Monday, October 12, 2009

Twins Offseason - Part 1

Now that the Twins are officially done for the season, it's time to look at what areas they can improve going into next year. I have listed the following areas in order of need - these all are lower on the priority list than signing Mauer to a multi-year extension.

1. Starting pitching. The Twins were 60 -9 when they gave up 3 runs or less. The starting pitching was very inconsistent throughout the year until the last couple weeks of the regular season. Part of that had to do with the injuries the staff had to deal with, but Blackburn had a great first half and a so-so second half and Baker was the opposite with a poor start and a great finish to his season. If the Twins could get an innings eater who puts up quality start after quality start (Zambrano, Vasquez, Garland, Pavano to name a few), then they would have a much better chance at being successful next year.

2. Left side of the infield. Bill Smith finally admitted he made a mistake by signing Punto in his actions when he traded for Orlando Cabrera. While Cabrera had two hot streaks with the Twins sandwiched around a very poor stretch where he was a double play waiting to happen. I would not be upset if the Twins kept Cabrera, but I would rather have them go in a different direction - see posts regarding the Twins trading for JJ Hardy or possibly trade Cuddy to Atlanta for Escobar. Third base is a different issue. Danny Valencia is supposed to be the third baseman of the future, but he struggled down the stretch at AAA. It's too bad Bill Smith did not pull the trigger while trying to get Freddy Sanchez (who is actually a true #2 hitter) - but that is a seperate issue. If Valencia could come in and hit .275 with 10-12 HRs and 25 doubles while driving in around 65 RBIs that would be solid for a rookie, but it is hard to confidently say that will happen given he put up similar numbers in AA and AAA. One free agent option could be Chone Figgins who could play 3B or SS, but he will probably cost nearly $10 million/year which currently seems too expensive. The reason I only have the left side as a need is that Punto is ok at 2b and next year will be a contract year and we have all seen what Punto does in a contract year compared to a non-contract year.

3. Figure out the outfield situation. Gardenhire obviously struggled with his outfield rotation this year. He kept Span and Cuddyer in the lineup night in and night out (which is the right thing to do) and had to try to work in Delmon Young, Carlos Gomez, and Kubel. It seems like a trade of one of the outfielders would help add some help somewhere else, while clearing up the outfield situation. I think the obvious player would be Delmon Young, but the player who would bring in the most value would be Cuddyer. Cuddyer is coming off of a career year and is signed relatively cheap and could realistically bring in a top starter like Javier Vasquez or a top shortstop like Yunel Escobar. That would allow the oufield to have either Young/Gomez/Span or Span/Gomez/Kubel with either Young or Kubel DHing everyday.

If the Twins can address these three issues (4 if you count the Mauer contract), then they should have no problem repeating as central division champions and if they can get the right mix of players, even make a run at a world series. This all depends on the kind of job Bill Smith can do, and although he did a good job during the season of adding pieces, we've all seen what he has done in the offseason.