Bill Smith's second winter as Twins general manager figures to be much quieter than his first.
Just two months after being handed the job by his longtime friend Terry Ryan, Smith became the most-watched GM in baseball, taking three months to settle on a trade with the Mets for Johan Santana. He also rewarded Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer and Joe Nathan with rich long-term contracts, and acquired outfielder Delmon Young in a deal for Matt Garza. After an 88-win season left the Twins one victory short of the postseason, however, Smith's to-do list is much shorter this year.
"We like our core group. We're in good shape in a lot of places, particularly with our starting pitching," said Smith, who has assembled a quintet of starters all under 27 years old, four of whom won 11 games or more. "And we don't have any drastic contract issues this year. So we're positioned pretty well right now."
Plenty of attention has been focused on the Garza trade this month, after the right-hander won two AL Championship Series games for the Rays and was named MVP of the series. That trade, which also involved four other players changing teams, "has worked out well for the Rays, you would have to say -- look where they are," Smith told the Star Tribune. "And I think it's probably still a work in progress for us. I don't think we saw the best of Delmon Young."
Young batted .290 with 10 home runs and 69 RBIs, and all of the home runs came after June 10.
"He hasn't hit a lot of home runs, but he's got tremendous raw power," Smith said. "He just turned 23 years old."
