Minnesota Twins
As a Twins fan, I was recently thinking about what next year will look like. Torii Hunter, the teams best hitter and fielder last season, is unlikely to be resigned. There is not anyone currently on the roster that can replace him next season. The Twins are already a poor hitting team with Hunter, so I can only imagine what the offense will look like next season without him. Hopefully Joe Mauer, Michael Cuddyer and Nick Punto can all rebound from their poor performances last season, but that can't be counted on. It is also pretty much guaranteed with Carl Pohlad as owner that the front office will not be willing to spend much to improve the lineup. That leaves the team with mostly the same players from last season, minus Torii Hunter. The pitching staff should be pretty solid next year though, especially if Francisco Liriano comes back healthy from elbow surgery. The team has Johan Santana, a perennial Cy Young candidate, and several talented young pitchers in Scott Baker, Boof Bonser, Matt Garza, Kevin Slowey and Liriano. The team also had one of the best bullpens in the majors last season, and all of the core relievers should return, including Joe Nathan, one of the top closers in the American League. But all-in-all, I don't think that it will be enough to get into the playoffs. Competing against Strong teams in Cleveland and Detroit, the Twins will need a good offensive showing to go along with a good pitching staff. With the players that they have, that appears to be very unlikely.