5 Reasons to Believe the Twins May Actually Spend This Offseason

Cheers, everybody! On Thursday the Twins made a move that wasn’t just a minor league contract. The Twins traded Denard Span to the National League East Champion Washington Nationals for minor leaguer Alex Meyer.

With that move the ball is rolling for the Twins offseason moves. It should be an active offseason for the squad and they will probably spend more than they usually do. The Denard Span trade just adds to the list of reasons why.

Need Starting Pitching

Scott Diamond, Sam Deduno, Cole De Vries, Brain Duensing and Liam Hendricks. Twins fans don’t need to be reminded of the fact that those five were the final starting five in 2012. Who are you really comfortable having back in that rotation? Basically only Scott Diamond, right?

It’s quite obvious the Twins need starting pitching and starting pitchers don’t just grow on trees. Starting pitchers are the quarterbacks of the MLB, the spot needs to be solidified if your team stands a chance.

They demand a lot of money and Twins fans need to demand that their squad spends a nice chunk of dough on some frontline pitching.

Room to Spend

It’s nice to have a little breathing room and the Twins have that with their salary flexibility. The Twins only have $70 million in contracts on the books for 2013, so they have some room to spend.

Figuring the Twins would like to have a salary around $90-100 million, the Twins have a cool $20 million to use on contracts for the upcoming season, a nice amount for this Twins squad.

Necessity of Players

Sometimes a video game gives you some perspective in life. I threw in MLB 12: The Show in PS3 today and since I like to challenge myself I played as the Twins. Not only were all the Twins starting pitchers on The Show gone from the Twins, but it was impossible to fill out a lineup without a former Twin.

Luke Hughes, Danny Valenica, Alexi Casilla, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka all were on the roster. The Twins don’t need to revamp their offense, in fact that was a bright spot on the dismal season, but The Show reminded me that the Twins are a totally different team now from the team in April.

Tweaks here and there may just need to be made plus a lot of starting pitching help. 

High Spending Offseason Around the MLB

The Twins have to keep up with the Jones and the Jones have been dealing out some money. The Tigers signed Torii Hunter to $26 million and the Royals gave Jeremy Guthrie $25 million. Two division foes have been spending money and to get competitive and stay competitive the Twins need to do the same.

The ultimate goal is to win a World Series, but for a team that’s lost 90 plus the past two seasons it needs to be baby steps. Focus in on winning the division, to do that you just have to keep up.  

Denard Span Trade

Now back to our regularly scheduled Denard Span to the Washington Nationals coverage. Why will this move make the Twins spend? The Twins received a minor leaguer in return for Denard Span. That means the Twins lost a major leaguer, but didn’t gain one. Money must be spent to get one.

Simply with Span off the books it gives the Twins a little bit more to spend in what should be one of the biggest spending sprees this team has ever gone on. Hopefully that spree mainly goes down the starting pitching aisle.