Offseason Review: The Minnesota Twins

New Twin, the right handed Vance Worley, figures to
be a major contributor to the Twins rebuilding process

After years of sustained Rays-like success on a small to medium sized budget, the Twins collapsed inward on themselves like a dying star.  After dominating their division in 2010 and finishing six games ahead of the Chicago White Sox, the Twins fell to a 63-99 record in 2011.  The end result was a last place finish that was repeated in 2012.  Fortunately for Twins fans, the front office isn't known for patience in the face of mediocrity, and have shifted in to full gear this offseason.  The Twins can't realistically hope to compete in 2013, so while the moves they have made have pro-actively targeted their weakest points (namely pitching), they have largely flown under the radar.  When examining signings and acquisitions pulled off by Terry Ryan this offseason, it's easy to see that his eye was set on looking to the future, not clinging on to the past.

Two consecutive dismal seasons made it obvious that the Twins needed help.  The biggest drought of talent lied in the pitching department, which was met with two patchwork pieces in the arms of Kevin Correia (two years, $10MM) and Mike Pelfrey (one year, $4MM). Neither Correia or Big Pelf are aces who will drastically shift gears, but both pitchers can be looked at as restoration projects capable of performing above being lackluster, and both of them are capable of sticking around if and when the Twins find themselves back in the sphere of relevancy.  The most substantial ground gained in the pitching department was acquired via the trade of two Twins outfielders.  Denard Span was traded in late November to the Nationals for excellent young pitching prospect Alex Meyer, and Ben Revere was sent to Philadelphia in exchange for prospect Trevor May and right-hander Vance Worley, who's being heralded by many as the potential future ace of the Twins.

With the pitching much improved and the focus pragmatically set on future seasons, the Twins inarguably emerge as a winner in terms of offseason strategy.  While Minnesota will almost inevitably be looking up at the Tigers in 2013, they do benefit from what is considered by many as a pretty weak division.  It would be wise for teams like the Tigers to acknowledge their position at the top, and upstart seems like the Kansas City Royals to acknowledge there fragility when considering a farm system as formidable as Minnesota's.  The Twins are managing themselves out of the muck, and doing so with impressive efficiency.  It's hard to imagine them anywhere but in last place in their division in 2013, but I wouldn't expect their recent struggles to haunt them too far beyond that.

Dark Horse: Carlos Gomez

Once considered a five-tool player and hot prospect for the New York Mets, Carlos Gomez became expendable when the Twins opted to trade Johan Santana. Gomez played two seasons with the Twins, exhibiting flashes of power and defensive excellence, but the emergence of Denard Span found Gomez again on the trading block.  Shortly after the conclusion of the 2009 season Gomez was traded to Milwaukee Brewers for shortstop J.J. Hardy.  Despite his unbelievable speed and excellent defensive prowess, Gomez' struggles with plate discipline made him difficult to keep in the lineup.

During the 2012 season Norichika Aoki became the Brewers full-time right fielder and Gomez' platoon parter Nyjer Morgan had a steep drop in production.  This set of circumstances finally allowed Gomez a full-time position in center, where he was primed to flourish.  The season ended with Carlos Gomez posting a .260/.305/.463 line with a career high in stolen bases with 37 and home runs with 19, doubling his previous career high.  Carlos Gomez seems to be putting it all together just in time to enter his walk year; and with a locked down full-time position in Milwaukee it will be interesting to see what kind of money he's trying to earn next year.

Offseason Review: The Philadelphia Phillies

New Philadelphia 3B Michael Young
casually surveying his new
 home in full uniform.

What should a team do when for the first time in five years they are not dominating their division? How do you respond when your team goes from having the most wins in all of baseball one season to a piddling .500 season the next? And when everyone professional analysts to your everyday fan can tell that the reason your dominance has suddenly disappeared is because your older stars are no longer able to remain healthy, and can't compete with the same tenacious viciousness they used to? If your answer is to acquire even more old talent and dying flames than you should put your application in at Citizen's Bank ball park, because the Phillies like your style!

All joking aside, the Phillies offseason wasn't a total bust. The core rotation that made the Phillies the absolute monster they were in 2011 is largely in tact, just no Roy Oswalt and a couple years older. Philadelphia also replaced Shane Victorino and Juan Pierre in center field with Ben Revere, who is an extremely promising young talent who they acquired from Minnesota. The problem with that? They had to trade a comparably valuable talent in RHP Vance Worley. Granted the starting rotation is still very good, arguably dominant even, but exchanging young talent for young talent to fill an empty slot doesn't make sense unless you're poised to win now, and the Phillies are not.

New Phillies CF Ben Revere, young
talent for young talent trade from
Minnesota for Vance Worley.

Other curious additions include veteran infielder Michael Young and veteran reliever Mike Adams. The operative word for these additions is "veteran", and why the hell any more veteran presence in the Phillies roster is necessary is beyond me.  Most puzzling is Michael Young, who at 36 is not exactly a candidate for a boost in performance that comes with some players who are given a change of scenery. I'm not saying Young isn't decent, he is. Michael Young is a team captain type of player with valuable experience. Mike Adams is also a very good reliever who's seen the post season and been completely lights out at times, so what's the problem? The problem is this: the Phillies are looking up at two pretty elite teams in Atlanta and Washington, both in their division, and no amount of realistic spending or acquiring can put Philadelphia in their opposition's, so they should consider sitting this one out.

Philadelphia's fate gambled
 on aging stars (above:Roy Halladay)
 staying healthy.

The Phillies management woes are only woes in my opinion. It might seem weird to look at an upgraded team  (the addition of Adams, Young over Polanco) and consider it an unsuccessful offseason, but it just doesn't seem plausible that these additions are going to be playing in any meaningful capacity by the time Philly is ready to contend again. What reinforces my wary attitude towards Philadelphia's management is who they were/are looking who hasn't become a Philly. Vernon Wells? Alfonso Soriano? It's just not going to work. The Phils window is momentarily slammed shut by insurmountable divisional competition. Management needs to remember that they are only about a half a season separated form a reality that had them shipping out Hunter Pence and debating the same fate for young ace Cole Hamels. Barring fluke circumstance, Philadelphia will end up third or fourth in their division.

Offseason Review: Minnesota Twins

After going first-to-worst in 2011, the Twins had few resources to rebuild or maintain their team in the offseason. Most of the issues responsible for their seemingly freakish collapse lie in the hands of injury. Disabled listees include, and aren't even close to limited to: Joe Mauer, Kevin Slowey, Joe Nathan, Delmon Young (twice), Denard Span (twice), Jason Kubel and the tragically concussed Justin Morneau. The Twins, being decisively out of contention by August, traded Delmon Young to Detroit for two prospects. The path was paved to a dismal 63-99 end of the season, second worse only to the utter shit show Houston Astros.