It's the worst time of the year, baseball off-season. However, to help hold me over until the snow melts again, I can talk about what the Twins should do to improve the club. And they should really listen to me, because I'm on Twitter a lot. Here is what I want to see from the Twins before the regular season starts.
TRIM THE 40 MAN FAT
The Twins have already got rid of some of the players who didn't deserve a spot on the 40 man going into the offseason. Johnny Field and Oliver Drake were already snatched up by other squads, and the Twins declined the options on Logan Morrison and Ervin Santana. That's a great start to opening up some spots for free agents and prospects, but I would go farther. There are 3 more pitchers who I think can be taken off. Chase De Jong, Tyler Duffey, and John Curtiss could all be removed today and I wouldn't bat (baseball joke) an eye. They are right handed relievers or swingman, and are totally replaceable. You could also get rid of Zack Granite and Robbie Grossman (especially since Grossman is due to make about 4 million this year) and I would be cool with that as well, especially after the team picked up Michael Reed.
GET A SHORTSTOP
Big distinction here. The Twins have about as much depth at middle infield as I have hair left on my head, but there Jorge Polanco is going to play either 2nd or short. I think he needs to shift over to 2nd, because he was pretty bad at short last year. There are a few players I would love for the Twins to target (field, man my jokes are lame).
In free agency, I would love the slick-fielding Jose Iglesias. If they are available for a trade, the Twins should try and snag either Jean Segura or Andrelton Simmons. Those two would take a significant haul of prospects to get them, but I'm willing to part with anyone not named Lewis or Kirilloff. Pair the new guy with Polanco and Ehire Adrianza as your bench dude, and you got a decent middle infield.
PITCHING
What's the award for most groundbreaking blog post? Well whatever it is, I'm about to win it for this bomb of news, the Twins need pitching. Let me just polish my bloggy here and tell you what they should do.
For the most part, they have a decent starting rotation (unless you go after Patrick Corbin or grab a stud in a trade), but the bullpen still needs some quality arms. Now I'm not a huge fan of paying a bunch for relievers, and I would rather go with starters as multi-inning relievers. There are a couple of guys in the Twins organization that I would love to see go that way, Fernando Romero and Adalberto Mejia.
If you have to go the free agency route for relief pitching, I would like David Robertson, Adam Ottavino, or Kelvin Herrera if you can get him on a one-year deal. Another option that I would really like since he can be effective as a starter or a 100-inning reliever would be Nathan Eovaldi. After his dominant October, he will probably cost a lot, but the Twins had a boatload of money to spend.
GRAB JOSH DONALDSON FOR 3RD BASE
Aside from the top two studs at the top of the draft class, Josh Donaldson has the best chance to make a huge impact for a ball club. The last couple years he's been struggling with injuries, but when he's healthy, he is pretty dang good. I would love to sign him for a 1 or 2 year deal (for as much money as he wants since it's not a long-term deal) with an option and see what he's got left in the tank. That means shifting Miguel Sano over to 1st base, which most people think he's going to end up over there anyway.
And lastly...
SIGN ME TO A FRONT OFFICE POSITION
I'm assuming Derek Falvey and Thad Levine are big fans of the blog, so I figured I should make my pitch. I would be really good at grabbing coffee and I know some pretty good jokes. It could be the move to put the organization over the top. I'll be waiting for the phone call or DM on Twitter. Or you know, just do the other things on my wish list. Your choice.
