With the Winter Meetings just around the corner, I think now is a good time to go off on a little Twins rant.  Those of you uninterested in baseball may want to just move on to the next post.

There have been quite a few interesting rumors involving the Twins this offseason, most notably the team targeting free agent third baseman Casey Blake.  I have no problem with Blake.  In fact, having him not play for any of our opponents is a good thing—Blake has terrorized the Twins over the years.  But I do have a little problem with Blake, and that’s that two of my favorite players are the two who platooned at third last year, Brendan Harris and Brian Buscher.  I really like the idea of keeping them at third, rotating in and out, as opposed to going after Blake.  And I have this issue with signing Blake, because the Twins had him in their system in the late 90s and got rid of him twice!  If I were Blake I’d have it in for the Twins.  

What the team really needs to address is shortstop.  I don’t think I can bear another season of Nick Punto starting and getting over 500 at-bats.  The only good thing I can say about Punto is his tenacious hustle and gritting it out, much like a young Ron Gardenhire with the ’83 Mets.  That must be why Gardy likes him so much.  If he could be had in a trade, Yunel Escobar would be my top choice, but I’m sure the Twins will do whatever necessary to ensure Punto gets re-signed and slotted into the starting shortstop position.  Come on Mets and Phillies, step up your offers for Punto!

The next “problem” is in the outfield.  The Twins have five capable outfielders—Denard Span, Carlos Gomez, Michael Cuddyer, Delmon Young, and Jason Kubel—and only three outfield spots and one DH spot to put them.  All should be starters, so unless Cuddy is going to move back to the infield, there’s a problem.  Gardy recently told reporters his dream outfield consists of Gomez, Span, and Cuddyer, with Kubel presumably at DH.  That leaves former #1 overall pick Delmon Young without a place, and he’s definitely not a guy you’d put on the bench.  I have to disagree with Gardenhire; I think Young should stay and Cuddyer should go.  Young is 23, just hit a very respectable .290, and has a lot of upside.  Cuddyer is 30, has been slowed by injuries, and really only had one great season in 2006.  I’d be really disappointed if the Twins traded Young this offseason and gave up on him so quickly.  But like I’ve said before, injuries will eventually put someone on the shelf, and the team will be wishing it had another outfielder.  If Young is traded and someone gets hurt, Jason Pridie will be up from AAA.  

The biggest mess of all on the team is in the bullpen, especially now that we know Pat Neshek‘s not coming back till 2010.  Not that long ago, the pen was the team’s strength.  If the starter could get into the sixth with the lead, the Twins were sure to win.  Last year, Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier were less than impressive, Juan Rincon was so bad the Twins finally gave up on him, and the Brian Bass experiment clearly failed.  The Twins did get a huge boost from rookie Jose Mijares late in the year, and Joe Nathan is still as good as ever.  If the Twins are going to make a trade this offseason, hopefully they can upgrade the bullpen.  I think the lefties are set, with Mijares and Craig Breslow.  But I’d like to see a trade for a reliable right-hander like Huston Street.  I don’t have a lot of great ideas otherwise.

My suggestion would be keeping Buscher and Harris at third, and letting Punto sign elsewhere.  If the Twins are going to trade Young, send him to Atlanta for Yunel Escobar to play shortstop.  The Twins were one of the best overall hitting teams last year, but they severely lacked home run power.  I wish there was a chance the Twins would go after a power hitter, but who would that be and where would he play?  I guess the Twins are thinking Blake at third would be the answer.

But regardless of what the Twins do, I think they’ll be just fine.  Last year was looked at by many as a rebuilding year, and instead the Twins came within one run of the playoffs.  It looks like the White Sox are retooling a little and should be a good team again; I highly doubt the Indians will fall flat on their faces for a second straight year; and the Tigers ’08 disaster had to have been a fluke.