ThejacKmp

Yeah, remember that now. This winter right? Still kind of crazy he's been out for 15 years at age 65. Have to admire someone who sticks with a decision like that.

I realize this is a joke and all but I've always been intrigued by TK. It blows my mind but the guy is only 65 right now. He must really not want to manage or coach again - you have to think that someone has tried to reach out to him at some point. He was a well-respected baseball mind and though the media demands today would likely be burdensome, you'd think he'd make a great bench coach.

I dunno, the first two are eminently defensible. You're holding a lead so getting a better defender out there is ideal. Nunez is a better runner than Sano in a situation late in a game where a run is really important - I'm fine with it. I can see the issue with sending Nunez against Perez. I don't mind aggressive baseball but I get thinking that isn't an ideal time for a steal.

I'm not sure that any of them would be any better. Park has never played RF and is much older. Plouffe could do it but then you'd have worse defense at 3B and no real improvement in the OF. Mauer at 1B might be a better option but again, he's 32 and doesn't seem like he'd be any better. This is likely the best formation for the Twins until Kepler forces his way up and they have to choose who goes - likely Plouffe.

I thought the same thing initially last night but then realized that the Twins really don't need a right handed bench bat. You're not pinch hitting for Joey and if Arcia is playing, that means Sano/Park is available off the bench. You could pinch hit for Suzuki last night if he was facing a righty but that means you'd get Arcia - there really isn't so much of a need for it that it's worth more than Santana/Nunez. I do wish they'd pinch hit for Suzuki in the opener. I hope that happens more throughout the year.

They do track for 5 and 6 year olds? That's both frightening and amazing and then frightening again.

Yeah Casilla is not an ideal starting 2B and Florimon would be awful. Garza out for 4-6 weeks. Sam Deduno to the rotation!

I guess I was referring to the next offseason when he was a free agent. They made him a similar offer to the one the Pirates made and he chose the Pirates.

I was surprised looking at the stats on that - the Royals BA was third best in the AL but their OPS was just about exactly average. That media narrative that they got on base all the time just wasn't true. Interesting. Yeah, clearly the Twins aren't a World Series team or a favorite in their division. But they have the pieces to have a good back end of the pen and the young developing arms to weather injury/ineffectiveness. It's not crazy to say that the Twins pen could take a solid jump to be an asset. Defense will hurt the Twins though, at least until they can get Kepler into the OF and move Sano to 3B/DH/1B. At that point though, they'll have three CFs in the OF and a relatively average to slightly above average infield. Catcher remains an issue of course.

Very much agreed. That's where keeping Plouffe actually makes some sense. The Twins can really weather almost any injury. Even (knocks on wood, throws salt over shoulder, chases down a leprechaun) Sano wouldn't create a hole as the upgrade to Kepler's defense would mitigate some of that loss. It's going to be good. Also, I can't remember a Twins team where you had so much hope about starters 6-8. Yeah #5 sucks but the arms coming up are great. Not too worried about injuries in the rotation. I know spring training doesn't mean much, but I'm most excited for Danny Santana this year. He seems perfect for that utility role with his speed, extra base pop and positional variety. He's going to get a ton of time this year and could be ready for a huge bounceback year.

Yeah, and Rosario was an OF at the beginning of his career who was moved to 2B due to resource allotment (bad IF prospects, tons of good OF prospects). So moving back to OF isn't him learning a new position but returning to his original one.

So a team of former Twins would be as follows: Lineup LF Span RF Hicks CF Gomez DH Ortiz SS JJ Hardy 1B Morales 3B Valencia C Ramos 2B Casilla Not a bad lineup though Casilla at 2B is a bit rough. Bench AJ C Revere OF Colabello 1B/OF Florimon MI Again, weak in the middle infield and 3B – JJ Hardy going down would be disastrous for this team. But decent depth for any injuries in the OF, catching or at DH/1B. Starters Liriano Dickey Garza Pelfrey Worley Liriano is nice at the top but after that it’s pretty shoddy. And in the case of injury, yick. PJ Walters to the rescue! Pen Hendricks Neshek Manship Boyer Nathan Oliveros Cotts The pen would be a major issue. Picking names for the back end was brutal and Nathan being an early choice is not ideal. ------------------------- Overall, this is maybe the first former Twins team in a while that isn’t better than the current Twins team. Progress! The lineups are probably somewhat even but the current Twins have a better bench, rotation and pen.

Ah got it. I guess I don't remember Liriano leaving with crystal clarity but I don't think there was a lot of bad blood ala Garza. He was just up and down with us and the Twins traded him at the deadline and then made an offer in the offseason but he was pretty clearly looking for somewhere new. It seemed amicable and not at all Gardy-centric but again, it's been awhile.

I'm not as sure that the narrative about the Twins pitching holding them back this year is so true. Look at the Royals last year. They won the World Series without dominant pitching - Edison Volquez was their ace with a FIP of 3.82 and Yordana Ventura was maddeningly inconsistent (same with Johnny Cueto in his end of the regular season campaign). If you look at the Royals last year and the Twins staff this year, there's not that much of a difference - lack of an ace, veteran arms with #2 upside and some unknown but promising young guys. Last year's Royals made it on a strong bullpen and a strong lineup. Their lineup was good (league average OBP, SLG and OPS) but it's not crazy to see the Twins having a pretty good lineup themselves (albeit with way less OBP/BA and a lot more power). And the back end of the pen looks strong to start the season and the farm system has plenty of impact arms to inject as the season goes along. The Twins rotation certainly isn't a strength and we're going to need some guys to step up and have good years but I don't think the rotation prevents the Twins from making the playoffs. The key is going to be getting out to a fast start and then betting on improvement in young guys like Buxton, Kepler, Berrios and Duffey to bolster the team in the second half. Let's be optimistic today!

That last part will be interesting. Plouffe is a nice insurance policy for a lot of the unknowns (man we have a lot of unknowns this year!) but if most of them work out (Buxton stays in the majors, Rosario doesn't slump, Arcia/Park is a capable DH, Kepler is ready) then the Twins are going to be forced to move him at some point, likely this year. Hopefully a market will open up and we'll get something back? A nice bullpen piece or a prospect? The rotation is harder and likely doesn't totally clear up until next year. Milone is likely not going to be worth $7 mill in arbitration next year and you have to think that Nolasco will be traded/bought out by the upcoming offseason. That opens two spots in the rotation but you're also likely to have May back in the rotation next year when the Twins (hopefully) don't have the bullpen needs they do this year. Hard to see Hughes/Gibson/Santana moving on so you'll still have two spots for Duffey/May/Berrios. That rotation going forward will be very interesting.

Very confused by this. I assume its some phone correcting? What change are we talking about after 2014? How does anything in 2014 have to do with Liriano - he was gone years before 2014 and whatever change was made then. Not sure what the second part means either. It's gibberishy but I think you're saying that many Twins players would do well if they left, not just Liriano? Not sure that that is true, for Liriano I think it was more just the huge expectations he had after his first year and the up and down years he had after that - sometimes a guy just needs to start over in a new city with a fresh narrative.

You're way to focused on opening day. Berrios is in the minors due to service time and it's exactly the right thing to do. 33 starts in his prime versus four right now. Easy call. Duffey looked bad this spring. If he pitches well this spring and nolasco predictably falls flat, the twins won't hesitate to call him up. Again, with Duffey struggling it makes sense to see if you can make nolasco tradable. May is not as ideal but as long as this isn't permanent and he's competing for a spot next year, may makes the most sense as a back of the pen arm. I can live with it for a year.

If I recall, the twins made a similar/identical offer to liriano in free agency and he turned it down. I'm not generally someone who puts a lot of faith in changes of scenery but liriano was smart to make a change.

I guess I don't see where the decision is between Mauer and Park. Mauer isn't going anywhere and Park is signed for two more years. If Kepler forces his way up (and moves Rosario to Sano's spot), Plouffe is the guy who would seem to be the casualty. He has 1 arbitration year left and if the Twins have to choose, they can unload him anytime. He's good insurance now for a lot of uncertain pieces (can Rosario hit? Is Kepler for real? Will Park be overmatched? Is Arcia at least a good platoon bat?) but if everyone works out, he's no longer necessary as insurance and will be moved.

Roid rage from Ortiz is no surprise.

It's not value like a starting pitcher or a position player but having a guy who can take that 5-0 game in the second and pitch four or five innings of three run ball or who can pitch the 8th and the 9th of a blowout loss/win saves the pen a ton of wear and tear. That's a valuable thing, if not the most valuable of course. I like the Twins pen right now but one of the issues is not having that long relief guy. No one gets excited about those Anthony Swarzak types but they play a role on a team. Obviously you don't want to pay that guy $12 million but the Twins may not have a choice. If Nolasco falters or Berrios dominates, they will certainly get some use out of him that way. I think the issue is maybe that you're thinking WAR but this isn't about WAR, which can't measure everything - it doesn't measure the rest a long reliever gives to others in the pen. The Twins certainly didn't view Nolasco this way when they signed him but it may turn out to be a useful role for him to fill.

If he's hurt again, they'll just throw him on the DL. He'd have no reason to give the Twins a break in a buy out and the Twins lose nothing letting him rehab.

We never got there for Pelfrey so I think we'll never get there for Ricky. Even if he has his best case scenario, Twins fans will be waiting for the other shoe to drop. Career year would be nice. I'll agree he's off the team by the start of 2017 but I think there's a good chance he's in spring training next year, auditioning for other teams. Can't see them cutting him this year: he'll move to the long relief role with Pressly/Tonkin moving to the minors/waivers. He has value in that role (and the Twins don't have anyone currently in that role).

Nolasco won’t be cut this year. If he sucks in the rotation (and everything below is based on him sucking) he’ll move to the pen and become the long-relief guy with either Tonkin being sent to waivers or Pressly moving down to the minors (note that this may happen even if he’s okay since Berrios and Duffey will be in AAA auditioning to come up). Ricky may not be amazing but he’s certainly capable of being Anthony Swarzak. He would have to absolutely melt down in that role to be in danger this year, in which case he and the Twins would likely find some injury and put him on the DL to protect his pride/reputation. He would have no reason to give the Twins any money since he'd have no prospects and the Twins would have no incentive to cut him since they could hope to save some money down the line (see below). This offseason is the first time where you could see him cut but I still think you’ll see him come to spring training, though he may not be competing for a starting spot (or he may be “competing”). At that point, it depends if he thinks he has a chance to start anywhere. I can’t see the Twins being that team - Berrios, Hughes, Santana, Duffey, Gibson would all be ahead of him, Milone may be back and there will be a new generation of starters like Alex Meyer (hopefully), Gonsalves, Thorpe etc. in the mix. But if some team wants him, the Twins may get a crappy prospect for him or he may be willing to negotiate a buy-out in order to have the chance to play. Otherwise you may see him play out the contract in that long relief role. I do think that he has a good chance to Pelfrey it and be decent for the first few months of the year. There aren’t a lot of starting pitching trades in May/June but if Berrios is ready, the Twins will eat some salary and some team is looking for some back of the rotation depth due to injury, Ricky could move. That’s part of the reason why I’m glad to see Ricky get a shot.

Guardado?