Section 219: The difference between can't and won't

As spring training moves closer, there is unease among many Twins fans -- those who wonder if the roster is going to come from the parts that have been assembled as of the first week in January.

If that's the case, there's definitely reason for concern given the uncertainty about Morneau/Mauer, the shaky status of the pitching staff and a starting outfield that currently includes Michael Cuddyer's replacement (Josh Willingham), a weak-armed speedster (Ben Revere) and another quality player coming back from a head-injury impaired season (Denard Span).

La Velle blogged earlier this week that the payroll will be around $99 million and that the Twins are "out of money."

If the Pohlads are "out of money," that's a pretty good news story.

If they are "out of money" for the Twins portion of their business empire, that's also a pretty interesting development.

I am still choosing to believe there will be improvements to the roster before the season starts. Whether that makes me a naive optimist remains to be seen.

I'm also choosing not to name names right now because this shouldn't be a referendum on whether the Twins should bargain with Roy Oswalt the way they did with Jack Morris before the 1991 season or whether Derrek Lee would either be a fine surrogate for Justin Morneau or a high-quality DH.

Rather, what fans need to know is what ownership and management are willing to do to restore faith after a season that was dreadful beyond most any expectation.

I think the Twins can sell the changes they've made -- Ryan for Smith, Willingham for Cuddyer, Carroll for the shortstop mess, Doumit for Mauer's backup, Jason Marquis added to the collection of midlevel starters -- as improvements over the way things ended up in 2011.

But more needs to be done.

Those of you who are regular readers know this isn't a space where we advocate for spending money on anything that looks interesting. But neither do we buy into the notion that fans shouldn't tell management how to do its business.

Fans are the business, right?

I know the Twins don't want that to pick up where it left off. It would be bad for business.

Based on what you've been hearing, you have the right to wonder whether the Twins will do what's needed to be a championship-caliber club.