Catching Up With The Twins

For everyone who went into hibernation this past winter alongside Minnesota's front office, here's a look back at the last few months of the Twins' offseason:

It was already Mid-November and the start of the hot stove season was in full swing. For the Twins three things became apparent: 1) they needed an upgrade at third base, 2) they needed an 8th inning setup man, and 3) they needed to figure something out with their four starting outfielders.  Continue Reading

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Almost immediately, Ron Gardenhire went on record saying that Minnesota's 2009 starting outfield would consist of Denard Span, Carlos Gomez, and Michael Cuddyer, of course leaving out former #1 overall pick Delmon Young. Dozens of trade rumors flew across the news wire involving Young, but nothing came to fruition. November also saw the Twins enter into the Casey Blake sweepstakes as they were in desperate need of 3B help. Blake would be a decent fit, giving a little more pop to the lineup.

By December 3rd news broke that the Twins had became the "front-runner" for Casey Blake, but by December 6th Minnesota had ended all talks with him. That's just the beginning of the cardiac offseason that Twins nation has dealt with this offseason. Later on that month, it became official that Nick Punto had signed an extension with the Twins. Punto, known for great defense and poor bat, inked a deal over $4M/per for two years, far more than his value. Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey had also signed with the Twins by mid-month, but will have a hard time making the 25 man roster this season.

December also saw one of our prime targets, Adrian Beltre, add Minnesota to his no-trade clause. This was most likely in an effort to milk more money out of the Mariners or Twins if a trade was to take place rather than him not wanting to play here, but in any event, we haven't heard much from the Beltre front since. Beltre would have been a one year rental player, and to deal any prospects for him was too much of a price for Twins management to pay (that and his salary). Third Basemen Ty Wigginton became known as "a gamer" by Twins officials and Minnesota announced their interest in him on December 14th. But again, by December 17th Minnesota had ended all talks with him. That's the last Minnesota ever heard of Wigginton becoming a Twin. The Twins also began working on finding an 8th inning setup man and became interested in former relief stud Brandon Lyon.

January came and the offseason speculation was never hotter. The Twins became interested in former stand out closer Eric Gagne to fill the 8th inning void as well as increased their interest in Brandon Lyon; news that the Twins were in 'heavy pursuit' of them broke by January 16th. The Gagne talks even got to the point where we were 'closing in' on signing him, but once again, January 28th saw us exit the Gagne sweepstakes and January 24th saw us end talks with Brandon Lyon as he signed with Detroit. The feeling among fans was that they would be nice additions, but were well past the prime of their careers and wouldn't be effective enough to pay the big bucks. The third basemen effort became focused on Joe Crede. Rumors surfaced that on January 9th we were 'in' on Crede. No later than that afternoon those rumors were debunked. However, by January 22nd the Crede talks started up again and haven't slowed down since. Rumors of the Twins even going after Mark DeRosa sparked, but again, everything fell through as he silently signed with the Indians. However, Minnesota made its first real signing by the end of the month, acquiring reliever Luis Ayala. Ayala has been a solid reliever over the last several years, but had a pretty poor year last season with the Nationals and Mets. He should compete with Jesse Crain for the 8th inning setup spot.

February has seen us become the clear front runners for All-Star third basemen Joe Crede. Crede has had a history of back problems and playing on dome turf certainly wouldn't be conducive to his health; however, having his healthy bat in the lineup is undeniably better than the option of fielding the Buscher/Harris platoon we saw last year. Also, reliever Juan Cruz was thrown into the mix yesterday as a big time reliever the Twins may be in on.

So here we stand in February having added Luis Ayala, R.A. Dickey, and resigned Nick Punto. It's been quite the roller coaster ride for fans of the Minnesota Twins. For one moment, it seemed imminent that a player would sign, the next, management had abruptly ended talks with them. In the end, nothing of true value has come from any of hot stove action and fans have become restless as they brace for Crede or Cruz deals to come through. If Juan Cruz and/or Joe Crede are in fact signed this week, it may make up for the lack of upgrades over the past few months. But if the past says anything about it, don't count on it.

Tyler is an editor of Midwest Sports Fans and a die-hard Twins fan.