Giants-Twins Series Preview: The final week (thank goodness)

But the Twins, who had finished 70-92 this season, started off the year in surprisingly great fashion, to the point that by the end of July, they were 56-55 and just 3 games out of the AL Central lead.

So, it's another failed season for the Twins. Giants fans can relate. Well, not really. The Twins have had five winning seasons and four playoff appearances in the past decade. The Giants have had 1 and 1. As of this writing, the two teams are 12th and 13th in wins over the last 10 years… but with a significant split.

In this 45-game that spiraled them out of the playoffs, the pitching has been mediocre but the offense has fallen to below league average (99 wRC+). They've lost Byron Buxton to injury once again. Taj Bradley has emerged to mitigate the pre-season loss of Pablo Lopez , but Joe Ryan 's prime seems to have been betrayed by their small window of contention. Their defense has been atrocious: -38.4 Defensive Runs Above Average, 25th in MLB. Don't get too smug, though. The Giant are 23rd (-34.5). They're the team the Giants could become if all the prospect excitement fails to pan out and the front office's grand design busts.