How does Brandon Webb grab you ending up as the "Big FA Acquisition"?

[johnnydakota]

Clete Thomas part 2 would be why.

 

Good numbers in AA and AAA last year, can play all 3 outfield positions

He would be used to challenge benson as our 4th outfielder, is that a bad thing?

With his age he shouldnt cost to much , Morales or Salcedo maybe

[johnnydakota]

OK, time for a rant. What would everybody have the Twins do? Trade Benson and Deduno for Price? Sign Grienke for $10M per year? The team has a serious deficit in major league arms--they really can't afford to trade as much as other teams to get young promising major-league ready pitchers. Failing to get top pitchers and top prospects they are shopping in the clearance aisle. If they can find someone there, great. You can argue that the Twins could go after the top-shelf talent, but I don't know if they can compete with the Angels, Dodgers, Yanks, and Sawks. Besides, I don't think the results are positive for the kind of investment made in the Pujolses, Hamiltons, and Grienkes of the world.

 

Just look at how many season ticket sold after the signing and merchandice jersys and such? You get what you pay for,if you want a steaming pile of horse ploop, then you sign the bottom players, if you want assets that can later be traded for quality prospect you sign upper tier players..

[johnnydakota]

Ha!

 

Zumaya didn't work out, but it was still a smart signing. The guaranteed money thing was the reason he chose the Twins.

 

I think most of us thought Zumy was probally going to blow up in our faces, but it was a good signing...

If webb has anything left offer him 5-800,000 plus incentives. if not it just goes back into the owners pocket

[Rosterman]

Good numbers in AA and AAA last year, can play all 3 outfield positions

He would be used to challenge benson as our 4th outfielder, is that a bad thing?

With his age he shouldnt cost to much , Morales or Salcedo maybe

 

Has he resigned with someone. Thought Clete was still just a free agent looking for a job.

[jokin]

The consensus within the TD community was that the Zumaya signing was a good idea. It didn't work out. Apparently we were wrong.

 

Zumaya was one season out of baseball, not four, like Webb. It cost Ryan approximately $.5M to find out in 13 BP pitches in March of 2011 that Zumaya didn't have it, as he hurt his arm once again. Cost of doing business, but that cost and the Marquis $3M debacle dollars could have been used towards signing one of the numerous FAs SPs for just a little bit more, a far greater signing value- with a much higher chance for flipping at the deadline. Quality, people, not quantity. Again, Vargas was placed on waivers in late August and Ryan wouldn't budge. (Actually quality AND quantity is the proper way out of this, but that apparently is too expensive a strategy for the Twins' tastes)

 

Webb's prospect for a comeback is infinitely lower than the Zumaya infinitesimal "lottery ticket" chance of success. Sure the Twins should look at every option, and it would likely be the top Twins story of 2013 if Webb could come back above a shadow of his old self. It's one thing to take a calculated risk to sign a Burton to pitch out of the pen, but this is grasping at soggy straws in order to somehow find a way to fill out the Starting Rotation on the cheap, this is just a cut-rate version of Ponson y Hernandez wheel-spinning, trying to re-capture lightning-in-a-bottle-redux, and we all know it. Many have commented that this signing would be fine, as long as there is a Plan B. Unfortunately, we all know that "Plan B" is what you saw in 2012. Get ready for more of the Killer "D"-squad (DeVries, Duensing, Deduno) to come to the rescue, yet again.

[jokin]

Right. And jokin, you of course would refrain from ripping on Ryan. Right.

 

Of course a team in as desperate a situation as the Twins should kick the tires. I'm not against it at all and will congratulate Ryan on his acumen if ti works out at all. It still doesn't change the fact that the Twins are desperate and apparently unwilling/unable to follow through with other strategies involving signings that would result in more predictable and possibly more beneficial outcomes that necessarily involve spending more money to seek a higher rate of return on that money.

 

Funny, that no one is adressing that particular aspect of risk/reward ratio?

[BBWriterMan]

I don't think Webb has a ton of upside at this point, but in the position the Twins are in they have to pursue every avenue to find pitching.

[one_eyed_jack]

Of course a team in as desperate a situation as the Twins should kick the tires. I'm not against it at all and will congratulate Ryan on his acumen if ti works out at all. It still doesn't change the fact that the Twins are desperate and apparently unwilling/unable to follow through with other strategies involving signings that would result in more predictable and possibly more beneficial outcomes that necessarily involve spending more money to seek a higher rate of return on that money.

 

Funny, that no one is adressing that particular aspect of risk/reward ratio?

 

---Well, I'm not sure it was clear from your original post that's what you were expecting to be addressed. So what would you have liked to see Ryan do, jokin? Give us some names and numbers.

 

Should he have outbid the Tigers for Sanchez? Gone after Blanton or Dempster? Should be chasing E-Jax?

 

Would you have supported him doing what Toronto did and trading young talent for Buerhle and/or Dickey?

 

I'm curious because it seems to me you've been a pretty vocal opponent of Mauer's contract, and consider him to be grossly overpaid. Yet now it seems like you're all over Ryan for not overpaying other guys.

[panolo]

I am kind of surprised so many comments and no reference to the Joel Zumaya signing last season. Everyone should recall how great the went for the Twins. More money wasted by the Twins...

 

LOL! You seem to think they spent $5mil on him. If it went good and he stayed healthy you would have been slobbering over your monitor on how great a deal it was. If you don't think they would take a $850k risk like that year in and year out you are crazy. Probably was covered by insurance anyways.