Minnesota Twins Wasted Winter Meeting Time with Lack of Big Moves

The Minnesota Twins got rid of a clubhouse cancer when they traded Kevin Slowey to the Colorado Rockies, but the re-signing of Matt Capps might have been a bad decision. MLB’s Winter Meetings closed shop on Thursday without the Twins making a big splash.

The Twins went into the meetings in Dallas, Texas, looking to bring in a big free agent and that didn't happen. In fact only three moves were made during the meetings: the Matt Capps resigning, the Kevin Slowey trade and the selecting of Terry Doyle in the Rule 5 draft.

The Matt Capps resigning was a low-risk move, but not worth the $4 million the Twins spent on him. The money could have been spent in other areas of need like signing younger pitching talent or putting the money towards another big name instead of just either say Michael Cuddyer or Jason Kubel.  The bright spot on the Capps deal is that it’s a one-year deal with a second-year club option, so if Capps succeeds he’ll be right back in 2013 or if he falters again he’ll be long gone.

The Kevin Slowey trade was a big boost for the Twins. Slowey has been unhappy ever since last Spring Training when he felt like he didn't get a fair shot at the starting rotation and then never adjusted to his given bullpen role. To make matters worse, when Slowey was called upon to start later in the year he was absolutely terrible. He had a 0-8 record which is totally unacceptable.  The Rockies sent minor league reliever Daniel Turpen to the Twins in exchange for Slowey. Turpen is 25 years old and played in Double-A last year going 2-4 with a 4.83 ERA and 11 saves in 48 games.

The Twins had the No. 2 pick in the Rule 5 draft in which they picked White Sox minor leaguer Terry Doyle. Doyle had a 3.07 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 173 innings over 26 starts between High-A and Double-A. Last year the Twins acquired Scott Diamond from the Atlanta Braves through the Rule 5 Draft.

The most disappointing part of the meetings for the Twins is that they didn't walk away with a big name. One of the biggest names linked to the Twins was starting pitcher Mark Buerhle, who signed a big contract with the Miami Marlins to reunite with former manager Ozzie Guillen. The main objective was to get Michael Cuddyer signed up and they failed to do so.

The Twins have offered Cuddyer a $25 million deal for three years, but Cuddyer has neither accepted nor declined. With Cuddyer not making a decision it’s leaving the Twins handcuffed, who admit that they don’t have the funds to keep both Cuddyer and Jason Kubel.

It’s early in the offseason, but many things could have been accomplished. Big names like Jose Reyes, Heath Bell, CJ Wilson and Albert Pujols signed, but the Twins failed to bring in anyone big including target No. 1: Michael Cuddyer. The Twins fly back to Minneapolis behind the eight-ball and rightly so, not a lot got done in Dallas.