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Then the quote should have been: Sources are telling me that Baker has a 3 year deal with the Twins but it is not quite finalized. Expect an announcement within a few days.

Why do I have the feeling this will be another situation where a player doesn't materalize for the Twins, and goes on to play well for another club...

I was downright giddy when we signed him and absolutely pissed when we traded him My sentiments exactly.

Thanks. As far as the deal goes, I still stand by it. It is done. I would suggest to wait until Baker "signs elsewhere" to call this busted.... Stand away, it's still busted. The deal may be close, it may be exactly as you said, but it is not done. His name is not on the dotted line, which is what you said.

This shouldn't be a consideration, in my opinion. The Twins shouldn't let public perception of a potential move dictate whether they do it or not. If it's a good baseball decision, you make it happen. Certainly they should move on if he's looking for anything more than a couple million, but I'm not sure he'll be able to do so. He ranks pretty low on the list of free agent relievers and the Twins won't be all over him early driving up the price again. Also, saying a "middle-handed reliever is not needed right now" is awfully cavalier based on out-of-nowhere performances from a couple injury-prone guys in their late 20s. I like Burton and Fien as much as the next guy but it doesn't hurt to hedge your bets a little bit. Like it or not, PR is always a consideration. Are you telling me the Joe Mauer contract had nothing to do with PR? Signing Capps at this point is a lose-lose situation: Capps pitches poorly and the FO will get hammered by fans and the press, it will be considered another terrible move in a list of recent questionable decisions. Capps pitches well and everybody will be waiting for the shoe to drop. He could be perfect the entire year, and the fans would still be questioning. There is no reason to have this distraction on the team. And no, a right-handed middle reliever is not needed right now. We have Swarzak to fill that roll just fine. Could we use a reliever that we could trust in a high leverage situation? Yep. Would you put Capps in a high leverage situation? Nope. Not cavalier, just common sense. If the team does need somebody for that spot, guys like that are a dime a dozen without Capps baggage.

I think it's time to call this busted. Thrylos claimed the deal was done, which it obviously is not. The claim was not that they are close, or have generals worked out. I would like to see Baker back, and a 1 year deal with options makes perfect sense. Glad to hear Thrylos made it through the storm.

Capps can't come back for multiple reasons: 1) He would be to expensive for a middle relief / setup man the Twins would use him for. 2) The Twins bullpen is decent. A right handed middle reliever is not needed right now. 3) It would be an unmitigated PR disaster. Capps is the poster child for all of the poor decisions made in recent years by the Twins. Bringing him back would be a reminder of the loss of Ramos, the draft pick, and $13 mil for 12 blown saves. Capps is a capable reliever, just not a high paid closer. He just needs to go away.

I had a problem and I still do. SS has been an issue for the Twins forever. The had a younger, good hitting and fielding replacement that they gave away for nothing. In the context of that, it would have to go down as one of the worst Twins moves in recent memory.

Delmon would be a great fit with any other team in our division. You do realize that ALCS aside, Delmon Young had an atrocious year. How bad do you have to be defensively to be forced to DH on that team?

Why does everyone believe Plouffe is set? I am not saying he will bust, but I would like to see more before giving him the job. Sketchy defense, questionable offense... We really don't want to look here?

You make improvements when and where you can. I believe having Youk on the team would be an improvement. That's not to say you still can't go out and get pitching. I don't think signing a $5 million player would have any impcat on the spending for pitching. Plouffe was unworldly for 6 weeks and meh for the rest. No problem bringing in somebody potentially better.

Why? What do you have against him? He had 15 HR in his 80 games with the White Sox, I'm not prepared to call him no-hit just yet...

You hit it in the article. Everyone expects the Angels to decline the options, so why make a move now when you could probably pick them up cheaper. If the options are picked up, the bag of balls option won't work either. The Angels would look for semi-decent prospects in return, especially for Haren. The theory is right though. Take a 1 year flyer and if it works, look to extend.

I love these comic threads... I got a great laugh just reading the first post.

TR says he is looking for a competition at 3B with Plouffe. Thoughts on how Youk would fit with the team? My opinion: If he could be had for less than $5 mil, I would love to have him. Decent defense at 3B/1B, professional hitter (though in decline), great clubhouse guy, injury prone but still have Plouffe... forget the competition, go get him.

Which is fine. I'm sure if they went out and spent $10-12 mil on a new starting 3B, everybody would scream that the money should be spent on pitching. Go out and sign an aging, semi-decent 3B to help the lineup, clubouse, and hopefully Plouffe.

When Span isn't traded this year, what happens to Parmalee? No CF ability means no 4th OF spot

I can't see them spending that much for one year of Dan Haren. The Twins are not that close to competing to justify the dollars and the trade compensation. The only way this would work is if they gave him a 3 yr extension. Which, IMO, would be way too much. I like Haren and think he could be a good fit here, but I wouldn't blow up the ship to do it.

The same people will snark about the Twins being idiots for letting Blackburn go if he pitches well elsewhere. I don't know. I don't hear a lot about the "mis-handling" of RA Dickey...

Only if he gets one of those red eyes that open and close like a lens....those are scary. Yeah, but then wouldn't he want to take over the world? Isn't that kind of a pre-req for all scary looking cyborgs? If that was the case, we should trade him to the Yankees.

Agreed. Now instead of being the worst pitcher in baseball, maybe he can only be bottom-third.

Sorry Seth, 50 is too many. The list starts to lose any meaning after 20-25 considering you just named about a third of the entire organization.

No reason to think that Morneau, Mauer, and Doumit can't match their HR total from last year. I would think 28-30 would be doable for Willingham, not a huge dropoff. Plouffe is a wildcard. Power would be nice, but it is not the main issue with this team. They have enough pop to stay healthy. I would rather see more professional hitter/beeter defenders than cheap sluggers for the sake of HR. If you have better hitters at the bottom, there is enough power to suit the Twins needs.

Phil Mackey = Sid Hartman Take an opinion, a couple of loosely related facts, write it as a story. Nowhere does he state the Twins ARE interested in Buerhle, just that he thinks the might be. He gets paid for writing this? I would think the Twins might be interested in acquiring ANY pitcher they believe would help their team. That probably constitutes about 75% of the current starters in all of baseball.

Somebody want to explain the basics of park effect?