New-look Twins

Here's my projected 2008 batting order, lineup and pitching rotation for the Twins right now as it stands. I still believe all the rumblings I'm hearing that the Twins will deal Johan Santana soon. For now, let's play with him in the Twins uniform:

Lineup
1. Brendan Harris, 2B
2. Craig Monroe, CF
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Delmon Young, LF
5. Justin Morneau, 1B
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Jason Kubel, DH
8. Mike Lamb, 3B
9. Adam Everett, SS

Bench
Alexi Casilla, INF
Mike Redmond, C
Nick Punto, INF
Brian Buscher, 3B

Pitching rotation
1. Johan Santana, LH
2. Scott Baker, RH
3. Kevin Slowey, RH
4. Boof Bonser, RH
5. Matt Guerrier, RH

Bullpen
Joe Nathan, RH
Jesse Crain, RH
Dennys Reyes, LH
Juan Rincon, RH
Pat Neshek, RH
Francisco Liriano, LH
Carmen Cali, LH

That's my guess on the 25-man rotation as it stands today. A few things need to be pointed out, however: Liriano may begin in Class AAA to check out his arm. I figure the Twins will want him in the bullpen to work his way up to starting. Because of that, Guerrier is a simple stop-gap in the rotation for now. Guerrier has always wanted to start and, frankly, there's no one else available. Glen Perkins, LH, would be a good bet to push these guys, but he's coming off a major arm injury.

I'm figuring the Twins will put Monroe in center. It makes no sense that they even have him if they aren't going to do that with him. I see him as Rondell White Jr. out there. The Twins must think if they get former Tigers after they've sucked, they can get them back to their original playing form.

The heart of that lineup looks pretty formidable with the left, right, left, right kind of mixture. If I were managing, I think I'd try batting Mauer No. 2 and move the rest of the lineup accordingly, but Gardenhire seems fixed on him at 3, so we'll assume that continues.

Bottom line: the rotation doesn't look great with or without Santana. It's nice for 2009, but if this is what we get, we'd better hope for a strong bullpen to carry the defense.