jokin

Unlike others, I was an early (albeit slightly sarcastic) optimist, that TR outthought the other 29 GMs, sensing that KC can fool 'em for half a season and become a flippable asset in July. I'd love to come down off of Sarcasm Hill and admit I was wrong about Correia, but to bury heads in the sand and pretend that this wasn't a spectacularly bad deal on paper- and not just doubling down, but tripling down on the Marquis Blunder of 2012, is just silly.

Actually you should close your eyes, too- "Be like Drew!"- like all the others in the Twins apologists Make A Wish Foundation

"Correia is the Marquis Free Agent signing of the offseason" (Well played, Sir!) I sense a quirky commercial in the works by that clever, "play on words" Ad Agency that the Twins use for their marketing....

The other clubs were probably too busy building their own MI depth chart. If you look around the league, SS prioritization is evident on many teams' 40-man rosters, depth charts and minor league prospects. Good teams, and teams that prioritize actually getting better instead of paying lip service to the concept, stockpile pitching arms and SSs.

Multi-tasking be hard.

Yes, you could predict that oly,.....But then again, Thrylos's formula inexplicably predicted that Cole DeVries is the Twins third hidden major impact starting pitcher behind only Gibson and Meyer. If their numbers are supposedly "similar", why not just pay DeVries the minimum?

If we raid and hire personnel of the caliber of the Rays braintrust, I'm all-in on this strategy, but unfortunately, we don't.

If you've read the tea leaves that the Twins have been scattering about for two years now, they have a (not-so)-secret protocol in place for 2014, it's code-named "the 25% of payroll rule" ie $240M/4 = $60M

I know your moniker says "old" but you can't be that detached from reality in forgetting that we had one of the biggest all-time thread lengths on the topic of Mauer and Red Sox just a month ago with many of us, including myself wanting to explore what basket of talent could be pried from a club hotter on Mauer than a guy in the backseat of his car with his date on prom night. Look, all the level-headed realists are saying has been obviously clear for some time. The Twins have 2 former MVPs at top dollar and a brand new stadium and they can't decide if they are rebuilding or getting up off the 2011 canvass to take advantage of their 2 special core players for a quick reload back to relevancy. Playing the "big-picture" game on the fence rarely, if ever works. I've loudly and constantly advocated for full rebuild, but since the Twins are going to play it in the middle, I've recommended moves that help in the long run and keep the team economically viable until the next wave is firmly ensconced. The Red Sox are where the Twins were a year ago and look at what they've done, I'd just like to see the Twins attempt a similar though admittedly-restriced and smaller economic model along the same lines. It really isn't that difficult to comprehend. I never once uttered "win as many games as you can", I have no idea where that came from. Brock Holt and Iglesias are on the Saux 40-man roster now and I would be happy with either or both of them over what the Twins have. I also don't mind getting higher-ceiling guys that project to make an impact in 2014 or 15 and getting a better placeholder until then.

Unlike the Twins, the Rays had a very busy offseason bolstering and upgrading their current roster, seemingly finding undervalued gems coming off of off-years on the cheap, and trading soon-to-be-too-expensive assets for a minor league player of the year and a package of other intriguing prospects. Despite a MI that looks pretty packed with quality plus players at 2B, 3B and SS, the Rays pulled the trigger on yet another bargain-basement, potential bounce-back addition to a quality-laden depth chart. As I speculated on another thread, the Rays have an embarrassment of depth riches compared to the Twins in the infield. With the signing of Johnson, along with the reacquisition of Kyle Farnsworth and Luke Scott, the Rays will have to part ways with 3 rostered players, likely at least one of whom will be an infielder.and presumably another a pitcher. The Twins can probably pick up a filler-type upgrade in a Elliot Johnson or Sean Rodriguez DFA move. With Myers coming up at some point in the season, they also might look to move an OF. They also now no longer have a place for Ryan Roberts to play, even though they just avoided arbitration by signing him for 1 yr/$3M, with team control through 2015. Luke Scott flat out is a dog as a DH, is there mutual interest in a trade for a Twins DH plus a prospect (Doumit/Plouffe for a smaller deal, Willingham for more of a blockbuster) for Rays Infield prospect(s)/pitching/established position player to upgrade both the Twins and Rays? In the Myers-Shields trade, the Rays acquired Jake Odorizzi and to a lesser extent, highly-rated (BA #23), but currently out-of-favor Mike Montgomery, which may mean the Twins probably can't get their top two pitching prospects, but maybe another one or two of their good-to-decent pitching prospects like Alex Colome, Frank de los Santos, Enny Romero, all the way down to a Jesse Hahn, might become expendable. Hak Ju-Lee, Jake Hager, Tim Beckham and Ryan Brett are all intriguing and blocked MI prospects. Can the Twins FO play a decent enough level of chess to acquire the assets to keep the rebuild in full swing, w/o getting taken to the cleaners like their last deal with the Rays?

At least we know for certain that ARod's Juiceman knew how the human body works. Thankfully, we apparently won't have that worry with Sano. 3B until he definitively proves he can't cut it defensively- at a Cabrera-like woebegone level.

RB, just close your eyes a little tighter, click your heels together and repeat ad infinitum, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home.....".

Of course he said that, except that this is not Cleveland or KC. This is a team with a brand new stadium and supposedly a new taxpayer-funded lease and license on life to compete with the big dogs. The question was not directed at anyone in particular, but I would say the answer could be neither, or it could be both, or one or the other. Since you chimed in and apparently disagree, is it something else I missed?

Don't put words in my mouth. I never said what you said I said. Boagaerts was only gettable in a Mauer trade, Genius, oops, I mean, WiseOne... (BTW, you mispelled Eeyore, your brainship) The point was. and still is.... that there were 3 other viable options on the Red Sox depth chart obviously available for much less in trade.

I think I saw what you did there...

In other words, the Twins continuing ad nauseum in their self-imposed comfort zone of Middle Infield Mediocrity.

Comparing Boston to the Twins in terms of Drew is a fool's errand. Boston wants, and needs in the AL East, an immediate infusion of relevancy. Or a blockbuster trade with Boston drooling all over a Mauer-related deal involved in the mix. Or get one of the other 3 ideas I suggested for much less that you conveniently ignored. Much like the acquisition of Meyer and Mays, the Twins have already half-way acknowledged that 2015 is their rebuilding goal season. Holt is already major league-ready and blocked, the other 2 I mentioned project to 2014 or 2015. Who is in denial here, really?

The extended thread about the top of the order and possibly moving Mauer up in the order, examines the Twins 2013 alternatives to last year's 9,1 and 2 hitters. The Twins had the the third-best number 9 slot numbers (.303 OBP) and were in the upper half to upper third when especially emphasising Span and Revere's numbers, respectively, in the 1 and 2 slots. I see little to no evidence that the club's replacements this year that can come anywhere close to matching the 2012 numbers. I further suggested that it was well worth the experiment to go all AL East-style and experiment with Parmelee in the #2 hole. This is really the only shot that this team has at matching even close to the performance that the club got in just one of the three plate-setting spots in the order.

So you say. I said a combo of veterans and prospects.

Boaggerts, Iglesias (his glove will make you forget Florimon), Marrero (AZ St. 1st round pick, starts in Hi-A, will likely jump to AA or even AAA w/ a good season and a Boaggerts call-up, would have to have been a PTBNL) and they just got Brock Holt besides, who has played plenty of SS (blocked by Pedroia @ 2B). Boaggerts may have been too young for the spotlight in Boston, but he would have been more than ready on the Twins, any of these others are more than ready, today, to offer significant upside in 2013 or 2014 over what the Twins plan to roster this year and next.

This. And it's scary how much of NN fanboy I'm becoming.

The Rangers were gobsmacked in 2012, during and after the close of the season with the defections and lack of replaceable asset additions., definitely ripe for making a significant move. Actually, for a rebuilding team any rational offer trading at positions of depth and unloading PR splash-worthy veterans who won't necessarily be part of the next era of a returned competitiveness was a perfect recipe for working out a franchise-direction changing deal that might have presented a Win-Win scenario for both clubs.

It's hard to listen to typed words, but I do pay careful attention to people who make ridiculous psychiatric evaluations over differing opinions about a baseball team

Sorry, as a lifelong Twins fan, I'll be here per usual, pointing out imcompetence and hypocrisy and demanding that changes be made. Now go back, shut your eyes real tight, and start in again on your Make-A-Wish dreaming campaign.

Yes, stating basic facts, and being realistic about the consequences of such, qualifies someone to be in need of help..... ......As opposed to those who shut their eyes to the truth and convince themselves they can merely wish all their troubles away. It seems like the Soviet Union apparatchiks said the same thing about the dissenters who complained about the poor living conditions just outside the "Potemkin Village" (you know, the Commie Version of Twins Fest).