And there was much rejoicing…Remember when the Chicago White
Sox won the AL Central back in December 2020? Unfortunately for them, the
Minnesota Twins have a few tricks still up their sleeve. Now days before Spring
Training is set to commence, the reigning champs are positioned for a repeat.
After signing Nelson Cruz and Alex Colome to deals for the
upcoming season, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have all but put a bow on their
winter spending. I’d still think a pact with Tyler Clippard or a reliever in
the $2 million range could make sense, as does a trade or non-roster invite for
some starting pitching. No matter what happens from here on out though, the
Fightin’ Baldelli’s are ready to go.
Continuing to view this organization through the lens of
Terry Ryan and Bill Smith regimes has been a fool’s errand for some time now.
It’s been the blueprint of Falvey and Levine to be calculated, risk averse, and
strike where opportunity is deemed to match projectability.
Andrelton Simmons is not someone’s leftovers, and Josh
Donaldson allowed Minnesota a new high-water mark in free agent history. Colome
comes in above the bottom of the relief market, and both Happ and Cruz look
like team-friendly deals in the landscape of their peers.
The Twins didn’t go out and sign George Springer or Trevor
Bauer this offseason, but they didn’t need to. This is already a club that had
all of the pieces for a deep run, and reality suggests they just need to get
out of their own way. Anything can happen in a short series, which is why
winning a World Series in incredibly tough. That said, you should continue to expect
Postseason appearances often into the foreseeable future.
Today it was announced that 28% of Hammond Stadium will host
fans for Spring Training, the players are just days from arriving, and we’re
soon going to hear “play ball!” Minnesota is ready to make noise in the
American League, and there isn’t a team in the National League that should be
licking their chops come October either.
