- The Record Archives
- Volume CXVII, No. I - January 22, 2004 - sports
Twins cold in Hot Stove
Staff columnist
It's 43 days until the Minnesota Twins will open up their 2004 Spring Training schedule against the Boston Red Sox. I can't say, however, that I'll be counting it down on my calendar. While most MLB teams have spent the off-season working to bolster their line-ups, the Twins have done virtually nothing.
Gone from last season are A.J. Pierzynski, Dustan Mohr, Kenny Rogers, Eddie Guardado, LaTroy Hawkins and Eric Milton. Twins General Manager Terry Ryan did manage to resign Shannon Stewart and Luis Rivas, but failed to lock up a power hitter and pitcher they need. And that's just half of their problems.
Rumors of a possible Jacque Jones trade continue to swirl, and J.C. Romero, Johan Santana and Doug Mientkiewicz are currently undergoing arbitration talks. Ryan should be able to resign each of them, but Mientkiewicz has stated in a recent interview that both sides "haven't gotten anywhere."
Apparently Ryan's relationship with players isn't confined to Mientkiewicz, as Guardado claims that if he would have gotten any respect from the GM, he would still be a Twin. In addition to the losses in trades and free agency, they will also be without the services of Joe Mays, who underwent Tommy John surgery over the off-season.
So where does that leave the American League Central champions? A first glance at the starting line up and the Twins may not seem too deep in trouble. The outfield looks like it could be one of the best in the American League, the infield again looks strong with Koskie, Guzman and Joe Mauer, who has dominated the minor leagues, appears poised to take over for A.J behind the plate.
The depth of the team, however, looks suspect. Few players are healthy enough to play an entire season, and the Twins usually fall victim to the injury bug sometime during the season.
Bottom line is that with no depth and only a couple of all-stars, the chances of three-peating as division champs has become less likely. And even if they do win, what does winning the worst division in baseball every year do except for give false hopes of beating the Yankees or Red Sox in the playoffs?
It's not a secret that the solution is for owner Carl Pohlad to open up his pocketbook and pay the money to acquire free agents and to retain current Twins (this of course doesn't apply to Denny Hocking).
Until they start to give out money to the players, the Twins will remain a minor league baseball team for the rest of the majors.