Terry Ryan returned as Twins GM, attempting to keep his team afloat by dabbling in the middle of the free agent pool.
Major League Signings
- Josh Willingham, LF: three years, $21MM.
- Jamey Carroll, SS: two years, $6.75MM. Includes $2MM club/player option for 2014 with a potential $250K buyout.
- Matt Capps, RP: one year, $4.75MM. Includes $6MM club option for 2013 with a $250K buyout.
- Ryan Doumit, DH: one year, $3MM.
- Jason Marquis, SP: one year, $3MM.
- Joel Zumaya, RP: one year, $850K. Released.
- Total spend: $39.35MM.
Draft picks gained: #32 and #72 for Michael Cuddyer, #42 for Jason Kubel
International Signings
- P Mauricio Silva ($370K)
Notable Minor League Signings
- J.R. Towles, Brian Dinkelman, Jared Burton, Wilkin Ramirez, Phil Dumatrait, P.J. Walters, Rene Rivera, Sean Burroughs, Daryl Thompson, Casey Fien, Luke French, Esmerling Vasquez
Extensions
- Glen Perkins, RP: three years, $10.3MM. Includes club option for 2016.
Trades and Claims
- Acquired RP Daniel Turpen from Rockies for SP Kevin Slowey.
- Claimed RP Jeff Gray off waivers from Mariners.
- Claimed SP Matt Maloney off waivers from Reds.
- Claimed SS Pedro Florimon off waivers from Orioles.
- Claimed OF Darin Mastroianni off waivers from Blue Jays.
- Acquired 1B Matt Rizzotti from Phillies for cash considerations.
Notable Losses
- Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, Joe Nathan, Jose Mijares, Kevin Slowey, Matt Tolbert
Bill Smith's Twins teams had success in 2009-10, winning two division titles. However, Smith's 2011 club produced disastrous results, and the Twins decided to reinstate longtime GM Terry Ryan to clean up the mess. Ryan had a decent amount of money to spend on a team with many needs, and his solution was to sign veteran free agents.
Re-signing Cuddyer was the Twins' number one offseason priority, assistant GM Rob Antony told Jesse Lund in February. The Twins appeared to top out around three years and $25MM, but the Rockies went $5MM beyond that. The Twins also failed to find common ground with Kubel, who seemed to prefer a more hitter-friendly ballpark. Ultimately, Ryan was able to sign Willingham for less than he offered Cuddyer. Both 33-year-olds have defensive shortcomings, and Willingham is the better hitter. He's also, however, more prone to injury.
The Twins ranked Delmon Young below Cuddyer and Kubel, so they traded him to the Tigers in August rather than non-tender him. Perhaps the range of right field contributor Ben Revere and center fielder Denard Span will limit the damage caused by Willingham's defense in left.
The signing of Doumit generally compensates for the loss of Kubel, at a lower salary. Like Willingham, Doumit has durability and defense issues. Doumit will spend time at right field, catcher, designated hitter, and first base. He's best-served as a designated hitter, but with Justin Morneau now set to spend more of his time at DH than first, the Twins will deal with more Doumit defense. Another part of the domino effect of Morneau at DH means semi-regular at-bats for former first-rounder Chris Parmelee, which is not justified by his work last year in the 24-year-old's second try at Double-A.
Patching a team through free agency is always difficult, but Ryan was at least able to keep the offense in a similar place for less money by replacing Cuddyer and Kubel with Willingham and Doumit. Carroll could add an OBP boost from shortstop, a position for which Twins hitters posted a .292 OBP in 2011. Tsuyoshi Nishioka's role with the 2012 Twins will be eliminated or greatly reduced, and their middle infield will be better for it. The best hope for the Twins' offense lies in incumbents, as Joe Mauer and Morneau must stay healthy and productive to compensate for below-average hitting at left field and third base.
If you think the three new Twins position players are solid but unspectacular, the pitching additions are something less than that. The Twins had the league's worst bullpen in 2011, and Ryan remedied that by retaining Capps at an above-market price. Joel Zumaya was a decent bullpen flyer, but he went down for Tommy John surgery in March and has been released. Capps has always had a low strikeout rate for a late-inning reliever, and that dipped to just 4.66 per nine in 2011. It was time for a change, especially with Capps wanting $4.75MM. Capps being the team's only real bullpen signing is particularly baffling, especially with Nathan leaving. Ryan did sign Perkins for the long-term, potentially securing three free agent seasons on the hope that last year's breakout was legitimate.
The Twins were unable to put aside their differences with Slowey, trading him to the Rockies prior to the non-tender deadline. Marquis was the team's sole rotation addition. An NL lifer, Marquis is a back-end innings guy in the best case. The team will pray that Francisco Liriano and Scott Baker can stay healthy and pitch at the front end.
Ryan's first offseason back was a safe one, in that the Twins didn't make any aggressive signings or trades. Once again, the team's fortunes will rest on a handful of key players who have had trouble staying on the field in recent years.
Ok. Sorry to say but methinks you need a refresher on the changes that have happened with the Twins recently:
– Willingham will be their starting LF
– Morneau will be their starting DH
– Doumit will be backup C/PT RF
– Nishioka is in AAA
would help to research teams before you write for them…
What Thrylos said and…
– Chris Parmalee will be the starting 1B
– Ben Revere is now the 4th Outfielder
– Jim Hoey was a notable signing the previous offseason. He was a notable bust for us this offseason.
Thanks Tim! Lots of changes have happened this spring. Should make for an interesting season for the Twins…I hope.
Jamey Carroll was one of my favorite under the radar moves this offseason. Solid OBP, good speed, good defensive player. Was hoping Detroit could have scooped him up to play 2nd base and leadoff.
Are you not jazzed about Raburn at 2B?
I like Raburn better than Carroll, but Carroll at 2nd, Raburn in LF, and Young DH would be nicer.
Thanks for the notes, I did write the post before a few of the recent developments. I’m going to update it to reflect that. I don’t think any of the notes change the evaluation of the team’s offseason, however.
Sorry Tim, we’re a bit jaded after years and years of being disrespected in pre-season rankings. (The Indians? Oh c’mon!) I think it’s all going to hinge on a return to 2010 performances from everybody. That and the Tigers completely blowing their chances.
Uhhh…
Hoey plays for… the… Blue… Jays?
To cut to the heart of it, Bill Smith left Terry Ryan a mess to clean up, and this is the best Ryan could piece together before he figures out what sort of team he’s got.
I’m pretty sure my comments get deleted when I include links, but if you google Smith’s trade history, there’s great article about how the Garza, Hardy, and Ramos trades cost the Twins close to 10 WAR/season over the last 3 years. Its water under the bridge but still hard to think about a Twins team with Garza, Hardy and possibly a better haul for Ramos. Offhand, I think only Reagins and Ricciardi did a worse job.
That said, I think all but the Willingham deal is terrible, but still necessary to have any chance to hit .500 this season. Ryan’s only goal is to break .500, keep fans in the seats and bide time until he can get Hicks, Sano and Gibson up and producing in 2013. As a fan it sucks, but thats where we’re at.
Not to beat a dead horse, but you NEVER trade young pitching.
2014 for Sano and Hicks, and Gibson is still a crap shoot
The Twins elevation of Chris Parmelee to starting at 1B is based on his performance last September and his very impressive play this Spring. Tim Dierkes knows a lot about baseball but for him to claim that “semi-regular at-bats for former first-rounder Chris Parmelee, which is not justified by his work last year in the 24-year-old’s second try at Double-A” is just silly.
Parmelee was called up last September because the Twins needed bodies; it was September and he was on the 40-man roster. They were out of the playoff race, and they wanted to how a 1st round pick handled playing in the big leagues. MLB teams have used the same criteria as this for years. Futhermore, they relied on their own major and minor league staff evaluations of Parmelee – which successful organizations place a great of confidence in – and not an anlysis of his minor league statistics by FanGraphs.
Parmlee has continued to hit for average and power this Spring just as he did in September. He is adequate defensively and, like every other organization does with their young hitters, the Twins will continue to work with him to improve his defensive play.
The Twins don’t give a rip about his minor league numbers if he continues to hit MLB pitching and provides the power thay they need at 1B. He may succeed, he may fail, but right now his big league performance to date completely justifies giving him continued big league at-bats – no matter what his AA numbers were.