Twins Sign Slow Dog

The Twins just signed Orlando Hudson to a one-year $5 million deal which includes an agreement not to offer him arbitration if he is rated as a Type-A free agent next off-season.  Despite the title of this post, I think it’s a good move for the Twins, because it addresses a pressing need.  Nevertheless, there are some risks, given Hudson’s age (32) and his no longer particularly good defense at second.

In terms of the pressing need, while I am not entirely willing to give up on Alexi Casilla, because he’s still only 25 years old and had a fine major league season in 2008, he really was pretty awful last season.  You can’t blame the Twins, who are looking to go deep into the post-season this coming year, for wanting to go with more of a sure thing.

In fact, there may now be a good chance that Casilla starts 2010 back at AAA Rochester.  Nick Punto, unless he gets a lot a playing time at third (not a good idea given how little Punto hits), has the back-up middle infield slot locked up now that the Twins have acquired Hudson and J. J. Hardy.

However, none of the other 2Bmen listed on the Twins roster look capable of contributing much at that position in 2010.  Matt Tolbert got substantial playing time for the Twins last year, but at age 28 this year, he doesn’t look like he’ll ever be a major league hitter.

Brian Dinkelman had a fine season at AA New Britain in 2009, hitting .296 with a .383 on-base percentage and an .823 OPS.  However, he will be 26 in 2010, and hasn’t had even one plate appearance yet above the AA level.

Luke Hughes had a solid year split between AA and AAA in 2009 at age 24, but he’s played mostly at third, which makes you question his ability to play second at the major league level.  Trevor Plouffe had a solid year at AAA Rochester last year at age 23, and it appears he can play 2B, 3B and SS.  However, he appears to need at least another half-season at AAA before he’ll be ready to face major league pitching.

The Twins still look weak at third going into 2010.  Brendan Harris is reported to be the favorite to start there come April, but I have doubts whether he’ll hit enough to hold the job.  If Danny Valencia plays well the first couple of months at Rochester, there’s a good chance he could the starting job by the 2010 All-Star Break.

Dave Cameron of fangraphs thinks the Twins have had one of the half dozen best off-seasons in all of MLB this off-season.  I’m not quite as impressed as Cameron at the resigning of Carl Pavano or the signing of Jim Thome, and I’m not going to give the Twins any credit for resigning Joe Mauer until his signature is actually affixed on the dotted line.

However, by acquiring J. J. Hardy and Orlando Hudson, the Twins have addressed their two most pressing needs at the end of 2009.  At this moment, one would have to think of them as the favorites in the AL Central entering the 2010 season.  Don’t be surprised, though, if the Twins add a couple more bargain-bin players before the start of Spring Training.