Bark's Lounge

Incomplete Voltron – 2013 Twins and Beyond Now that I am living in Kagoshima, Japan, I have been enjoying myself – it has been quite an adventure and a culture shock. I have procured a job at a Burger King, working as a greeter dressed up as the “Burger King”. I have had better jobs in my lifetime, but overall it has been a pretty good experience. The customers have some nicknames for me, which is touching. They call me “Okuraseru” and “Akushū o hanatsu”. It is nice to feel loved and appreciated by this honorable and glorious society. I have been running into a lot of Voltron cartoons from the 1980’s. Before the last month, It has been probably 25 years since I had last seen an episode of Voltron. Being that I am in Japan and do not know Japanese, I have no idea what anyone is saying and that makes it sort of fun. Watching these Voltron episodes makes me think about the Minnesota Twins. In most Voltron episodes (using the Golion Team as an example), after enduring some touch and go battles with their nemesis, the Humanoid piloted Lion robots combine to form Voltron and save the day. Lance manned the Red Lion and Pidge manned the Green Lion. The Red and Green Lions were the arms of Voltron. If the Twins were to be compared to the Golion Voltron, they would be armless, they are without a pilot to man the Red and Green Lion. I would imagine that Zach Greinke, Anibal Sanchez or Shaun Marcum could pilot the Red or Green Lion, but they most probably have other destinations. Trades could also bring home some able pilots – such as James Shields, Jeremy Hellickson, Kris Medlen, Mike Minor or Matt Moore, but these trades would lead to us to probably having to trade one of the the pilots of the Black, Blue and Yellow Lion… thus making the Twin’s Voltron unable to form. The next three seasons for the Twin’s Voltron do not look promising. I suspect it will be 2-3 awful seasons of episodes and hopefully in the 3rd or 4th season some new recruits will have what it takes to pilot the Red and Green Lion. Sayonara, Bark’s Lounge

2013 - Morneau will bat .317, hit 37 HR's with 113 RBI's. The Twins will in turn sign him to a 3 year 45M contract with a 18m team option 4th year... Hip-Hip Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If the Twins sign Brett Myers, to me it would be a much better signing than Jason Marquis. If Myers fails as a starter, he has proven he can be an effective reliever, unlike Marquis. On the opposite side of the coin he has pitched mostly in the Senior Circuit and he could suck to the utmost degree in the AL (disregarding his okay 2 months with the White Sox this past summer). All of what I have just written is probably all for not. If Jeremy Guthrie can get 25M over 3 years, I would guess that some team will pay him 11-14M over 2 years. Will that team be the Twins? Do you want that team to be the Twins? My prediction is that he signs elsewhere @ 13M over 2 years.

Hey PFH. Top Notch, Top Notch! Except for have a great holiday weekend - that is all I have to say.

I do not care about T-Hunt's Legacy. He will be remembered as a very good player, with his defense being his calling card. Certainly no chance in hell of Torii getting into the HOF. I will say this though - Mr. Hunter has an uncanny knack for getting ridiculously overpayed. I do not know if it is good karma from his present life or a past life but whatever the hell it is... it is working... and working very, very well.

Today, I feel like my glass is half full and optimism flows through my veins. My gut tells me all of our top prospects will progress, the worse case scenario is no progress, but no regression. I will say this - it would be awful if Kyle Gibson is 2013's Joe Benson. That would not only be a crowbar to the rib cage - it would also be a stake through the heart, destroying the hopes of having a pitching prospect that can help in the present time or near future.

Congratulations to the Argonauts! I must admit - it is a little disappointing Toronto didn't acquire Giancarlo also.

I am sorry you had to be the Harbinger of this bad news. Maybe now we can move on to how Stephen Strasburg is pissed off at the Nats for shutting him down in early September and how we can trade Denard Span for him... the Nats are always seemingly in the market for a Center fielder ya know!

Thanks BGB! Viva Chipper Jones!

I think a crystal ball would be the answer. Since I own a few of them - I'll brief you on how to use it. All you have to do is burn some sage, put on some comfy clothes, meditate for around 10 minutes, make sure the insides of your hands are warm - not cold and clammy and vigorously rub the crystal ball with your hands (palms down). After a minute or so the answers to the questions that are filling your mind will appear within an illuminated crimson haze inside the crystal ball. Trust me it works. My crystal ball bestowed unto me the knowledge that Rosario will stay at 2nd base and will become more than serviceable at that position. I hope this helps!

Unless you could get him for a case of Miller High Life and some Banana flavored Laffy Taffy - I think I would have to pass.

If TD participants have knowledge of Bauer being a head case, wouldn't the MLB community be aware of this also. It seems like it would be in Arizona's best interest to hold on to him and try to fix the mess in his noggin. With the information being shared on this thread, why would any organization trade their top notch prospects to AZ for Bauer.... this smells like a buy low situation.

Below average at best? Plenty of those players are perfectly fine players and possibly a better gamble if you believe Span is somehow going to land you a gem. That kind of pricetag is going to quickly steer people to Gomez, Bourjos, Gutierrez, etc that have bargain written all over them as buy-low options. We're exaggerating a bit here to believe that Span is somehow a shining beacon of value among this group. He should be in the upper half but hold your horses if you think you're going to put the screws to anyone over him. You can hope to push a bidding war, but that's only going to go so far given the problems with Span. (Concussions, lack of impactful speed, limited home run power) He's got plenty of pluses to his game, but he's not a star. He's a roleplayer, let's keep our expectations sane here. Well put. I like Span a lot - but like you said his health and overall skill package are not going to fetch you a GREAT prospect. I have made my peace with the Twins probably trading Span this offseason - hopefully they can acquire a young player who can help in a somewhat significant way now, but more importantly post 2013 - and I don't necessarily think it will be a pitcher (hopefully it is). We'll see what happens - but if he is traded, I predict there will be some bummed out Twins fans for a few days in regards to what the Twins returns will be.

Depends on where you're looking... CF Trade market is fairly deep, though weak at the top, highlighted by Span and Dexter Fowler most likely, and with a few guys like Lorenzo Cain, Carlos Gomez, Craig Gentry, Peter Bourjos, Gerardo Parra, Franklin Gutierrez, Wil Venable, and more that could be available depending on free agent signings. CF Free agent market is okay, though: Michael Bourn, BJ Upton, Angel Pagan, and Shane Victorino along with a collection of guys who could be non-tendered and guys who may or may not work in center defensively like a Josh Hamilton, Ichiro Suzuki, Juan Pierre, or Grady Sizemore. You realize that the only two available via trade that aren't below average (at best) are Span and Fowler, and I'm not sure if Fowler is even on the block. Ichiro and Pierre are not major league starting CF's at this point. Fowler's been strongly rumored in a move for pitching as the Rockies have some depth at the position ready to hit the majors (he's also a Georgia boy, so there's some ties that could lead to stronger interest by the Braves in Fowler than Span). However, note that other than Span and Fowler, I listed that the rest of that list COULD be available, not that they all were. As far as Pierre and Ichiro in CF, I wouldn't want them in CF for a team I was rooting for, for sure, but I could absolutely see some team thinking they could strike one last nugget of gold out of those guys in that position. BGB - Who do you like better Bourn or Span? Their stats are fairly comparable - the exception being that Bourn plays a lot more, steals more bases and K's a lot more. Also, what are some realistic scenarios you would like to see play out for ATL this offseason. I like the Braves from afar and am curious to read your opinion and insight. To everyone else Sorry for getting off point regarding this thread.

Oh, so that's how it is. Herbert Hoover was the presiding president when the United States fell into the Great Depression - it was all his fault. Bob Feller is um, uh... um, uh... overrated and Slip Knot is one of the worst music groups to ever exist. Take that JB Iowa!!!

Geez, sorry to offend you. Just because Benson had a bad, abbreviated year due to injury doesn't mean he has lost all value. His upside is as a guy who can stick in CF, has a cannon for an arm, can run real well, and has + power potential - sure there are some holes in his game, but I feel assured that he has a higher upside than Lombardozzi Jr. I do not think the Nationals would be offended by that phone call.

Yeah, that is certainly correct. Congrats to Josh.

Top Gun, not only are you a Twins Daily Legend, you are also a National Treasure. I love you man - keep em' coming!

Most have come to the conclusion that the Twins will not spend on a Middle Infielder. I agree and am on board with that. When there were trade rumors surrounding Span in 2011, the Nationals were the team we were informed wanted him. Steven Lombardozzi was mentioned in those trade scenarios. I am not on board with trading Span for a package including Lombo Jr., but maybe trading Benson for him would not be such a travesty. Lombo had a good rookie season playing all over the diamond, hitting pretty well, and it seems like he can play a proficient 2B. He will not be a power hitter by no means, but when he settles in, it seems like he can be a .280 hitter with a little pop, OBP is in question a bit, but his minor league track record indicates he can take a walk sometimes. Trading Benson for him would be somewhat risky - but the Twins have a plethora of outfielders and the Nats have their middle infield set for the foreseeable future. Both teams would seem to benefit from this kind of trade and Lombardozzi could play 2B for us and Dozier or one of the other filler players could man SS. Benson would be given a new lease on his career and be higher up in the Nat's OF Depth Chart.

Two Words - Jason Bartlett

If my memory serves me correctly, I believe the D-Backs are pretty desperate for an answer at Shortstop. I could see a Bauer for Elvis Andrus kind of deal maybe being feasible - but it is more likely an Upton for Andrus trade takes place. Texas will need someone to replace Hamilton. I think the the D-Backs are still in a win now mode - I cannot envision a Bauer trade with the Twins that would be beneficial to the D-Backs winning now.

Can't see either one being available for Willingham alone, however. I cannot disagree - but it would be nice... for the Twins that is.

Totally agree with Mr. Bonnes. If the Twins were able to acquire one of these 2 guys for Willingham straight up... forget "Hammer Time", it's party time for Twins Nation!

The analogy doesn't work (not well for Bark either, but to stick with it) because the problem here isn't that you totally punt 2013 and 2014, it's just that you avoid investing money and assets into acquiring someone who won't be here any longer than that. If you want to pour a bunch of money into a guy like Grienke or Marcum or someone likely to be here 2-4 years. Fine. But trading Span and a minor leaguer to get a guy there is virtually no chance you resign in two years? That's bad organizational planning. Agreed. My analogy sucked. It is not not the first time, and I can assuredly say it won't be the last. I am glad there are some hopeful posters who think the Twins will trade Denard Span and a prospect for James Shields, sign Shaun Marcum, resign Scott Baker, yakity, yak, yak, and win the World Series. I am not one who subscribes to that theory. I hope the Twins make some smart moves that can raise their success level the next few years without mortgaging their future. Reality whispers in my ear, informing me that the 2000's Twins are now defunct. I now patiently await the new wave of Twin's prospects who will fill the roster, develop with good to great success and the Twins are at a place where it makes sense to add pricey/semi-pricey free agents. From 2000-2010, we had mostly playoff teams. With 2006 being the exception, none of these teams looked or felt like a world championship team. I've seen enough Twin's playoff baseball to know I'd rather they not make the playoffs until we have a team that acts and smells like they are the group of guys that can win the Big Sha-Bang!

As a dimwitted Twin's fan, I do not see the upside to a Shields trade. In the 2 years the Twins will have control of his contract they will not be contenders - of course one could say anything is possible and we could win in 2013 or 2014, but that is a horrible way to plan the future and strategize a long term plan of success. It would be the equivalent of a middle aged man or woman who makes 40K a year without a pension telling themselves - "I don't have to save or invest any money for my retirement because I feel confident I will win the lottery next year." The one guy I would want that the Ray's have is unobtainable - Matt Moore. The team friendly contract he signed in the last year further cements that. If I was Terry Ryan, I would give Friedman a call and say - "Hey Andy, I want to give you Justin Morneau and we'll eat all of his salary next year, Denard Span, and Joe Benson for... have you guessed yet? Are you ready for it? Matt Moore! Friedman will either hang up, say no thanks, or want Hicks, Gibson, or Arcia instead of Benson if not more. THE END.