Commentary

Some names changed but Twins much like '06

Pat Reusse / The Minneapolis Star Tribune

The Twins must continue a late-season hot streak with another victory over Detroit today in order to advance to the World Series for the fifth time in this decade.

They last participated in 2006 -- and went out in a shocking three games against the underdog Oakland Athletics.

Mention the '06 club and this bunch in the same sentence and the quick response from most Twins followers would be, "There's no comparison."

The '06 Twins were 96-66 -- one game behind New York for the American League's best record. They had the Cy Young Award winner in Johan Santana, the MVP in Justin Morneau and a first-time batting champion in Joe Mauer.

On the surface, the quick answer is accurate: No comparison.

On closer look, there isn't as much to choose between the team that finished with four hot months in 2006 and the team that used three hot weeks to get into today's tiebreaker.

The '06 Twins opened the playoffs with Santana, the league's best pitcher, but after that it was Boof Bonser in Game 2 and Brad Radke (with a fracture in his right shoulder) in Game 3. And a Game 4 would've seen Carlos Silva (5.94 ERA) on the mound.

The current No. 1 starter is Scott Baker, but don't call him an "ace." He needs to dominate in an extra-big game -- starting today against the Tigers -- to gain that description.

If the Twins were to advance, the starters against the Yankees would be rookie Brian Duensing in Game 1, Nick Blackburn in Game 2 and Carl Pavano in Game 3.

The '06 bullpen was deep and effective. The six guys they would tame into a Yankees' series aren't world beaters -- right-handers Matt Guerrier, Jesse Crain and Jon Rauch, left-handers Jose Mijares, Ron Mahay and Francisco Liriano -- but they can get some outs in front of closer Joe Nathan.

As for the lineups, Morneau entered the '06 playoffs in a home run slump but was still driving in runs. This season, the Twins have played without him since Sept. 13.

The '06 infield had a veteran, Luis Castillo, and a pair of piranhas in Nick Punto and Jason Bartlett. The '09 infield has a veteran, Orlando Cabrera, and a pair of piranhas in Punto and Matt Tolbert.

The starting outfield in the '06 playoffs was Michael Cuddyer in right, Torii Hunter in center and Rondell White in left. The outfield today will be Jason Kubel in right, Denard Span in center and Delmon Young in left.

There are assets that favor the '09 Twins --namely:

Joe Mauer is a batting champion again, but he's gone from 13 home runs in '06 to 28 in his five-month '09 season. Cuddyer had those 109 RBIs in '06, but all Twins fans know they have never seen this brick of a man as dangerous as he is right now.

Actually, this club at this moment would compare favorably with the '06 Twins, if only Baker would show up today.