Riverbrian

That would be my guess as well. However... Only a guess.

I know CJ Cron didn't have the best year last year... He had a bad 2nd half after getting traded to the Angels. However... I'd rank Cron higher than Santana on my wish list. Cron also has Decent K rates along with Power. No idea what Cron was asking for though so I'm certainly not upset with the front office going with Santana over Cron.

I do not think we will be a stronger team in 2024 compared to 2023 but I will pick the Twins to win the AL Central. I do that every year

Expected isn't the right word... and yes... it is also unknown to me... everyone is unknown to all of us... really. However... Yes is the answer to your question. Miranda produced a .751 OPS in 2022. Santana was .747 in 2023. That's pretty marginal in my eyes. Severino and Martin are indeed wild cards and who knows but it isn't out of the question that new additions to the 26 man will or could produce league average or better. Which could also be marginal to what Santana produced last year. My overall point that I'm making is this: IMO... His numbers last year if repeated puts him in the depth crowd. Don't get me wrong... you know that I love depth but we already have a lot of depth... Santana is just another depth addition IMO. His repeating his numbers of last year puts him in with Farmer, Gordon, Castro. Along with Solano and Taylor from last year. Along with 2021, 2022, 1st half of 2023 Kepler 2023 Buxton 2023 Correa Those 3 players did not play at a level last year that was comparable to their status of players much better than they were. I'm not making predictions. I am saying that Santana's numbers last year while decent are not a level above decent.

If he performs like he did last year... he will help us win games and be a positive member for the Minnesota Twins and a decent signing. However... If he performs like he did last year... the value increase over players... like Miranda, Severino and Martin will be minimal. If he performs better than he did last year... he will be a perfect addition to the team. If he is worse... He could be a big issue when bad performance is combined with a 40 and 26 man roster spot being spent on a guy who isn't playing well and the club patiently waiting for him to start playing well. More risk than reward in my opinion but the reward is definitely possible so I will give him every chance to bring the reward. .

I like how the Orioles utilize their IF prospects in preparation for the majors. Holliday, Westburg, Henderson, Mayo, Norby and Joey Ortiz now off to the Brewers have all played multiple positions down in the minors. It's easy to speculate the Brewers starting Ortiz at 3B and moving to SS because the Orioles have been training him for this sort of thing. Brooks Lee has basically been a SS. I'm never sure how much this sort of thing matters but I have to imagine that it does matter... if only just a little. When it's time to call up Brooks Lee... the Twins won't know where that opening will open. Is it Lewis, Correa or Julien who gets injured to create a spot for Brooks. Is it best that Brooks prepares for anywhere now in the minors or do you just do it on the fly in the majors? I like the way the Orioles do it.

Yep... 6 players on expiring deals. They are not the future... they are the now. If they can't perform now. There is no future to make them worth waiting for.

I'm Ok with this... I'm not over the moon about it. He's a good bat but he is not the big bat I was hoping for. I do like his strikeout rates and 20 home run potential. It's been touched on a couple of times in this thread. My only concern is the escape hatch if needed. The Twins have shown that they will hang on to under performing vets. I hope we don't need that escape hatch. Welcome to Minnesota Carlos!

I still have the cord. I am comfortable with my overall viewing options with it and am not looking to change at the moment but I will become less comfortable if the Twins and other sports teams that I care about are no longer available to me. With that said... It's easy for me to make suggestions on what the Twins should do. They have a ton of considerations to take in that I don't have to worry about. And with that said... I'm OK with suffering short term pain for long term gain. I will pay the cost for access to the Twins because I can't imagine a summer without them. The demographics of cable are not what they should be in bed with. The Twins needs to available everywhere on every device. The short term money typically costs exclusivity and that exclusivity is a road block to the demographic reach necessary to take the game into the future so the sooner they can rip that band aid off... the sooner things can get better. I'm willing to give the Twins the benefit of the doubt that this one year deal is just a placeholder until they get the real long term plan executed. I'm willing to give the Twins the benefit of the doubt that this one year deal is not because they need one year revenue RIGHT NOW.

When it comes to Nelson Cruz... the only thing that I can say. That guy can hit. When it comes to chemistry... Just look at the 26 people in your office and the different personalities that come with each of those 26 people. Does everybody like everybody? Are there any cliques? Can you tell a dirty joke to this individual but not to that individual? Is the person who can't handle the dirty joke good in the clubhouse? Is the person telling the dirty joke good in the clubhouse? Our own work environments are incredibly complicated when we view them up close and to the heart. Yet we sit here miles away and make declarations on who is a clubhouse guy! I'll never understand that.

I never truly understand how "Clubhouse Leader" is ever typed by us mere mortals. We have never stepped into a clubhouse to see for ourselves. If we had the opportunity to step into a clubhouse to see for ourselves... one day of observation would amount to worthless. Even those who are in the clubhouse every day will have a hard time condensing into words what players bring psychologically to an overall unit because it takes two to tango or 26 to build a birds nest. The overall result of the leadership of one person is dependent upon on each of the 25 players react INDIVIDAULLY to the conditions, How they react would have individual variation as vast as each individual involved. Some players tolerate, some players don't and how can that ever be expressed. And even if it could be expressed publicly... It's not expressed. Players as a common sense rule don't throw other players under the bus publicly. Those who do throw players under the bus publicly for being a bad teammate... it says almost as much about the player disclosing the dirty laundry as the one creating the dirty laundry.

I got my wish list but I feel like having a wish list is a little Oliver Twisty at the moment. The budget is the budget... but I really really want a big bat. From somewhere... anywhere.

In my opinion... (my opinion is worth a little bet less than the opinion of Mark Attanasio and Matt Arnold). Just tear it down and continue down that path. Look at the roster as it stands... it's young with a capital Y. Do they really need a 12 million dollar vet mentor like Rhys Hoskins when they already have a 130 million dollar vet mentor in Christian Yelich. Trade Adames, Peralta and Williams and load up. I'd even consider trading Contreras because he would bring back a lot but that's a move they don't have to make because he has a chance of being under control when they come back around. What they appear to be doing... this competitive rebuild thing... looks like it will just slow down the process and never really get them there. I don't know... they just confuse me.

That's always the tricky thing for us outsiders to assess. We only see the results while the reasons for results are hidden from view. However... when I think about such things... the main thing that sticks in my head is this: If Injury is causing poor performance... if injury is used as justification for poor performance. Why let them play through injury when the result is poor performance? Poor Performance is Poor performance weather it is caused by injury or or caused by talent. I wonder about such things.

They've done it before. Same Org that traded Hader while in contention. The Brewers give me a headache when I try to get into their head. The only thing that kinda makes sense is faithful execution of trading players before they leave for nothing. If that's the case... Adames must go. I honestly don't understand why they signed Hoskins at all.

In the name of balance... one of the first things I check out is K%. Adam is consistently over 30%. My arbitrary line in the sand is 30%. I'm not interested in K rates over 30. Better balance in 2024 is what I'm hoping for. I'd like the team to continue to hit the ball hard and I'd like them to patiently swing at the right pitches so I assume that K's are still going to be part of the equation... However... that K rate has got to come down. Apart from that... Duvall is a decent ball player.

The only clue that I have and I don't even know if it is a clue or just a unrelated bloody sock left nearby. He hasn't signed yet. That's the only clue that I have. I assume that because he is still on the board in February it is because his agent is trying to not sign cheaply.

Budget aside... and you really can't throw the budget aside. Yes We need a big bat 24% K Rate with those numbers The answer is absolutely Yes However... He must play in the field. We will need the DH spot for rotation.

He's the type of hitter that is nice to have on your roster because he is a good hitter at a decent price point. He is also the type of hitter that doesn't make you stop looking for better because I'm not sure that he will rise above good hitter. If he is able to stay healthy for a few years. If the Twins continue to deploy him like they have so far. He could stay on a major league roster this year and maybe next year. Once he reaches his third arb year (2026) the decision will be interesting. The arbitrators typically give players a pretty decent financial bump that third year and that's when front offices have to decide if he is worth the money or if he will be cut loose like Eddie Rosario was cut loose because the price became too high. If the arbitration price doesn't rise significantly... that means that he didn't play well and isn't worth holding on to anyway. If the Twins cut him loose... he can sign a low dollar deal with another club looking for left handed swinging specialist. Right now... if I had to bet... I'd bet against him surviving with the Twins past 2025. He is currently being strip mined for the only natural resource he has. The ability to hit a right hander. You don't stop looking for better if that is the case and the Twins will find something better. Come 2026... It might be helpful that Kirilloff has a 4th year of arbitration in 2027 because there is still a year of control. However, that 4th year will contain another pay bump and with that another assessment of weather he is worth that raise in value. Basically... In a nutshell. If Kirilloff has decent health,.. if Kirilloff continues to be deployed how the Twins deploy him. Alex Kirilloff would have to be near the best of the group of other MLB players who are being strip mined for that same resource that Kirilloff has. If he is near the best of that group of players... he will reach free agency in 2028 and he might find a team willing to offer a two year deal at best for not very impressive money. Something has to change for Kirilloff to be a long term consideration.

Pitching and Hitting... I feel the same. Depth is Depth... It's important and now that we have it... adding another depth piece doesn't move the needle. It's just a trading of names and uniform numbers. I've waited a long time for the depth we have and I'm excited about it... Now that we have it... add the needle movers.

Yep... You and chpettit (I think I should just start calling him Chia Pet) are discussing perhaps my primary concern with this deal. Well... maybe not primary because I still worry about replacing Jorge's bat. I wasn't sure how the Twins were going to address the replacement of Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda but whatever the plan was... no matter how hard the plan maybe to execute... I only had one wish in regards to the rotation. No inning eaters. I just looked up inning eaters in the encyclopedia and there was a picture of DeSclafini. A picture of a pitcher if you will. His presence on the 26 man roster likely knocks a young pitcher with options down a peg because they have options and I totally understand that you must have some depth stored. Bottom Line... If they are going with an innings eater... Well... then just throw a variety of kids off the farm instead. They will probably produce similar numbers but they get experience and they can be easily sent back down if they don't get the job done... and who knows... you might get lucky and find out that one of them is the next Bailey Ober. I would rather they just roll with what they have... rather than add a below average vet.

It was Xmas gift from a decade ago that has never been used... straight down to the basement where it has sat so it's the sentimental value that can't be replaced. You are right though... We have plenty of snow cone resources up here in North Dakota. I don't even bother with the ice cream scoop. I just go into the backyard and pour blue raspberry juice on the snow, kneel down and lick... It seems to work fine.

I know right. So Close! The bank approved the 2nd mortgage on my house. My wife put a lot of work into selling all that stuff in our basement that we haven't used in years on Facebook marketplace. All that work... So Close! And now we don't have that Sno-Cone Maker anymore.

I'm disappointed because my bid to buy the Orioles fell a little short.

For anyone who can't find AB's for Polanco so therefore he must go. OK... Let's Assume there are no injuries... which never happens... but let's assume that ALL players stay healthy for all 162 games. And let's also assume that not only did all of our players stay healthy but all of our players are also playing well... playing to expectation or exceeding expectation. Which never happens. How many starts for all of these healthy and performing players is the question? The answer is simple... Do the very simple math... 8 positions if you take the Catcher spot out... 11 players that need playing time if you take the catcher spots out. Here's the formula - 162 games x 8 / 11. Total that up and the answer is: IT DOESN"T MATTER It doesn't matter because everyone is healthy and playing well. It doesn't matter who Rocco puts in the lineup because they are all meeting or exceeding expectation so who cares how many starts individual players get. However... that never happens... but if it ever does happen... the Twins will win the AL Central by a million miles and we can look back on these discussions and laugh and laugh and laugh because it was such a trivial concern.