Offseason for the ages

I decided to take the winter off and have this one post summarizing the Twins offseason as we approach the season.

By my account this has been the best offseason in my memory (which goes back to the mid-80's) for the Twins! Here are the highlights:

1. In early November (wasting little time after the season) the Twins make a bold move by trading Carlos "Go-Go" Gomez to the Brewers for J.J. Hardy to stablize the revolving door at shortstop. Go-Go was a fan favorite, including my 5-year old daughters favorite since she got to sit on his lap at Twins Fest 2009 for a photo. This trade does 2 things, it gives us a shortstop for hopefully at least a couple of years that is slightly above average defensively and potentially a very good power threat at the plate. It also solidifies roles in the outfield... no more 4 outfielders for 3 spots, Young became full time LF, Span in CF, and Cuddyer in RF.
2. Offering arbitration to Carl Pavano, which was eventually accepted. This solidified the starting rotation as Pavano was a good middle-of-rotation guy for the Twins after the mid-season acquisition last year. This also keeps a veteran presence in the starting pitcher fraternity.
   
3. In early February, the twins signed Orlando Hudson to a 1-year contract to finish the makeover of our middle infield and giving us a solid hitter to fill a much needed gap in the lineup... the #2 hole between Span and Mauer. This signing surprised many Twins fans as many believed they would continue to be conservative and try to fill the role internally.
   
4. One day after O-dog signed, the Twins signed future hall-of-fame slugger Jim Thome to a 1 year contract to give us depth on our bench and more options at DH/Outfield should Young struggle again Kubel can play LF and Thome can DH. Another surprise move, that isn't a perfect fit as a right handed power bat off the bench would have been more ideal, you can't argue that its a great upgrade to our bench which in recent history has been pretty pathetic in terms of offense.
5. The biggest most anticipated move came later than most Twins fans were expecting but most importantly it happened. the Twins extended Joe Mauer for 8 more years after 2010, keeping him a Minnesota Twin through 2018! This signing was monumental for the Twins, not only inking the 4th richest contract in MLB history, but also because Mauer is the face of this franchise and a native Minnesotan, and arguably the biggest fan favorite of all time.

What a great off season for the Twins! I tip my hat to Jim Pohlad for spending some of the money that new ballpark is sure to generate, and to Bill Smith for using that money wisely.

Hopefully this is a sign of how the Twins wills operate in this new era of outdoor Twins baseball.

Spring Training summary to come later this week.