Twins receive Craig Morgan

The Minnesota Twins acquired outfielder Craig Monroe from the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named. Monroe is coming off a disappointing season, during which he batted .219, hit 12 home runs and drove in 58 runs one season after batting .255, with 28 homers and 92 RBIs. New Twins GM Bill Smith thinks Monroe will bounce back and thinks Monroe will help the Twins lacking offense. The deal seems a little odd to me since Monroe was paid over 4 million last year and baseball rules only allow a 20 percent pay cut. I see the Twins redoing the contract or perhaps just releasing him if they can snag someone better. Perhaps Monroe is just the “safety net” for the Minnesota Twins once they kiss Hunter good-bye.

Twins Look Forward to Next Season – 10/30

Now that the Boston Red Sox have been officially crowned the 2007 World Series Champions, all of baseball will turn its focus to the '08 season and building competitive rosters without breaking the bank. The Minnesota Twins need to focus on one thing – OFFENSE and finding the players that can swing the bat. In order to compete in what now is an offense-laden division, more power and players who drive in runs must be added to the lineup.

Kelly Theiser from the Twins mailbag writes:

The hard part, of course, is figuring out just how the club will add those bats if it wants to keep other essential pieces in place -- i.e. Santana, Joe Nathan and possibly Hunter. With so many holes existing for the club right now, it undoubtedly seems like a tough task to try and fill them all this winter when no real solutions exist in the farm system. That's why it seems like trade rumors will be following the club all offseason.

This Minnesota Twins fan is open to trading players to better the team next year. Minnesota deserves another run at a pennant, but it won’t come without smart acquisitions and roster shuffling during the off-season. I hope the Gardy and the Twins pencil pushers have their working boots on! The Twins will need to come out strong if they have any chance of selling Twins Tickets to the average Minnesota baseball fan.