1993 Minnesota Twins season

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The 1993 Minnesota Twins underperformed in their last year in the old American League West Division, finishing with a 71-91 record, leaving the team tied for fifth place with the California Angels. There were bright spots for Manager Tom Kelly. This included Kirby Puckett winning the All-Star MVP award on July 13, after hitting a home run and an RBI double. Another bright spot was St. Paul native Dave Winfield getting his 3,000th hit in his first year back with his hometown team. The hit came off of Dennis Eckersley on September 16.

[edit] Offense

Not only did Winfield get his 3,000th hit, but he also got his 500th double and 450th homer. He had a serviceable year as the team's primary designated hitter, hitting .271 with 21 home runs and 76 RBI. Other offensive highlights included Kent Hrbek becoming the second Twin (along with Harmon Killebrew) to reach 1,000 RBI and Brian Harper becoming only the fourth catcher in the prior 40 years to hit .300 in three consecutive seasons. Chuck Knoblauch continued his solid leadoff hitting, batting .277 and stealing a team-leading 29 bases. The weaker spots in the regular lineup included Pedro Munoz (.233 average).

[edit] Pitching

The starting rotation was reasonably competent, with Kevin Tapani, Willie Banks, and Jim Deshaies having ERAs in the low fours. Unfortunately, Scott Erickson was not able to follow up his very successful first three years in the majors, posting an ERA of 5.19 and leading the majors in losses (19). The fifth spot in the rotation was uncertain, with Eddie Guardado making 16 starts and Mike Trombley 10.

There were strong pitchers in the bullpen, starting with closer Rick Aguilera. He had 34 saves, and was American League Pitcher of the Month for June. Also having strong years were Larry Casian with an ERA of 3.02, Mike Hartley (4.00), and Carl Willis (3.10). This was not so much the case for pitchers such as George Tsamis (6.19) and Brett Merriman (9.67).

[edit] Defense

The team was strong defensively. Harper was a strong catcher, with a .988 fielding percentage. Hrbek was always strong at first base as well, making only five errors in 1993. Knoblauch was a good second baseman at this point in his career. Mike Pagliarulo played in about half the team's games at third, with reasonable competence. (Jeff Reboulet and Terry Jorgenson also saw time at the position.) The team intended Scott Leius to be the starting shortstop, but an early injury prevented this from occurring. It paved the way for Pat Meares to man the position for several years. He surprised the team by playing reasonably well during his rookie year. Puckett always excelled in center field, while Shane Mack and Munoz did okay on either side of him.

[edit] Regular Season

[edit] Roster

[edit] Notable Transactions

• January 7: Signed Bert Blyleven as a free agent. ^[1] Blyleven would not make the team out of spring training and announced his retirement.
• January 8: Signed Randy Bush as a free agent. Bush had 45 at bats for the team, bat .156, and the team released him on June 27. He did not play again in the majors.
• June 3: In the amateur draft, the team signed future major leaguers such as Torii Hunter (1st round, 20th pick), Dan Perkins (2nd round), and Javier Valentin (3rd round). The team also signed catcher Jason Varitek in the first round with the 21st pick, but was unable to sign him.
• June 30: Traded Al Newman and minor leaguer Tom Hauk to the Cincinnati Reds for Gary Scott.
• August 15: Traded Mike Pagliarulo to the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named later. On August 16, the Orioles sent Erik Schullstrom to the Twins to complete the trade.
• August 28: Traded Jim Deshaies to the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named later, Aaron Fultz, and minor leaguer Andres Duncan. On September 1, the Giants sent Greg Brummett to the Twins to complete the trade.
• October 8: Gene Larkin granted free agency. He would not play again.
• November 2: Brian Harper granted free agency. He would play the following year in Milwaukee.
• November 24: Traded Willie Banks to the Chicago Cubs for pitcher Dave Stevens and catcher Matt Walbeck.

[edit] Miscellaneous

• The Twins’ all-star representatives were outfielder Kirby Puckett and closer Rick Aguilera.

• The highest paid Twin in 1993 was Puckett at $5,300,000, followed by Hrbek at $3,100,000.

[edit] References

• Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
• Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com
• Twins history through the 1990s, from www.mlb.com
• 1993 Standings