2005 Minnesota Twins season

MLB yearly infobox
name = Minnesota Twins
season = 2005
misc =

current league = American League
y1 = 1901
division = Central Division
y2 = 1994
Uniform
ballpark = Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
y4 = 1982
city = Minneapolis
y5 = 1982
owners = Carl Pohlad
managers = Ron Gardenhire
television = WFTC
FSN North
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer)
radio = 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal,John Gordon, Dan Gladden)|

Coming into the year, the 2005 Minnesota Twins were favored to go on and win their division. Unfortunately, a weak offense and injuries (most notably to Torii Hunter) prevented this from coming to fruition. The disappointing finish led manager Ron Gardenhire to reshuffle his coaching staff following the season. The team finished sixteen games behind the World Champion Chicago White Sox. The Twins have never won four straight division titles in their 104-year franchise history.

Regular Season

The Twins got off to an average start. However, the Chicago White Sox had a fantastic start to the season. The Twins tried to stay close in the standings, but their offense just wasn't enough. The Twins (83-79) finished in 3rd place behind the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians. The White Sox went on to earn the division title, their first trip to the playoffs since 2000, and their first World Series title since 1917.

:"Number indicates playoff seeding"

Roster

Defense

Like his predecessor Tom Kelly, Gardenhire emphasized baseball fundamentals like defense. Despite Hunter’s injury, he still won a Gold Glove in center field. Joe Mauer established a reputation as an outstanding defensive catcher, with a .993 fielding percentage. Morneau, not known for his defense, surprised many with a .994 average at first. Luis Rivas was a solid defensive second baseman, but his offensive shortcomings became too much to bear, leading the team to experiment with Boone and Nick Punto at the position. In contrast to Rivas, Michael Cuddyer saw a majority of the time at third base, but he was a defensive liability at the position.Fact|date=March 2007 Jason Bartlett and Juan Castro split time at shortstop, with Castro being the superior defensive player. Shannon Stewart and Jacque Jones both had .985 fielding percentages in the corner outfield positions. Lew Ford saw time at all three outfield positions.

Notable Transactions

*January 3: Signed Brent Abernathy as a free agent.
*January 24: Former first-round pick Adam Johnson released.
*March 31: Lost Michael Restovich to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on waivers.
*June 7: Drafted pitcher Matt Garza with the 25th pick in the first round of the 2005 Amateur Draft. Garza would make his debut the following year.
*July 11: Received Bret Boone from the Seattle Mariners for future consideration. Boone would hit .170 and was released on July 31. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/boonebr01.shtml]
*October 3: Former all-star pitcher Joe Mays and Augie Ojeda granted free agency.
*October 11: Matthew LeCroy, Glenn Williams, and Jason Tyner granted free agency. Tyner would re-sign with the Twins four days later. Williams would be re-signed on November 23.
*October 12: Brent Abernathy and Luis Rivas granted free agency.
*October 27: Terry Mulholland granted free agency.
*October 28: Outfielder Jacque Jones granted free agency.
*December 2: Traded Travis Bowyer and Scott Tyler to the Florida Marlins for second baseman Luis Castillo.
*December 9: Traded pitcher J.C. Romero to the Los Angeles Angels for infielder Alexi Casilla, who would make his debut next September.
*December 15: Signed Tony Batista as a free agent.
*December 21: Grant Balfour granted free agency.
*December 22: Rondell White signed as a free agent.
*December 23: Mike Smith signed as a free agent.
*December 27: Dennys Reyes signed as a free agent.

Miscellaneous

*Johan Santana finished in third in the voting for the Cy Young Award behind Mariano Rivera and the winner, Bartolo Colón.

*In by|2005, the Twins celebrated the 40th anniversary of their AL Pennant win in 1965.

*The representatives of the Twins in the All-Star Game were closer Joe Nathan and Johan Santana.

*Frank Viola and Carl Pohlad were inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame.

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/2005.shtml Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com]
* [http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=2005&t=MIN Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com]
* [http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/min/history/timeline5.jsp Twins history during the current decade, from www.mlb.com]
* [http://shrpsports.com/mlb/stand/2005finaldiv.htm 2005 Standings]