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Five Things the New Minnesota Twins GM Needs To Do

By Martin Schlegel

Nov 4, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan shakes hands with manager Paul Molitor and chief executive officer Jim Pohlad at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 4, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan shakes hands with manager Paul Molitor and chief executive officer Jim Pohlad at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 31, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan speaks to the media prior to the game against the Kansas City Royals at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 31, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan speaks to the media prior to the game against the Kansas City Royals at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /

Every trade the new Minnesota Twins general manager executes needs to bring more value, not less.

Trading players during a rebuild phase is equally important as a contending team trading at the deadline. Every trade needs to make the team better.

Seems elementary, yet the Twins have executed questionable trades which made the team lousier.

The Johan Santana trade is right up there with the worst in team history. The Twins turned Santana into Carlos Gomez, plus others. Gomez was eventually traded for J.J. Hardy, who the Twins exchanged for Jim Hoey.

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The Twins fumbled on a few other trades too when the team traded Denard Span and Ben Revere for young pitchers.

Trevor May remains the only player on the roster from any of those deals.

Despite the bad trades, the Twins have made some savvy deals that helped the team with multiple division titles.

The trade of A.J. Pierzynski to the San Francisco Giants for Boof Bonser, Joe Nathan, and Francisco Liriano set the Twins up with an all-star closer.

The best trade the Twins made recently came last winter when the team traded Chris Herrmann for Daniel Palka.

Palka, 24, hit 34 home runs and drove in 90 RBI between double-A and triple-A this season. Meanwhile Herrmann had a career year with the Arizona Diamondbacks that he likely won’t repeat.

Overall, trades aren’t all that easy to make. In most cases, like the ones previously mentioned, it’s easy to judge them in hindsight than it is when the trades occur.

Falvey and his crew need to make trades that improve the team, not downgrade it.

Next: Use Good Judgement in Free Agency

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