2000 Minnesota Twins season

MLB yearly infobox
name = Minnesota Twins
season = 2000
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 = Tom Kelly
television = KMSP-TV
Midwest Sports Channel
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer)
radio = 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal,John Gordon, Dan Gladden)|The 2000 Minnesota Twins were the last Twins team with a losing record in eight consecutive years of losing teams. 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 reach the postseason only two years later.

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 Guzman's major league leading 20 triples. 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.

: "Number indicates playoff seeding"

Roster

Notable transactions

*January 4: Signed catcher Marcus Jensen as a free agent. Jensen was granted free agency on October 2.
*January 27: Signed Butch Huskey as a free agent. On July 15, the team traded Huskey to the Colorado Rockies for Todd Sears and cash.
*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). [http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/cummimi01.shtml]
*September 9: Traded pitcher Hector Carrasco to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Lew Ford.
*December 19: Signed catcher Tom Prince as a free agent.
*December 20: Ron Coomer granted free agency; pitcher Mike Lincoln released.

Miscellaneous

*The lone representative of the Twins in the All-Star Game was outfielder Matt Lawton.

*The highest paid Twin in 2000 was Brad Radke at $3,500,000; followed by Matt Lawton at $2,000,000.

*In the Inaugural year of The Twins' Hall of Fame, Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek, Kirby Puckett, and Calvin Griffith were inducted.

External links

* [http://www.diamond-mind.com/articles/tmreview2000/tr2000min.htm Diamond Mind's Analysis of the Twins' 2000 season]
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/2000.shtml Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com]
* [http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=2000&t=MIN Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com]
* [http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/min/history/timeline5.jsp Twins history since 2000, from www.mlb.com]
* [http://shrpsports.com/mlb/stand/2000finaldiv.htm 2000 Standings]