Twins General Manager Bill Smith finally made some moves. Some of which were needed for 15 months and some since June. He acquired a past-his-prime shortstop in Orlando Cabrera and an injury prone starting pitcher in Carl Pavano. Folks, it’s too little, too late.

Carl Pavano does provide another capable starter. He also had to pass through waivers which means other teams lower in standings were not willing to take a chance on him. I believe he is a good addition, but think of this: What if the Twins had already added a capable starter, what an additional boost Pavano would have been.

Orlando Cabrera has to be classified as a poorer fielding Nick Punto who can hit, or conversely, a better fielding Brendan Harris. Essentially what has happened is that Cabrera has replaced Harris in the lineup. That seems to be a slight upgrade, for Cabrera is a better fielding shortstop who will hit just as well as Harris. However it moves Punto or Casilla to second base where they can continue their good field, no-hit game. The newcomers are a far cry from solving the Twins’ problems.

It has been terribly frustrating to watch two of the best five players in the American League in Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau play their hearts out and not have the front office add the missing pieces to make the team a strong contender. It wouldn’t have taken much to transform the Twins into the equal of the Red Sox and Yankees and be the winner of the Central Division.

The lack of action by the Twins got me wondering why they didn’t make a move. What was? It didn’t seem to be money. They could have had a good starting middle infielder and starting pitcher early on for a couple of good prospects and a few bucks. Yet, they didn’t make a move.

Why? Was there some long range plan that we were unaware of?

Smith kept saying they couldn’t give up minor league prospects. Why not? The Tigers and the White Sox both got excellent starting pitchers for not very much. They didn’t come close to badly hurting their future.

Smith kept saying No. No, he couldn’t give up his minor leaguers. Was it all propaganda? You know when Joseph Goebbels kept telling the German citizens that the allied bombing was just temporary. A big lie! I was brought back to a few years ago when the late Carl Pohlad threatened to move the team to North Carolina. It was not true. He had no intention of moving them and was just trying to get a stadium built. Well, Smith, the Twins have the stadium and there is no more need to cry poor and not build a contending team.

I thought maybe Smith has a master plan and while he wouldn’t stand in the way of the 2009 Twins, the emphasis would be put on the 2010 team and the opening of Target Stadium, that the Twins would then spend money lavishly, sign Mauer to a five-year contract, find a middle infielder with both hitting and fielding ability and sign a dominant starter.

Maybe Smith has a long range plan, but my feeling is that if you have a chance to be a pennant winner you seize it. Many things could happen to hurt the Twins for the next year including injuries, dissension on the team, or even manager Ron Gardenhire quitting in disgust.

The rest of the season has to play out, but we will know that if Smith is really active during the post season meeting with the other general managers, perhaps he did have a 2010 scenario in mind.