Don McPeak
As MLB free agents continue to disappear, the Minnesota Twins appear to be wrapping up another disappointing off-season. The additions of Kevin Correia, Mike Pelfrey and Rich Harden via free agency were pedestrian moves, at best. And despite GM Terry Ryan’s claims that the Twins were positioning themselves to once again be competitive in the American League Central, all signs point to another season of rebuilding for a team that claimed six AL Central titles between 2002 and 2010.
When asked by MLB Network if the Twins were heading into 2013 as a rebuilding squad Ryan responded, “I think that’s a good excuse to fail. I don’t have much interest in telling people we’re playing for 2015. We need to get going here, we’ve had two tough years… We’ve got to quit talking about building for the future.”
However, this verbiage contradicts itself when Ryan’s most significant moves of the off-season were the trading away of outfielders Denard Span and Ben Revere for several prospects. Span and Revere were significant offensive and defensive contributors to a club that finished 2012 with a meager 66 wins. In return for the speedy outfielders the Twins gained top prospects Alex Meyer and Trevor May–two highly touted pitching prospects. But neither Meyer or May will be ready for the 2013 season and, realistically, Twins fans shouldn’t count on seeing either of them toeing the rubber at Target Field until 2015.
Despite Ryan’s words, it appears the Twins, indeed, are playing for 2015.
It should be noted that Ryan, a legendary scout, built the farm system that led to the success the Twins enjoyed in the early 2000s. The man, appears to have a plan and certainly has the credentials that should earn the trust of the team’s fan-base.
But let’s all be honest about the situation: Competing in 2013 is not very realistic.
