JB_Iowa

There's a team option for 2016. About $4 million if I remember right.

I like Perkins and I love the way he has turned his career around the last couple of years. I also think he wants to be a Twin ... he truly is at home. He seems to have a strong family life so he could probably transfer that home somewhere else and keep performing but I'm sure the entire family would prefer to stay in Minnesota. I've been torn on whether the Twins should trade Perk but to me, they obviously have to listen to all offers. It depends on how you view the team now and next season (as well as 2015 & 2016). For me, I still see the Twins as a marginal team next year. And while I think more of the youth will have arrived by 2015, I doubt that they will be championship caliber then either (although they may very well be in the playoff hunt). Having a shut-down closer (assuming Perkins remains one) is a luxury on a mediocre team. But maybe it is a psychologically important one especially if that mediocre team has a lot of young players. I want young players to believe that if they work hard enough and can manufacture enough runs, the closer will finish it off for them. On the other hand, I also believe that the Twins have a better record in recognizing and creating strong relievers than they do with starting pitchers. I continue to worry that many of the position players will succeed and get to the majors and that the starting pitching will continue to be mediocre at best so for me, that starting pitching pool can never be deep enough. If Perkins could be part of a trade that would return a high-end starting pitching prospect, I hope the Twins are open to it. This is one where I won't complain much regardless of what happens (as long as the trade is good enough if there is one).

Thanks for the update. I hadn't checked on him for awhile and seems like every time I go to watch a game with the Rockies it is blacked out. Glad for Cuddyer -- one of the few former Twins I still have on my Twitter feed.

Just to add to what gunnarthor said, I rarely let myself be drawn into a debate (in fact, I often just don't respond to a response to me even if I think the respondant was clearly wrong) -- some of that is because I'm lazy, some of that is because I don't want to seem like a total idiot, some of it is just because I 'm getting old enough that I don't appreciate conflict the way I did 20 years ago. But I also find myself posting here less and less and I find myself censoring myself more -- even sometimes when the comment seems perfectly valid. In some ways, I feel beat up by the constant references to the comment policy, moderation and the types of imbroglios that developed above. In general, I favor less censorship. And just as commenters need to be more careful about what they say, moderators need to think more than twice before jumping in as well. For me, a lot of the "fun" is going out of TD. I guess if you are looking to up your journalistic reputations, that may be good but it isn't why I came to TD in the first place.

Good list for fans to read as well as Gibson. Looking forward to seeing him pitch and to watching him develop over the next few years. My patience/tolerance level is a lot higher for the rookies and pre-arbitration guys than it is for the retreads.

You don't have to be paying much attention. You just hear Diamond has runners on and gave up a home run and you ask if it is the 5th or 6th. You pretty much know it will be one or the other.

I, too, have always been a Morneau fan and what has happened to him makes me sad in the same way that I am sad about Corey Koskie. But I really believe that with young players coming in, the Twins need a "changing of the guard". There has been a stench of losing attached to this team for the last 3 years and unfortunately, it is a strong stench. They'll pretty obviously keep Mauer so that's one veteran left. Plus they'll probably keep Perkins (absent some really spectacular offer for him). I doubt they'd get much for Willingham so that's probably another veteran around for next year (plus some other miscellany from the pitching staff). And I think Doumit will probably still be in Minny next year as well. So there will still be a small veteran presence (plus a few of the young guys will have a couple of years of experience). I can't see them getting much for Morneau (even if the Twins pony up most of the rest of his salary). So let him play out the rest of this year with dignity and then part gracefully.

Thanks for the great read ... seems to bring a lot of personality along with talent.

Thanks for the analysis. I hope others will continue to build on this in explaining the change in Mauer's numbers. And I'm glad to read that his K rate has normalized in June. I suspect that being healthy may play somewhat into his numbers this year but while that may play into his power boost, it doesn't explain the changes in his swing and contact rates.

I just keep thinking about the threads last year on trading Willingham. We don't know what was offered but I hope I don't have the same "missed opportunity" feeling next year about not trading Correia that I have this year about Willingham. I just hope some GM has such a great immediate need that he might be willing to overpay for Correia.

Whether the number is firm or not doesn't really matter when it comes to discontent about not bringing him up. While obviously problems could develop at any innings count, he is MORE likely to be shut down the more innings he gets. He is currently at 92.2 innings so, whether the innings limit is precisely 130 or has some flexibility, he is approaching a place where they are going to be watching his innings more and more closely. And are much more likely to shut him down. 130 innings may not be his ceiling but I'm not sure anybody guaranteed that he would get the full 130 either. Maybe they will shut him down at 120 or 125. I had forgotten the following tweet from Rhett Bollinger (found again on RotoWorld) on May 20: The Twins optioned left-hander Pedro Hernandez to Triple-A Rochester on Monday, which immediately led to speculation that Gibson could get the call. The 25-year-old right-hander has a 3.25 ERA and 46/14 K/BB ratio in 52 2/3 innings through eight starts this season in Triple-A. Even if the Twins opt for Walters or Deduno, it's just a matter of time before Gibson arrives. May 20 - 5:08 PM Obviously "time" did not arrive within the following month since it is now June 23 and we've not caught sight of Gibson.

That one needs a good photo-shopper .... I keep seeing these Popeye-like arms embedded with dynamite and an alarm clock.

I think there's an echo in here. I thought I read that first paragraph of Dave's about a month ago though not necessarily from Dave.

You are probably right. That's why I wish the Twins would make it clear that they are "harboring" some of their savings now to be used later to go over the 50% preference. It is contrary to their business model but would seem to make some sense to me.

I find it difficult to extrapolate from 2011 until now because Bill Smith was the GM in 2011. I really see the end of Smith's tenure as GM and the rehiring of Terry Ryan as retrenching on the payroll front. Do I think payroll will rise from this year? Of course. I just don't have any faith that Ryan will ever push the envelope and, unfortunately, I think pushing the envelope and taking some risks (both on payroll & trades) is probably necessary to move a team from playoff caliber to championship caliber.

I just hope that Olney is still saying this in late September (and that they are still surprising in a good way). That would truly be a surprise and a season to be grateful for. (I just don't want to get my hopes up after another early June bump although I do recognize that April & May were somewhat better than expected.)

Maybe they don't want to bring up Gibson until they finally have a new pitching coach at the major league level. (One can only hope).

Wow, not going to quote everything but it is hard to see that the Twins are giving the "customer the best product available." If this is the best product available, there's no use anybody ever buying the product. But, home attendance is not the be all and end all in terms of spending, either. The Twins, whether because they are lousy TV contract negotiators or whether it is because of the size and demographics of the market, simply do not generate the local TV revenues that some of the other markets do. That, however, is not a justification for the budget cut this year.

According to Baseball Reference, he has caught 42, DH'd 17 and played 4 at 1B. It would be hard to reduce it much more.

I'm very pleased with Mauer's performance this year. He's on track to catch about 105-110 games (I'd like it to be about 115 but I'll take this). His power is up. If my math is correct, he is on track for the most total bases of his career. And, in what delights me the most, he isn't killing rallies by GIDP (I was about to pull out my hair last year). If he can maintain about 90% of this year's performance over the next 3-4 years, I would be ecstatic. (And while I admire his skills, I'm not a big Mauer fan).

The Twins strategy is pretty simple: maximize profits. Do this by spending as little as possible while still maintaining income. Unfortunately their baseball strategy for creating wins isn't as easy to discern.

The Yankees have gotten harder to hate in recent years. In part because the Twins have been so bad its hard for me to work up much distaste for any other teams. In part because the Yankees just haven't been as dominant. But I still don't like them very much and, while I admire their history, they are still the "poster boys" of the impact of the financial disparity in baseball.

Please let them be trying to keep some of these guys with the Twins and praying for good enough performances that SOMEONE might want one or more of them at the trade deadline. That's the only good reason I can think of for keeping Gibson down.

I think my personal problem is that I no longer believe the Twins ownership and GM truly care about winning a championship -- and I'm not sure I can pinpoint when they last did care while under a Terry Ryan regime. Ironically, I think Bill Smith and Co. may have thought they could "win it all" (or at least win something beyond the Central Division) and that may be why he pushed the payroll so high and did things like trading for Matt Capps -- unfortunately, Smith wasn't very good at his job and also had some bad luck on the injury front. I understand that for most teams in ML ball, winning a championship is a rare and beautiful thing. There are, after all, 30 major league teams so even if championships were distributed evenly, a team would "win it all" only once in 30 years. But the odds are better for a league championship (or at least for playing in a league championship). I have no doubt that Twins management wants to get back to a level of success where they are putting b*tts in the seats, competing for a division title and raking in profits. But I have absolutely no faith that TR is willing to take the risks necessary to go beyond that level and actually compete for a league championship or WS victory. Will he be willing to spend the extra money to acquire a key free agent or two or to trade away prospects to acquire those missing pieces? There is just nothing in his past record to convince me that he would be willing to do so. And that's why I continue to be depressed about the Twins strategy (or lack thereof). I know that it is actually somewhat premature for any of those moves but I want some glimmer of hope that it would happen -- and a significant budget cut and unwillingness to take a few risks on some shorter term free agents in the hopes of putting a more palatable team on the field NOW -- just don't give me that hope.

Not necessarily. We are years away from paying some of these prospects -- even if they buy out arbitration years. So there is a PRESENT gap where they could and should be spending some $$$ to put a better product on the field. That "better product" might also help them generate additional revenues. In an ideal world, they would be "harboring" some of the money they are not spending now for use down the road. BUT that is contrary to everything that they have ever said about their business model so until they make it clear that will happen, I have to believe that they have blithely forsaken their beloved "50% rule" and are simply planning to pocket additional profits this year.