In my first ever blog post on the Daily Norseman I will be rolling out my speculation on the upcoming offseason in a daily positional breakdown.  I will take the buzzed about moves, break them down based on what I see and my personal OPINION, and also maybe throw out my own crazy idea if I have one.  So with out further Madeau...(OK BAD JOKE)...The first position addressed will be immediately after the jump.

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As a huge Twins fan my whole life, I felt privileged to see Kirby resign with Minnesota, and really felt betrayed when Hunter chose to go elsewhere.  I was becoming more ok with losing him, after witnessing the next big thing, and that was Joe Mauer.  Sure I'd seen him while Hunter was here, but after the last two seasons, who doesn't want to continually see this guy play on your team. There is no way to defensively scheme for him.  You cheat one way, he rips it the other.  You play close, he drives it to the wall.  You pitch it high, he drives it over, low he hits the gap.  The man can hit just about any pitch, anywhere, and has been a staple to the Twins lineup.  All that seems to be unraveling faster than a sweater with a loose thread in a house full of cats.  After two weeks of Spring Training, we are still without a contract for Might Joe, and it appears talks have stalled.  Some people are still quite optimistic, but can anyone really say that they are feeling good about it right now?  One source has said that Mauer and co. has turned down a 22 mil. 8 year deal.  Supposedly he wants 25 mil.  That's all well and good, but if you want your money now, you are going to lose a few dollars. 

I don't want to paint Joe as the bad guy, he's the best player in baseball.  He's going to make that money next year if he walks, but if it isn't and never has been about money, what is that extra three?  If it's never been about money, why is that the thing preventing the deal from being signed.  Joe Mauer is a cornerstone for this team, but if we go into opening day without a signed and sealed contract, we are already too late.  We need to be exploring trade options now, in case something doesn't happen.  I believe Ramos is ready enough to be a starter at catcher, and Bueterra could be a backup I suppose until Morales gets back, and of course Joe is going to garner a lot of value from a team, so we would make good on an investment, but let's face it.  Even if we get five Albert Pujols caliber bats to play second, third, short, right field, left field, wherever, are we really going to feel satisfied?  No Joe Mauer for the next eight years.   That would be upsetting to everyone.  Hockey, Viking's chokes in big games, snow, and Joe Mauer, subtract the latter and we have nothing but Cause for Depression, and a little bit of fighting.  Let's hope some sort of miracle happens, but I'm losing hope.  Let's start to explore who has what available.

Some of you may remember way back in October that I stated the Twins were likely to take the spectator role this offseason, and not do much, but maybe bring in a Veteran Leader, and a "Gamer" type player to light a fire under Punto.  Well, it now appears that I will be feasting on Crow at every Twins game this year.  I was pumped beyond belief when I heard that we had traded for JJ Hardy, even if we were getting rid of possibly the player with the biggest upside to get him.  Gomez was an outstanding fielder, who busted his ass for the ball every time it was hit anywhere near his range.  I loved watching his smooth running style, and will miss his post game interviews.  Peanut Butter mouth had one glaring weakness.  He was impatient.  If he can get some patience at the plate, he's going to be a force in the MLB, but enough waxing nostalgic about GoGo.  We finally have a legit SS again, but I knew Free Agency couldn't end there or we were looking down the barrel of another one and done.  That being said, we waited a while, let things simmer a bit, and then signed Jim Thome to be a Pinch Hitter, and bat off the bench.  A nice predicament to be in, to have two DH's capable of jacking 25 to 30 a year.  I wouldn't argue if I were Ron Gardenhire, and I'm sure he's not either.  Finally the icing on the cake for the season is the signing of Orlando Hudson.  After spending the better part of two weeks reading he was going to be a National or a Ray at 9 million dollars, I was shocked to log onto the internet and find out today that he came to Minnesota for 5 million.  That now gives us a legit batting order top to bottom.  Plus, if the rumors are true, we still have an offer on the table for Jarrod Washburn, and he is interested in joining the Twins, but is still weighing his options.  If he does come to Minnesota, that would make one of our young pitchers *Cough*Perkins*Cough* expendable.  We are now in the luxury of offering a package of Perkins Cassilla, or Perkins Prospect, for a third baseman, or extra outfielder, and then either roll with Harris/Tolbert/Punto, or sign a Crede and wait on Vallencia.  Frankly I'm not overly concerned, as I think Harris will be ok at Third, and we can put him at the bottom of the order, and not have to worry, and if you do go this route we can put Perkins in the bullpen, and then we have an extra arm there, and Alexi C. can still work on getting better, and maybe be our future second basemen we thought he'd be two years ago.  Or we could not sign Washburn all together, and just go into the season as is, and I'd still be quite comfortable.  No matter how you shake it, our lineup will be quite potent.

Denard Span

Orlando Hudson

Joe Mauer

Justin Morneau

Michael Cuddyer

Jason Kubel/Jim Thome

Delmon Young

JJ Hardy

Brendan Harris/Nick Punto/Whoever else.

To me the only glaring holes are the bottom two slots, but I expect Hardy to turn it around, now that there is no sure shot replacement breathing down his neck, and Harris' bat is mediocre, and Punto shows flares of mediocre AB's at times, although he's usually well below average.  But still one easy out is way better than the 4 or 5 we had last year.

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I love our Twins, I love the TC logo, and TC Bear.  I will miss the dome, but embrace Target Field (Not to be mistaken for Target Center...Geniuses).  I long for many more seasons of the M n M boys, because frankly just M boy is kind of boring, but as a Twins fan, I am used to being let down, and I am afraid to say it, but this offseason is going to be no different.

If the Pohlad family are good for anything, it's proving that they can get by on the cheap with this organization.  They have won numerous Division titles on low budget teams.  Why should this offseason be any different?  They proved that with just a tweak in house and adding a low risk veteran they can make an improbable push and win yet another division pennant.  The problem is that many Minnesota fans are saying, "enough is enough."  Why should we settle for "One-and-Done's" when other teams are continuously getting better.  We need to go out and at least add a strong pitcher.  I hear Lackey is going to be available, and hell, I'd be satisfied with a Bedard or Harden.  We need to solidify the middle infield.  Valencia at Third sounds nice for next year, and lets pair him next to Tejada, and put Casilla back at second.  He may not be any better than Punto, but at least he has an upside.  I'm tired of giving Punto chance after chance to waiver around the Mendoza line, and never come up clutch.  Casilla didn't play well, but at least he could improve.  Punto is going nowhere fast, but yet Gardy's affection for mediocre utility players with below average bats (Which is what he was), continues to pencil him in somewhere.  Maybe after Mauer leaves, and trots off into the sunset to fade into the crowd in NY or LA we can try Punto behind the plate.  At least catchers aren't expected to produce with the bat.  Tejada may be a pipe dream, but it would be nice.  People continue to talk about trading for the likes of an Uggla, or a JJ Hardy, but we really don't have much to offer a team that we can afford to give up.  Sure we could dump off a starting pitcher, but look how well that worked for us in the Garza deal.  I'd rather get something for Gomez and potentially Crain or Liriano, but I don't see us snagging a starting second basemen or shortstop above what we have now.  Maybe JJ Hardy would come for that, but Uggla?  No way.  We need to shore up one of those spots; however, maybe putting some money into a free agent second basemen like Orlando Hudson isn't a bad idea.  We have a few SS's that could platoon with Harris and Punto at short, or maybe we resign Cabrera, making our infield look a little better at the plate, even if Cabrera is an adventure in the field.  I would like the looks of a Vilencia, Cabrera, Hudson, Morneau infield, or maybe a Vilencia, Tejada, Casilla/Cabrera, Morneau.  I don't care who or what as long as they are an upgrade, and can cause us to be rid of Punto. 

My other concern is our Outfield.  It's a good concern, but a concern nonetheless.  We have Cuddy, Span, Gomez, and Young all outfielders, as well as Kubel who will probably stay predominately DH again, as he should.  Cuddy is obvious at right field, that makes perfect sense, and if we keep Gomez, and he can be semi consistent, even if he's only hitting .230 or .240, he would be center field, and then we would have Span in left, leaving Delmon Young the odd man out.  Some people are ok with this, and think we should trade him, coming off a hot end of the season.  I couldn't deny that is an intriguing idea, but I don't think the market for a slow, limpy, clumsy left fielder is that high, especially one with mediocre hitting abilities.  I say we either A) Trade Morneau (OMG) and put Cuddy at first, leaving Young in his natural right field, or B) Trade Cuddy (Slight OMG) and put you guessed it, Young in his natural right field.  Young played right all through out his career in Tampa Bay, and then he gets here and we throw him in left.  Doesn't make sense to me.  Let me look back to my two aforementioned trade scenarios for a minute.  Trade one was getting rid of M n M number two Justin Morneau, which is a sickening thought, but he has a high value, which would bring us potentially a starting pitcher, or a good relief pitcher and some prospects, and would free up some money.  Cuddy showed that at least for a short time, he could play first more than serviceable.  I was impressed, and like I stated before we could get a decent amount for Morneau.  The other deal, which makes much more sense, is trade away Michael Cuddyer who still has some high value, which would net us either a solid position player and a prospect or two or a strong pitcher and a prospect or two, or a few prospects.  I would hate to see him go, but we need to cut something in order to position ourselves for a strong season next year.  Especially when you have Detroit, Chicago, and Kansas City all sporting solid to extremely good starting rotations. 

As a Minnesotan, I'm tired of falling victim to the "Middling infielder at low cost,"  or "Veteran arm to add some leadership," scenario that this team is pulling.  It's a scam to say we brought in Ramon Ortiz, or Livan Hernandez for any other reason than to save some coins.  Come on Twins, open things up a bit.  Let's see a strong offseason, not a boring one.