MN Sports Blog

The addition of long time Twins killer Jim Thome is a puzzling one. Though it’s fairly low risk at a $1.5 million one-year deal, you have to question the motivation behind it. The Twins already have a powerful, left handed slugger in Jason Kubel. Kubel obviously lacks the experience and career numbers of Thome, but Kubel’s career seems to be on the rise while Thome’s numbers are on the decline. Thome will also turn 40 this year while Kubel will be turning just 28. Gardy has said Thome will serve as more than just a bench player for the Twins filling for DH or even an occasional first base.

This signing follows the unfortunate trend of the Twins organization of signing players who are clearly on the decline of their career. Another key question of this signing is why sign Thome at all when we still have question marks in the rotation, bullpen and third base?

The Twins solved their outfield surplus trading away Carlos Gomez for JJ Hardy this off-season but now find themselves in a similar situation with finding time for Kubel as well as Thome. Kubel has expressed his interest in playing more outfield which creates an additional problem with finding time for Delmon Young.

Delmon and Kubel are about equal when it comes to fielding so there won’t be a huge issue there. The issue comes from playing time and plate appearances. Time and consistency are huge in baseball and dividing that time up between a few players and positions will only complicate things.

Jim Thome 2009 Stats

Jason Kubel 2009 Stats

Minnesota Sports Blog

The Twins surplus of outfielders shrunk by one as they sent CF Carlos Gomez to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for shortstop J.J. Hardy. Hardy is coming off a rough season batting just .229 but was an all-star in 2007. Hardy also found himself in the minors due to his struggles last season. Gomez was the main piece in the Johan Santana trade which we will apparently not see develop into anything at least not while he’s in a Twins uniform. Gomez offered a fantastic personality along with his defense but consistently struggled at the plate. He was a fan favorite by his play and his bizarre bat sniffing antics.  After all of the struggles he found himself moving from the top of the order to the bottom and then to the bench.

This move also eliminates the question of whether or not the club would try and re-sign Orlando Cabrera. Cabrera was a great influence in the clubhouse that provided a crucial veteran down the stretch for the Twins. While Cabrera, 35, may be nearing the end of his career, Gomez was certainly just at the beginning. Hopefully the Twins can sign Cabrera and play him at second and move Nick Punto to third base. We’ll have to wait and see whether this move pays off in the long run but it’s clear they are both young stars with loads of talent.

There are still a few unanswered questions for this off season but now the outfielder surplus has been solved along with our lack of at least one  solid middle infielder.

Minnesota Sports Blog