 — 5–7 4–6 5–4 6–4 3–7 6–3 5–7 4–8 3–7 8–5 6–6 7–6 7–11
Boston 4–5 7–5 — 7–5 6–6 7–5 4–6 8–2 6–7 5–5 5–5 6–6 7–3 4–8 9–9
Chicago 6–4 6–4 5–7 — 8–5 9–3 5–7 7–5 8–4 6–3 7–5 6–4 5–5 5–5 12–6
Cleveland 6–3 4–5 6–6 5–8 — 6–7 5–7 5–8 5–5 6–6 7–2 8–2 6–4 8–4 13–5
Detroit 5–5 4–6 5–7 3–9 7–6 — 5–7 7–6 8–4 6–4 7–2 4–5 5–5 3–9 10–8
Kansas City 6–6 7–3 6–4 7–5 7–5 7–5 — 7–5 2–8 4–8 4–8 5–5 3–7 4–6 8–10
Minnesota 3–7 3–6 2–8 5–7 8–5 6–7 5–7 — 5–5 5–7 3–9 4–6 8–4 5–4 7–11
New York 5–5 7–5 7–6 4–8 5–5 4–8 8–2 5–5 — 6–3 4–6 6–6 10–2 5–7 11–6
Oakland 8–5 8–4 5–5 3–6 6–6 4–6 8–4 7–5 3–6 — 9–4 7–2 5–7 7–3 11–7
Seattle 8–5 7–3 5–5 5–7 2–7 2–7 8–4 9–3 6–4 4–9 — 9–3 7–5 8–2 11–7
Tampa Bay 6–6 5–8 6–6 4–6 2–8 5–4 5–5 6–4 6–6 2–7 3–9 — 5–7 5–7 9–9
Texas 5–7 6–6 3–7 5–5 4–6 5–5 7–3 4–8 2–10 7–5 5–7 7–5 — 4–6 7–11
Toronto 7–5 6–7 8–4 5–5 4–8 9–3 6–4 4–5 7–5 3–7 2–8 7–5 6–4 — 9–9

Notable transactions

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  • 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).[5]
  • 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.[6]
  • December 19: Signed catcher Tom Prince as a free agent.
  • December 20: Ron Coomer granted free agency; pitcher Mike Lincoln released.

Roster

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2000 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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
C Matt LeCroy 56 167 29 .174 5 17
1B Ron Coomer 140 544 147 .270 16 82
2B Jay Canizaro 102 346 93 .269 7 40
SS Christian Guzmán 156 631 156 .247 8 54
3B Corey Koskie 146 474 142 .300 9 65
LF Jacque Jones 154 523 149 .285 19 76
CF Torii Hunter 99 336 94 .280 5 44
RF Matt Lawton 156 561 171 .305 13 88
DH David Ortiz 130 415 117 .282 10 63

Other batters

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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
Denny Hocking 134 373 111 .298 4 47
Butch Huskey 64 215 48 .223 5 27
Midre Cummings 77 181 50 .276 4 22
Marcus Jensen 52 139 29 .209 3 14
Chad Moeller 48 128 27 .211 1 9
Jason Maxwell 64 111 27 .243 1 11
A. J. Pierzynski 33 88 27 .307 2 11
Brian Buchanan 30 82 19 .232 1 8
Todd Walker 23 77 18 .234 2 8
Luis Rivas 16 58 18 .310 0 6
Chad Allen 15 50 15 .300 0 7
John Barnes 11 37 13 .351 0 2
Danny Ardoin 15 32 4 .125 1 5
Casey Blake 7 16 3 .188 0 1
Doug Mientkiewicz 3 14 6 .429 0 4

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Brad Radke 34 226.2 12 16 4.45 141
Eric Milton 33 200.0 13 10 4.86 160
Joe Mays 31 160.1 7 15 5.56 102
Mark Redman 32 151.1 12 9 4.76 117
Sean Bergman 15 68.0 4 5 9.66 35
J.C. Romero 12 57.2 2 7 7.02 50
Matt Kinney 8 42.1 2 2 5.10 24

Other pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Johan Santana 30 86.0 2 3 6.49 64
Mike Lincoln 8 20.2 0 3 10.89 15

Relief pitchers

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

Player G W L SV ERA SO
LaTroy Hawkins 66 2 5 14 3.39 59
Bob Wells 76 0 7 10 3.65 76
Eddie Guardado 70 7 4 9 3.94 52
Travis Miller 67 2 3 1 3.90 62
Héctor Carrasco 61 4 3 1 4.25 57
Jason Ryan 16 0 1 0 7.62 19
Jack Cressend 11 0 0 0 5.27 6
Danny Mota 4 0 0 0 8.44 3

Other post-season awards

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Farm system

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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[7]

References

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  1. ^ Johan Santana Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  2. ^ "Mascot Database: T.C. Bear". Mascot Hall of Fame. February 16, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  3. ^ "Twins 13, Royals 7". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  4. ^ "Twins 10, Indians 9". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  5. ^ "Midre Cummings Stats".
  6. ^ "Brandon Knight Stats".
  7. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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