zenser

Because it was the first sporting event my dad took me to and it will be the first sporting event I take my son to. Would you want to take a little kid to a football game? I think not.

ARod makes more than the Astros.

Boston is also lowering concession through the month of April. Sellout over? Boston Red Sox offer cheaper beer, dogs - ESPN Boston

I have to say that there is a slight flaw in the system. I think the flaw comes with the loss of the draft pick. Correct me if I am wrong but, in Lohse's situation, are the top 10 (?) picks protected so if a team in the top 10 picks of the draft sign Lohse they would lose their second round pick. Out of the teams picking in the top 10, maybe Boston would be the one team that would be alright with losing their pick. I think Cleveland lost their second round pick with the signing of Bourn. To me, this is where the flaw comes in. More often than not a team in the top 10 picks are in a rebuilding mode so drafting talent trumps the signing of a guy like Lohse. Is Lohse a good pitcher? I think so. Does it make sense for an organization like the Twins or Royals or Pirates or Rockies to sign him and lose a pick? I don't think so. Look at Seattle and San Diego. They are picking 12 and 13. Does it make sense to sign Lohse and lose that pick? I know if the Twins were picking there I wouldn't be happy if they lost their first round pick. I haven't heard what Boars wants teams to cough up for Lohse for but for him to remain unsigned, I am guessing it is outragous. That in itself prices most teams out of the market. Kudos to the all the teams for not buying what Boras is selling. In my opinion, I would rather roll the dice and take a guy like Barrios in the draft who may or may not become a solid MLB pitcher that sign Lohse who at this point really wouldn't make our roster that much better. The flip side to that though if we would have made a splash in free agency and sign a couple of quality pitchers, then maybe signing Lohse would be worth it.

If we are going to add a MI my preference would be Freddy Sanchez. I know he can't play SS. He could fill a gap until Dozier/Florimon/Escobar prove they can hit at the major league level. He is also a 2 hole hitter so Gardy could easily pencil him in at 2B and bat second.

If we were in a pinch for starters then I would say go after him. But given the current situtation, I think we have plenty of mediocre pitchers already. I would rather see Deduno added to the 40 man again and get a shot.

I hope it warms up by April 1st! My seats for opening day are in the sun at least but I would like the temp to be warmer that 50!

At the end of the day, I want to see the Twins succeed. I don't just want them to make the playoffs, I want them to win in the playoffs. Some may call me a hater for my stances on this team. Like all of you, I call myself a passionate fan.

I would have to say I fall into #1 and #3. I think TR does a nice job. Do I wish he would/could spend more money to get some better free agents? Yes. But I think that falls into #1. Like other posters have said, I, too, think that Marcum and Saunders would have been an improvement to Correia and Pelfrey. I agree that Correia for one year would be better than two years. I am kind of excited to see what Pelfrey can do though. For #3, I feel that Gardy has a slow hook. I also don't like the fact that he seems to give the core players a day off on the same day leaving us with a weak lineup. I would prefer staggering the days off so we don't give away three outs at the bottom of the lineup. That is just my opinion.

Benson 8 Carroll 4 Willingham 7 Doumit 2 Plouffe 5 Escobar DH Clement 3 Boggs 9 Omedo 6 Correia Boston Ellsbury 8 Pedroia 4 Drew 6 Napoli 3 Lavarnway DH Saltalamacchia 2 Nava 7 Sweeney 9 Sutton 5 Buchholz

As a side debate to the question if/when Gibson should be up, what about his innings limit? Lets say he has a 150 inning limit on him this year. Would you prefer that he only goes 5-6 innings a start to ensure he gets 25 starts or would you rather see him go as long as he can per start and then run the risk of being shut down in August. Obviously, there will be starts he wont last 5-6 innings. I hope those are few and far between, but I also hope there are starts he could go 8-9. I am trying to think which ESPN analyst suggested that for Strasburg when he had about 10 starts left in order to prevent him from not getting shut down like he did.

I had a chance to ask Paul Molitor what he thought about Kepler and he said he wasn't as high on him as a lot of other people in the organization are high on him. He said he is pretty soft yet and needs to toughen up. He thought he might only become a 15-20 homer guy but with a lot of doubles. He also said that could change because he is still a kid.

Dave St. Peter and Paul Molitor spoke at our ticket draft earlier this month and I thought St. Peter was overly optimistic. He really highlighted the signings of Corriea, Harden, and Pelfrey. Pretty much what he said in the article was what he said to us. I know he was impressed with the reports of the younger players progressing. He also said the the season ticket sales were a sign that the fan base was optimistic. I wanted to tell him that some of the season ticket holders are hanging on thru next year because of the all star game. Personally, I just don't see the roster improvement that would warrent that type of optimism. I know it is his job to sell the good points and be optimistic, but I am thinking a lot of people aren't buying it.

The first part of spring training will be crutical. Mauer will be with Team USA and Butera will be the starting catcher for Team Italy. Butera will be getting probably more ABs there than he would in the spring training games with the Twins so that opens up Herrmann to get plenty of ABs to start the spring season. Hopefully, Herrmann takes advantage. Personally, I would prefer they only carry Mauer and Doumit to start the season and using the roster spot for a pinch hitter or bullpen arm. Lord knows we will need both. If it so happens that we would lose a DH for a game and have to have a pitcher bat once, is there any difference to having Butera bat? Then after the game, you could call up Butera. But in that scenario, Butera and Herrmann would be splitting ABs in AAA and if the FO has plans for Herrmann going forward, I could live with Herrmann being in AAA and Butera taking up a roster spot with the big club.

I have a hard time thinking of a number greater than 70. Mauer and Morneau were both pretty healthy last year and Willingham had a career year, even Doumit had a career year, plus the career month the Plouffe had. I would love for Mauer, Morneau, and Plouffe to stay healthy and hit their potential. I would love to Willingham to match his year last year. Will Hicks be able to contribute? Will Dozier bounce back? Will Parmalee hit when he is in the lineup everyday? Will Drew Butera hit over .185? That is a lot of questions on the offense and I didn't even get into the lack of quality starting pitching.

The M's really have had a nice offseason. They brought in some needed bats and were able to lock up their ace for 7 more years. Maybe our front office should take notes.

Did Jeff Gray earn his 6 wins with the Twins?

Wouldn't forcing a pitcher to hit be about the same as forcing Butera to hit?

I will bet a certain manager will think he battled his tail off night in and night out. I guess that will equate to something in the range of .240 to .250. I would like to see a different option but I don't think Hicks is ready yet either so I guess we are stuck with him or Benson.

I know a lot of posters on here have suggested going after Kelly Johnson. I wouldn't be opposed to that. I was looking through the list of potential free agents and one name caught my eye. Freddy Sanchez. I know he has had health issues. He should come cheap and he would be a nice two hole hitter. I think either one would be worth a shot. Thoughts?

The only way I would bring back Lohse is if they also signed another pitcher along the lines of Saunders or Marcum. Even at that, I don't know if I would risk it for one year. If the Twins were close to contending then he would be a nice piece. Just adding Lohse himself really doesn't improve the team into contention.

ESPN reports Dickey agreed to a 2 year, $25 million contract. That is pretty cheap for a guy coming off a Cy Young. R.A. Dickey agrees to contract extension with Toronto Blue Jays, sources say - ESPN New York

I would take him too. I would rather have him start as a setup man with some opportunities to close. If you need to flip him at the deadline, you should be able to. The Royals did the same thing with Broxton.

Schumaker was dealt to the Dodgers for a minor league SS. Los Angeles Dodgers acquire Skip Schumaker from St. Louis Cardinals -- reports - ESPN Los Angeles