Twins' winning formula sneers at adversity

Joe Nathan blew out his elbow on March 6. Justin Morneau took a knee to the head on July 7.

Nathan's replacement at closer, Jon Rauch, lost his job on July 29. Morneau's replacement at first base, Michael Cuddyer, has displayed versatility and unselfishness but he has not come close to replacing Morneau's production.

The loss of two of their three perennial All-Stars, along with the first-half slump of their third perennial All-Star, Joe Mauer, should have devastated the Twins. Instead, those problems proved to be nothing more than temporary restrictor plates.

Late Sunday night, the Twins boarded a charter flight to Texas, holding a confidence-inspiring lead in the AL Central.

They have weathered their season-threatening injuries by displaying the strengths that have manifested themselves ever since they returned to relevance in 2001: depth, creativity and patience.

Depth: Danny Valencia and Brian Duensing are not the kind of young players who earn full-page spreads in Baseball America or any other scouting bible. But Valencia has taken command of the third-base job and Duensing has, surprisingly, threatened to become this year's version of the 2003 Johan Santana, whose shift from the bullpen to the rotation proved to be the difference in the AL Central race.

Creativity: The Twins haven't made any moves in the past two years that would make the Yankees blush. Instead, they have made stealth moves that have increased in importance as many of their core players have slumped or convalesced.

They traded minor league pitcher Yohan Pino for Carl Pavano, currently their ace. They traded Kevin Mulvey to acquire Rauch, who has given them great value over the past 12 months.

They traded Carlos Gomez for J.J. Hardy, exchanging a superfluous outfielder for a quality shortstop.

They signed Orlando Hudson to the best kind of free-agent contract -- a one-year deal for reasonable money. Last season, they traded infielder Tyler Ladendorf for shortstop Orlando Cabrera, who helped them win the division.

They also stole Jim Thome, signing him to a one-year deal worth $1.5 million.

The front office is on something of a winning streak.

Patience: Ron Gardenhire doesn't strike anyone who meets him as patient. He has followed Tom Kelly's reign of "even-keel baseball" by displaying a range of emotions that would impress a method actor.

In terms of developing players, though, he's often patient with the right people.

Anyone with less patience would have jettisoned Jesse Crain long ago; by waiting and working with him, the Twins have helped resurrect the pitcher with the best arm in their bullpen.

Delmon Young frustrated Gardenhire's staff constantly during his first two years in a Twins uniform; the Twins' patience has been rewarded this season as Young has begun fulfilling his immense promise.

While Gardenhire was handed his most talented roster this spring, he has worked around key losses, slumps and the mediocrity of some of his most important pitchers to guide the Twins into first place.

So, is Gardenhire surprised by his team's position, given the loss of Nathan and Morneau?

"I don't think it's a surprise," he said Sunday night. "You just play. You can't really think about all of those things until the end, and you see how it all turns out.

"We had to do it last year, so it's not like we haven't done it before. This year, we were a little more prepared, with a guy like Thome, if one of our big guys went down, so that's really helped.

"So, I don't know. Surprised? No. Happy? Absolutely. Because when you lose a guy like Morneau, a bat like him in your lineup, and you can hang in there, and then you lose a guy like Nathan in spring training, and we've always said your bullpen is as good as the guy at the end ...

"Yeah, we're pretty happy to be where we're at, to tell you the truth."

Jim Souhan can be heard at 10-noon Sunday on 1500ESPN. His Twitter name is SouhanStrib. jsouhan@startribune.com