Posted by Isaac Thorn on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 9:42 am

Minnesota has leaped from the fire of a one-game playoff and into the frying pan of a very talented Yankee team. Most pundits don’t think the Twins will be able to parlay the emotional high of an extra inning win over Detroit into enough momentum to knock off New York.

It makes sense to believe that the superior depth, pitching, and raw power New York possesses will result in a Division Series which ends quickly and decisively in New York’s favor.

Losing Justin Morneau for the rest of the season should have put a fork in any postseason hopes Minnesota had. Since that did not happen, the Twins had to finish their postgame champagne celebration and get to the Bronx for a Game 1 which starts less than twelve hours after yesterday’s game concluded.

There are many aspects of the series that seem to heavily favor New York: Minnesota will trot rookie Brian Duensing in Game 1. They pin their hopes on Carl Pavano in Game 3. The Yankees have defeated Minnesota all seven times they played them this year.

With Morneau out the Yankees will have more latitude to pitch around Joe Mauer. Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel are two legitimate power threats, but beyond them there isn’t a wealth of power hitters on the Minnesota roster. It is often said that the Twins play a “National League style” game, and that hitting for power isn’t necessary for them to drive in runs. In this series I think that Minnesota must not only manufacture runs, but hit the long ball to have a fighting chance of keeping up on the scoreboard.

Whether Delmon Young, Denard Span, and Orlando Cabrera can produce may go a long way in deciding which team comes out on top. If Minnesota is to derail the World Series hopes of a Yankee team that racked up 103 victories in the regular season, there is going to have to be a high level of clutch hitting displayed by at least two of the three above named players.

If Young, Span, and Cabrera are unable to hit reliably enough to make the Minnesota lineup a chore to work through this series is not likely to be a long one.

CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Andy Pettite are excellent pitchers. All three get more dangerous to face the more outs in a row they’ve tallied.

If players not named Joe Mauer, Jason Kubel, or Michael Cuddyer do not get on base regularly the Yankees road to the League Championship Series will be a smooth one.