ashbury

And some others at the opposite extreme saying they wouldn't pay $10M a year for the man, and at least one "non-tender him" if I recall. Still, my sense was that the majority who weighed in will look at the actual contract details and say, "yeah." As crowd sourcing, I think we done good. At the end of the day, maybe there is as much latitude and disagreement on what is meant by "consensus" as for the word "mediocre".

MVP details are a little outside the box. But basically in line with consensus at this site. Posters, give yourselves a round of applause!

This team roster has hardening of the arteries. Corner bats vying for too few spots. Relievers who are out of minor league options. Acquiring such players is the path of least resistance*, because surprise surprise they are the ones found on the waiver wire and are too tempting not to snap up. And now here we are. with arbitration decisions to make, and with players a little too good to cut ties with but lacking roster flexibility for a long season. It's not the arbitration decisions per se that are hard - you have to pick a roster you think can compete, and the salary decisions make themselves. Just say goodbye to two or more of the relievers in this arbitration list. Other than Rogers and Duffey, I don't really care who among Cotton/Coulombe/Minaya/Thielbar - all can have their moments in the regular season against so-so competition, none would be more than fodder in a postseason run, which is a longshot so actually I really don't care which. (Edit: I took a look at Minaya's game log for 2021, and for some reason all his earned runs were against Det/Cle/KC/Bal, all of whom were below average offenses. That means his impressive ERA was built on outings against some good-hitting teams like the White Sox and Jays. Maybe he's the keeper in this bunch.) Whoever you non-tender will catch on with someone else, and will have their moments in 2022, at which point we'll say "look who we let slip away!" but that's the nature of the roster crunch this FO has backed themselves into. * Okay, one of several paths of least resistance. You can also trade pitching for hitting, any day of the week - for instance Gil for Cave. I'm sure the list of n00b roster pitfalls is lengthy.

Yeah, I really am rethinking my Spring Training plans. It's fun, and I'm not usually too focused on the big-league roster when I am there, but still my enthusiasm overall is at such a low ebb.

I think of myself as a Large Hall guy, and for some reason Torii doesn't register with me the way some others that I bring up (Lou Whitaker, Vada Pinson) do. Probably I need to get on the bandwagon. But, in the real world, not Ash's Hall, he's pretty much the definition of borderline. and there are a lot of candidates who also need attention and votes. So I'm not high on his chances.

Wow, ten wins more than whoever would have replaced him. They should come up with a stat for that. I bet he would lead the league in it.

I enjoyed reading this arti- OH WAIT I JUST GOT A LIKE ON FACEBOOK

Signing Buxton opens the potential for two extreme outcomes (of many): getting nothing for a lot of money, or getting a superstar level of performance for the length of the contract. A trade likely splits the difference in terms of some blended outcomes. I suppose we'll learn some more about our FO's tolerance for risk, from this episode as it unfolds.

If Ortiz isn't in on the first ballot, I'm going on my usual rant about Baseball shooting itself in the foot with it's incessant message about favorite players not being all that hot.

I'm thankful for people who have the good grace to be thankful. And of course for Twins Daily.

We're now past Wait 'Til Next Year mode, and are jumping straight to 2025. Plausible roster, though. Hope some of these arms pan out.

We both have hair coming out our ears. What we need is good hair.

No. We also need pitching.

Whichever of the top teams in the SSS (Seiya Suzuki Sweepstakes) lose out, we should approach concerning a trade package for some of our glut of corner types. Red Sox, Rangers, Mets, Giants and Mariners, show us some pitching!

I have a feeling Miami's stance will be "here are the five guys we want for our rotation of the future, but you are welcome to #6, in return for your best catcher plus some younger pitching arms as a sweetener." Wait and see.

For once we are not thin at catcher, and the two young ones have minor league options allowing them to be shuffled at will. And beyond Rortvedt there isn't a really good pipeline in the farm system. For controllable top-shelf pitching I'd be willing to make a trade and suffer the need to make do at C, but I'm skeptical that our guys are what will pry a top pitcher loose from someone like Miami.

Hated his glove which went "clank" whenever I watched him as a Twin. Was that small sample size?

"Running the team into the ground" is the unfortunate phrase that keeps coming to my mind. For the moment it is framed only as a question.

Twins Are Rebuilding, Not Retooling, if They Trade Buxton Honestly, you could have gone with the headline alone, no story, and I would still have clicked Like in agreement.

Thanks. It means a lot!

Cave's retention probably is another indication that Buxton is departing. You don't deplete your CF depth chart until you have adequate replacements on board. If they acquire a couple of competent center fielders, Cave will follow Buxton out the door, albeit for slightly different rationales.

How do I know you exist?

Uffda. Aside from that, I'm in agreement.

Maybe this franchise is just jinxed. On one hand we take a risk by waiting to trade him during the season, since his track record is he could be injured at just the wrong moment. On the other, we think we want to sign him long term. These two points of view are pretty incompatible. Tough outcome for the team, and an unsolvable dilemma, regarding a former high draft pick

Major league ballplayers who are any good are underpaid for the first 4 years or so, compared to the value they bring to the team. We're going to veer off into a discussion of the entire economics of the game, terminating probably with "they could cut ticket prices if not for....", and I'm checking out of this thread in advance of that dead end.