ThejacKmp

This is off topic but interesting to think about that word. A juggernaut is a huge, powerful and overpowering force. The only baseball position player I can remember who hit that level would be Barry Bonds. Trout, Harper and Pujols all came pretty close but only Bonds physically altered the game that way. Pitcher gets more interesting. A pitcher has so much more control over an individual game. I think you could find some juggernaut stretches - Kershaw, Arrieta, Verlander, Gooden etc. Other sports juggernaut works better for. LeBron and MJ definitely hit that level regularly. Football QBs certainly seem that way sometimes - Brees, Brady, Manning, Rogers get the ball late and you just know they're driving the field.

There are 11 Hall of Famers who never played in a postseason game, led by Ernie Banks. Was he not good because he never made the playoffs? Basketball is a fair sport to judge a player by playoffs because one player can drag a team to the playoffs (see Westbrook last year). Baseball is a team game - one player can't drag a team to the playoffs. The Twins with Mauer have never underachieved in the playoffs - they've never been a huge favorite that fell apart. They've lost some close games over the years and that's tough but that's baseball. Joe Mauer is a top 3 MN Twin of all time with Killebrew and Carew. You can argue #1 convincingly but I go with Killebrew.

Joe should be higher than puckett. Similar ops+ and he did it while playing Catcher the first half of his career. And if you go with what he meant to the franchise, Joe is a big part of why we have TArget Field and are linked to darvish types financially.

Disagree but I also think Bert being in is a travesty. Small hall!

Lets get arrieta!

Ha. Looking back that was a little morbid. But yeah, everyday people don't think about their legacy with their job that much. They do their best day-to-day. Athletes, actors and politicians think legacy.

1.) No one cares about legacy in 99% of professions. There isn't a correlation to most other professions (maybe acting and politics?) 2.) I don't have enough money for me and my kids to never work again. Going out on top isn't an option, I go out when the ticker fails.

Disagree wholeheartedly. 1.) What team offers PT and a better chance at a ring? Not a lot of contenders looking for a first baseman who doesn't have pop and is more of a defense/intangibles guy. 2.) Joe does have kids and is settled in MN/FL. That's why I think the only place he would consider going is Tampa. He has a house near there and his kids aren't in school yet. But is Tampa a better spot than the Twins? Assuming the Twins make an offer, it's hard to see Tampa being the team that trumps that or the Rays being a better contender than the Twins. 3.) Joe grew up a Twins fan and has a chance to be a lifelong Twin with his number retired, in the HOF and in the argument for best Twin of all time. I think that means more than you'd think. Plus his family and his wife's family is in the cities, it's hard to move away from that. Joe's a big family guy. 4.) The only thing I could see changing it would be if the new Twins management starts wanting to push him out. Joe's not going to take crap at this point. That could happen but I think there's not a strong reason for it to happen (assuming he doesn't fall off big time next year). He's not going to cost much and he has a skill the Twins need at a position (LH 1B) that they don't have other options (Rooker can play elsewhere, Sano can play DH if 3B isn't working, no big prospects coming, hard to see the Twins signing a free agent 1B). Plus, he still puts butts in seats and jerseys on backs. The intangibles of fan love are not going to bigger anywhere else than MN. I think the front office won't want to piss off the larger section of the fan base that loves Joe, especially since there's likely not a good baseball reason to do so until 2021.

And that World Series MVP.

Sano has a place to play. It's third base. And DH. The Twins don't have an obvious DH and they don't have an up-and-coming third baseman. Escobar can play there but he's not an everyday third baseman and he's not a long-term piece. Yeah you can move Polanco there when Gordon/Lewis come up but that assumes that you keep Dozier (not a given, not sure the Twins will/should pay what the market would for him -- he's going to get 4 or 5 years and the Twins have a ton of middle infield depth coming up in Gordon, Lewis, Arraez and Palacios) and that development happens quickly -- Gordon and Lewis may take more time than we hope to be ready. I see no reason from a depth POV that Joe won't have a spot with the Twins in 2019. Rooker may still be working through the minors and even if he's not, he can be a 4th OF/DH/RH 1B. Sano will still be playing 3B unless the Twins keep Dozier and Gordon is ready. Even in that case, you just move Sano to DH/RH 1B. 2020 is more interesting because you'd assume/hope that Gordon and Lewis are up and Diaz is pushing the top of the minors but even then, it's hard to see the Twins not being able to keep Joe as a LH 1B and bench bat. I don't think he'll be a guy to throw a stink and demand PT every day. And if he's hitting .350 and forces you to play him more at the expense of youth in a pennant race, that's not a bad place to be.

The better question is would the Pohlads spend the money?

I saw it coming. I proclaimed it loudly on this site and in my personal life. Then again I'd done the same thing the two years before that so perhaps that's not much of an achievement. The Twins don't have a left-handed first baseman coming up the pipeline. The reports that Sano will be a 1B/DH this year seem premature and pessimistic. I expect him to be mostly a 3B for the next few years. Rooker can play DH/1B/OF so he's not going to push Joe out. I don't see the Twins dipping into free agency. Lewin Diaz is 2-4 years away. Joe will have another good year and sign a 2 year $16 million deal with the Twins. This will let him retire as a Twin.

94% is a lot of guilty people. The fact you are focused on the 6% part is troubling.

Yeah I liked Gore a lot and Greene felt like a guy you might be kicking yourself about in five years but can't fault the Twins approach. They got a much more projectable player #1 overall and used the savings to get multiple live arms. The results may or may not work out but you have to like the process.

I've written 3-4 blog posts in my time here and there's a reason I haven't gotten more into it, though I enjoy writing. There just isn't enough payoff in a reasonable amount of time. If I were 21, I would have no problem - I was just sitting around drinking beer and watching the Twins so there'd be no issue writing some articles and then content checking them the next morning to make sure it was me talking and not the Hamms. But I'm in my 30s now and there's less free time (and less Hamms). The few blog posts I've done have gotten somewhere from 90-300 views and very little activity (understandable since they’re just random blog posts) so there isn’t much payoff to justify pissing off my wife by clacking away all on the computer all evening instead of spending some quality time massaging her bunions. Money doesn’t solve that, it’s making a splash that does. Some ideas for how to do make that easier: 1.) Tom Froemming showed that there’s an idea good enough that it can take over Twins Daily. He’d win Rookie of the Year and MVP for his daily Twins recaps this year. And I don’t think that was because the writing was so exceptional. Not that it wasn’t fine, just that wasn’t the reason we all clicked on that link first each morning. Tom found a gap in TD coverage and filled in admirably. Perhaps it would be useful to sit down and brainstorm out ideas for recurring Twins/baseball articles and then find people (or teams of 2-3 people) to write them regularly. These articles would have an express lane to the front page and get people interested in writing. 2.) There also needs to be a way for people to write a few articles but know that they have a good shot of hitting the front page. TD is a place of reputation and that can work to its advantage. Every time spycake comments on one of my comments, I’m both apprehensive (because he/she’s likely torn it apart with logic and reasoning) and excited (I said something worth spycake descending from his/her ivory tower to grapple with mere mortals). I’ve never seen a spycake article though. I imagine you aren’t going to get many because spycake works for NASA and is super busy but I imagine most people would read the two yearly spycake articles avidly. TD moderators likely have an understanding who the great, thoughtful, discussion-provoking, literate commenters are. It might be worth it for you all to make a list of them and send invitations to write an article or two for the front page express lane. Nothing breeds continued interest like success so getting the spycakes of the boards interested in writing could be great. 3.) An editorial board also wouldn’t be a bad idea. People get better with consistent, confidential feedback. Blog posts that aren’t up to snuff either get ignored or ridiculed. That’s not going to get someone to come back. It might be good to have an option when posting a blog for some private mailbox feedback. There are plenty of people on TD who aren’t going to write a lot but who might be willing to read 5 blog posts a day (on the bus, on the crapper) and fill out a quick survey or comment box with what works and what doesn’t. I’ve taught some high school in my day and would be totally into doing that. Plus, those editors are then more invested in the site and might synthesize an article or two. Or they might see a potential recurring feature and suggest it to the moderators. Or they might see that two writers are interested in the same thing and recommend they get in contact with one another. Great site. Thanks for all the work!

I think Mauer should and will make it. It'll take some time to build (year 5 or so?) but he's a top 10 catcher and that should get him in despite the later career injuries. I really hope so. Bet a happy hour with a Twins-hating friend that he'd make it in.

Maybe this is falling in love with prospects but I want to sign Darvish/Arietta/Cobb even if the last years of the deal are painful rather than trade for Archer or Cole or whomever. Prospects are the best.

The market rates are often awful though. Outside of signing the elite guys like Chapman, Jansen and co., so many of those contracts don't work out, even in the short term. Last year Mike Dunn got 3 years and $19 million and was awful in year 1 , Brad Ziegler and Junichi Tazawa each got 2 years and a combined $28 million from the Marlins to put up ERA+ of 85 and 71 respectively. In 2016, Tony Sipp and Antonio Bastardo were guys lots of people on TD wanted and they have collectively flushed $23 million down the tank. One year deals like the Twins have been doing are often just as successful when dealing with the pen. A bullpen is also very easy to supplement at the break - the Nats were a terrible pen team last year but made some moves to supplement that and turned it into a playoff strength - 2.16 ERA. Just because it starts out homegrown doesn't mean it ends homegrown. The Twins have enough fun young arms to throw some things at the wall, see what sticks and then supplement as needed. I'd rather see the Twins spend that money elsewhere. It might even help the pen - if they signed Darvish, for instance, one or more of the long line of starters competing for that spot might move to the pen. That would boost the pen anyways. Guys like May and Mejia might excel in the pen.

I'd like to trust the bevy of internal options and sign a high-upside guy to a one-year deal. Tons of young arms coming up. I don't see (or want) the Twins to commit long-term money to the pen and outside of that, I don't see how anyone they sign is more likely to take a step than the young guys they have. P.S. Long shot call you heard here first. Pressley starts out lights out and by early May is a set-up man. He takes over as closer by mid-June as Rodney falters.

Sad to see Jake Mauer move on. Hard to fathom why they couldn't find something with the MLB club. Anyone know if he resides in the Twin Cities or in Chattanooga? If the TC, really crazy they couldn't find something for him to do.

I'm a small hall guy so I'd say no Johan if I were running the whole shebang. But that would also involve me booting guys like Blyleven and Puckett and what not. Since that's not reality and we live in the present, he should be in. He's as good as many guys in the hall and he was one of the two or three most dominant pitchers for 6-7 years.

Naw, that wasn't a thing then.* He was relatively young and was truly a great pitcher. It was the Wins that did it. Really infuriating at the time. * I'd argue that Colon's "charm" has nothing to do with today. He's not a particularly friendly or affable guy. A good teammate and all but he's not charming. It's mainly that he's big and fat and old and Americans like that aged underdog narrative. Big Sexy doesn't hurt either.

Ridiculous. As rosters stood last year at this time, the Twins were in last place. Ditto once the season started. How did that turn out? Luckily, this isn't strat-o-matic baseball. The games still have to be played. SO much armchair quarterbacking. If the Twins trot out the exact same roster they did last year they'll have a good chance to make the playoffs. They have a young and deep lineup with lots of tantalizing upside and some fun late-season bats lurking in the mid-minors. The pen is young and unproven but bullpen performance is pretty variable and the arms have a lot of pop. The rotation isn't a strength but they have a depth of arms (Santana, Berrios, Mejia, Gibson, Slegers, Romero, Jorge, Gonsalves, Littel, May, Hughes) with enough upside to provide average starting pitching -- which very well could be enough for a powerful lineup. It's okay to want certain moves to be made but let's not write off the season before it's even begun.

To be fair, outside of signing a Darvish or trading for an ace pitcher, the Twins were never going to be big players in free agency. Their success next year will be dependent on (1.) Young players like Buxton, Rosario and Polanco building on last year (2.) Guys like Sano, Vargas and Kepler taking a step forward (3.) Dozier and Mauer replicating last year (4.) The long-awaited power pen wave cresting in the MLB pen (5.) At least one AAA starter giving the club a boost in late May/early June. If the Twins find an ace pitcher, great. Otherwise, tweaking out over falling behind in free agency is pretty pointless. The most important pieces for the Twins next year are already on the team and just need to perform. These are all piddly moves not worth this kind of epic winter grousing.