We're going to score

Part Deux
We need to now look at other moves made in the offseason. The first, and biggest, to examine is the loss of Torii Hunter. It was sad to see Hunter go. He has been such a great player and person for the Twins. He was the face of the franchise.
He was.
Even if he stayed, he would no longer be. That title belongs to Joe Mauer/ Justin Morneau. I believe Hunter will still be a productive player for a few years. It would have been beneficial to the team to keep him, but not for the size contract the Angels gave him. Minnesota offered him 45 million for three years. I would have loved to see Hunter sign that. It would have been a great move for the Twins. But instead, Hunter signed with Los Angeles for 90 million and five years. That offer was too much for the Twins. Hunter might be worth 18 million for the first three years, but not the last couple.
Look at Johnny Damon. He replaced an aging centerfielder in Bernie Williams, and now the Yankees have replaced Damon because he is an aging centerfielder. Roaming the middle of the outfield is a tough position. Often one for a young man. Yes exceptions exist. And maybe Hunter is an exception. The Angels have the money to see if Hunter is the exception; the Twins do not.
In other moves, letting Carlos Silva go was another smart move. He is a mediocre pitcher and not worth 12 million a year, especially not when the Twins churn out one quality pitcher after the other.
The most interesting move was the Delmon Young. Minnesota traded a quality young pitcher, Matt Garza, for a quality young bat. It is the first time that I can remember the Twins trading a pitcher for a hitter. I like the move though. Adding Young to the trio of Mauer, Morneau and Michael Cuddyer gives the Twins a solid four hitters in a row. And they are all young, so could do some damage for the next few years.
The free agent signings were whatever. Adding Mike Lamb, Adam Everett and Brendan Harris are all relatively minor moves. I don’t think any of those guys will be stars, but they should be solid players. From what I have read, Everett is supposed to a great defensive shortstop but lack a little bit on the offense side, and Lamb and Harris are the opposite: decent bats but susceptible in the field.
So it appears the Twins have abandoned their recent approach of emphasizing pitching and defense, but trading pitching and signing weak defensive players.
I like the moves. Their past approach has not been working wonders. They have only won one playoff series and have struggled the past two seasons, save a spectacular four months. A new approach might not be too bad. And they only signed those guys for a couple of years. So if it doesn’t work, they can try something different in 2010 when they open the new ballpark.
Now we come to the contract extensions. Morneau, Cuddyer and Joe Nathan all agreed to extension. All of them were critical for the Twins, although Nathan might seem a little odd.
The Twins let the rest of their veterans go, staring with Louis Castillo last year, why sign Nathan? Because Nathan is one of the three best closers in baseball and he wanted to stay here. To ensure they don’t completely fade this year or next year, signing Nathan was critical. He stabilizes the bullpen. With a young staff, they need a strong bullpen. Nathan helps provide that.
The other reason was the Twins needed to sign him for PR reasons. After letting Hunter, Santana and Silva go, they needed to show their fans they were serious about winning. The Morneau and Cuddyer signings helped, but they are young, and weren’t as symbolic as Nathan. Signing Nathan, after so much speculation of trading him, proves the front office is doing more than waiting until the new ballpark opens. They are taking action to win.
Tune in for part three, when I actually look at the upcoming season.