1. The Twins wanted the cheapest "proven closer" out there. Many things about this are preposterous, but this means that they are paying about 1-1.5 million more than the other viable (and a few of them, better) relievers on the market, but none of those guys are "proven closers" (Dotel, Hawkins, Coffey).
2. The Twins are being very loyal. They love Matt Capps and he is a great guy. So they wanted him around for that reason.
3. The Twins don't care about having a bunch of draft picks in this draft. Consider the first two rounds of the 2012 draft. With the normal two picks, the one coming for Capps, the one coming for Kubel, and the two coming for Cuddyer, the Twins could have had 6 of the top 60-65 picks (depending on how big that supplemental round will be). I suspect that the Twins are going to end up with only three of them now. Maybe this is a financial decision.
4. The Twins are serious about the recent bullpen arms they have added (Gray, Maloney, Burton, Vasquez, etc.).
The trading of Kevin Slowey was inevitable after a *ridiculous* year last year. There is no reason whatsoever to have Nick Blackburn starting instead of Slowey. Slowey fell victim to a dumb contract given out of the blue to a 6th starter in Blackburn. The treatment from Souhan and Blyleven, etc., was appalling. What a disgrace. Souhan is a total joke on every level, and Blyleven needs to find a new job. I wish Kevin the best in Colorado.
Cuddyer will be a Twin next year. The market fell out and no one else wants him. They know that Cuddyer is due for an average year. It's unfortunate that Cuddyer is coming back, but I don't know if I trust the Twins to properly replace him anyway (Derrek Lee and Andruw Jones/Jonny Gomes on one year deals with option years). A three-year deal is a problem. I think that it should be clear now that players like Rene Tosoni, Chris Parmelee, Joe Benson, and even Ben Revere could be playing this year to show potential and to develop serious trade value.
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