Left 4 Dead

At 36-24 Samuel Girard Jersey , the finished with the best record in the Central regional last season en route to their second consecutive AL Central title. It still wasn't enough to end their record postseason losing streak. . 18 games! It's unfathomable.Historic postseason losing streak aside, Minnesota boasts a talented roster that should have the team in contention for a postseason spot again in 2021. , narrowly behind the much more active in the AL Central (38.9 WAR to 38.1 WAR).Much more active is an understatement, really. While the White Sox have added and (and ) in recent weeks, the Twins have added and not much else. They've already lost ( ) and ( ) to free agency. Look at the other 2020 Twins in free agency: (best hitter and clubhouse leader) (top utility man) (third-best starting pitcher) (best left-handed hitter) , , , , , (important depth pieces)To be fair, the Twins have made a handful of minor-league contract signings ( , , , , etc.), but so has every team. Minor-league depth signings are standard offseason busine s, not something to be championed as an effort to improve. Minnesota has sent a small army of players into free agency with few additions to compensate. The Twins are hardly the only team to have a quiet offseason, of course. , and some, like Cleveland (so long, and ) and the (so long, and ), have made themselves appreciably worse. The pandemic is cutting into payrolls and it shows."I don't think the fact that we lost money in 2020 is the driver for what we are going to do in 2021," Twins owner Jim Pohlad told reporters, , in October. "There is uncertainty about attendance in 2021 . We are going to have to figure out an 'uncertainty discount,' and we will."Spring training is a little le s than a month away now and , so the Twins have plenty of time to make a move(s) and plenty of players to choose from. I have a very hard time believing they will sit on their hands the rest of the offseason and take this current roster into 2021. Moves are coming, and here are three things Minnesota still needs to do. MIN 2B #2 BA0.321R16HR0RBI13SB0 On paper, the Twins are set all around the infield. settled in at first base last year, contact machine has hit his way into the second base job the last two seasons (.331/.390/.429 in 124 games), is signed long-term to play shortstop, and is at third base. All set, right? No need to make a move on the infield.Well, no, not nece sarily. Donaldson turned 35 last month and he was again dogged by calf problems in 2020. They limited him to 28 games last year and 348 of 546 po sible Conor Timmins Men Jersey games the last four years. With three years at big money remaining on his contract, the Twins could move Donaldson to DH in an effort to keep him on the field. Maybe not a full-time DH, but what about half-time?Arraez's and Polanco's defense also leave something to be desired. Arraez is at minus-6 Defensive Runs Saved in 80 MLB games at second base, and Polanco has been in the negatives at shortstop every year since 2015. Statcast's Outs Above Average metric agrees with Defense Runs Saved. It has Arraez and Polanco comfortably below average at their positions. Last month noted the Twins are receiving trade interest in their young, controllable players like Arraez and Polanco, which creates the potential for an interesting "trade an infielder and sign a free agent" scenario. From Rosenthal:The Twins, like all teams deep in young talent, are drawing trade interest in their upper-level prospects and major leaguers under long-term control. The potential to deal one of those major leaguers, second baseman Luis Arraez, creates an interesting scenario in which the Twins could move shortstop Jorge Polanco to second and either sign a free-agent Patrik Nemeth Kids Jersey shortstop or trade for a 2021-22 free agent at the positionWith the exception of , all the top free agent infielders remain unsigned. The Twins could follow through on Rosenthal's hypothetical, trade Arraez for help elsewhere on the roster and shift Polanco to second base, and sign an above-average defensive shortstop like or . Likely? I don't think so, but the front office has to consider all po sibilities.The Twins are in a good spot because they don't to do something with their infield. Sticking with the status quo is a perfectly viable option, so they can play the market and see what shakes loose, and pounce on anything that makes sense. They will have to figure out what they're doing with the infield fairly soon, however, because that decision affects other parts of the roster, such as... WAS DH #23 BA0.303R33HR16RBI33SB0 Cruz is an agele s wonder. The 40-year-old authored a .303/.397/.595 batting line last season and . Similar to LeMahieu and the , it feels like a Cruz-Twins reunion is inevitable. It's a perfect fit for everyone involved, and yet, it hasn't happened. Cruz remains unsigned. Early in the offseason it was reported Cruz is seeking a two-year contract, which seems unlikely at his age despite his production, but there's no harm in asking. They'll never give it to you if you don't ask. provided an update on Minnesota's talks with Cruz earlier this month:The Twins made a one-year offer during the opening weeks of free agency, then pulled it off the table after a couple of weeks. A second contract offer was made during the holidays that went nowhere as Cruz's camp waited for word Teemu Selanne Women Jersey on the NL. There hasn't been a lot of back-and-forth negotiating between the sides.MLB is playing hardball with the universal DH -- , a trade that would make the deal for look fair -- though it is expected to be implemented again in 2021. Pitchers need to build back up after the truncated season and the universal DH will reduce injury risk.Until that happens though, Cruz's market will be limited to American League teams, some of which are already set at DH ( , , Yankees, etc.). The Twins aren't going to bid against themselves. Until Cruz gets another offer that forces the Twins to come back to the negotiating table, Minnesota is not going to up its offer. This isn't hardball. This is how free agency works.Point is, the Twins need to add a bat prior to spring training, either Cruz or a suitable replacement, and they have options. They can put Donaldson at DH and sign a third baseman. They can put top prospect at DH and sign a left fielder. What about Sano? He could move to DH, and the Twins could bring in a new first baseman. The po sibilities are nearly endle s. In addition to Cruz, the Twins also had interest in , , and earlier this offseason, . Schwarber has since signed with the Nationals, though Brantley and Duvall Erik Johnson Men Jersey remain unsigned. Interest in those players suggests the Twins will stick with Donaldson at third base and bring in a left field/DH type.The Twins averaged 4.48 runs per game in 2020, a tick below the 4.65 MLB average, and they scored only two runs in the two-game Wild Card Series against Houston. That was with Cruz, Rosario, and Gonzalez in the lineup (but not Donaldson, wh