As every single user of Twins Daily is aware, the Twins are in a state of despair in nearly every facet baseball. Over the next several weeks, I will be posting steps that need to be taken in order to fix the Minnesota Twins. Had I started 3 weeks ago, rule number one would have obviously been starting pitching. Recently, however, Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes have both been inked to multi-year deals and another starter could be on the way as early as Thursday or Friday. With Nolasco, Hughes, Correia, and a possible 4th quality starter in the mix, the rotation appears to be solid if not strong in the near future.

Anyway, time to get to the point. I would like to start my "Rules For Fixing the Minnesota Twins".

Rule number 1 for fixing the Minnesota Twins is to keep Oswaldo Arica in the lineup consistently. There has been recent speculation on a possible trade involving Arcia because of the myriad of outfielders that the Twins have in the system currently. As far as I am concerned, any deal that involves Arcia is a mistake. The Twins need power in the lineup, a guy with as much raw power as Arcia is hard to find. While Arcia certainly has some plate discipline and pitch selection issues to work out, he showed some very advanced hitting skills for such a young kid last season.

Arcia Analysis

Positive:

A. Abundant raw power

B. Ability to drive the ball

C. Young and full of potential

D. Very good low-ball hitter

Negative:

A. Too many swings and misses (though the whole team is that way)

B. Trouble with breaking pitches

C. Impatient

D. Can not hit high fastballs, only low balls

E. Sucker for breaking pitches low in the zone that break out of the zone, much like Cuddyer was.

Stay tuned, as I will have another rule within the next few days.