Brandon

it appears to be done now. 4 years and 54 million with 5th year option

I'm ok with trading veteran pitchers we sign today for prospects down the line when our young pitchers are ready to establish themselves if that's how we can handle the log jam of pitchers. I also think having Santana on our staff now makes us a .500 team as is. if Nolasco rebounds and a solid 5th starter emerges then we could compete for a Wild Card / Division Title.

Well if this goes through then we would match up well against 2 of the move the Whitesox made so far. Torii vs LaRoche (this is a fairly close matchup with the bat) Santana vs Samardzija (Samardzija gets the edge but Santana can hold his own) Too bad we didn't get Neshek to counter Robertson. I don't consider Duke too significant as he is pretty similar to Deunsing in results.

Its starting to look like we won't be outdone by he Whitesox this offseason. We are a reliver short of matching the Whitesox moves man for man. Hunter vs La Roche Santana vs Samardzija Reliever to be announced vs Robertson Granted we are not likely to top Robertson, Torii and Santana match up fairly close to their counterparts. If the Twins would have signed Neshek this would have been close to even across the board.

Wow! We actually gave up a draft pick to sign someone. We are really moving up on this free agency thing.

How bout trying to determine the bar at which the Twins should be operating? is the streaming revenue and such allowing the Twins to operate at what should be a 120 million payroll or should the Twins be at 110 or up to 130. As far as players to sign. I kinda would have liked to see the Twins sign Neshek for the bullpen. while 6 million a year for 2 years is too much. Having a home town player who wants to be here that we would root for would be nice too. I think the Twins could afford the extra 2 million per season or so over what the Twins would perceive as market value for the contract. I get that we are not going to go out and sign a 25 million per year pitcher for 6 years. That's just too much risk or eggs in one basket. but Liriano on a 3 year 39 million makes sense to me.

I would agree to but for 2 years it not a lot. He is a fan favorite from Minnesota so again why not. If the salary is prohibitive from making other moves then yeah don't sign him but I can't shake this feeling the Twins are going to sign a Vogelsong or Kendrick.

I also saw the Angels were asking about Escobar and talking about a reliever Pestano. More disappointingly Neshek signed with the Astros. And Volquez is looking for reasonable money so he may come back up.

While I personally agree with Hunter, my issue with Berardino pressing Hunter is I am tired of the self appointed PC Police. Hunters signing was about baseball and the gay issue was brought front and center and made a big deal. This point of view was not discussed in your podcast. I follow baseball to get away from this type of garbage. I don't want to discuss politics when watching baseball other than maybe the politics of why an organization makes the moves they make based on baseball and financial reasons. Also I am not hugely religious so that does not affect my views. As far as my logic to support the signing is exactly in line with what Bonnes said. There isn't a lot out there and its a 1 year deal, He can hit, RF is smaller in Target so that helps and we have Schaeffer as a defensive replacement to further help minimize it. So the move is not the worst and there wasn't a lot out there either. Also I think if Hunter can play 2 more seasons his Hall of Fame candidacy at least becomes a debate whether that can happen remains to be seen.

If we start both May and Meyer in the rotation are you comfortable with May, Millone and Pino as our top options to come in and pitch? I think the Twins prefer another veteran for at least half a season if nothing else like Corriea this year. I hope we don't resign him. So what I am saying is I bet the Twins prefer the extra depth so we don't end up relying on players who don't belong in the majors.

The Twins have Santana to go out to CF if Hicks doesn't make the Team. This will all be decided in spring training and throughout the first few months of the season. But I suspect Hicks has a shot and Santana is there in case he cant cut it. I know TR was concerned because Hicks wasn't driving the ball during his September call up. Regardless I believe this season is Hicks last chance to make it. Also as far as the rest of the roster is concerned. I think the Twins value stability and experience so they probably only want one maybe 2 rookies in the pen at a time. so I can see them signing a reliever if they can find one they like. The Twins will not spend big there but they are usually successful in finding good relievers so I wont question much who they sign there. The rotation is the main area of concern. My fear is they sign someone like Masterson who is a question mark going into next year. I would rather the Twins trade for a solid pitcher then sign a question mark. we already have Nolasco as our question mark and while I am confident he will turn it around you never know it may not be as much of a turn around as I hope. based on the free agents out there I like Liriano, Volquez, and Ervin Santana. If the Twins decide to sign pitchers coming back from injury I hope they sign several like Scott Baker, Johan Santana, and Anderson or Medlin. (Ok Anderson would have to be one for sure then any of the others as a back up option). Scott Baker and Johan is going with the theme of getting the band back together they are not necessary but would be fun to see what they have left at this point.

Yeah if a few things get done. we need a return to form from Nolasco. (200 innings around a 4.00 ERA) This is not unreasonable to expect. we also need to sign another pitcher who can throw 200 innings with an era in the high 3.s. (this would replace Corriea's4.94 and May's 7.88 era in the rotation from last year) and May, Meyer, or Millone will need to step up and e a solid 5th starter and replacement fillers throughout the year to replace Deduno, Pelfry, Pino and others from last year. Our bullpen is already pretty solid. We could use 1 more solid arm but we do have lots of options in the minors.

Last year we improved our run differential by over 100 runs over the 2012 season. we should have been a 72-75 win team last year based on that. I expect next year Nolasco will rebound to the 12-15 game winning 200 inning pitcher we expect and that gives us 3 decent starters with Hughes, Gibson and Nolasco. A 4th starter and Millone, Meyer or May as the 5th starter gives us depth in the rotation and likely more than enough improvement over Corriea (4.94 ERA), Deduno (while in the rotation 5.91 ERA) Pelfry (7.99 ERA), Pino (5.07) , and May's tryout (7.88 ERA) at the end of the season. That alone will improve our rotation from one of the worst in the league to 6th -8th range making our ability with a bullpen that is above average 4-6th range as a better than average pitching with high scoring offense = a winning season on paper. With Nolasco shaving a run off of his ERA, a 4th starter shaving 1.5 runs off of Corriea and continued development from the 3 competing for the last spot which should equal at least 1 or 2 full runs shaved off of what our 5th starters did last year, our run differential will improve enough to make us a winning team and possibly a contender.

If you are worried about his Defense just remember we have Schaefer available to deploy in the late innings of a game and the Twins RF is smaller than Detroits RF. Does this make everything better??? no but it does minimize the negative impact of his decline in the OF the best we can. Also Torii can still drive in 80-90 RBI's next season and that too will negate some bad plays. Overall this is the best we could hope for a 1 year contract from a solid player. Now its time for the real debate who plays CF next season Santana or Hicks and will Parmalee be outrighted with the Hunter signing?

I think signing Hunter is a good thing. Its not as bad as you think. its one year, he's gonna hit 15-20 HRs with 30ish 2Bs and drive in 80-90 RBIs. plus our RF is smaller than Detroit's so defense won't stick out too much. Our offense should be a top 5 offense if Santana, Suzuki and Escobar can have repeat seasons. If we can find another solid starter we should be able to contend next year and at least be over .500.

It was also tried in 91 with Jack Morris leading the young pitchers on the Twins staff and that worked out pretty well.

The Twins will keep Deunsing. There's not a compelling reason to let him go. He doesn't make too much. Now if we had a 120million payroll and we were stretching for more then yes he would be cut or traded. But I am certain he has enough value to keep around for 1 more year. I wouldn't be surprised if we signed him to a 3 year 10-12 million extension either. Nunez is a keeper in that he can play everywhere and should be able to steal 10-20 bases. It all depends on what the Twins decide they want on the bench and I would do that in spring training and not now as we can cut him in spring and pay a 1/4 of the contract or something like that. Fien, Plouffe, and Schaefer are keepers. Though an argument could be made to let Schaeffer walk, I think they keep him cause he can play CF. Millone is the one I am concerned about keeping or not. I don't think he has the best talent or enough ability to necessarily stay in the majors and 2.5 million is getting a little high to make that type of decision. Only because we are under budget would I consider giving him a chance

I would probably wait one more season to see how he improves or maintains where he is now before signing long term. I do think he is a likely building block if he can continue last season. I also think your 4 year 36 million is a fair number. Maybe a little high but not much. How bout a 4 year 33 million with a 5th year option at 13 million or 1 million buyout. I'll suggest 5, 7, 9, and 11 million with the option/buyout. This way he can be signing a potentially team friendly deal and getting security and increases the likelihood of the Twins not taking a loss on this contract.

for 6 years you are looking at more money then that. try: 2015: 1 Million 2016: 6 Million 2017: 10 Million 2018: 14 Million 2019: 17 Million 2020: 17 Million Those numbers are more in line with the current market and this totals 65 million. Seager gets 100 Million for 7 seasons so we add another 17 million and turn the 1 million into 17 million because Seager is one season closer to free agency = 98 million. If you want to go for a home town discount you could see about shaving 3-5 million from this scenario. But I don't see Dozier giving up too much. If Dozier was willing to sign a 6 year extension for under 60,000,000 then we should jump on it.

How much risk is there on a 1 year deal to the Johan? Santana can probably be had on a minor league deal. Plus he helps fill the reunion tour quota. Really though I think the Twins would be better off trading for a starter. Less risk than a long term contract. plus next year there will be lots of good free agent pitchers.

Hicks has no patience you are correct.

I think the Twins are basically 1 starting pitcher, 1 OF, and 1 reliever away from being an 85+ win potential team next season. The stat not thrown out there was Escobar's offense. he was dynamite the first half and slumped the second half and finished with what a 102 league adjusted OPS which was around 6th in MLB among SS. I am still not sure what to make of Dozier. I think he ay be more of a .250/.330/.420 with 35 2Bs and 10-15 HR with 15-25 SB next season. I think his fielding should be above average next season. Here's to hoping Mauer hits .300/.380/.380 next season. That can at least justify him in the lineup at 1B. Plouffe is what he is and I don't expect any different .250-.270 with 30-35 2Bs and 15-20 HRs I am glad to see his defense improve and I think that's what most people wanted was league average defense from him so he would not kill what value he brings with the bat. Suzuki will regress some but he seems to have sacrificed some power for average. So I think he will have a .270-.290 average with 25 -30 2Bs and hardly any HRs with ok defense. I'm ok with whoever the back up is too as either the end of next year or the following season the back up should be Stuart before he starts the following year. Santana can start at SS or CF next season and Escobar could be the SS or supersub. For this analysis I am going with Santana in CF. that makes Nunez and Santana the backups. Nunez has terrible defense and offers a little at the plate. I wonder if Bernier could push for a reserve job as I am sure his defense is better but probably hits worse than Nunez. Nunez does have speed so while I do expect an OPS in the low to mid .600's I do expect more SB out of him. I think he should be capable of 15-20 meaning he could be a valuable pinch runner for Suzuki, Arcia or Plouffe, or Mauer or Vargas at different points next year. In the OF we start with Arcia cause its fun and we don't want to think about the other options right now. but Arcia can be a 30 HR hitter and in CF I am going with Santana who I think can continue to hit .290-.310 cause he has speed and made good contact and Bruno. He doesn't walk a whole lot and has gap power so 30-40 2Bs and around 5-10 3Bs and HRs. LF we have Schaefer/ Parmelee/ Colabello/ Hicks. I am going to say what I think each of these players can do with 300 AB next season and we'll see how LF looks on opening day. Schaefer: if Bruno is able to keep him hitting I can see a .260-.280 / .320-.330/ .320 with 20-40 SB. This guy is pretty fast. Parmalee .250/ .290/.400 with 8-12 HR just shy of good power, average, and no patience to walk. He's a prototypical 5th OF/back up 1B/DH/ PH. He has value so I like him on the team just not exposed a lot. Colabello: I have him here only cause there are reports he was injured during his slide. If that is true he could be our LF for a few years and hit good. or he could be a failure waiting to happen. Just to see I would keep him around. I have no projections here cause he's either going to be good healthy or fail IMO I don't see an in between. Hicks. He is also an asset in certain spots. right now as a back up OF. he doesn't drive the ball so all of his contact is soft. I can see a .220/ .310/.310 with what should be 10-15 SB. last year he only stole 2 or 3. So going into next year I see a Hicks Parmelee platoon where Schaefer will likely replace Hicks at some point if he doesn't improve. Unless Colabello comes out of know where and drives in 80-100 RBI. The rotation has 3 starters Hughes (CY Young Candidate) Gibson (improving young hurler) Nolasco (solid when healthy) then lets see we have 2 rookies ready to go May and Meyer and May looks ready to continue moving forward and Pelfry and Millone 2 vets who were hurt with the team last year and Pino the minor league vet who pitched ok then was hurt. The way I see it is we can plan on Millone being the 4th starter and being a good one or we can sign or trade someone with a better track record and has better stuff. We can also let May and Meyer come up together and have Pelfy, Pino and Millone as the back up veterans if we need a fill in. I think it depends on how fast the Twins management want to ensure a return to competitive baseball. I think there is enough pressure so the Twins will want more pitching and sign one or trade for one. The bullpen appears to be going through a transition a little. with the Twins keep Swarzak and Deunsing for another season? I think they keep Deunsing and let Swarzak go. leaving Perkins, Fien, Deunsing, Theilbar, Pressly, then the Twins will go with Pelfry, then a combination of a bunch of potentials including Aaron Thomas, Oliveras, Tonkin and Achter. However I think that by the end of may/ Beginning of June Burdi will make his debut and stay. To bring this full circle we need a good starting pitcher to be the 4th starter but someone who is Number 3 starter material or better, a LF who doesn't have to be great but preferably a solid defender with slightly above average offense (Rios fits that the best IMO though Hunter would be the most entertaining to have on the team) and a shut down middle reliever cause maybe we can let Deunsing or Theilbar or Pressly go.

or too many ? marks either.

We would never trade Dozier for Kemp. the money doesn't match up and that is important. I agree that your thinking is in line with the Twins. that are interchangeable (Parmelee and Colabello) (Masterson and a number of other options in the pay range) (Rasmus or Hunter or Rios)

who I would non tender. The Twins already let Burton go so letting one of Swarzak or Deunsing go would be the max and wait till The Twins feel the new relievers establish themselves before continuing the purge. Also I think Deunsing may have some trade value. Swarzak is replacement level and I can see a case for staying or going. Millone if the Twins sign another starter should consider non-tendering him or trading him. Nunez I am content if we keep him as the 2nd MI back up. not as the main one. so around 1 million but if he costs more then 1.5 million then he can go. I would tender all of the others.