Brock Beauchamp

If Kevin Correia is a #3, a lot has changed in the league in the past two months (ie. half the league contracted smallpox and died).

Even still you're talking about our likely 7th and 8th hitters in the lineup. As Puck rightly points out, there is a lot of questions about the table setting as well. Sure, but I think Parmelee and Plouffe will have more of an impact offensively. If the table setting sucks (and there's a good chance it will), then Plouffe and Parmelee will be the guys driving in Mauer, Morneau, and Willingham (aka. the guys who don't suck). A lot will depend on if those two are .700 OPS (or worse) players or .800 OPS players.

No doubt. But then we are back to 2013 and 2014 being more about 2015 than any actual attempt to contend or get better. 2013 doesn't look better than 2012, one could argue it looks worse. Well, I'd argue that it all depends on how the kids play. Is Parmelee Justin's replacement? Will the real Trevor Plouffe please stand up? Most of the offensive issues revolve those two questions, in my opinion.

No, it doesn't. San Diego is notorious for its not-balmy 70 degree game time.

Exactly. We can talk about the pitching being moderately better, but has anyone looked at the potential lineup and the players at high risk for regressions? It ain't pretty. Oh, the offense might be bad, no doubt about it. On the other hand, they need to let the kids play to see what they have going forward.

What browser are you using? Also, clear your browser cache. The latest comments and What's New? work fine for me.

Therein lies the problem. The Twins might not have one stand-out defender on the field this year, having just dealt away their two best gloves. You underestimate the Maestro.

Right now, payroll is not the limiting factor for the Twins. They're wellllllll under their 2012 payroll number. which was wellllllll under their 2011 payroll number. All signs seem to indicate payroll IS a limiting factor, and that 2013's payroll will be welllllll under 2012. At this rate, by 2014, we could be back to dome numbers. But hey, I've been told payroll doesn't matter, so what the heck. And if the Twins do that, I'll be the first in line with a torch and pitchfork in hand. But until that happens, I'm not going to speculate wildly. The drop in payroll after 2011 was a given; the team went from receiving revenue sharing to paying into the system, a swing of thirty million dollars.

Scott Diamond makes $500k, many here expect regression from him, he pitched 2012 in the AL, and he still posted a FiP half a run lower than Correira. Oh yeah, and he's not 32.

That's dubious, at best. No centerfielder, no leadoff hitter. No additions to the middle infield. Nothing significant added to a very shallow bullpen that will likely be hard pressed to match last year's mediocrity. Outside of the rotation, the Twins were about as healthy as could be expected in 2012. The only 2012 starter who performed at a major league level is a pretty good candidate for some serious regression. The only additions of note are Correia, and coming-off-elbow-surgery Worley. Gibson may or may not be ready, and/or healthy enough to take a rotation spot for part of the season, and if he does, succeed. Hendrics has done little to give one much optomisim. I think there's a much stronger argument to be made that right now, the 2013 Twins are most likely several games worse than the 2012 Twins. I think you're underestimating just how bad the starting rotation was in 2012. The rotation was 29th in baseball in ERA while the bullpen was 17th in ERA while pitching the third most innings. Stabilize that rotation at all and you're looking at a much better overall ERA because so many of those bullpen innings won't be going to the Jeff Grays of the world, dragging down the bullpen ERA. This team is still bad, there's not doubt about it. But I'd wager that just the Worley acquisition makes them slightly better overall (and there's a chance Correia contributes something, though I wouldn't bet on it). The offense has certainly taken a knock and while some guys are due to regress, there's also room for improvement in some areas (a full season of Parmelee vs. Revere, Morneau continuing to adjust, etc.). I don't buy into the argument that they're actually worse. The pitching staff, particularly in the first half of 2012, was historically terrible.

That's fine with me. Just so long as you don't post a substantial portion of the interview (say, a page), I'm cool with posting fragments relevant to the conversation at hand.

Surprisingly, only 12 of those strikeouts came against pitchers. Even pitchers can make contact on this guy.

Ryan has never been in this position before. He's never had much more than $10m to patch together a team in the offseason. While we all know he skews on the cheap side of the spectrum, there's no reason to think he was going to be this cheap. He has at least $20m to spend, probably more like $25-30m to spend. There's just no excuse for this type of signing unless he is still in the market for one of the decent arms on the market. And after this signing, I'm incredibly skeptical that he's going to make a splash. My guess, and it's only a guess, is that Ryan isn't willing to give the years to guys like Dempster, Marcum etc. The annual salary probably isn't a problem. Then he's not going to get a pitcher to improve the team. That's all there is to it. In this market, you can't be afraid of a three year contract or you're not going to get anyone. And given that the Twins' payroll will actually decrease next season after Morneau is gone, it's not as if a 3 year deal is going to kill the franchise.

Ryan has never been in this position before. He's never had much more than $10m to patch together a team in the offseason. While we all know he skews on the cheap side of the spectrum, there's no reason to think he was going to be this cheap. He has at least $20m to spend, probably more like $25-30m to spend. There's just no excuse for this type of signing unless he is still in the market for one of the decent arms on the market. And after this signing, I'm incredibly skeptical that he's going to make a splash.

*cough*Detroit Tigers*cough* Well you got me there. At least their GM understands pitch-to-contact arms don't work well with a terrible defense and employ four starters with a K/9 of +7.5. Fair enough. Right now, the 2013 Twins are still probably a better team than the 2012 Twins... By one or two games. Sigh. I don't understand what Ryan was thinking with this "acquisition".

Is Kevin Correia actually Jason Marquis? I'm looking through their stat lines and they're basically the exact same guy. What on earth is Ryan thinking?

I like this Nick Nelson alot. He's a lot better than the other one who recently bestowed Sainthood on the Twins' GM. Nick has never been afraid to take issue with the front office. He, like me, prefers to wait until they actually do something before complaining about theoreticals. And this was a bad move. Unfortunate, given that Ryan had just made one good move and one stellar move in the previous two weeks.

*cough*Detroit Tigers*cough*

Can I get any props please? You can get a kick in the balls for predicting something so awful that actually came true.

Right now, payroll is not the limiting factor for the Twins. They're wellllllll under their 2012 payroll number.

I... I... Just... COME ON, JR. This is awful. You have $25m to spend and you dump $5m into Kevin ****ing Correa? COME ON.

Aren't you the same guy who thought the Twins could get James Shields for Dernard Span and BJ Hermsen? That should have been the going rate. One can't predict that another team will step in make a really stupid offer.

Is 6:30am too early to start drinking or to late to stop?

I wish I had a powdered wig and a walking cane because if I did, I'd be pounding the cane on the ground shouting "Hear, Hear!" in response to this article.

Also note that those two guys went to the #1 and #2 payrolls in baseball when they signed.