Justin Morneau

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

American League:  Justin Morneau (1B, MIN) .300 BA, 23 HR, 129 RBI

           For the second time in three years, the Twins’

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Interesting ball club, those Twins. No real 'names,' unless you count the Home Run Derby winning Justin Morneau, and yet, there they are, dancing around the top of the American League Central with the White Sox. The Twins are a team to watch as playoffs approach. Pitcher Glenn Perkins' shutout of the Yankees put him at 9-3 on the season, with a somewhat less than impressive ERA of 4.07, but if memory serves, all but about 5 of the 27 outs were ground ball outs.

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Would you take Kevin Youlikis at first over Justin Morneau? Perhaps, or perhaps not—but Terry Francona must, because The Fans Said So.

And this is just the AL. The NL is “stuck” with Lance Berkman, who’s having a heck of a year, instead of Albert Pujols, whom NL skipper Clint Hurdle had to hand-pick after fans passed on him. Pujols, for those of you who have been asleep since 2001, has been arguably the best hitter in baseball since then. And Ryan Braun’s a whiz with the bat—when he makes contact—but not such a great defender in left. Might you want to shift Nate McLouth, a reserve who normally plays in center, to right instead, since Nate’s OPS is 16 points higher even than slugger Braun?

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e in the eighth and two in the ninth off closer Todd Jones to send the game to extra innings.  Justin Morneau belted a home run in the top of the 11th (his fifth hit of the game) to win it 7-6.  Minnesota's bullpen tossed 7 1/3 shutout innings to keep the game in check.  The Twins are perhaps the most surprising contender this season, sitting at 51-41, just three games back of both the White Sox for the division lead and the Red Sox for the Wild Card.  Minnesota is a well-run organization that develops their players with a winning attitude and smart baseball sense from the minors all the way up.  Despite a relative lack of stars, outside of Morneau and catcher Joe Mauer, they do all the little things right and win with speed, defense and timely hitting, rather than home runs and big contracts.  As long as their young starting pitching stays healthy and consistent, the Twins could stay in the playoff hunt for the duration of the season, even after trading away Johan Santana in the Winter.

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and offense and in Minnesota he was relieved of that burden the last couple years by Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. I am skeptical that at 32 he is going to be able to sustain the numbers that he put up for the first time last season. On the other hand, if Casey Kotchman and Howie Kendrick (who will both be 25 this season) can develop into the hitters they are expected to be, and Juan Rivera can return to the form he showed before missing nearly all of last season due to an injury, the Angels offense instantly boasts more pop than they demonstrated last year.

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gue, who will lead at what category, who will win the awards, and who are the flops.  Enjoy!1B Justin Morneau2B Robinson Cano3B Alex Rodriguez or Miguel CaberaSS Carlos GuillenC Joe MauerOF Tori HunterOF Grady SizemoreOF Magglio OrdonezUTIL David OrtizSP Josh BeckettSP John LackeySP Justin VerlanderCLOSER Jonathon Papelbon

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