Sports Illustrated Grades The Twins Offseason
This offseason, the Minnesota Twins have made an effort to retool, and reshape, what was another abysmal season at Target Field. After losing 90 games yet again in 2014, the 2015 Twins will be looking to make a significant turnaround. It was apparent this offseason that the front office was looking to improve, but the questions remains, did they do enough? Sports Illustrated recently broke it down.
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In looking at the roster breakdown, SI mentioned both Jared Burton and Chris Colabello as key departures. This seems somewhat out of touch considering what both players brought to the club. Colabello was a nice story early in the year, but his swing and miss tendencies never were going to play at the major league level. Burton’s best days also appear behind him as he was removed from his setup role, and was a train wreck for much of the season.
Notable additions come in the form of Blaine Boyer, J.R. Graham, Torii Hunter, Ervin Santana, and Tim Stauffer. Of those five, I would argue three are notable. With his track record, Graham is a potentially exciting Rule 5 pickup. Obviously both Santana and Hunter will be key for the Twins in 2015. Stauffer and Boyer are little more than bullpen relief, and should they make the team, they likely prolong the arrival of other minor league pieces.
Sports Illustrated goes on to discuss the 2014 that was, and the team that Paul Molitor will be inheriting from Ron Gardenhire. Looking at last year’s free agent signings, obviously Phil Hughes looks significantly better at this point than the signing of Ricky Nolasco.
In continuing to get better, Sports Illustrated notes that more pitching should be the focus. While that rings true, a significant amount of what’s next, will likely hinge on what’s coming this season. If Alex Meyer, Trevor May, or Jose Berrios make significant impacts for the Twins, it could change the way the go about their future. It does appear that Sports Illustrated likes the Twins signing someone like Ryan Vogelsong still this offseason, with the idea they could be moved when Meyer or May is ready to take over.
When the dust settles, Sports Illustrated hands the Twins a C+ grade for their business endeavors this offseason. Although I do believe some may be misguided and points that I can’t find agreement on, tabbing the signing of Hunter as a nostalgic move, rather than a sensible baseball one, is something I can get behind.
Although a C+ isn’t going to put the Twins in the World Series in 2015, it should be enough to help them take steps forward.
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