The Minnesota Twins finished their 2016 season with a 6-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

Byron Buxton led off the game with an inside the park homer to tease Twins fans for next year when he hopefully will take over the lead-off spot for years to come.

Offense hasn't been the problem this season for Minnesota. Pitching is the top priority in the off season, and the Twins must find a catcher who can throw some runners out.

I looked at all the team statistics and here is how Minnesota ranked offensively in the Majors.

  • Team Batting Average: .251, 16th; best: Boston, .283
  • Runs Scored: 716, 15th; best: Boston, 877
  • Hits: 1,400, 16th; best: Boston, 1,594
  • Doubles: 286, 8th; best: Boston, 343
  • Triples: 35, 5th; best: Arizona, 56
  • Homers: 198, 12th; best: Baltimore, 251
  • RBI: 684, 15th; best: Boston, 835
  • On base %: .316, 24th; best: Boston, .349
  • Strikeouts: 1,415, 16th; fewest: LA Angels, 986
  • Stolen Bases: 91, 12th; most: Milwaukee, 179
  • Stolen Base %: 73.98%, 8th; best %: Arizona, 82.04%
  • Extra Base Hits: 519, 8th; most: Boston, 575

Now let's look at the pitching statistics.

  • Earned Run Average: 5.09, second highest; highest: Arizona, 5.11
  • Quality Starts: 59, 30th; most: Chicago, 100
  • Earned Runs: 811, second most; most: Arizona, 819
  • Runs: 886, second most; most: Arizona, 888
  • Walks: 475, 17th; fewest: San Francisco, 437
  • K's: 1,182, 26th; most: Dodgers, 1,499
  • Opp.batting avg.: .283, 30th; best: Dodgers, .232
  • Hits: 1,611, 30th; fewest: Cubs, 1,119
  • Homers: 221, second most; most allowed: Cincinnati, 256
  • Total Bases: 2,658, most; fewest: Cubs, 1,841
  • Opp. on base %: .340, 27th; worst: Arizona, .348, best: Cubs, .285

The Minnesota Twins also have to improve on defense. They had the second most errors in the majors with 126. Only the Milwaukee Brewers had more with 135; the San Francisco Giants had the fewest at 72.

Kurt Suzuki was once again toward the bottom of the majors in throwing runners out and I realize it's not all on the catcher, but less than 20 percent (.188), that translates to only 12 runners thrown out all season. I honestly don't know why more teams don't steal on the Twins. There were only 64 attempts on Suzuki.

Salvador Perez of Kansas City topped the majors in throwing runners out with 40 stolen bases and 37 caught stealing for a stolen base percentage of .481.

Suzuki is a free agent and it's highly unlikely the Twins want him back. Matt Wieters is a free agent and would look good in a Minnesota uniform. Wieters was in the top 10 in throwing runners out and is a much better hitter than Suzuki.

The Twins are going to have to part with one of their stars to get a top of the line starting pitcher, which the team desperately needs.

Remember Frank Viola in 1987 and Jack Morris in 1991? Ervin Santana had a fine season for Minnesota but would not be considered any team's No. 1 ace.

You might think I'm nuts, but I believe the Twins must trade Brian Dozier to a team rich in pitching and looking for more offense.

Jorge Polanco proved he can hit and, while he is no Dozier in the field and won't hit as many home runs, he might not have some of the mental lapses we saw Dozier have on the bases over the years.

Whoever the new general manager is, they also need to sit down with Joe Mauer and determine what his plans are. When he was signed to his huge contract, he was considered the best catcher in the American League and obviously he no longer plays that position.

Trevor Plouffe will probably be dealt also but I don't know what the Twins will get for him because teams know Minnesota has to unload him to keep Miguel Sano happy. Sano wants to play third but the Twins also must improve their defense from this season and the question is, does that happen with Sano at third base?

Is Kenny Vargas the DH next season and does Eddie Rosario platoon with Robbie Grossman in left field? Max Kepler appears to have right field locked up.

If the Twins trade Dozier and Polanco is at second, then is Eduardo Escobar the starting shortstop because Danny Santana just doesn't seem to be able to play the position day to day. I don't envy the person who gets this job and they probably won't be given a blank checkbook either.

Let's have a competitive baseball team with a payroll under $100 million with almost a quarter of the payroll tied to an average major league player.

I almost forgot the Twins will have the top pick in the 2017 Major League draft and of course their track record there hasn't been too good either.

Target Field- Minneapolis photo by Gordy Kosfeld
Target Field- Minneapolis photo by Gordy Kosfeld
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