Minnesota Twins no fluke, but still have work to do

While the Astros have taken the American League by storm, the biggest surprise through the first two months of the season has to be the Minnesota Twins. At 30-19, the Twins hold a half-game lead on the Royals for first place in the American League Central coming into Tuesday action.

And it’s no fluke. Why pythagorean win/loss projections have the Twins sitting at a slightly more modest 27-22 through their first 49 games, the numbers suggest that this Minnesota team is legit. Offseason acquisition Torii Hunter is hitting a solid .276, Brian Dozier is putting up his regular numbers, Trevor Plouffe has been a pleasant surprise, and rookie Eddie Rosario has made strong contributions in left field.

So do the Twins project to fall off a cliff midseason? No. But if they want to solidify their contender status, and, more so, avoid being an easy first-round bounce in the playoffs like in years past, they have to do what they failed to in previous contending years.

They need to to add.

Like I said, the Twins are a good team on paper. But they’re not a great one, and the defending AL Champion Royals and formidable Detroit Tigers are right on their tails. How do they compete with the big boys?

The knee-jerk reaction is , “Go get Cole Hamels.” Or, they could look at the plethora of mid-tier players that will potentially be available on expiring contracts and try for a combination of Scott Kazmir, Ben Zobrist, Johnny Cueto and others.

But this Twins team is built for the long-haul. With Dozier, Plouffe, Rosario, Hicks, Joe Mauer, Kyle Gibson, Phil Hughes, Trevor May as well as top prospects like Danny Santana and Byron Buxton all under control through at least 2017, this team is built for multi-year success. So to be effective at the trade deadline, they need to find pieces they can add to that mix, not just for a few months.

Hamels fits that description, and would take a mediocre Minnesota rotation to the next level. And payroll may not even be an issue, as recent reports have said the Phillies would be willing to swallow enough salary to help make Hamels an option for mid-market clubs. The issue with Hamels is the type of prospects it would take to acquire him. Whether Ruben Amaro asks for Buxton, Miguel Sano, or a combination of Jose Berrios, Alex Meyer and Kohl Stewart, Amaro seemingly wants a king’s ransom that may not be in the Twins’ best interest to give him. So while Hamels fits the mold of what Minnesota should be looking for, they would probably be best off looking elsewhere for help.

One lesser acquisition that could go a long way is adding another shutdown reliever into the bullpen. Glen Perkins and Blaine Boyer have been getting the job done thus far, but the same can’t be said for Brian Duensing, whom opponents have hit .341 off of to this point.

Milwaukee’s Francisco Rodriguez could be the guy for Minnesota. He’s proven to be effective for the Brewers this season, and also comes signed through 2016. The Twins don’t have to look far to see what a dominant bullpen can do for a club (see: Royals, Kansas City), and they’d have one of the best 1-2-3 punches in baseball with Rodriguez.

A more under-the-radar option is Oakland’s Jesse Chavez. Despite his misleading 2-5 record, he has yet to give up more than four runs in a start this season. While going deep into ballgames was an issue for Chavez a season ago (just 149.2 innings in 2014), he’s gone at least six innings in six straight starts, going eight in each of is last two.

Chavez wouldn’t necessarily be “cheap,” as quality starting pitching never is. But his $2.15-million salary this year fits far better into the Twins’ budget than even an adjusted version of Hamels’ would, and he would still likely cost significantly less.

The Twins are legit. There’s no doubt about it. But the question is whether or not we will still be talking about them in August and September. That answer to that is in the hands of Terry Ryan.