rv78

It all comes down to what we've been told verses what they do and they are 2 different things. 1.Re-signing your own players is not adding. 2.Having opponents, especially in your division, (White Sox), ADD more quality players than you do is going backward. 3.The reason for Target Field was to be competitive in the Free Agent market due to the increase in revenue. If we haven't reached the point yet where we can compete for top Free Agents, we never will. Saying we were in the running or wasn't quite enough or they didn't want to come here only means 1 thing, we failed. 4.Not signing Free Agents means you only have 1 option left to get what you need and that is trading. When you trade it costs other players, usually prospects that you are counting on for your future. Which would you do? 1.Keep loads of cash now and trade away your future for an Ace or 2.Spend cash now for a Free Agent Ace, and keep your future intact. Guess we know what they have decided.

Possible/Probable scenarios: White Sox win the Division Twins win a Wild Card Cole to the Yankees = Twins first round loss in the playoffs Front Office decides it really needs to add some real Impact Pitching this time, they don't want to come here. Minnesota fans go into hibernation and don't come back Target Field becomes a ghost town Twins get sold and move to Las Vegas. New team signs 5 top Free Agent Pitchers the first season and win the World Series

This article suggests the Twins will be able to add an arm that will make the difference at the trade deadline next season. (If they are in contention). The ONLY way to do that is to trade. Seems to me that is a limited option you are putting yourself into. Quality Free Agent pitcher after pitcher has gone off the board and still nothing for the rotation. The WhiteSox have made themselves better in the Free Agent market. Lets take a quick look at some of the players the Twins have acquired so far outside of the organization. Pitchers: Tyler Clippard will help the bullpen. Danny Coulombe didn't even play last year and comes as a minor league invitee. Caleb Thielbar hasn't pitched in the big leagues since 2015. WOW this is a reach! Ryan Garton appeared in 2 games for Seattle last year and didn't pitch in the majors in 2018. Another Hope and a Prayer. Blaine Hardy another arm for the bullpen that isn't really an upgrade over what we already have. Matt Wisler has a career ERA over 5. Hello minor leagues. Hitters: Alex Avila replacement for Castro who has a weaker bat than Castro. Jack Reinheimer, Tom Telis, Wilfredo Tovar, Juan Graterol might as well lump all these guys into 1 catagory, YAWN! And there you have it. It probably isn't the entire list but without a ton of research it's what I could find. Hardly significant moves outside of Clippard anywhere. Is Terry Ryan running this team incognito? Feel free to list the WhiteSox signings. I can tell you they have been vastly more impressive and significant. It looks like the Twins are content to STOCK their minor league teams, and not UPGRADE the major league team.

I would like to see Graterol take that step and become as good as Berrios is now. Not sure that he can given the fact the Twins might move him to the bullpen, which I hope they don't cause in the past whenever they do that they never give that guy the chance to go back to being a starter and I think he's too valuable and too talented to use only in the bullpen. Sano would be the 2nd guy I'd choose. I'm hoping he comes into camp in great shape and ready to rock whether he's at 1B or 3B. Buxton would be my #3. A full healthy season is all I wish for. Add to that and if he'd learn to bunt for base hits and steal a base everytime he's on he'd be the other teams nightmare. We don't need him to hit 30+ homeruns. Become the disrupter. Back off just a little on trying to make spectacular catches and keep yourself on the field for the betterment of the team.

They are obviously out of available cash. Signing the big name top free agents will do that.

After reading through all of these posts it is apparent that no one believes the Twins will ever sign a top Free Agent. EVER!! A Cole or Strasburg or Harper or Rendon or anyone that is considered to be "one of the best" is out of reach. If we can't do it now, why would we be able to do it next year? Or the year after that? or EVER? So with that thought in mind, why should we support this team? If the goal is to only be competitive, we are there and we can be disappointed every year, whether the Twins get into the playoffs or not. If the goal is to win another World Series then the mindset must change. Teams that invest in the best players adding them to their already competitive roster will be the winners, not the teams that play it safe and are satisfied with less than the best. Once you show that you will spend the money and sign the best then other Free Agents will start to come as well. Why, Because you have shown you are willing to try to win it all, not just to get there. Until then, the Twins will always be one of the last place destinations for any top free agent.

So no one wants to come to Minnesota in the summertime. Tell me, what can they do in the big market team cities that they can't do in Minnesota? Find a beach somewhere when it is the The Land of 10,000 Lakes. Play golf? Fish? Is the weather that bad during the summer in Minnesota? Still too cold? Is it hotter than Caifornia or the East Coast? Rain too much? What? No one wants to come to the Twins because there is no committment to winning. If I was a Free Agent, such as Nelson Cruz and we were having the best season in Franchise history ever and the Front Office doesn't go out and acquire a top starting Pitcher before the trade deadline I'd be PO'd. Perfect example of no committment, Right? I'm not saying Cruz is PO'd but it sends a message to other players. Gee. why would I want to go there? They had a great season but they never made a move at the trade deadline to better themselves for a playoff run, even when they knew it would greatly improve their chances. Why put myself into that situation? I'll go someplace that isn't afraid to sign the best available and shows they are willing to do the most they can to win. A real contender, not a pretender. If the Twins cannot compete for top Free Agents such as Cole or Strasburg then MLB and the Twins have a problem. MLB needs a Cap. The luxury system doesn't work. The Twins need new ownership. Like someone said in a previous post. The Vikings and the Wild can get top talent and they play during the winter. It's not the location, it's ownership.

Cole and Strasburg are gone. There isn't anything left.

Exactly. Twins fans have been brainwashed by the Twins FO and the local media that they have to spend responsibly. A new stadium with an increase in revenue and we are fed the same ol song and dance BS that they can't spend like the other teams. Every year the Pohlads make millions off the Twins. Would it really hurt them to lose a couple Million for a few years if it produced a Championship? It's not like the Twins are their only source of income. The window is now. The chance is now. 2020 will be 29 years since the 1991 Championship. Isn't that long enough of being cheap and NOT going for it? 29 years of putting money into the pockets of the owners with nothing to show for it. So no impact pitchers want to come to Minnesota to play. Why? Because they aren't committed to winning. Pure plain and simple.

Might as well contract MLB to 6 Teams, Yankees, Red Sox, Braves, Phillies, Angels, Dodgers. Have the other teams play in MLB2. They could be considered AAAA. There is a major problem with $$$ in MLB right now and the only way small market teams can compete is by drafting their own talent. Screw up there and you won't compete for a long time. AND NO, making the playoffs and losing in the 1st round is NOT competing.

"Both Castro and Avila have had two good offensive seasons and one bad in the past three years;" Not sure where you are getting your information but Avila hit .165 in 2018 and .207 in 2019. I would hardly consider either one of those as a good offensive season. He hit .264 in 2017 which might be considered sort of good. Castro hardly qualifies as good offensively either. .242, .143, .232 is below Good. I would go so far as to say they both have had 1 average season offensively in the last 3 years. I wouldn't want either one on my roster. If Castro wasn't good enough to resign then Avila shouldn't have been worth pursuing either.

I would much rather see the Twins sign Ryu than Bumgarner. Ryu is in his prime and could have a breakout season anytime. Bumgarner is past his prime and is starting to regress. As for Bailey and Teheran forget about 'em. Neither one is an improvement over what we had. Remember, they said they were going to go after "Impact Pitching". So far they have gotten ZERO of that. So they offered 100M to Wheeler. Offers don't mean crap if the guy doesn't sign.

I agree with Einheri. It isn't that they love Target Field, they just love facing Twins Pitchers. I like the resigning of Pineda. Gives the Twins their 3 best starters back for next season. However, I'm still waiting for the "Impact Pitchers" we've been told they are going to go after.

Go ahead and say he's making the roster better. I won't believe it until I see it. An old guy that is regressing. Looks like another dumpster dive to me.

So Wheeler is gone... BIG DEAL! There are only 2 big fish in the sea this season and he isn't one of them. Go big or go home!

Always settling for 2nd best will not win you Championships. Sometimes you have to get the best to be the best. Right now Cole is the best. I'll start him against your Wheeler and he'll beat him more often than not. Yankees are going to go after Cole. If they get him and the Twins face 'em in the playoffs who you gonna put your money on? I'd rather have him pitching for me, not against me. Twins have the money. Don't kid yourself.

Yes, best pitcher the Twins had after the all-star game. So far they have made 2 good moves with the rotation. 1)a QO to Odorizzi and 2)letting Gibson go. Now make it 3 and resign BIG Mike. Then do #4 and #5 and get 2 more front line starters to join them. Surprise the fans, and go all in and sign Cole. There won't be an empty seat in Target Field all year if they make that kind of splash. If not, it'll be another woulda coulda shoulda season.

I wish him the best in a Rangers uniform. The Twins gave him every opportunity to succeed. There were occasional flashes of brilliance when he would come out and challenge the hitters, but inbetween those flashes were never ending appearances where he'd nibble himself to death. If there ever was a pitcher that didn't believe he had the "stuff" to get hitters out, he was the guy.

If the objective is to make the Twins better defensively you don't move Sano to 1B. If he doesn't play 3B then he DH's. With Cruz on the roster, Sano is the 3B. Why would his glove or range be better at 1B? He has a cannon for an arm and at 1B that won't be nearly important as it would be at 3B. So in reality you are taking away his best aspect defensively by moving him to 1B. All of these options would be downgrades in my book. We don't need declining 3rd basemen to replace a good defensive player in CJ Cron at 1B. Which is what you are accomplishing.

I could go either way with Cron. I actually thought he performed well defensively at 1st. Especially when healthy. I would much rather have him there than Sano. I really don't like Sano at 3rd either but until Cruz vacates the DH spot, opening that spot for Sano, Sano is a liability on the field no matter where he plays. I can live thru another season with Sano at 3B, Cron at 1B and Cruz at DH. Just improve the PITCHING!

Good article, worth reading. The biggest question...... Can Gray take the next step forward the way Cole did? One can then argue which other pitchers that aren't like Gray can take the next big step forward? So, do you take the gamble on a pitcher like Gray hoping he develops into a Cole or do you take a Cole and not gamble? I say the Twins are at the point where you take the sure thing when the sure thing is available. Become a CONTENDER. Not a PRETENDER.

Who have the Twins found ("The Knack" as you call it) that is like Gerrit Cole? Can only think of 1 guy and that is Johan Santana. I'm guessing that was more LUCK than it was KNACK. They have more of a KNACK at finding guys like Sidney Ponson, Carl Pavano, Matt Capps and Kevin Correia.

In response to your Generics verses Brand Names idea of thinking..... Most of the time the Generics are not as good of quality as the Brand Names. There is a reason why they are cheaper. I once worked at a milk plant where they made ice cream and cottage cheese. Both products were cheapened up for the lesser known brands including Generics by adding air and cheaper ingredients. In reality, using this analogy only shows you know nothing about the difference between Generics and Brand Name products. Sorry, but 99 times out of 100 you'll get what you pay for. My educated guess is that the $5.99 detergent will get your dishes cleaner without using as much product as the one that costs $3.69. If you take this rediculous analogy one step farther then we can argue that dumpster diving for the bottom of the talent pool will win you Championships. WOW!

Keep our prospects. Sign Rendon at 3B and Cron at 1B. Trade Sano, Buxton, Rosario and Polonco for Pitching. Move Kepler to CF. Bring up Kirilloff and Larnach to play LF and RF and Lewis to play SS. Pitching wins Championships. What did the HR record get us anyway. Not a Championship! The juiced ball will slowly go away and this team, the way it is, has a hard time manufacturing runs without the long ball.

All boils down to one thing. Will the Twins spend the money on top Free Agents. Again, I remind you and everyone else out there. The reason Target Field was built was to add revenue so this organization could be competitive in the Free Agent market. We do not have to trade anyone if they spend the money on Free Agents. Cole, Strasburg(maybe), Ryu, Wheeler, Bumgarner, Gonzalez, Hamels, Keuchel are all possibilities that would improve the rotation. Time for the new Stadium to pay for itself and the Pohlads to put their money where their mouth is!