DALLAS - In four days of baseball's winter meetings, the Twins made a few minor moves, made their best pitch at Michael Cuddyer and watched the market for a thin free-agent pitching class inflate to unreasonable proportions.
Yet on his way out, Terry Ryan vowed to find a starter before his team reports for spring training Feb. 18.
"This was a little bit of a lean free-agent class, there's no doubt," the Twins' general manager said. "I think in years past there might have been a little bit more of an opportunity, but there are still some pitchers out there that we have an interest in.
"Going in, the class was lean; I think everybody acknowledged that."
The Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Angels set the bar high this week, signing veterans Mark Buehrle and C.J. Wilson to long-term deals that will pay them, respectively, $14.5 million and $15 million annually. What remains are right-hander Edwin Jackson and a bunch of veterans who might be long on grit and experience but are short on arm strength and career longevity.
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Still, Ryan insisted, "There are still some opportunities out there."
If Jackson was ever in the Twins' neighborhood, he has moved on. A career .500 pitcher (60-60) with an earned-run average of 4.46, he is nevertheless 28 - younger than Wilson and Buehrle - has a no-hitter under his belt and was 12-9 with a 3.79 ERA last season with the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals.
The Twins theoretically could trade for a starter, but few
teams are willing to trade quality starters and, when they are, demand quality prospects in return. That's an asset of which the Twins have little.
So they're left to sift through a pile of veterans featuring such familiar names as Brad Penny (11-11, 5.30), Jeff Francis (6-16, 4.82) and former Twin Livan Hernandez (8-13, 4.47). Among the most intriguing are Javier Vazquez, 13-11 with a 3.69 ERA with the Marlins last season, and Joel Pineiro, a ground-ball pitcher who was limited by injuries in a 7-7, 5.13 season last year with the Angels.
As Ryan attempts a one-year turnaround, signing a reliable, inexpensive veteran to a one- or two-year deal makes sense. But for a splash, he might be looking at Japanese lefty Tsuyoshi Wada, who became a free agent after going 16-5 with a 1.51 ERA in 184-2/3 innings with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks last season.
Though Ryan acknowledged the difficulties faced by Japanese pitchers adjusting to the majors - pitching, for instance, every five days instead of seven - he did say he spoke to the agents of Wada and right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma this week. And because Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka is the only recent Nippon Professional Leaguer to become a major league star, the market for Japanese players is buyer friendly.
The Twins played a minor role in an affair hijacked by the Marlins and Angels. Miami spent $191 million to sign Buehrle, shortstop Jose Reyes and closer Heath Bell; Los Angeles spent $331.5 million on Wilson and first baseman Albert Pujols.
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There's no doubt the behind-the-scenes work of Ryan and assistant GM Rob Antony will pay off; how well remains to be seen. Certainly the foundation for re-signing Cuddyer has been set; the Twins have an offer on the table - reportedly at $25 million for three years - and essentially are waiting to hear back. And they filled their closer spot by re-signing Matt Capps ($4.5 million) at $2.5 million less than he made last season.
Otherwise, the accomplishments were meager. The Twins drafted right-handed pitching prospect Terry Doyle in the Rule 5 draft, claimed infielder Pedro Florimon off waivers from Baltimore and traded right-hander Kevin Slowey to Colorado. Slowey, unhappy after a move to the bullpen last season, was dealt for 25-year-old relief prospect Daniel Turpen, who struck out 33 and walked 35 in 48 appearances with Double A Tulsa.
With the winter meetings officially in the books, the Twins still have their heavy lifting ahead of them as they try to find a starter and starting outfielder.
"You can always do more," Ryan said. "Sometimes you come with aspirations to get everything done, for every hole you need to fill. We accomplished some things here we were trying to do, there's no doubt. But we still have work to do. It's an entire-winter process when you're working on a roster."
Distributed by MCT Information Services
