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Twins infield looking familiar

Bruce Bisping, Star Tribune

The Twins could platoon Brian Buscher (shown) with Brendan Harris at third base in 2009. General Manager Bill Smith says potential deals to improve the infield — so far — haven’t been worth the cost.

Ty Wigginton is the latest veteran to hit the free-agent market, but is seeking more than the Twins will pay.

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: December 17, 2008 - 7:37 AM

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The Twins hoped to upgrade offensively somewhere in the infield this offseason, yet so far, all they have done is re-sign free agent Nick Punto.

Apparently, Ty Wigginton isn't their answer, either.

Wigginton, 31, hit the free-agent market Friday, when he was non-tendered by the Astros. He hit .285 with 23 homers and 58 RBI last season in 111 games, but Houston didn't want to give him a raise from $4.35 million to about $7 million in arbitration.

The Twins like Wigginton but believe he's looking for a bigger contract than the three-year, $17.5 million deal the Los Angeles Dodgers gave Casey Blake. So the Twins have had little to no dialogue with Wigginton's agent, Dan Lozano.

The Twins view Wigginton as an average defensive third baseman, at best, whose line-drive swing was perfect for Minute Maid Park, with its short porch in left field. He batted .343 with 15 home runs at home last year and .234 with eight homers on the road.

With the free-agent market drying up and teams asking for large returns in trades, it looks more and more like the Twins will be counting on a Brian Buscher/Brendan Harris platoon at third base.

"We like this team; we're always willing to upgrade," Twins General Manager Bill Smith said Tuesday.

The Twins haven't lost hope of prying infielder Mark DeRosa from the Cubs, but they have hit dead ends in their pursuit of Colorado's Garrett Atkins and Seattle's Adrian Beltre.

"We looked at a lot of deals," Smith said. "In most cases, we decided it wasn't worth what we were going to have to give up."

With Punto back in the fold, Smith noted, the Twins basically have the same team they had as they closed an 88-75 season.

"The club itself is better than it was a year ago [heading into spring training]," Smith said. "We have a number of players that we think will be better in 2009 than they were in 2008.

"[Michael] Cuddyer's going to be better. We have to keep him healthy. I believe [Carlos] Gomez is going to be better with a year under his belt. I believe Delmon Young is going to be better.

"Now, some of our young players who came up and did well -- I hope they all improve, but they're going to have challenges to repeat what they did last year. We have high hopes for [Alexi] Casilla, Buscher, [Denard] Span and [Jose] Mijares."

Interest in Lyon

The bullpen remains a concern. With Pat Neshek lost to elbow surgery, the Twins have All-Star closer Joe Nathan and several question marks, including Mijares, Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, Craig Breslow, Boof Bonser and Philip Humber.

The Twins have expressed interest in free-agent reliever Brandon Lyon, though like other teams, they seem to be waiting for his market to form.

"I believe the next closer to sign will be [Brian] Fuentes," said Lyon's agent, Barry Meister. "After that, the reliever market will sort itself out."

Lyon, 29, began 2008 as Arizona's closer but lost that job, finishing 3-5 with 26 saves and a 4.70 ERA. The righthander is not overpowering -- he has 262 strikeouts in 416 career innings -- but does have experience working the late innings.

"We would love to have an experienced setup guy," Smith said. "We've had talks with a number of free agents, and we'll continue to explore trade opportunities.

"We're willing to take some risk, and we've got payroll [room], but the cost -- either in salary or players -- has to be somewhat reasonable."

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