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With the moves that the Twins have made this off-season, they’ve signified a change for the better. The Twins have showed their willingness to spend money on the key guys to keep them around rather than lose them to big spenders on the open market. They’ve also showed their change of philosophy, going out and using their strengths (pitching depth) to get their weakness (hitting).
The moves that the team made over the course of the past six months will make the team better not only for the upcoming 2008 season, but also for the future. Assuring all fans that when the new ballpark opens, they’ll be seeing a competitive team.
The off-season actually started before the end of the season with long-time veteran general manager Terry Ryan stepping down. The move was shocking to the whole Twins world, but ultimately, it may be the move that triggered the change in direction.
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When the season ended, the big questions were on what would happen with Torii Hunter, Carlos Silva and even Johan Santana. The following months would soon decide to fate of the team.
After about a month of freeing up space by ridding themselves of Luis Rodriguez and Lew Ford, the Twins finally got busy.
The first big move occurred on November 13th when the Twins traded a player to be named for Craig Monroe. Monroe had bounced around after a poor 2007 season, and the move came as a surprise since Monroe was going to be non-tendered later that month. Instead, the Twins bought exclusive negotiating rights and eventually the move paid off when the sides agreed to a one-year deal.
Up until the end of the month, the Twins made only small news, adding Matt Tolbert, Matt Macri and Bobby Korecky to the roster in place of the older veterans they had let go in October.
On November 21st, the Twins officially lost centerfielder Torii Hunter when he signed a five-year, $90 million contract with the Angels. The Twins, along with the Rangers and a few other teams had been offering $15 million per season before the Angels came in with the shocking offer. While the move was somewhat disappointing to fans, the Twins were about to get rolling again.
Just seven days later on November 28th, the Twins made a huge move to make up for the loss of Hunter in the lineup. The Twins traded away one of their prized pitching prospects Matt Garza along with Jason Bartlett and minor league reliever Eduardo Morlan for 22-year old star Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and outfield prospect Jason Pridie.
The move was definitely a big one, and calmed fans about the offensive questions. But more moves were on the horizon.
The Winter Meetings came with all of the Santana rumors. Throughout the meetings, rumors heated up. At times, there were reports that a deal was close. Then, the next minute the Twins weren’t talking with anybody. Over the course of the meetings, the Twins talked with the Angels, the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets and a few others. In the last few days of the meetings, a rumor broke that the Red Sox and Twins were about to agree to a deal, it turned out to be false, and the Winter Meetings passed yet again with no big news made by the Twins.
Over the next few weeks, nothing happened. The non-tender deadline approached and moves made by other teams would allow the Twins to become active once again.
One day after being non-tendered by the Astros, the Twins signed veteran shortstop Adam Everett to a one-year contract to fill the void left by Jason Bartlett in the trade with the Rays. The next day, the Twins signed Everett’s wingman, Mike Lamb to play third base. Lamb signed a two-year deal with an option for a third, meaning he could be with the club in 2010 when they open their new park.
Just days after signing Everett and Lamb, the Twins officially lost Carlos Silva to free agency. Silva signed a crazy four-year deal with the Seattle Mariners, paying him in the $11 million range per season.
When January rolled around, it came quietly. Arbitration deadlines came quick and when the deadlines approached, the Twins agreed to one-year deals with Morneau, Cuddyer, Guerrier, Kubel and Rincon. Many fans were upset that Morneau received only a one-year deal and that the Twins didn’t attempt a long-term solution.
The next week, just shortly before TwinsFest got underway, the Twins surprised fans yet again. The team called a press conference to be held on the floor of the Metrodome, and word quickly spread that the Twins had signed Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer to long-term extensions, ensuring their existence with the team through 2010.
Just days after TwinsFest and the contract extensions for Morneau and Cuddyer, the Twins made another huge splash. At the beginning of the next week, word broke that the Twins had agreed to a trade with the New York Mets for outfield prospect Carlos Gomez and pitchers Kevin Mulvey, Philip Humber and Deolis Guerra.
The move brought mixed emotions. Many fans understood that it was the team’s only choice, that if the move wasn’t made, they’d lose him for mere draft picks. Others felt that the Twins made a bad trade, that they held out to long and didn’t get enough in return.
No matter what the feelings were towards the trade, fans couldn’t help it. On February 2nd, after a two-hour extension to agree to a huge contract the night before, the trade was made official, ending the Johan Santana era in Minnesota.
Just over a week later, the Twins added right-handed pitcher Livan Hernandez with a one-year deal. Hernandez was brought in to guide the young pitching staff, and to fill a void left by Carlos Silva and Johan Santana.
With spring training, the off-season would normally be over. But just days ago, the Twins made one final splash in their 2008 off-season by signing closer Joe Nathan to a 4-year deal (including the option year) worth $47 million.
The Nathan move finally closed up the busy rookie “season” for general manager Bill Smith, and despite losing some big names, credit must be given to Smith for doing all he could to improve the ball club.
Smith lost Hunter, Santana and Silva, but he also insured a pretty successful future with Delmon Young, Carlos Gomez, Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, Michael Cuddyer, Francisco Liriano and Joe Nathan all assured of being around when the new park opens in 2010.
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