Bill Smith Minnesota Twins GM 2008 off-season to end of 2009 season

1. Signed Bobby Keppel. Bobby Keppel was replacement level with an ERA+ of 91.  He won game 163 over the Tigers.  Grade: C
2. Signed Sean Henn- pitched 14 games with an ERA of 7.15. Later sent to the Baltimore Orioles as part of a conditional deal. Grade: N/A (not really an imortant deal)
3. Signed R.A. Dickey-pitched 35 games with a WAR of 0.3 and an ERA+ of 95.  He was basically what you would expect from a AAAA player who had to pitch.  Grade: C.
4. Signed Joe Crede- He stepped into the black hole that has been the Twins 3B position over the last few years.  He produced a WAR of 1.6 with an OPS+ of 83.  He was the best third basemen besides Danny Valencia over the last five years.  I enjoyed watching him play. Grade: B+ (because I can).
5. Traded Tyler Ladendorf for Orlando Cabrera.  Ladendorf is not exactly the best prospect but he is in AA right now (2011 season) his OPS's have been pretty low.  He appears to be more of a speed guy as he has 35 career stolen bases in the minor leagues while only being caught 8 times.  Cabrera produced a .289/.313/.450 in the games he played with the Twins.  His WAR with the Twins was 0.3, which wasn't too bad.  I thought he did better than he really did. Grade: B
6. Traded Yohan Pino for Carl Pavano.  Pino is a 27 year old who has never appeared in the Majors.  Pavano's WAR was 0.8 with the Twins, he had a 95 ERA+ and won 5 games.  Bill Smith clearly won this trade and Pavano was totally worth a 27 year old player who has not appeared in the Major Leagues.
7. Traded Kevin Mulvey for Jon Rauch. YAY! Kevin Mulvey who was acquired in the Johan Santana was being traded to get a middling relief pitcher in Jon Rauch.  Rauch actually did pretty well while with the Twins. Grade: B
8. Signed Ron Mahay as a free agent. Mahay did alright with the Twins producing a 0.2 WAR slightly above what a random player signed would do.  Mahay produced slightly above replacement level.  Grade: C+
Off-season 2008 to end of season 2009 Grade: C+.
Best Acquisition: Joe Crede
Notes: Didn't do anything too major, just a series of small moves that added up.  The Twins won the division in 163 games against the Tigers.  He usually does pretty well when he's adding smaller parts to the team instead of making major deals (i.e. The Delmon Young fiasco, The Johan Santana trade).