ST. LOUIS — Derek Falvey sat in a conference room at Target Field last September, on the final day of the regular season, and got choked up as he described the frustration, anger, disappointment and embarrassment he had felt over the course of the previous six weeks. It seemed almost certain for m ost of the season that the Twins would make the postseason. And then came those fateful six weeks, a stretch of poor play that the Twins vowed to never repeat. “From this point forward, my job is to figure out how we never let that happen again,” Falvey, now the Twins’ president of baseball and business operations, said at the time. That kicked off an offseason of changes — though more to the front office and coaching staff than the roster itself — and a whole lot of introspection, all the way around. Now, with that seemingly well in the past, the Twins are ready to start fresh with a group that has the front office’s confidence. Their quest to return the franchise to October begins here on Thursday at 3:15 p.m. with Pablo López on the mound against the Cardinals. “I think the biggest lesson is if we want to get where we want to get, it’s going to be up to us,” López said. “The main thing leading us to believe that is the fact that we are pretty much running the same team back that we did last year. In a way, it’s like, ‘OK, we have the same team. It’s because we know what we can do. The front office knows what we can do. The coaching staff knows what we can do.’ ” Indeed, the team is almost nearly the same as the one that had a playoff probability that topped 95 percent in early September before falling apart. Gold Glove winner Carlos Santana left and was replaced at first base by veteran Ty France. Harrison Bader inherits the fourth outfielder role that Manuel Margot last year. Danny Coulombe took over as the left-handed reliever in the bullpen for Caleb Thielbar. Longtime right fielder Max Kepler departed in free agency, as well, his at-bats expected to be filled by internal options Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach. The Twins did not make a major move this offseason, in part because of financial constraints. But they could have shifted resources around, traded a well-paid veteran and used that money to make additions. Instead, they chose largely the same group. “Taking the fact that we were the best team in baseball for two months last year, having pretty much the same guys back … is exciting,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “I think we’re really excited about the group we have in here and what we can put together as a unit and knowing how good we can be.” While there weren’t major roster alterations, the Twins did overhaul the coaching staff, replacing four coaches and bringing in an entirely new hitting crew led by Matt Borgschulte. The Twins faltered offensively down the stretch, a major reason for the collapse — injuries certainly played a contributing role, as well — as part of an all-around inconsistent season. Within it, they went on a 13-game win streak and a seven-game losing streak. They finished the season by going 12-27 in their last 39 games. “All we have to do is find the deficiencies that led to what happened in the last 39 games,” López said. “What led to that? Was it injuries? Was it a lack of focus? Was it guys just happy to be up here instead of like, ‘I’m here but I’m adding to this philosophy. I’m adding to this mentality?’ I think we have done a good job identifying those. Experience also is the best teacher you can have.” Drawing from his own experience, manager Rocco Baldelli, entering his seventh season, made some changes to how he ran things this spring in Fort Myers, Fla. Workouts were more structured spring training and there was a focused effort to get position players more at-bats, in an effort to get them ready earlier. “They saw tons of pitches. They got to feel their swings out, get some timing and get their legs in shape,” Baldelli said. “I think they’re in a good spot, all of our guys.” And now, it’s time to show it. “You look around the room and we have a lot of talent, and it’s like, it’s not really top-heavy or anything,” reliever Brock Stewart said. “Bullpen, starting rotation, defensively, hitting for power, hitting for average, base stealers, we have a really well-rounded team. It’s cool to see.” Related Articles Five things that have to happen for the Twins to return to the postseason Twins believe bullpen could be among the best in baseball Twins have one roster decision left to make for Opening Day: a bullpen spot Mickey Gasper, DaShawn Keirsey Jr. make Twins’ Opener Day roster Collision puts Mickey Gasper’s status for Twins’ Opening Day in question ...read more read less