tony&rodney

I hope you and legions of others are right.

Always please every side - clicks. All about the clicks.

Money is gone.

Yes. Good catch - this was supposed to be Taylor. Farmer is a good player and we still have him.

You may have missed that I believe in the younger players, Correa, and Buxton. Topa was largely, and quite successfully, used in the 6th inning. You missed that I was pointing out that the Twins had a plan to drastically cut the expenditures and did so. Appreciate your support of the Twins.

Signing Carlos Santana completes the offseason. He is by all reports a good guy, easy to like, and still hits lefties. The contract fits like a glove. In November a vague statement was issued related to payroll, revenue, balance, and an expected "correction." All offseason, including today, there have been articles and posts hopeful of the Twins strengthening the team with a couple of additions. The most common parts mentioned were a starting pitcher to slot in behind Pablo Lopez, a relief pitcher to slot next to Jhoan Duran, a RH hitting outfielder, and possibly a corner infielder. The message was clear that one or more players making above the minimum salary would be traded for salary help. The most common player identified to trade was Jorge Polanco. It is worth a reminder that only the financial hit and an expected trade were hinted at by the Twins. The hopes for other players was merely guesstimates/dreams of fans. There has been widespread support by many for the Twins moves. A few, especially one efficient poster, have championed everything done by the Twins. I try to always focus on the positives of life. When I look over the transactions it is pretty difficult to ascertain how the Twins improved their squad. I do believe that it is possible for players like Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Varland, Kirilloff, Julien, Correa, Lewis, Wallner, Buxton, and Kepler to all have much better years than any projections predict. However, this is also a bit Pollyannish. The Twins added a nice 32 year old rookie relief pitcher who has had one year of success (no longer a rookie). They added a starting pitcher for the bullpen to start when needed. They added a one time slugging first baseman/DH who should help more as a coach. They signed some players to invite to Florida. They lost Gray, Maeda, Solano, Farmer, and Polanco. I may have missed someone. Correa, Buxton, and the young players have a big chore to make up for all of these guys and improve enough to hold off the other teams in the division. Let's hope they can do it. The Twins accomplished all of their offseason goals even if those did not include our wishes for the team. The division is still a goal and possible. My biggest disappointment is for those fans who would like to watch Twins games being shut out by the continuing ineptitude of whomever was tasked to handle media in the Twins organization.

Same. Spin?

Never a bad thing to have a farm system ranked in the top ten. I would prefer to have the Twins ranked as a top ten team. I would really like it if the farm system and the MLB team were ranked in the top ten.

On who?

Maybe the Twins were being serious when they stated that the roster salary limits would be trimmed in consideration of revenues. Perhaps they are working to get to a similar range as the Brewers. I am just a simple guy but I don't expect any decent signings and the salary decreases seem like they could have been accomplished and needs met if Falvey was willing to wait another month. We have no idea about how those discussions go and maybe Falvey was willing to hold 'em but the Pohlads wanted the numbers down by Feb. 1. It is all moot now. 83-85 wins should win the AL Central, expect a closer division this season.

True. I think Tim Anderson is due for a turn for the better despite his free swinging ways. Maybe Milwaukee picks him up.

Naturally, Twins fans want DeScla to be really good. He was good three years ago. The last two years were pretty tough though and he has given up more hits than innings pitched in his career and has always been a pitch to contact guy which isn't a death bell. Hopefully things work out for him. Baseball players work hard to come back from injuries and the road to significant playing time is tough at the best of times. Good luck Anthony.

The contract (Cease) would work but I'm afraid that is about it. Cease is really good when he is good but a little erratic at times for someone expected to be an ace. The Twins are backed into a corner to some extent if Lee is protected and he seems to be. I'm not sure the Twins can afford to lose any more offense or position prospects from the top of their system.

Mentioned this elsewhere - the rumors from some time ago were that Milwaukee wanted Polanco, Raya, and another player/comp pick for Burnes. The Twins have financial concerns though and turned to Seattle which caused the Brewers to turn to Baltimore. Never heard what the third piece was but I believe it was a moot point because of Burnes salary.

Yes, except the Twins can't afford Burnes. Milwaukee is moving towards $100 million for their roster, so it looks possible that mid and smaller market teams will pull back on payroll. This could mean some good opportunities for younger players to step forward.

If the A games were televised we could see him play this summer. I have watched a ton of games on milb.com, but the lowest league televised has been A+. It is easy to have all of Cedar Rapids, Wichita, and St. Paul up on separate windows and pause then to go back and forth between games. The 10 second advance works beautifully for moving through the games and not missing a pitch. Try to watch a couple of times per week.

Not that it matters except for the timing is pretty obvious but does anyone else think that the Brewers were after Polanco and had to turn elsewhere? Hall and Ortiz plus a comp pick is not a bad turn though. Old rumors were that the Brewers wanted Polanco, Raya, and a demand for an unknown third player or comp pick but Burnes may have been too rich for the Twins in any event along with the loss of Raya+.

Reports (early) say Ortiz and Hall. In an hour we shall know. Great pick up by the Orioles.

The season will play out. What are the odds that the Twins sign an expensive free agent? I want it to happen as much as the next guy, but I don't see Soler signing with the Twins. Wouldn't Hoskins or even Turner have been better choices? Passing on Hoskins to sign Soler? Why?

We all are waiting to be surprised apparently. Soler for 3/$36M or 2/$26M seems like a pile of dough when the Twins just had to unload their 3-hole bat to save some money. But, hey, bring on the surprises. As long as we are at it, trade for Burnes, Gilbert, Luzardo, etc. It all seems surreal somehow and at a price of near $125 million too. We wait for miracles to descend from Falvey's office. It's all good.

Soler will sign for the money (@$5M) saved by trading Polanco? Do it.

A no brain decision by Toronto. Manoah is still inexpensive and could regain status as a good pitcher. A ton of teams flooded the Blue Jays with offers to take him for a minimal return, which certainly made little sense to follow through on by toronto.

Curious why you would just turn around what nicksaviking said? It was clear. If you disagree, that is fine. Did you think he made mistakes in his writing?

Clev? No. i think Bauer has the same odds as Clev. Maybe on a minor league invite deal. Nah. I'm not against it but don't believe it could happen. DeSclafani cost the Twins $4 million. He may be moved too for further salary relief. I believe we should listen when the Twins indicate a strict budget. I would be pleasantly surprised at any figure above $125 million for the player payroll. Now if by some miracle the media deal from last year is resurrected, stuff can happen. We wait.

Agree. Will Soler sign for the money saved by trading Polanco? Hmmm.