Conversely, if you trade away all the valuable veterans, and aim for competitiveness with the young'uns in 2015, you need to go acquire some stopgap talent to bridge 2013-12014, hopefully for not too much money, and good enough that you can keep the fanbase engaged for those two years. We don't want a team of Rule-5 draftees that lose 110 games. A contract/talent combination like Willingham's is exactly what's called for. Wish we could get a few more like him - not all plodding powerhitting outfielders, I mean guys who fit the timetable and have some talent at their respective positions (pitching especially!). They aren't totally easy to find. Guys like Morneau, signed only for 1 year, don't fit that two year bridge, and make sense to shop actively. If we had someone signed for 3+ years who wasn't really great and was blocking a young'un who'll be ready in 2015, likewise, but I don't think anyone other than Mauer is signed multi-year by now, and he's good enough to contribute heavily to a contending team in 2015-16.