Twins roster a work in progress (and it's tough to be patient)

What do we want?

Change! (The right change)

When do we want it?

Now! (If not yesterday)

It's tough not to be impatient.

The Twins left the Winter Meetings without enhancing their roster for 2014, which shouldn't mean a whole lot because of the way that baseball has changed. It used to be that the Winter Meetings typically resulted in a flurry of trades and other moves, and then baseball pretty much slowed down for the holidays. It's not like that now.

It was pretty clear that some of the Twins' presumed targets aren't feeling any rush to decide where they'll be playing next season. That the main public drama playing out for the Twins this week centered on whether they would re-sign Mike Pelfrey tells you a lot about how unsettled the really big issues are right now. I know the Twins felt they were bringing in a veteran presence when they signed Pelfrey last season, and I was predisposed to root for him, but the truth is that even billing him as a No. 4 starter heading into spring training is a stretch.

But in a rotation that has Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes and Kevin Correia as locks for the top three spots right now, Pelfrey feels like he should merely be in the mix for one of the final spots, an uncomfortable fallback if the Twins fail to bring in one of the bigger names who are still weighing their options. (Matt Garza, Bronson Arroyo and Ervin Santana.)

In a better Twins world, Correia comes to spring training in Fort Myers as the No. 4 starter with competition wide open for the final spot among Pelfrey and the others, which is better than filling the rotation by default and prayer. (Hello, Vance Worley, Liam Hendriks and others.)

I also don't want to believe that the amount of Pelfrey chatter is an indication that the Twins aren't really serious contenders for the others. (I'm smart enough about these things to know how much I don't know.) It also shouldn't obscure the fact that, as Terry Ryan has pointed out, the roster still needs to be upgraded in other areas. Making assumptions about Josmil Pinto's ability to be the starting catcher is unwise and there are outfield needs in the short term that were made clearer when the Twins tried unsuccessfully to sign the speedy-but-flawed Rajai Davis. (Cutting a minor-league deal with Jason Kubel does nothing for the notion that the Twins need outfielders who can catch the ball.)

I'm struck by the direction that the New York Mets appear to be taking this off-season. After finishing 22 games behind the division leaders in the National League East last season, they have signed Curtis Granderson and Bartolo Colon. They are still a flawed team, but a flawed team that is hovering around the .500 mark come August can position itself to be in the postseason discussion in baseball's expanded playoffs.

That's what I want from the Twins in 2014, to be in the postseason discussion come late summer rather than careening toward another season when we wonder whether they'll be closer to losing 90 games or 100. Yes, "playoff discussion" is weak soup compared to our expectations from a few years back. But an equation of improved roster + improved performance + a surprise or two should be able to yield some excitement that's been lacking from Target Field for the last three years.