There might not be a more tantalizing -- or frightening -- way to enter a season than by staking your fortunes to the development of a group of young pitchers, which explains the Twins' spring dynamic of optimism tempered with occasional bouts of despondency.

The Twins believe their longtime habit of piling up major league-ready arms makes them largely immune to a freefall into irrelevance, but the 2008 season will test that theory like no other. Minnesota's fate, in an AL Central more loaded than ever, depends upon the rapid maturation of its Johan Santana-less starting pitching.

Four-fifths of the Twins' rotation has never held a major league starting spot for an entire season, and the lone veteran -- free agent pickup Livan Hernandez -- has never pitched in the American League. That lack of experience makes the Twins easy to underestimate, though judging by their results this spring, it also dooms them to the standard growing-pains inconsistency.

But if Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano can handle the responsibility of heading a rotation lacking Santana every fifth day and consistently pitch the way the Twins believe they can, Minnesota's prospects dramatically improve, in 2008 and beyond.

A confidence-building start will be critical, so watch the Twins' scores in April. If Minnesota is keeping games close, there could be substantial progress over last year's 79-win season, perhaps even playoff contention. But if the staff is surrendering six or more runs on a regular basis, as many as 10 different pitchers figure to audition in a rebuilding year.

Making their job easier with be a deep bullpen made even deeper by the return of Jesse Crain, who needed shoulder surgery last May. With Matt Guerrier and Juan Rincon available for the sixth and seventh innings, Crain and Pat Neshek handling the eighth and Joe Nathan the ninth, the Twins figure to limit the number of innings required from their young starters.

The batting order is strong in the middle with a core of Joe Mauer, Michael Cuddyer, Justin Morneau and Delmon Young likely to occupy the second through fifth spots. Mauer is healthy again after a 2007 dud, and Morneau focused his offseason on sustaining his pre-All Star production.

Following those run-producers is a designated hitter, Jason Kubel, who needs to finally to deliver on the promise he has shown for two years; a 20-home run season would be a good start. And if Carlos Gomez, a wondrous but raw talent, heads the lineup, the Twins will be placing another large bet on rapid maturation.

But the bottom of the order remains something of a mystery, even after six weeks of camp. As a unit, the revamped infield, which includes newcomers Mike Lamb, Adam Everett and Brendan Harris, is an upgrade over the Twins' punchless 2007 infield, but all so far fall into the category of merely good enough.

The bench will be manned by Mike Redmond, an above-average backup catcher, Craig Monroe, who might steal some of Kubel's DH at-bats, and players valued more for their defense than offense. It's not a deep team, so injuries would be particularly costly.

PRIMED FOR A BIG SEASON
LF Delmon Young finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting last season after driving in 93 runs for Tampa Bay, yet there remains plenty of room for improvement. The Twins, who traded for Young in November, are confident that a disciplined environment will allow Young to thrive even more. He has worked on better plate discipline, figures to gradually increase his power (13 home runs last year) and will benefit from having Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau on base ahead of him. Plus, as the Twins like to point out, he's only 22.

ON THE DECLINE
RHP Livan Hernandez may be baseball's premier rubber-arm pitcher, but all those innings over 11 seasons have sapped much of the snap from his curveball and all of the zing from his fastball. Hernandez works the corners and changes speeds like the veteran he is, but the Twins have to be concerned about an ERA that has risen in each of the last three seasons and ballooned to 4.93 in Arizona last season. His spring ERA: 8.00. Yikes.

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