"How many more f*cking days is he going to talk about the Twins?" the reader thought to himself as he quickly clicked away from Irrelevant Storytime. "I mean we get it, he likes the Twins, but what makes him think he can write for nearly a week about what some highly paid individuals should do with their baseball team? What a crock of sh*t!" Yeah yeah yeah, simmer down. This will be the final, FINAL, day of the Twins offseason outlook. I figure if I spend nearly a week on this topic maybe, just maybe, it'll stir up enough either hatred or complete and utter disbelief on the topic that i'll drive at least a few people to comment with their thoughts about how I'm completely wrong/right, biased, uninformed, etc. You get the picture.
Although I haven't specifically talked about the bullpen, there really isn't too much to discuss there, besides the addition of Liriano as a middle reliever, and a few moves I think the Twins need to make.
Trade Joe Nathan
Why would the Twins want to trade their elite closer? Three simple reasons:
1.) He's expensive. On a team with what we'll assume to be a $90 million payroll for 2010, having $11.25 million invested in a guy who pitches 60-70 innings per season doesn't make very much sense.
2.) He's still very good. Coming off of a season high 47 saves for the Twins, Nathan is widely considered one of the top 3 closers in the game. He racked up 89 K's in 68.2 IP last season, good for a stellar 11.5 K/9 IP, while maintaining a 4:1 K:BB ratio. No one, especially me, would refute the fact that this guy is a stud; however, I wonder if the Twins could spend their money a little more wisely.
3.) He's getting old...plain and simple.
Trade Jesse Crain
I don't feel like the Twins HAVE to trade Crain, especially since his 2009 numbers were distorted by nagging groin injuries; however if an opportunity presented itself for the Twins to package Crain with another player for an upgrade somewhere else, I also wouldn't be terribly upset.
Alright so what have we learned so far?
-SIGN BABY JESUS! Assume 8 years, $150 million...conservatively.
-The Twins should stay put at 3B and resign Joe Crede, using Danny Valencia as a potential backup if, and when, Crede's back gives out.
-The Twins should move Liriano to a full-time bullpen gig to start the season to instill some confidence in him and hopefully get his season started off on the right foot.
-The Twins should trade Glen Perkins for whatever they can get.
-Trade Joe Nathan
-Possibly Trade Jesse Crain
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Lets just assume Bill Smith (huge fan of this blog) takes all of my advice up to this point, this is what the roster and batting order would look like, with the respective salaries (new acquisitions in bold):
1. LF - Denard Span, L, $435k
2. C - Joe Mauer, L, $12 million
3. RF - Michael Cuddyer, R, $8.5 million
4. 1B - Justin Morneau, L, $14 million
5. CF - Mike Cameron, R, $8 million (2 year, $15 million)
6. DH - Jason Kubel, L, $4.1 million
7. SS - J.J. Hardy, R, $4.6 million (no raise through arbitration)
8. 3B - Joe Crede, R, $2 million ($5 million, incentives)
9. 2B - Nick Punto, S, $4 million
BN - Matt Tolbert, S, $405k
BN - Alexi Casilla, S, $428k
BN - Brendan Harris, R, $1 million (after arbitration)
BN - Jose Morales, $400k
SP - Josh Johnson, $10 million (after arbitration)
SP - Scott Baker, $3 million
SP - Kevin Slowey, $440k
SP - Justin Duchscherer, $4 million (3 yr, $12 million)
SP - Nick Blackburn, $440k
RP - Francisco Liriano, LHP, $1.5 million (after arbitration)
RP - Matt Guerrier, RHP, $2.5 million (after arbitration)
RP - Pat Neshek, RHP, $600k (after arbitration)
RP - Brian Duensing, LHP, $430k
RP - Jon Rauch, RHP, $2.9 million
SU - Mike Gonzalez, LHP, $5 million (3 year, $15 million)
CP - Jose Mijares, LHP, $430k
The total 2010 payroll would then stand at $95.7 million, meaning they would most likely come in under the expected team payroll of $90-$100 million range. (The 25 players above have a salary of $90.7 million, and the remaining $5 million is discussed below).
Of the four new acquisitions shown above three of them come through free agency, while only one (Josh Johnson) comes via trade. The specifics of this sort of trade are contingent on quite a few things, namely that the Marlins actually do want to trade him. However I figure the deal would look something like the following:
Delmon Young
Jesse Crain
Joe Nathan
Glen Perkins
Ben Revere
and $5 million cash
for
Josh Johnson
Mike Stanton
PTBNL
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Of course none of this will ever come to fruition; but like I said this is what I would do. Realistically, the Twins roster will probably not change save for the addition of an aging veteran pitcher (see Jarrod Washburn), and again they'll struggle to break out of mediocrity, but then isn't the struggle what we love about them? I say absolutely not, I'm sick of that "loveable losers" or "underdog" moniker that follows this team around. The Twins have two of the best hitters they've ever had in their 48 year history, they need to turn this club into a winner before Baby Jesus wises up and signs with the Yankees and we sit here wondering what could have been.
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