Fresh off of their sixth playoff appearance in nine seasons, the Minnesota Twins have a lot of decisions to make this offseason.
Do the Twins bring back Carl Pavano, who went 17-11 with a 3.75 ERA and tossed seven complete games in 32 starts? Do they bring back Jim Thome, who hit 25 HRs and had a .412 OBP in 340 PA’s? Are they going to tender J.J. Hardy a contract?
Not only do they have to make decisions on these players, but they also have to hope that Joe Nathan and Justin Morneau return to health in 2011.
Morneau is the key: If he is not right, then the Twins aren’t a World Series team in 2011.
All of these health issues and decisions will make for an interesting offseason in Minnesota.
One decision I didn’t mention above and they need to figure out is: What are they going to do at second base? Both Orlando Hudson and Nick Punto are free agents.
Hudson signed a one-year, $5 million contract last offseason with the Twins and gave them a .268/.338/.372 hitting line with six HR’s, five triples and 10 SB’s in 126 games. He also provided stellar D at second base, posting a 9.8 UZR.
I would imagine the Twins would love to bring Hudson back, but Hudson at the age of 33 is most likely looking for one final payday, and the Twins aren’t in a position financially to hand him a long-term deal.
With the lack of quality second basemen on the free agent market, there is a good chance Hudson could sign a two or three-year deal elsewhere.
Punto has always been a “Twins” type player—scrappy, hard-nosed, tough and fundamentally sound. However, there comes a point and time when a team has to move on from a player, and the Twins need to move on from Punto.
He is 33, can’t hit a lick and they can find someone else to do what he does for less then the $4 million Punto made last season.
Let me say that again: PUNTO MADE $4 MILLION LAST SEASON! That stings the nostrils.
So the question becomes for the Twins, what happens if both Hudson and Punto don’t return in 2011? Their backup plans don’t seem that great.
If they want to stay in house, then Alexi Casilla is their guy. Casilla is 26 and has a career hitting line of .249/.306/.327. He is like Punto Part II.
Can a team with World Series aspirations in 2011 really go into the season with Casilla as their starting second baseman?
That’s a tough pill for me to swallow.
The free agent options for the Twins don’t appear much better: Juan Uribe is available, but he might command a multi-year deal after his postseason run.
Other free agents include Felipe Lopez, Adam Kennedy, David Eckstein and Bill Hall. Lopez might be a possibility, as he would come quite cheap after his down 2011 season.
Someone like Dan Uggla is out there for trade, but he doesn’t seem like a Twins-type player and I can’t see the Twins forking over the prospects to get him.
I would say that if the Twins don’t bring back Hudson or Punto, their starting second baseman in 2011 will be Casilla. Ouch.
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