As part of the week leading up to TwinsFest, Twins Geek will review the moves the Twins made this offseason.
Math can be a lot of things to a lot of people. Such as “boring”. Or “terrifying”. Or even “neat-o”.
Freshman year in college, I was introduced to a new descriptor, and it soon became evident that it was an ideal that the math professors valued above all others. It started when Professor Steve Galovich presented us each with a paper square. And he asked us to do something very simple, which was to create a square that was exactly half of the area of the first square.
Simple, right? Not so much, because you can’t just fold it twice, because then it’s a square that is 1/4 of the area. And if you put two of those together, you get a rectangle, which isn’t even the right shape. And so people started measuring and cutting and looking up the square root of two and all kinds of other great geeky stuff.
At the end, we all showed our various solutions. And then Steve did something, which made everyone look at it differently, and the whole class immediately saw another solution that was infinitely simpler.*
And Steve stepped back and said “They all work. But this one – this is elegant.” And all us dorks smiled because, dammit, it was elegant.
Now I’m guessing that Terry Ryan has also never been called elegant. And I’m not going to be the first one, or at least not to his face. But the moves the Twins made offensively were simple, cheap, and dammit, they were elegant.
The biggest focus this offseason was on the pitching staff. That’s understandable, given the gaps in the starting rotation, but it ignores a basic fact: even with all the injuries last year, the Twins still had the second best pitching staff in the American League, but their offense ranked eighth.
However, that fact is also a little misleading. The Twins offense changed for the better as the year went on, both because of changes to the left side of the infield, and because Justin Morneau and Rondell White became so much more effective. In fact, after the all-star break, the Twins ranked fifth in the league, and were within spitting distance (technically defined as 12 runs or less) of second place. So the offense wasn’t hopelessly broken.
But like the pitching staff it has some of its own deficiencies. They ranked something like this:
1. A true right-handed cleanup hitter, preferably at DH or LF.
2. Protection at third base if Nick Punto turns back into a pumpkin.
3. Protection if Jason Kubel can’t stay healthy.
4. Some left-handed pop off the bench.
5. Some right-handed pop off the bench.
The Twins settled on White for the first need. They won’t expect him to bat cleanup like they did last year, but it’s worth noting that after he overcame his shoulder problems he batted .321 and slugged over .500 post all-star break. If he can do that for the full year, the Twins filled that need rather nicely.
However, White’s injury history not made it imperative that the Twins sign someone to back up Kubel, and now that person had also had to back up White.
This is where things get elegant, because when they signed Jeff Cirillo, it took care of three of those needs. He plays third base, hits right-handed, and pasted left-handed pitching last year to the tune of a .413 BA and a 945 OPS. In one elegant swoop, the Twins found their right-handed bench bat, insurance for Kubel or White (at the DH spot) and a possible platoon partner for Punto if he struggles.
They made a couple of other moves along the same lines, acquiring insurance policies if injuries attack at spring training. They signed right-handed first baseman Ken Harvey (and more recently Matt LeCroy) to help if either Kubel or White go on the DL. They selected Alejandro Machado in the Rule V draft from the Senators, in case a middle infielder gets hurt or Luis Rodriguez needs to be replaced. That also ensures that Alexi Casilla will get a full year playing in Rochester as a starter.
All of those folks are longshots to make the roster because it is already filled up by the nine starting position players, Cirillo, Rodriguez, Mike Redmond, Lew Ford and Jason Tyner. In fact, the next most likely guy to make the team might not even be on the roster yet. You’ll notice that #4, the left-handed bench hitter, hasn’t been taken care of. The Twins have a history of signing a veteran late in the offseason for that role, whether it be Ruben Sierra or Jose Offerman. Someone like Jeromy Burnitz or Steve Finley could still be added.
But for the most part, the Twins offense was built by believing their second half results, hanging onto their players, and signing a player that provided insurance at a number of positions. It was not an offseason of overhaul or splashy moves. It turned out to be simple. Elegant usually does.
Tomorrow: Twins Fest Cheat Sheet.
Twins Geek is the editor and part-owner of GameDay, the independent baseball program sold outside of Twins games. The Twins, in the spirit of baseball, have let them into the Metrodome for this weekend. So while he invites your comments below, he’d love to debate in person this weekend at the GameDay booth.
*God bless you if you came down here looking for the answer. You're a geek after my own heart. Steve cut the square in half diagonally, and then did it again, the other way. Try it - you'll see how to get your half-sized square.