If I were the GM: The Ryan edition

All right, after great posts from a few other people, it's my turn. Time to put on my General Manager pants and take the reins of this team. So. Let's do this thing.

First, let me make two things about my plan clear. I intend to meld the team into my own vision. In my mind, the problem is that the Twins don't hit for near enough power to take advantage of their speed and high average. Their strength has always been a strong farm system that produces pitchers and gifted players in the field. Now, in the majors, we need to develop some hitters. The other facet of the plan is that I will not use free agency, save for patching last minute holes or filling roster spots. That being said, here are six things I would do as the GM.

Let Nick Punto and Dennys Reyes go. Both are gifted role players. Gifted, yes. But role players. The Twins have been able to find pitchers off the scrap heap to plug into short reliever roles, even lefties, and Matt Tolbert appears ready to step in as the second coming of Nick Punto (or third coming of Denny Hocking (or fourth coming of Jeff Reboulet))

Trade for a third baseman. It sounds easy enough, right? Everyone has been saying it, pointing to guys like Garret Atkins and Hank Blalock, with Atkins the hottest rumor. Blalock was redigned by the Rangers and may be a tougher sell anyways because of cost and a history of injury. Atkins has put up good numbers, however they are much better at Coors than they are on the road. Instead of rehashing those old rumors, I would explore a trade with the Reds for their slugging, line drive hitting third baseman Edwin Encarnacion. He's only 25 years old, but had he played for the Twins, he would have led the team in homeruns. Sure, there is a park factor too in Cincinnati, however he hits line drives, and has comparable numbers away from home. He's certainly not the prototype of a Twins infielder, but with coaching, his defense and batting average will both improve. Now, the proposed trade? Well, the Reds are going to be thirsty for a veteran outfielder and youth to go along with him. Here's the blockbuster, as I proposed it in July: The Twins get Encarnacion and relief pitcher Jared Burton in exchange for Michael Cuddyer, Brian Buscher, Steven Tolleson and Steven Singleton. The number of prospects would have to be high simply because Burton and Encarnacion are cheap, young and talented.

I would dangle Joe Nathan as trade bait. Closers are overvalued, and with Nathan we could add a solid middle infielder or a few pitchers for the bullpen. Can you imagine if Johan Santana and Nathan had been packaged? The Twins could have ended up with Jose Reyes!

I would suggest to Ron Gardenhire and hitting coach Joe Vavra that with Delmon Young, Edwin Encarnacion, Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel and even Joe Mauer and Carlos Gomez in the lineup, I expect a few more extra base hits.

I wouldn't change the pitching rotation much at all. The only thing I would consider is seeing if there is a market for Boof Bonser, but other than that, a more veteran rotation will mean more innings pitched by starters meaning fewer innings pitched by the bullpen. In the end, this means the bullpen doesn't break down over the last two months of the year. That's something I don't even have to do!

Ok, one free agent. Cliff Floyd!

In the end, the opening day lineup and rotation are as follows:

1. Denard Span RF
2. Alexei Casilla SS
3. Joe Mauer C
4 Justin Morneau 1b
5. Edwin Encarnacion 3b
6. Jason Kubel DH
7. Delmon Young LF
8. Brenan Harris 2b
9. Carlos Gomez CF

Bench
Matt Tolbert
Cliff Floyd
Mike Redmond
Jason Pridie/Matt Macri

Rotation
1. Scott Baker
2. Francisco Liriano
3. Nick Blackburn
4. Kevin Slowey
5. Glenn Perkins

Bullpen
Jared Burton
Matt Guerrier
Craig Breslow
Jose Mijares
Pat Neshek
Jesse Crain
Joe Nathan.


Thats it. Thoughts?