Nov 14th 2008 10:00AM by Jacob Wheatley-Schaller (author feed)

2008 was a very successful year for the Twins. Afterthoughts back in March, when everybody thought the Tigers and Indians would battle for the division crown, Minnesota finished the regular season in a tie with Chicago atop the Central, before losing to the White Sox in a one-game playoff. After a rocky April, it eventually saw the successful return of Francisco Liriano; other highlights included another MVP-caliber year from Joe Mauer, and the emergence of some of their young arms, most notably Kevin Slowey.

But it’s hard not to look back at July and wonder what else the Twins could have accomplished. In that month, Livan Hernandez made five starts, allowing 21 runs in 29 1/3 innings for a 6.44 ERA. Meanwhile, Francisco Liriano was inexplicably still in Triple-A, where he was absolutely dominating, striking out almost a third of the batters he faced. If the Twins — who have a history of being reluctant to promote guys, and had already pushed Liriano too soon in April — had recalled him just a week sooner, they probably wouldn’t have needed the playoff against Chicago, instead winning the division outright and advancing to face the Rays in the ALDS.Continue Reading