DaveW

My favorite part of this post (there are many to choose from: Poor spelling, grammar, etc) is perhaps the fact that he thinks facebook is somehow a bad business model to follow. Also, I would never suggest anyone use an ad blocker, but if a sliding ad and a couple 300 x 250 ad units cause you this much stress/frustration perhaps you should invest into that idea. It should also be noted that ESPN.com and other top sports sites use more annoying things such as: Auto Play ads, pop ups, expandables etc as well. Also I can't speak for the founders of this site, but I'm pretty sure the idea with the ads aren't "Lets try to make a ton of money for ourselves!" More they are hoping the ads cover the serving costs, labor costs? and maybe lets them pocket a few extra dollars for all their hours they put in throughout the days/weeks/months.

Those strikeout rates and velocity numbers are encouraging! But perhaps, what is the best thing overall is his BB rate. Looks like a guy who could blow through the system pretty quickly and could be in the mix as a future set up or closer type guy!

I like Vargas and his potential, but not sure he is a borderline top 10 guy for me. I'd have to place him in the 14-18 range currently since he brings zero defensive value. If a guy is to exceed as a "true DH" he absolutely needs to continue to mash all the way up the chain.

We have talked alot about the Twins taking a run at some of the top FA pitchers on the market, Greinke, Sanchez, Jackson etc. But this thread is to talk about some of the guys the Twins should try to bring in on small 1 or 2 year deals. I think the Twins will sign one big free agent, and then will have to supplement the team with some shrewd moves if they want to compete. Ideally they will get more "Burtons" then "Marquis" this time around. Let's say for the sake of this thread all players mentioned will be paid less then 5 mil a year: Scott Baker: One of the most obvious choices, has said all things being equal he would like to be back in Minnesota. Offer: 1 year 3 mil (+4 mil in IP incentives) Jorge De La Rosa: Another guy coming off some injury issues. Never has had great numbers, but has the talent to be decent if it all comes together. Offer: ST Invite. Erik Bedard: Had a nice start, but has been pretty brutal as of late. Worth a flier perhaps as a veteran #5. Offer: 1 year, 2 mil. Freddy Garcia: Getting up their in age, but has actually been pretty effective as a SP in the AL East. Offer: 1 year, 3.5 mil Carl Pavano: Days are probably numbered in Minnesota, but if he can come back healthy could be worth a ST invite. Offer: ST invite. Matt Capps: (Ducks for cover) Yes, we all dislike Capps because we traded Ramos for him, then continued to over pay for him. But in his time with the Twins he actually hasn't been that bad. Offer: ST Invite or 1 year, 1.5 mil deal. Joba Chamberlin: One of my favorites on this list: (Note would have to be non tendered by the Yankees, which is likely) Still throws hard, can be a nice reliever and needs a change of scenery. Offer: 1 year, 1.5 mil deal or 2 year 3 mil. Jon Rauch: Still pitching well. Offer: 1 year 3 mil Latroy Hawkins: Bring back the Hawk! Old as hell but still effective. Offer: 1 year 3 mil. Stephen Drew: Should be had for a cheap 1 year deal as he will try to recoup some value. Perhaps a decent plan "B" they are sure Dozier is the answer at SS (or if they move Dozier to 2B) Offer: 1 year 3.5 mil Marco Scutaro: Would be a bit redudant with Carroll on the roster. But if Carroll is moved, he could be a nice stop gap for the INF. Offer: 1 year 4 mil Mark DeRosa: Offer: Spring training invite Torii Hunter: Has indicated he would want to come back to Minnesota. Again he could fill in for a year if one of Span/Willingham is traded. Offer: 1 year 5 mil Super longshot: Melky Cabera: If the Twins trade one of Span/Willingham there is a short term spot open in the OF. Cabrera would probably be a reach, BUT he most likely will have to sign a one year deal to prove he wasn't just an PED type player. Offer: 1 year 6 mil (incentives up to 7 mil)

Why the hell would they fire Vavra? And why is he at the top of the list? Offense hasn't exactly been an issue for the Twins this year, and he is certainly due some of the accolades for Revere and Plouffe's years. Firing Liddle, Ullger or White really doesn't do a whole lot, but I guess if they want to use it to "make a statement" they can. Also, I'm not sure its wise to dump a good pitching coach in Anderson. My guess is one or two of White/Liddle/Ullger will be let go just as an excuse to bring in a little bit of new blood.

If the Twins trade Mauer anytime in the next 3-4 years, it would be unforgivable in my eyes. The dude is a future hall of famer in the prime of his career, a team gets a player like that once or twice in a generation, add to the fact he is a local guy/local legend. No way. Yes, his contract is large, but it isn't the reason the Twins aren't competitive. They can have another 70- 80 million dollars to assemble the rest of the team with (plus more in the future), that is plenty of money to build a club.

That Mauer robbed HR just cost me a chance at the $1000 in my fantasy league.

Yep, should have given Hamilton a pass on his next immediate at bat and waited until his next at bat and then plunked him. Nope

Rocketpig and his lover should be the new Frankenberry spokesmens.

Tom Kelly

I have a feeling talking about Adblock isn't going to win you any points with the sites creators. Yes, ads are annoying, and they are working on getting rid of the pop up ads rollover ads. But keep in mind, this is a free site, that does cost money and time to maintain. Using adblock is a pretty dick move in my opinion. Nobody is asking you to click them.

They said Rubby was claimed by Toronto, so that he will have to be included as a PTBNL at the end of the day it isn't even about the prospects, they all suck. It's a cash dump plain and simple.

It would have been a salary dump, and frankly I wouldn't have liked it. The dodgers have proven they dont give a damn about taking on money.

Um, wow. This would be a genius move by Boston if they can pull it off. Crawford, Gonzalez and Beckett are all awful contracts. Not sure why the Dodgers want to blow their wad this year, but whatever. I guess it's their money to waste. Magic Johnson isn't exactly the world's greatest investment. (I live in a building that he built 4 years ago and then went bankrupt on)

Yeah, NTM if we would have passed on Gibson for "another toolsy OF" at the time, people would have went ballistic at the time! I mean, sure it would have been nice to draft Trout, but it also would have been nice to draft Pujols in one of the first 13 rounds a decade or so ago as well

That wont be the case.

The scrolling 160 x 600 is annoying as well. Sorry I'm not trying to be a malcontent about it, and at the end of the day it's not going to keep me coming here. But if it is bugging me I guarantee its bugging other people. If the 160 x 600 is a CPA or CPC ad then I guess its worth keeping, but if its a normal CPM banner ad, I don't think it justifys enough value to keep it scrolling. I'd almost prefer you just ran 2-3 160 x 600's in that space that don't scroll down the page.

Gibson, Berrios. I need to see some success from Berrios above the Rookie Leagues before I start projecting him anywhere, so I disagree (for now) on that one. If Gibson returns to his 2010 form, I'll agree with that, but that's not going to happen this year, or likely next year, while they limit him coming back from surgery. It's all about upside, I'm not saying that Berrios or Gibson is going to be a #2 tomorrow, but both have the potential/ceilings to at least be a #2. I love how people are suddenly down on Gibson, in 2011 he was still getting a bunch of ground ball outs, and upped his k rate to 8.6. In 2010 and 2011 he had a 57% GB rate, if you couple that with the potential to strike out 7.5-8.5 per nine innings while limiting walks, he is easily a number 2.

It puts the Loshie on the skin, or else it gets the hose again.

Overpaying for mediocrity is not a good way to rebulid a team.

Gibson, Berrios.

The thing about the hard throwing college relievers is you need only 1 to successfully convert to a starter to view this draft class as a success from that standpoint. I sorta like the idea of taking a run at multiple guys like that and seeing which one sticks. It's not like the SP still around had #1/#2 type upside, everyone complains that we don't have enough hard throwers, the Twins address it, and people are upset. One other nice thing about college RP is they haven't been over extended like many college starters who are asked to throw 130+ pitches a game. Best case scenario for the first few rounds: Buxton and Berrios both are above average major leaguers. One of the RP turns into a mid rotation starter, and some of the other RP turn into solid major league relievers.

I'd be disappointed if the Twins resorted to such cheap and stupid gimmicks. I know the Astros are basically doing the same thing by letting Roger Clemens pitch a game or an inning at some point. Even though the Twins are well out of it, they should be trying to win every game they can, they still can effect the Wild Card and AL Central race as many of their upcoming opponents are in one of those races. To do some gimmick like trying to have a SS play catcher for an inning is a slap in the face to the other teams you aren't playing. I know we'd be upset if we were a game behind the WC, and a team we needed to lose was going against a team who was just screwing around.

Obviously it could depend on the browser, geo location etc. and for some reason they really, really slow up my computer when the dumb things start playing. If you guys are going to run those, they should at least give you a decent CPM of at least $2-$3 to make it worth it.

I dunno about that, pitchers from this era are going to be viewed differently in the future. Nobody is going to be approaching 300 wins again, and the days of 20+ year careers are going to go by the wayside more or less. Santana has put together 7.5 fantasic seasons thus far, if he can get 2 more fantastic years, and a couple "decent/good" years he should make it.