Twins Have Done Little This Off-Season And That's Not A Bad Thing

With just a month to go before pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, the Twins have been very quiet so far this off-season.  Despite attempts to add a veteran third baseman and bolster the bullpen, the only move they've made at the Major League level has been the signing of Nick Punto to a two-year contract.  While many Twins fans have been clamoring for the club to make a big trade or free agent acquisition, I've been pretty happy to see the team basically stand its ground.  There are several reasons I feel this way.

First of all, it's a pretty good team already.  The Twins went 88-74 in 2008 and only missed out on the postseason by losing a one-game playoff to the Chicago White Sox (1-0).  With a lot of young players maturing and a healthy Michael Cuddyer coming back, the team should be in the mix again for the AL Central Title.

Additionally, the ball club is just a year away from moving into a new stadium.  This new venue will offer the organization streams of income that it hasn't had during its 27 year stay at the Metrodome.  With a young roster and tight purse strings, it's better to wait until there's money to spend on free agents rather than trading away valuable assets the team may need down the road.

Finally, I believe it is essential that the Twins keep their talented young starting rotation together.  Starting pitching is the most important facet of the game.  One just has to look at the New York Yankees of recent years to realize this.  Despite a star-studded line-up and Mariano Rivera in the bullpen, the Bronx Bombers have failed to win the World Series since 2000 because they haven't had enough quality starting pitching.  With Baker, Blackburn, Liriano, Perkins and Slowey, the club has a rotation that could make them competitive for years to come.  I'm happy to see that management seems to recognize their value and hasn't offered any of them in a potential trade.

So despite not adding any big names to the roster, the Twins are in good shape going into 2009.  I don't foresee any big moves between now and the start of the season as their doesn't seem to be the will to increase payroll at the moment.  The one possible move that could still happen is trading Delmon Young for a third baseman or set-up man.  However, if that was going to happen, I think it would have happened by now.  I believe the 2009 Twins are going to look a lot like the 2008 Twins and that's pretty good.  Hopefully when looking back on this off-season in the coming years, it will be remembered as the time when the organization wisely kept its talented, young starting rotation intact.