The Minnesota Twins had a “phenomenal season” general manager Bill Smith said Thursday in Fort Myers, but it was a season that ended on a sour note.

It closely resembled the season turned in by the Fort Myers Miracle, the Twins’ Class-A affiliate.

The Twins finished with an 88-75 record and remained in contention until the 163rd game of the season when they lost to the Chicago White Sox in a one-game playoff to decide the American League Central champion.

The Miracle reached the Florida State League Championship Series before falling to the Daytona Cubs.

“Their season sort of mirrored ours,” said Smith, who just ended his first season as general manager. “We were disappointed in the way our season ended, but we are pleased with the route we took.”

Smith discussed several issues Thursday at Hammond Stadium during a break from the team’s organizational meetings, which began Sunday and run through next Thursday.

Smith is expected to meet with manager Ron Gardenhire to discuss a contract extension. Gardenhire, who has guided the club to a 621-509 (.550) record in his seven seasons, is under contract only through the 2009 season.

The front office also will go through the personnel, from top to bottom, getting a better sense of which areas they may need to strengthen during the offseason.

Smith hinted that the team may focus on improving the bullpen.

“I feel we have a good mixture of young starting pitching and a great closer (Joe Nathan),” he said. “We would like to get our bullpen back up to where it was from 2001 to 2007, when it was one of our staples.”

The Twins improved by 15 games compared to 2007, a strong season considering the question marks they had when they broke spring training last March.

Prior to spring training, the Twins dealt former Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana to the New York Mets. In return they received three prospects, including outfielder Carlos Gomez.

Along with Gomez, the Twins hoped several young players would develop quickly and contribute.

Gomez, Denard Span and Alexi Casilla each established themselves as legitimate major-leaguers over the course of the season and young pitchers like Glen Perkins, Kevin Slowey and Nick Blackburn helped bolster the rotation.

Left-hander Francisco Liriano, who missed the entire 2007 season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery, bounced back from some early-season struggles and went 6-1 after being recalled Aug. 1.

Smith noted that the additions of veterans Livan Hernandez, Craig Monroe, Adam Everett and Mike Lamb were seen as short-term moves, and for the most part those players allowed the youngsters to develop early in the season.

“It’s a tough question to answer when people ask you are you surprised at how the season turned out,” Smith acknowledged. “It’s almost a no-win question. We knew we were going through a transition with some new players.”

While Smith said the Twins will continue to focus on building through the draft and their minor-league system, the dynamics are expected to change following the 2009 season. That’s the Twins’ final season playing in the Metrodome, before moving to a brand new facility, Target Field, in 2010.

“There’s no question the revenue will increase,” he said. “One thing we’ve tried to do is keep a few core players. When we won the World Series in 1987 and 1991 it was Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek. Right now it’s Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer and Joe Nathan. (The new stadium) could allow us to add a couple more of those core players.”