BHtwins

Shrink their roster from 40 to 35 and let the other teams in their division expand theirs to 41 for a minimum of 2 years. It has some ring of restoring some balance to the division teams that were most harmed by this and it will have some long term competitive effect on their franchise. It will hurt.

I'm not trying to impugn his character, I truly believe he is getting bad advice or getting strung along by the Dodgers. Either way, Id say the evidence is pretty clear that signing here isn't on his wish list unless it come with truckloads of cash.

I agree with this sentiment. I really feel like the Darvish camps wish-casting that the Dodgers were going to miraculously shed enough salary to re-sign him as led to this debacle of free agency this winter. I'd be worried that a 5 or 6 year commitment to someone who doesn't seem like he wants to come here could end really badly for the Twins

I read the Heyman note as there are two firm offers and Darvish agent is still trying to open it up with Cubs, Dodgers, Cardinals whoever. It's a smoke signal that they are still hoping someone/anyone besides the Brewers and Twins come knocking. From my perspective I think its pretty clear that Darvish doesn't want to come here too bad or a deal would have been done by now.

I think Darvish deal is holding everything else back. Both the players and the owners are waiting for Darvish to set the market for the top 10 free agents to slot into. Darvish is waiting for a miracle so he can re-sign with the Dodgers. Once that falls through and he signs a deal, the rest will sign within a few days. No one is willing to risk spending too much or leaving money on the table. I'd bet all of the remaining top 10 have offers on the table they are unwilling to sign for that fear. Owners aren't moving off their initial offers and players aren't willing to sign the first deal offered until Darvish is off the table.

Brian Dozier = Lew Ford. All Star caliber until pitchers have him pegged. God-awful until he is released. Never makes the adjustment to prolong his career. Eerily similar plate styles, neither proved willing or able to adjust their approach. Lew never got *this* bad but I suspect if defensive shifts were around 12 years ago he would have.

There is so much bad, its almost unwatchable. Almost as bad as the late 90's teams The complete lack of pressure they put on he opposing pitcher is killing them. Dozier is below the Mendoza line. He is just flailing away at this point, His DP yesterday just about had be throwing the remote through the TV. Plouffe is his ever streaky self. I'm not sure he has much different then the last few years. Mauer is flailing at this point too. He used to at least look professional. I know this is just cliché and there is no data, but god it looks like none of them give a crap whether they win or lose.

He has an awful lot of Lew Ford in him. Lew's first 200 ABS were like..almost MVP level. His next 700ish were solid above average MLB CF...then he slowly drifted into oblivion. Lew's age 27 season he had 4.5 WAR and finished 24 in AL MVP. Dozier's age 27 season he had a 5.2 WAR and finished 28th in AL MVP Now, Dozier is a better defender at a more valuable position. His first 200 abs weren't as good as Lew's but he has been better for longer. The thing that drives it home thinking back is how remarkably similar they were on their penchant for pull power and having tremendous bat speed.

I think he is what he is at this point....perhaps admitting he is having vision issues or the sunglasses helps. Its not going to be some dramatic rebound...or sudden increase in power. What I do think can make the difference between a .720 OPS and a .760 OPS is what the line-up does around him. If he bats second and if Dozier gets on enough that constantly playing the extreme shift becomes dangerous and if Park and Sano behind him are a consistent threat that they actually have to pitch Mauer straight up...it could push to the higher end of these projections .285/.356/.392

Plouffe and Hunter both got horribly screwed by Bucknor. Im sure Plouffe had no idea what to swing at and what to take by his 3rd at bat. Do they have a history?

2 things on last night and actually his last two starts. I thought he got squeezed last night a little bit. If the ump gives him 2 or 3 of those borderline away calls I think it makes all the difference in the world in how the game ends up. Also, Suzuki does him no favors at all. He doesn't frame well. A great catcher gets a couple of those calls for his pitcher. I also question all the away away away pitches against lefties who are damn near standing on the plate. You make a mistake and they crush them.

#5 in dWAR and #1 in total WAR In all of MLB among 3B now. Wonder if he will get any all-star love....

Last pitch to PLouffe was a foot and a half outside. How in the world is that a strike.

Let's see.... Joe Mauer career .871 OPS Doug M Career .760 OPS Yeah...about the same...

Someone asked earlier in the thread if there was any criticism that was legitimate. There is one, it may have been brought it up, but I didnt see it. Mauer's GIDP rate is probably higher then a hitter of his caliber should be. It does effect his offensive value and I think its one area of pretty legitimate concern,