The Twins are set at catcher in 2008 with Joe Mauer, Mark Redmond and Jose Morales. 25-year old lefty swinging Joe Mauer is the star of this bunch. He only played in 109 games last season due to injury but he was still 119 for 406 (.293 avg, .808 OPS) with 62 runs scored, 7 homers and 60 RBIs. The part of the game that Mauer doesn’t get enough credit for is his outstanding defense. Mauer threw out 48% of the runners that tried to steal on him last season and Twins pitchers had a 3.78 ERA with him behind the plate. Look for Mauer to rebound with the bat this season as he is a .313 career hitter.

37-year old Mike Redmond is one of the best backup catchers in the major leagues and the Twins are lucky to have him. He played in 82 games last season for the Twins and he was 80 for 272 (.294 avg, .699 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 1 homer and 38 RBIs. Redmond also had a good season defensively as he threw out 36% of the runners that tried to steal on him and Twins pitchers had a 4.38 when throwing to him. Look for him to have another solid season in 2008.

25-year old switch-hitting Jose Morales will likely start the season in AAA but he will get the call if either Mauer or Redmond gets injured. He only played in 1 game last season for the Twins before missing the remainder of the season due to injury. Morales was 3 for 3 with a double and a run scored in his major league debut. That followed a successful season in AAA in which he played in 108 games and he was 117 for 376 (.311 avg, .765 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 2 homers and 37 RBIs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR 2008 SEASON: A

The Twins have had a rough off season as they have lost Torii Hunter and Johan Santana. The Twins used their depth in the starting rotation to acquire outfielder Delmon Young and 2B Brendan Harris from the D-Rays as they traded Matt Garza to them along with shortstop Jason Bartlett. Young will start in left field and he should off-set Hunter’s lose offensively for the Twins. But, the Twins will miss Hunter’s defense in center field big-time as newcomer Carlos Gomez has the inside track to the starting job there. Gomez was part of the haul for Johan Santana which wasn’t that impressive. Craig Monroe could also battle for the starting job in center field if the Twins need more power in the lineup. The Twins will have three new starters on the infield. Brendan Harris will start at 2B and Adam Everett was signed on to start at shortstop. They should make a fine combo on defense for the Twins. Mike Lamb will likely get to start at 3B because of his bat, but he is probably the worst defensive third baseman in all of baseball so we’ll see how long the Twins put up with that. Livan Hernandez will probably be the #1 or #2 starter for the Twins this season as he’s an innings eater who will take one for the team if needed. Philip Humber was acquired in the trade for Johan Santana and he will battle for the #5 spot in the Twins rotation in spring training.

FRONT OFFICE GRADE FOR THE OFF SEASON: C-

The Twins have signed 32 year old righty starter Livan Hernandez to a 1-year, $5 million dollar contract. The Twins will likely slot Hernandez near the top of the rotation and he’s a workhorse as he has averaged 227 innings pitched per season over the last 10 seasons. He pitched in 33 games (all starts) last season for the Diamondbacks and he was 11-11 with a 4.93 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. Hernandez has now pitched in 351 games (350 starts) in his major league career and he is 134-128 with a 4.25 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. It will be interesting to see how well Hernandez does in the American League as he doesn’t miss many bats. He will need the Twins to play good defense behind him to succeed.