ALDS Preview- Oakland vs. Minnesota

Today's playoffs kick off with the AL Central champion Twins hosting the AL West champion Athletics. The two hottest teams since June boast the premiere pitching matchup of the playoffs in today's game one between sure fire AL Cy Young winner Johan Santana and Barry Zito. Not only did Santana tie for the lead league in wins, he lead in innings, strikeouts, and ERA, a feat rarely accomplished. For the Athletics, ace Barry Zito is not far behind and features the best curveball in baseball. These two lefties could provide a couple of memorable duels in this short series.

Why The Twins Will Win... Johan Santana has emerged as the most dominant pitcher in baseball. If all goes according to plan, Santana can notch two of the three necessary victories to clinch. That means the trio of Matt Garza, Boof Bonser, and Brad Radke would only be responsible for picking up one win. The Twins feature the best bullpen in the American League, with dominant closer Joe Nathan being the most reliable closer not named Mariano Rivera in this year's playoffs. Their bullpen has the ability to shorten games making it easier on one of the youngsters or Radke to pick up that third win. Also, for the first time in recent memory, they have a team capable of scoring runs in bunches. With AL batting champion Joe Mauer and fellow MVP candidate Justin Morneau driving in runs in the middle of the lineup, they have a few bats that can hurt you. Perennial leader Torii Hunter is also more than capable of producing the clutch hit as he has shown down the stretch. As a team they lead the majors in batting average and were among the leaders in on base percentage.

Why The A's Will Win...Depth in starting pitching. Barry Zito is more than capable of out-dueling Santana at least once and silencing the big left handed bats (Mauer, Morneau) that carry the Minnesota offense. Esteban Loaiza has been very effective in the late months and looks to be a strong number two guy in the rotation. The A's have not decided who their game three starter will be, but both Dan Haren and Rich Harden are young flamethrowers who can absolutely shut down an opposing offense. Harden has pitched well since coming off the DL, but has been limited in his work. If he can be healthy, he is capable of the vaunted "Josh Beckett of '03" performance. The A's bullpen is also tough with Kiko Calero, Justin Duchscherer, and closer Huston Street. If Street is hampered by the injuries that affected him during the season, Duchscherer has proven he can handle closing responsibilities. Offensively, the big bats of Nick Swisher and the resurgence of Frank Thomas shoulder the load. They need to continue to provide the pop in the middle of this lineup for the A's to have a chance. Eric Chavez has hit much better in the second half of the season and also could provide a boost in the offense. While their batting averages are a bit low, their on-base percentage is still at an acceptable Moneyball level.

Prediction: Having home field advantage is a distinct advantage for the Twins. Playing inside the noisy Metrodome on that fast track plays largely to their advantage. The key is game one. If the Athletics can steal game one on the road, they have a great chance of being able to close out in Oakland. If Santana holds it should at least enable him another start later on in the series. Although A's Manager Ken Macha seems to have a lot of faith in Loaiza has his second starter, I will not show as much faith. If the A's fall in to an 0-2 hole, I don't seem them digging out. However, if the Twins were to use Santana in Game 4 (if necessary), I'd like the A's chances of taking Game 5 (if necessary). The Twins in a short series are scary, but with the absence of Liriano certainly beatable. I'll go with the A's in five behind the depth in their starting rotation.