2000 Minnesota Twins season

March 2026 November 2013 Minnesota Twins 2000 American League Central Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis 69 93 y 5th Carl Pohlad Terry Ryan Tom Kelly KMSP-TVMidwest Sports Channel (Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer) 830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Dan Gladden) The 2000 Minnesota Twins season was the 40th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 19th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 100th overall in the American League. The Twins compiled a record of 69–93 during the 2000 Major League Baseball season. It was the team's last of a consecutive string record of eight losing seasons and it was characterized with weak hitting but slightly better pitching. The team was managed by Tom Kelly and contained the nucleus of future manager Ron Gardenhire's team that would reach the postseason only two years later. Offseason December 13, 1999: Under the Rule 5 draft, the Twins send minor leaguer Jared Camp and cash to the Florida Marlins in exchange for future Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana.Johan Santana Statistics Baseball-Reference.com January 4: Signed catcher Marcus Jensen as a free agent. Jensen was granted free agency on October 2. January 27: Signed Butch Huskey as a free agent. On July 15, the team traded Huskey to the Colorado Rockies for Todd Sears and cash. Regular season T.C. Bear, the team's mascot, was first introduced to the team's fans on April 3.February 16, 2023 Mascot Database: T.C. Bear https://mascothalloffame.com/mascots/t-c-bear/ September 13, 2023 Mascot Hall of Fame en-US Tampa Bay's Gerald Williams homered on the first pitch thrown in the Metrodome this year. Minnesota's Matt Lawton homered on the Dome's final pitch this year. On April 9, a major league first occurred, when both teams posted innings with back-to-back-to-back home runs. In the sixth, Twins Ron Coomer, Jacque Jones and Matthew LeCroy belted consecutive homers. In the Kansas City Royals' eighth, Carlos Beltrán, Jermaine Dye and Mike Sweeney homered off Twins pitchers Eddie Guardado and Héctor Carrasco.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA200004090.shtml Twins 13, Royals 7 Baseball-Reference.com 2016-02-08 On April 15, Héctor Carrasco gave up Cal Ripken's 3,000th hit, in the Dome. Of the 24 players who have reached that plateau, now three have collected the benchmark hit off Twins' pitching: in 1995, Mike Trombley gave up Eddie Murray's 3,000th hit, also in the Dome. In 1985, Frank Viola watched Rod Carew stroke his 3,000th hit in Anaheim Stadium. On May 10, the club overcame their largest deficit to win. Down 8–1 in the seventh, the Twins finished the nine-inning game with a 10–9 win. Eddie Guardado threw thirteen pitches and collected the win over the Cleveland Indians.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN200005100.shtml Twins 10, Indians 9 Baseball-Reference.com 2016-02-08 The lone representative of the Twins in the All-Star Game was outfielder Matt Lawton. The highest paid Twin in 2000 was Brad Radke at $3,500,000; followed by Matt Lawton at $2,000,000. Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek, Kirby Puckett, and Calvin Griffith were the inaugural inductees in the Twins Hall of Fame. Offense The most solid offensive year came from the team's lone all-star representative, right fielder Matt Lawton. Lawton hit .305 with 13 home runs, 88 RBI, and 23 stolen bases. Also notable this year were shortstop Cristian Guzmán's major league leading 20 triples (a Twins record). Like most of his career with the Twins, David Ortiz spent much of the 2000 season rehabbing injuries. He did, however, play in 88 games as the team's designated hitter. The Twins also experimented with Butch Huskey in the DH spot. Not surprisingly, this was not a successful experiment, with Huskey playing in only 39 games at the position. + Team Leaders Statistic Player QuantityHR Jacque Jones 19RBI Matt Lawton 88BA Matt Lawton .305Runs Cristian Guzmán 89 Pitching The starting rotation showed flashes of brilliance with Brad Radke, Eric Milton, Mark Redman, and Joe Mays in for most of the year. Radke, Milton, and Redman all had ERAs of under 5. The fifth starter was uncertain, with Sean Bergman making 14 starts, and J. C. Romero making 11. Romero's ERA of 7.02 did not suggest the dominant reliever he would subsequently become. Despite uncertainty as to the identity of the closer, the bullpen was stellar. LaTroy Hawkins, Bob Wells, Eddie Guardado, Travis Miller, and Héctor Carrasco all had strong years out of the bullpen. Hawkins led the club with 14 saves. One notable presence among the pitching staff was rookie Johan Santana, acquired from the Houston Astros via the Florida Marlins in the Rule 5 draft. In order for the Twins to keep Santana under Rule 5, Santana was required to stay on the major league roster for the entire season. He did, and his numbers did nothing to suggest he would one day win a Cy Young Award. His ERA was 6.49 and he struck out 64 batters in 86 innings. He was used almost exclusively in mop-up roles, although he did start five games. He spent most of the 2001 season in the minor leagues. The Twins' foresight in keeping him on the roster during the 2000 season must be regarded as one of the greatest uses ever of the Rule 5 draft. + Team Leaders Statistic Player QuantityERA Brad Radke 4.45Wins Eric Milton 13Saves LaTroy Hawkins 14Strikeouts Eric Milton 160 Defense The infield was mostly steady with Ron Coomer at first, Jay Canizaro at second, Guzman at short, Corey Koskie at third, and Denny Hocking backing them all up. The 2000 season saw the inception of the "Soul Patrol" outfield of Jacque Jones, Torii Hunter, and Lawton. Nobody was able to establish himself as the everyday catcher, with Matt LeCroy playing in 48 games at the position, Chad Moeller in 40, Marcus Jensen in 37, A. J. Pierzynski in 27, and Danny Ardoin in 10. Season standings Minnesota Twins Record vs. opponents MIN Notable transactions April 1: Signed outfielder Dustan Mohr as a free agent. April 4: Signed infielder Jay Canizaro as a free agent. May 23: Selected Casey Blake off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays. June 5: In the amateur draft, the Twins drafted future major leaguers such as pitcher Adam Johnson (1st round, second pick) and outfielder Jason Kubel (12th round). June 22: Released pitcher Sean Bergman. August 31, 2000: Midre Cummings was traded by the Minnesota Twins to the Boston Red Sox for Hector De Los Santos (minors).https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/cummimi01.shtml Midre Cummings Stats September 9: Traded pitcher Héctor Carrasco to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Lew Ford. December 11: Brandon Knight was drafted by the Twins from the New York Yankees in the 2000 rule 5 draft.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/knighbr01.shtml Brandon Knight Stats December 19: Signed catcher Tom Prince as a free agent. December 20: Ron Coomer granted free agency; pitcher Mike Lincoln released. Roster 2000 Minnesota Twins Roster Pitchers 38 Sean Bergman 58 Héctor Carrasco 59 Jack Cressend 18 Eddie Guardado 32 LaTroy Hawkins 51 Matt Kinney 19 Mike Lincoln 53 Joe Mays 20 Travis Miller 21 Eric Milton 52 Danny Mota 22 Brad Radke 55 Mark Redman 33 J. C. Romero 54 Jason Ryan 57 Johan Santana 46 Bob Wells Catchers 12 Danny Ardoin 28 Marcus Jensen 24 Matthew LeCroy 39 Chad Moeller 26 A. J. Pierzynski Infielders 38 Casey Blake  1 Jay Canizaro  8 Ron Coomer 15 Cristian Guzmán 47 Corey Koskie  9 Jason Maxwell 25 Doug Mientkiewicz 27 David Ortiz  2 Luis Rivas 12 Todd Walker Outfielders 31 Chad Allen 40 John Barnes 30 Brian Buchanan 16 Midre Cummings  7 Denny Hocking 48 Torii Hunter 42 Butch Huskey 11 Jacque Jones 50 Matt Lawton Manager 10 Tom Kelly Coaches 35 Ron Gardenhire (third base)  4 Paul Molitor 43 Rick Stelmaszek (bullpen) 44 Dick Such (pitching) 45 Scott Ullger 13 Jerry White Player stats = Indicates team leader Batting Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C Matt LeCroy 56 167 29 .174 5 17 1B Ron Coomer 140 544 147 .270 16 82 2B Jay Canizaro 102 346 93 .269 7 40 SS Christian Guzmán 156 631 156 .247 8 54 3B Corey Koskie 146 474 142 .300 9 65 LF Jacque Jones 154 523 149 .285 19 76 CF Torii Hunter 99 336 94 .280 5 44 RF Matt Lawton 156 561 171 .305 13 88 DH David Ortiz 130 415 117 .282 10 63 Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI Denny Hocking 134 373 111 .298 4 47 Butch Huskey 64 215 48 .223 5 27 Midre Cummings 77 181 50 .276 4 22 Marcus Jensen 52 139 29 .209 3 14 Chad Moeller 48 128 27 .211 1 9 Jason Maxwell 64 111 27 .243 1 11 A. J. Pierzynski 33 88 27 .307 2 11 Brian Buchanan 30 82 19 .232 1 8 Todd Walker 23 77 18 .234 2 8 Luis Rivas 16 58 18 .310 0 6 Chad Allen 15 50 15 .300 0 7 John Barnes 11 37 13 .351 0 2 Danny Ardoin 15 32 4 .125 1 5 Casey Blake 7 16 3 .188 0 1 Doug Mientkiewicz 3 14 6 .429 0 4 Pitching = Indicates league leader Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Brad Radke 34 226.2 12 16 4.45 141 Eric Milton 33 200.0 13 10 4.86 160 Joe Mays 31 160.1 7 15 5.56 102 Mark Redman 32 151.1 12 9 4.76 117 Sean Bergman 15 68.0 4 5 9.66 35 J.C. Romero 12 57.2 2 7 7.02 50 Matt Kinney 8 42.1 2 2 5.10 24 Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Johan Santana 30 86.0 2 3 6.49 64 Mike Lincoln 8 20.2 0 3 10.89 15 Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO LaTroy Hawkins 66 2 5 14 3.39 59 Bob Wells 76 0 7 10 3.65 76 Eddie Guardado 70 7 4 9 3.94 52 Travis Miller 67 2 3 1 3.90 62 Héctor Carrasco 61 4 3 1 4.25 57 Jason Ryan 16 0 1 0 7.62 19 Jack Cressend 11 0 0 0 5.27 6 Danny Mota 4 0 0 0 8.44 3 Other post-season awards Calvin R. Griffith Award (Most Valuable Twin) – Matt Lawton Joseph W. Haynes Award (Twins Pitcher of the Year) – Eric Milton Bill Boni Award (Twins Outstanding Rookie) – Mark Redman Charles O. Johnson Award (Most Improved Twin) – Cristian Guzmán Dick Siebert Award (Upper Midwest Player of the Year) – Darin Erstad The above awards are voted on by the Twin Cities chapter of the BBWAA Carl R. Pohlad Award (Outstanding Community Service) – Denny Hocking Sherry Robertson Award (Twins Outstanding Farm System Player) – John Barnes Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Salt Lake Buzz Pacific Coast League Phil Roof AA New Britain Rock Cats Eastern League John Russell A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Jose Marzan A Quad Cities River Bandits Midwest League Stan Cliburn Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Jeff Carter Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Al NewmanLEAGUE CHAMPIONS: ElizabethtonJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007 References External links Diamond Mind's Analysis of the Twins' 2000 season Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com Twins history since 2000, from www.mlb.com https://web.archive.org/web/20061018055313/http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/min/history/timeline5.jsp October 18, 2006 2000 Standings Category:Minnesota Twins seasons Minnesota Twins season Minnesota Twins