tony&rodney

The answer is maybe not.

Are you saying that people only need to work for 45 years now. When I was a .....

If you read the comments, you basically know my positions. In any event, it is best to speak for your own voice and avoid casting another's voice. I read your posts and often find sound thought in your comments just as I also find thoughtfulness in some other's comments. I find disagreement a common factor in life. What I do not find sound is to set strong judgments against others, which is all too ironically a sort of judgment in and of itself. i apolagize for that. You be you but your best comments are when you just make your points.

Not fair to me (speaking only for myself).

Curious why this was surprising to you.

Roki Sasaki is a lottery ticket. One cannot win without a ticket. The Twins just need to put themsleves forward as an interested entity. I would think that around 100 hours of work would be sufficient to prepare a proper introduction (of the opportunities available as a Twin) to the young man and his agent. The meeting itself might only last an hour or two at most. It is winter. The front office has time. The agent will give everyone Sasaki's decision. Just do it.

Tom, it is worth noting that MLB did not approve Mark Cuban at one point. Recently, it seems like the club owners have been less about rejecting individual owners. Cohen was approved. You might not remember that only Carl Pohlad was allowed to buy the Twins among the roughly four other groups of people interested in buying the Twins in 1984. While Carl had the most most money his bid was actually slightly lower. MLB did not allow Calvin to sell to the others. Hopefully this recent "talk" bears fruit. My fear is that the process will not be completed in time to affect the 2025 Twins. While the Pohlads have not exactly endeared themselves to many franchise followers, it is interesting that most people give a pass to the front office. I would suggest that the product on the field is on the front office. I don't see how it can be totally ignored that the Twins most often carry a larger payroll than their AL Central foes and certainly more than their NL Central neighbors in Milwaukee. The Pohlads have always struck me as uninterested in baseball and even business to a degree. Carl was the businessman in the family and he is long gone. It is my understanding that the Pohlads are trying to divest and allow for a final distribution of corporate assets, freeing the family members to pursue their own interests in a fashion that does not spill on to other relatives. I did meet Carl several times and he was not a fan of baseball but generally a nice man and genial. For the benefit of most everyone, it would be sweet if a sale went as quickly as buying a house. In the meantime, perhaps the front office can put in some time on roster matters and make a few changes to improve the 2025 Twins team.

Congratulations to these fine performers. This list makes it clear what the core of the team is at this time, besides our two handsomely paid faces of the team. The bonuses should, indeed, lend a little sparkle to the holidays for the deserving players.

Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul newspaper wrote an article. .... the Twins are only halfway through their lease. The team must play their home games at Target Field. The Twins were forced, against their will, to honor the Metrodome lease by the courts. No, an owner cannot just break the lease. The baseball club ultimately answers to MLB. The team could move after the thirty year lease expires. Look online and read up on it.

The Twins should not trade any of Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Festa, SWR, Matthews, Morris, or Raya unless the return value is obviously substantial. There are MLB teams crying for pitchers.

You answered your own question. Tampa Bay would want prospects or someone pre-arb. They will not be interested in Paddack or Castro.

Seems like the Cubs just put a ton of confidence in Matt Shaw. This is a great trade if you view that Shaw is displacing both Paredes and Smith, who are very good ball players. The Cubs also have Cade Horton waiting his turn. Good trade for Houston as well. I like this deal all around.

#1. Correa? Keep him. He is our shortstop. #2. Reduce payroll. Find the best deals out there that subtract Chris Paddack ($7.5M) and Willi Castro ($6.2M). If payroll is fine as is - keep them both. #3. a) Bribe the Diamondbacks into trading Jordan Lawler. Who know what that takes? Duran, Castro, and K. Culpepper? b) Trade Brooks Lee for Jeferson Quero. Now the team has a catcher for the future. c) Discuss Jarren Duran with the Red Sox. No deal, no problem. d) If no Duran in LF, hand it to Emmanuel Rodriguez. e) Take a serious look at guys like Luke Keaschall and Payton Eeles in Spring Training to evaluate their abilities to function in MLB either now or in a year. Team is better and payroll problem is solved with C4 still in place. Trust your players, especially the pitchers who will be happy to have defenders behind them like Lawler and Rodriguez.

Billy Amick had 77 plate appearances for the A ball Ft. Myers team as a 21 year old. Paul Molitor had 556 plate in his age 21 year old rookie season for the MLB Milwaukee Brewers, which was followed by 645 PA, a .322 BA, and a .842 OPS in his sophomore jinx campaign. The Twins will be elated if Billy Amick puts up those numbers in MLB next season. No pressure though. I certainly hope Amick does well.

More satire, of a sort. In case anyone actually pays attention, Keaschall has more value alone than Arraez (whom I love to watch bat) and San Diego will not take on salary (Paddack-$7.5M & Vazquez-$10M). Perhaps the Padres listen on a trade of Joe Ryan for Dylan Cease to reduce payroll, but the Twins are counting dollars too. Plus Cease has one year before FA as compared to three for Ryan.

I'm just hoping the Twins manage a couple of deals for 2025 and afraid the team will sit things out until a sale has been completed.

It is difficult to ascertain how teams value their catchers. Few people thought that Boston would give up Teel but they chose to keep Anthony (OF), Mayer (SS), and Campbell (IF/OF) above Teel. Milwaukee has less need of pitching today than yesterday but perhaps Brooks Lee for Jeferson Quero works for them. Quero is a little scary coming off of shoulder surgery but his defense is top shelf and the Twins need a catcher .... eventually.

Duran bats left-handed. Where Duran would really help is being a buddy to the pitchers turning those fly ball base hits into outs.

The return will determine whether a trade should be completed. If Jarren Duran is available (I highly doubt this) for a starter or Jordan Lawler is available (also extremely unlikely) for a closer then a move is possible. sure hope the bar is equal in any exchange because the Twins don't need any more extra players.

Oh I agree that the Twins have been proactive and kept the catching situation healthy by splitting duties. It is still good fortune/luck to go two seasons with just these two guys. Catching is incredibly hard on the body. I was a pitcher who wound up catching 100 plus games as a fill in. Tomorrow I go in for my fourth surgery on my knees (two each). Fun, but paying the price now. Until I actually caught two nine inning games back to back I didn't really know how hard it is on the body.

Don't think so. White Sox are adding as many pieces as possible to find out who can play. Three catchers are almost always needed to get through a 162 game season. The Twins have been incredible fortunate the last two seasons.

The Twins should present their case to Sasaki and his agent. It can't hurt. Spend a day putting together a brochure and presentation that highlights the organization and everything it can offer to support and develop the young pitcher. The odds are pretty much the same as in the recent draw for draft order.

I read that story and wondered if Arraez can four- four peat myself. But then I also saw that the Padres were open for discussions on Dylan Cease. I wondered if San Diego and Minnesota could work out a trade of pitchers. The thought is just a thought and a bit risky but would the Padres exchange Dylan Cease and Bryan Hoeing for Joe Ryan and Jorge Alcala? Would the Twins? Naturally, this means the Twins are now further away from $130 million but this seems like something ..... or not.

The Twins can trade either of their catchers and save some money, but before they subtract a catcher they need someone to take the spot. At the very least if someone goes, another quick move needs to follow, meaning an agreement to add a catcher was already in place more or less. It is really hard to play baseball without a catcher and it isn't like just anyone can even catch MLB pitchers. Seems like the Twins will be checking back with everyone in early January after the majority of free agents have settled with various clubs and teams are searching for trade opportunities.

Ah, football and baseball are different sports. Have you ever stood in sleet during a baseball game at 30 degrees F? I hope you were smart enough to stay home.