Twins target velocity in Year 2 of new ballpark

Think of Target Field as a new pair of shoes. The Twins spent last year breaking them in, and now they're ready to run full speed in them.

Nobody knew exactly how the new ballpark would play when it first opened last April, but by season's end it proved to be the toughest home run park in the majors.

That wasn't all bad for the Twins. They posted the American League's best home record, 53-28. But their offseason moves were designed to turn Target Field into even more of an advantage.

Manager Ron Gardenhire pushed for more speed in his lineup, following the trend in the majors of teams placing more emphasis on speed, defense and pitching. So the Twins jettisoned middle infielders J.J. Hardy and Orlando Hudson, replacing them with Alexi Casilla and Japanese import Tsuyoshi Nishioka.

Hardy and Hudson are solid major league hitters, but last year's lineup was too station-to-station for Gardenhire's taste. The 2010 Twins won 94 games but struggled when they weren't getting extra-base hits.

The new lineup features some of the scrappy, whip-around speed that has propelled Twins teams in the past. They like how the new lineup turns from the No. 9-1-2 spots with Casilla, Denard Span and Nishioka.

Gardenhire didn't get much time to look at his "A" lineup during spring training, because Joe Mauer (knee), Justin Morneau (concussion), Delmon Young (swollen toe) and Michael Cuddyer (plantar wart) were working their way back from injuries.

"If we can get everybody on the field, I definitely can tell you, I love this baseball team," Gardenhire said. "I like all our possibilities, but a lot of things have to go your way."

The Twins might be able to add even more speed in coming years, though that would mean parting with some of their sluggers. Cuddyer and Jason Kubel are eligible for free agency after the season, and Young can hit the market after 2012.

Among the Twins' top prospects are speedy outfielders Ben Revere, Joe Benson and Aaron Hicks. In the amateur draft, the Twins have placed an emphasis on finding speed for several years.

"We didn't know how the ballpark was going to play," said Mike Radcliff, Twins vice president of player personnel. "I'm a little hesitant to call it Death Valley after one year. I'm not sure it's really going to be No. 1 [toughest home run park] by a mile every year, like it was last year. But it does appear to be a park that's more suited for speed and pitching, at this point."

The Twins hit 52 home runs at home last year, compared with 90 on the road, while their pitchers gave up 64 homers at home and 91 on the road. According to ESPN's Park Factors, which compares the rate all players hit home runs from ballpark to ballpark, Target Field ranked 30th on the list of toughest home run parks, right behind Seattle's Safeco Field.

Mauer hit one of his nine homers at home, Morneau hit four of his 18 and Young hit six of his 21. In November, Morneau criticized management for not moving in the fences, saying that "right-center to left-center is ridiculous."

Several players, including Mauer and Kubel, have spoken about the way the ballpark played tricks on their minds early last season before they accepted their home run numbers would suffer there.

At least now the hitters know what to expect. Their goal is to hit line drives into the gaps and fly around the bases.

The added speed should help defensively, too. Hardy and Hudson were above-average defenders, but Casilla and Nishioka should be able to cover more ground.

The Twins don't have a fleet-footed outfield, beyond Span in center, but Revere and the other prospects could help change that in coming years.

That doesn't mean the Twins have completely written off power as a tool. Radcliff predicted speed would become more important in the post-steroid era, but the Twins still are happy to have a few boppers in the lineup.

"The guys who can [hit bundles of home runs] are going to have way more value -- [Albert] Pujols, Morneau and those guys -- because there will be less who can truly do it," Radcliff said.

Those players will be tougher to find, so the Twins are going to make the most of what they have. And it's not exactly a seismic change for the organization. This is the organization that didn't produce a 30-homer hitter from 1987 to 2006.

"We've never had that much power," General Manager Bill Smith said. "We've won a lot of games through aggressive baserunning and doing the fundamentals."