DaveW

Sure! I can always give the shirt to my Phillies friend haha

I mean, honestly neither of us know. But I am willing to bet Lannan doesn't get the 6 million for one year on the open market he would have got through arb. I would be willing to do a friendly wager if you want? Loser buys the winner a Diamondcentric t-shirt? terms: If lannan gets a one year deal it's less then 6 million. if he gets multi year its less then 5.5 mill per season.

Lannan is younger with better numbers with the numbers that matter anyway. I dunno, Blanton can at least strike guys out. I wouldn't want Lannan at 1 year 5.5-6 mil anyways (which is what he would have prob got) Again there is a good chance Hendriks would out preform him this year. The Twins need to be either: 1. Signing/trading for high upside guys. 2. If they are signing back of the rotation guys, spend no more then 1 year/2-3 mil a piece. That might of been his thought but Im not so sure after looking at Blantons deal.

Also it should be noted that xFIP, and FIP data really is a poor way to judge Dickey, since a good number of "batted" balls against his wicked knuckleball are "easy outs"/poorly hit balls. If you watch a game or two when he was pitching it jumps out right away. I'm not a SABR expert by any means, but this is what jumps out to me, can anyone else confirm? It's not like he had the greatest defense in the world behind him last year as well.... Again at the end of the day his ERA is over 1 run lower then Dempster's, you can throw out all the other stats you want, but give me the guy who has given you significantly better results over the last 3 years then the guy who hasn't.

The thing is: Dickey is your typical pitcher in his 30's, he is just finding his grove now. Normally I would agree with you, but Dickey is truly his own special case. The upside is there, and he could help a ton in 2013/2014/2015. It's not like this is a one year thing we are talking about! Also: Dickey ERA last three years 2.95 Dempster: 4.04 How could we turn down a guy who has the potential to post a sub or low 3.00 ERA without having to commit 100+ million to him! If it just takes one of our "elite 8" and a couple other pieces, why not pull the trigger? Having nice prospects is....well...nice and all, but I think you have to try to get the one CY Young pitcher you can realistically get.

I could have sworn it was earlier then that, oops, maybe it was just being talked about a ton leading up to it.

I would offer: Arcia, Boer and Hendriks in a heartbeat.

First off he was non tendered at least a week before the span trade happened. Second off, as many people have stated they can get him quite a bit cheaper now then if they traded for him and gave him arb. Who care if it would have been an "extra piece" back in the span trade, it wouldn't have made the trade better, and possibly even worse if the twins wouldn't have gone ahead and non tendered him. Give me pelfrey as a potential #5 over him anyways

They aren't similar at all. Over the last 3 years dickey has a signicantly lowe ERA. And he appears to only be getting better with his mastering of the knuckleball. Dickey is literally doing something no other player in the history of baseball has been able to do. You certainly don't have to worry about his arm wearing down, since he is missing the tendon anyways! As far as the rest of his "health" the dude just climbed Mount Kilimanjaro last year then won the Cy Young, I don't see his body breaking down signifcantly anytime in the next 3 years. Dempster? Not so much. Give me the high upside guy who can have a decent shot at being an ace anyday. The twins have plenty of guys who can possibly be middle of the rotation type guys: diamond, Worley, Gibson, hendriks. We need a guy who can go out and pitch a 9 inning one hitter any given night.(like dickey did Two games in a row last year)

That wasn't his point at all actually... To your point: The same Dempster who got absolutely lit up in Texas? He is the same quality as the guy who just won the NL Cy Young? Lets take a look at the numbers, shall we? Dickey last 3 seasons: 2.84 ERA, 3.28 ERA, 2.73 ERA Dempster: 3.85, 4.80, 3.38 (5.09 in AL) This isn't even bringing into the fact that Dickey will most certainly age better as a Knuckleballer, and was able to do things with the pitch that no player has done before. I was at one of his one hitters last season, and it was one of the most dominant pitching performances I have ever seen. You can make the argument to sign Dempster because he won't cost prospects, but to say are "Similar" quality is an exaggeration. Once again, Dickey is coming off a Cy Young Win. Dempster is looking like a #3 or #4 in the AL at best.

Pelfrey is an interesting case, if you can get him at 1-2 million or so, he could provide you 190-200 IP at the back end of the rotation. It's weird because he has always underpreformed, maybe a change of scenary (out of a miserable NY Mets org) could be just what he needs to turn it around a bit. I would be thrilled if he could give the Twins about 200 IP and a 4.15-4.30 ERA in the 5 spot. (It certainly beats giving someone a higher contract for the same basic potential performance. With Pelfrey and Worley the Twins could basically lock up 2/5ths of the rotation more or less on the cheap. That would allow them to potentially hand out 2 10+ mil contracts for the #1 and #2 spots.

McCarthy is a decent pitcher, but lets not be crazy. At 28, he has thrown over 110 IP only twice and over 115 only once. The Twins need a guy they can count on week in and week out, they dont have the depth to be replacing injured pitchers throughout the year (look at what happened last year when Baker and Pavano went down!) The Diamondbacks are the perfect place for him, when he is on the field he makes them better, but if he misses time (likely) you have 3 of the best prospects in baseball knocking the door to replace him.

Sigh, yet another enlightened comment. Please tell me which of the pitchers off the board the Twins should have signed thus far? Last I checked Grienke, Sanchez, Jackson, Marcum, Dempster etc are still on the board. I guess Ryan can't win with some folks, the Twins have the most active winter meetings of any team and yet people are still bitching they didn't do enough.

It's pretty rare to see the Twins mentioned in many rumors to be honest. The Span deal came together rather quickly as did the Revere one (even though the Phillies were trying to get Revere for months) There was also a lot of speculation that the Twins are/were the mystery team in the Sanchez sweepstakes. So it wouldn't surprise me in the least if Ryan wasn't trying to get Dickey (unless the asking price was way to high currently) I'm not sure what the hell the Mets are doing, 2/26 is more then fair, but they are in drastic need of fixing their terrible farm system.

Now there are a few more facts coming to light in the case of RA Dickey. Basically he wants a two year extension for $26 million dollars. Which means his contract would be as follow: 2013: 5 million 2014: 13 million 2015: 13 million Honestly? That isn't to bad all things considered, especially coming for a guy with a Cy Young. Now, this of course means he won't come cheaply. If you are the Twins do you consider trading away a package of prospects for him? (You will have to trade at least one of the "top 8" and at least two more top 20 guys, which still might not be enough) Thoughts?

So - who is the kind of player they'd want? Later in the article it says they are looking for a hitter . . . but would they take ... Nick Blackburn? The only way anyone takes Blackburn is if the Twins pick up 100% of the salary.

If he wasn't a clubhouse cancer, sure. I don't want him poisoning our prospects in AAA. He isn't worth it.

Someone in the 30-40 range.

He is still redundant IMO with Carroll around. Also Mastro is a better option in CF IMO, offensively it wouldn't shock me if they were the same, and Schumaker rates pretty bad in CF defensively. I'd rather give Dozier the reps then another Util guy, to be honest.

Sounds like someone is asking for a non refundable boom daddy to the chin!

Avian Flu> Justin Bieber > Joe Mays> Figgins No Jeff Gray? Shame on you. Blame it on the massive hangover.

I dunno, wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. I wouldn't give up anything resembling value to get him though. And he seems basically redudant with Carroll already on the roster to be honest. I think for what Shumaker has over Caroll in offense is more then made up for in defense on Carroll's end. I'd prefer the Twins try to bring in a legit starting 2B/SS with upside, rather then just another Util guy. We have plenty of those I wish we could get Stephen Drew or Kelly Johnson.

I think that is reading to much into it, I mean one of the largest free agent pitching signings this year went to the Royals. I think he just meant "we put some legit offers on the table, and those players haven't signed yet" which for the most part is pretty damn true. It was a rather quiet winter meetings when it was all said and down, **** the Twins were probably the biggest "mover and shaker" of the bunch this year! IMO none of the top 7 or so free agent pitchers are even off the board yet (or even close), let's give it a little more time before we declare no decent pitchers want to come to Minnesota (unless you think we truly missed out on the Feldman's etc of the world) On another note not related to your comment: As far as Blackburn goes, jesus people, stop reading to much into his comments. He basically expressed the fact that he would like to see Blackburn succeed again. Multiple other times he said that he needs to go out and sign some more pitchers for 2013, in fact he said basically all the rotation he now has, currently is Diamond and Worley. He isn't counting on Blackburn even closely at this point. With that said, Blackburn has struggled, a ton, but unlike a guy like Chone Figgins who is a clubhouse cancer, the Twins like Blackburn's attitude, which is exactly why instead of cutting him (and eating the contract anyways) they are going to let him pitch in AAA to try to "reprove" himself for the club. I don't see how anyone can really be against this, especially with the supreme lack of SP we have. For as "crappy" as we all think Blackburn is, it should be pointed out that in 3 of the 4 years prior to 2012, Blackburn posted an ERA that was perfectly acceptable for a #4 or #5 in the AL. Criticizing Ryan for "rooting" for Blackburn to succeed this year is pretty petty to be honest. Either way, Ryan doesn't count on him being a solution to the 2013 rotation anyways. Well said, this idea that "no one will come here" is based on some sort of ridiculous insecurity. If the Twins offer the most money, free agents will come here, especially pitchers who know this won't be their last contract as pitching in TF provides them a boost. And again on BlackBurn. We all HOPE he bounces back. He's not on the 40 man anymore, so he's going to have to earn it if he does bounce back... The reality says that the odds of this happening aren't very good, but none-the-less, we can hope that he returns to the 2008/2009 Nick B... I don't get the angst b/c Ryan said he hopes for Blackburnto bounce back. I'd be worried if he didn't. I have always thought the whole "players only want to play for a PROVEN WINNER" is a little far fetched as well. If you have the money, they will come. Also it isn't ridiculous to think the Twins can't return to contention within the next 2 years, they have the core pieces, the cash flow and the GM to do it. This isn't exactly the Miami Marlins or Pittsburgh Pirates we are talking about.

Avian Flu> Justin Bieber > Joe Mays> Figgins

I will say it again, it is very likely that Figgins was the worst player in baseball over the past two years, yes probably even worse then Butera. At least Butera brings defensive value. No, Figgins can't play 2nd base any more, the last time he played 3 seasons ago he had a pretty crappy track record. In addition, he is basically a clubhouse cancer. A team like the Twins, who basically will need everything to go right in order to compete next year really have no business bringing in a ****ty ball player and a ****ty human into the fold. I never thought I would actually say "Give me Jack Hannahan" but give me him 8 days a week over freaking Chone. Also, Mark Derosa in all honesty would have a 10x greater chance to produce for us then garbage Figgins.