Twins postgame: Year 19 is coming to an end. Some thoughts

This ends my 19th year on the beat. Before that, I covered the Royals for three years. Until today, I had never covered a team that had lost 100 games before.

That means this is the worst baseball team I have ever covered.

They can't sustain offense. They make baserunning mistakes. The pitching staff is a shambles. And they need serious upgrades defensively.

Here are some observations:

The Twins can't have a left side of the infield with Jorge Polanco and Migue Sano. There will be too many mistakes between the both of them.

Polanco doesn't have the arm to play shortstop.

Robbie Grossman's defense makes him, at best, a fourth outfielder or a DH candidate. But the fourth outfielder usually is a defensive player. So I don't know of there's a role for Grossman.

Byron Buxton could become a Gold Glove center fielder who hits 30-plus home runs a year.

Turning around a franchise takes as much time as it does to fix a pitching staff. As soon as the Twins can sort their pitching out, they can compete.

After Ervin Santana, I'm not sure how capable the rest of the rotation is right now. Tyler Duffey and Jose Berrios need to be fixed. Kyle Gibson's career is at a crossroads, to me. Which Phil Hughes are they getting next year?

Stephen Gonsalves will be the next starting prospect to get a shot.

Kohl Stewart and Tyler Jay both were top ten overall picks. If they don't come through, the Twins have to look at how they are developing pitchers.

It's painful to watch No. 7 these days. He's not running well. He doesn't have his legs under him when he swings. He should shut it down the rest of the season.

I don't expect a few coaches to return next season. I'm guessing at least three new faces.

The Twins need to cut the cord with Kennys Vargas, Byung Ho Park or both. The DH spot needs to be available for Mauer and Sano.

The free agent pitching market is not expected to be strong this offseason. Teams will be looking to trade for pitching. That means it will be a seller's market. Keep this in mind as some of you wonder about trading Brian Dozier for pitching.

I'm on the fence about trading Dozier. Guess it depends on the deal. That's a lot of production to take out of a lineup.