From the Department of Wishful Thinking

Wouldn’t this be wonderful:

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP)—Jim Thome(notes) feels he’s in the right place at the right time to make another run at a World Series title, and possibly win one this time after two close calls with the Cleveland Indians.

The Minnesota Twins feel the same way, now that they’ve added his bat to their already powerful lineup.

I’m a huge Twins fan, but World Series?  I think we have a long way to go before making such proclamations.  A 3-1 start is wonderful, and Thome adds some power to a potent lineup if Kubel, Cuddyer, and Morneau all stay healthy.  Mauer might be the best offensive player in all of baseball.  Orlando Hudson and J.J. Hardy were tremendous off-season additions.  But Yankees or Red Sox we are not.

And the pitching!  Liriano has yet to convince me he is fully back, Slowey is still an unproven commodity (though an obvious talent), and then there’s a huge drop off.  Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn are ok, I guess, but I really don’t trust Carl Pavano or any of our relievers in a clutch situation.

We’ll see – I have proven horrible at sports predictions in the past, and the Twins did just come out of LA with a series win against a good Angels team.  We can definitely win the AL Central (again), but that path through the playoffs still looks mighty rocky.