It’s the holiday season, and for most people that means giving and receiving gifts. For Minnesota Twins fans, the team gave them their ideal gift when they signed Byron Buxton to an extension. Unfortunately, that move alone won’t be enough for the team to compete.
Twins fans want several things for the team to be able to be successful in 2022, and most of them aren’t terribly tough to go get. In the holiday spirit, the Twins can get their fans some of these items as gifts for next year.
The Minnesota Twins should get their fans some gifts after a rough 2021.
Now we’re not asking for crazy things, like $1 tickets or trades that can’t happen, but these three gifts are well within the realm of possibility for fans to get once the lockout is done. As always, let’s get into it.
Gift No. 1 from the Minnesota Twins: A New Rotation
The Minnesota Twins came in with one major hole on the team that was bigger than any other issue: their lack of a starting rotation. The Twins started free agency with just two unproven starters holding up rotation spot and have since added one more potential starter.
If the season started today, Dylan Bundy, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Randy Dobnak, and Griffin Jax would be the Opening Day rotation. That’s not going to cut it. In an ideal world, the Twins add Carlos Rodón, Clayton Kershaw, Yusei Kikuchi and let the other starters compete for the other two spots. That won’t happen though.
Instead, the best gift we can hope for from the Twins would be to see Rodón, Michael Pineda, and a trade to add one more solid starter, creating some depth and talent for the Twins to open next season with. With Buxton’s extension done, starting pitching is the No. 1 ask for their fans. A rebuilt rotation would be awesome.
Gift No. 2 from the Minnesota Twins: A New Shortstop
The other gaping hole the Minnesota Twins have is up the middle. Jorge Polanco is clearly not the answer at shortstop, and he’s found a home at second base. The Twins now need to find a replacement for Andrelton Simmons after his awful year manning the position in 2021.
With Royce Lewis and Austin Martin still at least half a season away, the team needs to bring in a replacement to avoid moving Polanco back to a position that he’s not comfortable. This brings us to gift number two.
As fun as it would be to see Carlos Correa in a Twins uniform, it’s probably not super realistic. With that being said, there are some other possible options that would fit the team well. Trevor Story would serve them well on an expensive one-year deal.
If the Twins add Jose Iglesias or reunite with Simmons, adding one of them on a one-year pact to hold the place of a top prospect (likely Lewis) until they’re ready (like Simmons was supposed to before the injury), the team will be in a better place. Let’s hope the Twins make the right decision instead of forcing a star like Polanco where he doesn’t belong.
Gift No. 3 from the Minnesota Twins: Add some more relief help
The Twins are mostly set on a starting lineup this year with a wide variety of options in their lineup, so the team doesn’t need a lot of new bats. With rotation and shortstop help on the way, the last gift comes in the form of bullpen additions.
The Twins have a pretty solid bullpen right now with Taylor Rogers, Tyler Duffey, Caleb Thielbar, Jorge Alcala make up a strong late-inning bullpen. With Jovani Moran, Cody Stashak, Jharel Cotton, and Ralph Garza offering some more upside-based options, the team has a pretty deep relief group.
With that being said, the team could use a true lockdown closer to help solidify the bullpen and make it one of the best units in baseball. Adding Kenley Jansen, Ian Kennedy, or a lower-priced high-upside guy like Richard Rodriguez would be a huge boon for the Twins.
If the team added these three gifts for their Minnesota fans, Twins fans will be elated and the franchise will be a lot more successful in 2022.