Brandon

I agree Torii played to his capabilities during his contract but he was still over paid at 90 million. 60-70 million more like it but thats splittin hairs at it wasn't my money. But I would like to see Torii and Latroy Hawkins come back next year as Torii can be a borderline Hall of Fame candidate with 3 more seasons and Latroy Hawkins was a favorite of mine.

I like Myers, Baker, Dempster, Blanton, Marcum in that order but there are other options too. Myers Baker and.... This would leave the Twins the ability to trade Span or Revere for either Pitching prospects in Seattle or SS prospects with Cincinatti. Myers for 2 years 16 million? Baker 1+ for 4 million and incentives and 8-10 million 2nd year option. and 3rd pitcher......

Santana at the top followed by Blyleven, Viola, then Jack Morris (even though he pitched one season his last game puts him on the list alone). so far those guys were aces, Nathan was the ace closer then you move on to the number 2 types in your rotation starting with Kaat who is a borderline ace maybe even an ace i don't know for sure, then Radke, Perry and Tapani, then Aguilera. I have to admit I am not as familiar with the 60's pitchers as much as the 80's and beyond.

I think trading Span is a given too and he is one of my favorite Twins players. It makes too much sense and there are too many teams that could use him and 2 of them are near or at Tampa who could probably resign him to an extension once they have him. I think at this point we are waiting for teams to shop around on both sides by feeling out the best proposals before making a decision and moving on them.

1B Morneau 2B Carroll SS Florimon 3B Plouffe OF Willingham, Revere, Parmalee C Mauer DH Doumit

On most years you would be right that 3 pitchers would be a tall order. But there are too many possibilities for us not to be able to get it done this year. we have 2 exess players that are tradeable and an OF prospect or 2 as well. We have 25 or so million off the books and Gibson and Hendricks could be 2 of the pitchers next year. There are numerous FA in our price range. Yes this will be difficult but we have more tools to get it done than most others do too. and once we get 3 pitchers all we are looking at to push us forward is bench and bullpen depth. again not too tall of an order,

With Inge we are talking about a benh player who gets 150-200 AB in a season. He plays good D and won't get too much playing time unless Plouffe regresses or gets hurt. He wouldn't be the worst option to play a few weeks if Plouffe gets hurt. Plus he may cost alot less like in in 800k to 1.5 million range. thats is not a bad depth move. I dont think he will platoon but he will push Plouffe to stay sharp. On the bench right now we have Mastroianni, and one of Floriman, Dozier, or Carroll. Inge would allow us to get rid of Butera and add another bench player likeThome or Gomes out of Oakland. Mastroianni is of defense and speed, Inge is Defense at corners and 3rd C, MI is MI, and then we get a Bat, preferably one who can fill in defensively too. that is a good bench.

i would thinnk that he could catch an inning or two on occassion. I don't think a third catcher will catch as much as Butera did last year, but something more like 1 to 3 innings a game every so often. he probably would catch around 50-80 innings over the course of the season, and be a back up defensive specialist and occaisional starter at 3rd and ocaisanally back up 1B and pinch hitter in interleague play. Sure he could do that. I was thinking 2 million but he could come cheaper as there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of interest in him.

This is small thinking. The Twins are 3 starting pitchers away from competing next year and a few minor adjustments. Baker has a good chance of comming back. Gibson should be ready next spring too. There are numerous starting pitchers available as free agents and we also have players we are able to trade. We should compete next year, there are too many opportunities to get the job done. If we are not competing next year then TR failed.

The Twins are only a few pieces away from being a contender again. We already aquired a solid bullpen arm and will likely be able to get atleast one more for next season. If the Twins were able to sign Scott Baker and trade Span for a solid starting pitcher then We are real close to being ready to be competetive. So the arguement about a free agent wanting to be in a competetive environment will not hold at that point. We would be highly competetive with the addition of 1 more above average pitcher. Hopefully Terry Ryan strikes fast in these areas so we can be more attractive to FA pitchers.

don't think the Twins will do anything with the MI this offseason and those 2 guys will be able to get more IMO. but i think your pitching thoughts are pretty solid.

I already posted my thoughts here http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?2080-Offseason-Community-Tailored-Exercise-from-the-Twins-Daily-2013-Offseason-Handbook here is the recap Resign Baker to 1 year $4 million with incentives and option year Trade Span to ATL for Hanson basically a wash in salary commitment (in offseason handbook i agree with this one) Sign Jackson to 4 year 53 million Sign Hawkins $2.5 million (Other options available Capps and others ) Sign Inge $2 million Sign Gomes $1.5 million My math has us in the $94-$96 million ranges with this team. I do not think the Twins will do muh to address the IF. the waiver pick yesterday and maybe a minor league free agent. Lineup: CF Revere 2b Carroll C Mauer LF Willingham 1B Morneau DH Doumit 3B Plouffe RF Parmelee SS Florimon/ Dozier Bench 3B -C-1B-2B Inge OF-1B-DH-PH Gomes OF- Pinch Runner Mastroianni IF Dozier/ Florimon/ Escobar SP Jackson Baker Hanson Diamond Gibson with Hendicks/ DeVries/ and Dedunno ready to go if needed. Bullpen Perkins Burton Hawkins Deunsing Burnett Swarzak Robertson+ competition for last 1 or 2 spots

I don't have them doing anything there either this offseason as I believe their goal of solid defense is in place and will suffice for now. Once they know what they have for pitching next year and see how Arcia, Hicks, and Parmalee develop I can see one of them being traded either in July next year or next offseason for a SS.

if you trade a decent enough prospect you can ask LA to pay part of the contract too.

Inge, Chavez and Polanco fit what TR described he is looking for as a 3rd baseman type to compete with for playing time. Good Field, low cost, solid professional. I would venture to include someone who can also play elsewhere in case Plouffe plays well all season next year. Keppinger is going to be more expensive and probably be a starter somewhere. There are other names out there but these are the most name targets. I do wish they would at least get someone else who can play SS defensively too even as a backup. If there is not going to be much offense out of a position, I hope they get better than good defense out of the position.

Marlins need a 1B. A deal for Buerhle would center around Parmalee I suspect. The big question is how much will Florida pay in his salary? 20 Million? and in that case what if anything else would we have to give up for him or get with him to balance out the trade?

A platoon is not in the cards. Offense isn't Plouffe's issue in the mind of TR , it's his defense more than anything else. So finding a good fielding player who can start for stretches that is inexpensive is the idea. Inge fits that to a T and he could be the third string catcher to boot. That opens up a spot on the roster for another player so there's more benefit.

I think whoever they get will be someone who an play several positions so they have value on the benh for us. Also they will be solid or better defenders. That takes out players like Betemit. Chavez is too 1 dimensional meaning 3b, 1b and DH (which we have options for) . I like Inge in that he can also serve as the 3rd string C which frees up a roster spot. He is also a plus defender at 3rd. Polanco is another good option though the Twins seem to have several people they feel are capable at 2nd which is Polanco's other defensive spot. This makes good sense if the Twins felt they could move arroll back to SS if need be. That doesn't seem to be the case as he didn't play much there last year. Other than that he would be a good choice. Ryan Roberts looks interesting, but I am going to bet that Tampa is willing to pay 3 million and let him go after next season. If they are willing to trade him, what would be the cost?

Here is an article on MLBTradrumors.com http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/10/angels-could-trade-haren-santana.html Discussing the idea of swapping either Santana or Haren before they need to take action on their options. If the angels were to throw in 3-5 million in a trade what whould we be willing to give up for 1 year of either of these guys?

I saw the Buerhle rumor and think that Parmalee would be at the center of that trade as Florida could use an inexpensive productive 1B.

Would they take Revere and Parmelee? The Marlins have a need for a 1B. If that was all we gave up and maybe a low level prospect and the Marlins ate 20 million of the contract I would do that in a heartbeat. I don't know Miami's need for OF's they may want one of Hick/ Arcia instead of Revere and that makes this proposal lopsided unless Miami thows in something else. Depending on the cost there are other P's to be had too. But having 2 players at the league minimum for the next 2-3 years will allow Miami to eat 20 million in salary as know they would be paying about 4 million for each for the next 3 seasons.

I have the Twins signing Gomes although Hairston could do the job too. Alos Parmelee in RF and Only Revere or Span in CF that will increase team power. I have the Twins targeting Inge for back up 3b / 3rd string C/ and 3rd string 2b and 1B It would be nice if the Twins addressed MI but I bet they hold off on that till next July if they are in the race.

I am going to go out on a limb for the bullpen and suggest the return of Latroy Hawkins. He can be had on a 1 year deal at this stage of his career and he is reliable and will likley cost between 2-3 million and he knows Gardy and Rick and is familliar with their philosophies and meant to resign here anyway and he has a fanclub here so more fans in the stands... The 3B competition will come from Inge. I bet they sign him to a 1 year 1-2 million. Terry Ryan said his biggest concern about Plouffe is his ability to field at 3B. Inge is a good fielder. He can also be the 3rd string Catcher and catch maybe 50-100 innings throughout the season next year. I think he can even play a little second base if he goes on an offensive tear for a while.

While I thought the Twins sold low on Ramos, I didn't think Capps was all that bad and I would be happy if he signed a 1 - 2 year deal to be a middle reliever in the 2-3 million range per season. And losing Ramos stings even less with the success and minimum investment we have in Doumit.

I think you let Parmalee play RF at the start of next season. if he hits well then he could be a good trade chip. Also if Profar proves he is ready and around July or after next season, there could be a trade potential for Andrus at that time. Parmalee and ? for Andrus. Also if Morneau hits well and stays healthy he will get signed to an extension. His wife is from Minnesota and he is established here why would he want to go somewhere else if he gets paid decently and we are competetive.