Believe it or not, yesterday was a big day for the Minnesota Twins.  No, the Twins did not make top story on ESPN by trading their ace Johan Santana.  The Twins made a small move that I believe will help them (at least offensively) next season.  Yesterday was the final day to either sign or release former Cubs and Tigers outfielder Craig Monroe.  The key to this deal was that the Twins needed Craig to take a pay cut from the salary that he was making last year with the Cubbies. 

Monroe agreed to a one year deal worth 3.82 million.  You can read more about it here.

This is was a good move for the Twins for several reasons.  The first is that the Twins now have 4 outfielders vying for 3 spots.  While this might not sound all that good, think of the positives.  We’re pretty certain that newly acquired outfielder Delmon Young will be playing Left Field (or possibly center — due to his good range and laser rocket arm).  Cuddy has been cemented in right field.  Left field will likely be platooned by both Monroe and Kubel.  Both Kubel and Monroe have had their ups and downs.  Monroe was unstoppable in 2006 but had a miserable time of it in 2007.  Kubel has shown flashes of brilliance but then has also looked much like the coal that i’ll be receiving for Christmas.  With those two guys platooning Left field that will leave one to play DH while the other is in the field.  Both will get a bunch of at-bats and this will effectively remove us from the days of Jason Tyner or Lew Ford acting as our DH. 

Some naysayers will poo-poo the idea that Monroe will be able to contribute.  They will point to his last seasons numbers where he batted .219 with 12 homeruns and a mere 59 RBIs.  Maybe i’m not expecting too much out of our DH position but I’d be tickled pink with 12 homeruns from that position.  If we can get a glimpse of Monroe in the 2006 season I think that we might be happy to have him on our roster.