jokin

Maybe because the guys they're actually serious about possibly signing to deals of more than one year have a serious possibility of blowing up in their faces? Think of the current Correia deal, think even more about past catastrophes- Blackburn, Pavano and Baker. Are you seriously asking that the Twins commit to Saunder's level of innings-eating mediocity for multi-years at $10M/yr.??? Joe Blanton is the same age, with significantly better peripherals, and he got 2 years @$7M/yr. The only significant difference for Saunders is innings per season- over the last 5 years, Blanton is averaging 159/yr, Saunders is averaging 194.2 per season. Their 5 year WAR totals are indentical @ 9.1. That's an absurd premium to pay for 35 extra innings, plus, possibly being on the hook for the extra year.

Incredible, that someone of your level of sophistication doesn't see the standard-operating-procedure, damage-control-CYA involved in this whole affair. You seriously don't think Hardy's agent was on the phone with him the second he came out with his initial comments?

In comparison to Correia, Millwood and Lowe could be had for a song (as a package!), for only a one year commitment.

Along with the 2014 All Star Game! I think it's going to get old real fast at how many different ways they are going to tie in current ticket sales with "guaranteed preferred" All Star tickets.

I strongly concur. Too many are automatically writing him into the rotation in 2014 when thus far he has only demonstrated mastery at High A. Trying to forever be a realist, it would be just short of winnng the lottery if the Twins hit big on Meyer, got a decent high-leverge RP role out of May, with Worley turning out to bring about 3/4ths of Brad Radke's lifetime WAR value over a Twins career (he's currently behind Radke at the same career-points).

Or, more importantly what Boras thinks he's worth. Never underestimate the evil genius, he's had the wags scratching their collective heads in the past, and his clients usually come out of difficult contract situations pretty wealthy.

Why? He'd just sign with that other MN team and then be able to sign with anyone the following season. The Twins should seriously consider an Indy Colts-type strategy that got them quite a bit of Luck in the NFL draft.

Maybe when the apologists stop the 20/20 hindsight apolgetics?

Don't worry, you're going to get your wish for the possible keystone combo scenarios, the Twins have enormous incentive to keep Carroll under 401 PAs.

Let's face it, this offseason proves that the Twins are working off the "Let's fool the rubes long enough, just enough to get us through the 2014 All-Star game season" script ("Stadium Upgrades!"), as cheaply as they can possibly get away with doing.

Paging Barbara Billingsley: "...Chump don't want no help, chump don't get DICK help..."

I agree, merely stating my vision of the Twins' very own homegrown pipedream. Berrios, Buxton, Kepler, Minier all possibly 2016? It would be nice if they could get the #1 pick and get Appel, he'd be well on his way to becoming staff ace in 2015, even if he doesn't match his current MLB projection.

Excellent points, parts of which have been used in futile attempts to persuade Nurse to change his outlook in the past. As usual, when it comes to Twins-defending, the OleNurse faithfully follows the UNCF credo...'A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste': An Iconic Campaign Turns 40 | GoodWorks - Advertising Age

Truer words have never before been written by Nick Nelson. I've been of the mind that the Twins goal is to field a Rays-level of competitiveness-and more importantly payroll- but not until 2015. The Rays won the AL in 2008, in a worst-to-first run, following a succession of previous years at the bottom of the AL East. The Rays opening-day payroll in 08? $43.7M. At the rate that the Twins are headed, they likely to be fielding a 2015 team with Joe Mauer being one of the only players making much more than $1M. Of course, the fly in the ointment for this scenario is that the Twins haven't demonstrated that they can consistently develop and trade for young talent to regain contender status that quickly. The tolerance level for the current putrid on-field product on the part of writers like Mackey and certain fans/posters is headscratching in the extreme.

Or Al Gorezeera...

You talk about the justifiably restrictive nature for admission to the Hall- and then push for 15 to go in in one year, including the obvious cheaters? It's a shame that Morris couldn't have juiced up like some of your other favorites so that he could have put up numbers more suitable for your vote.

Heresy! I have a feeling your ears will be stinging and you will soon be summarily added to numerous "Ignore" lists among the "Hear No Evil" crowd.

If this is solid info, this is TRs opening, it's the right move on many levels- just not for Marcum- unless the Twins blow him away with their offer. TR won't pull the trigger.

Who fills the 1 and 2 spots in the batting order in your "good offense" in this 2013 Twins pitching-upgraded "middle-of-the-pack" juggernaut scenario? Who is left to field all those one-hop liners up the middle and catches those gappers and off-the-wall dingers in your pitching up-graded juggernaut scenario? (Florimon, Dozier, Parmelee, Willingham and Mastro don't exactly instill a lot of confidence amongst the pitching staff.) They should spend on pitching, for both the short and long-term, but this boat won't be floating until well after the next wave of talent gets their feet wet at the major league level.

1) Agreed, very short-sighted and panicky cost-cutting. 2) The Twins knew exactly what they traded for at the time of the Gomez deal, time has proven that any "perception" of fragility was post-rationalization of the deal on the Twins part. The stats show he had regained much of his hand strength in the 2nd half of 2010. (Hardy publicly criticized the Twins medical staff for extending his injury woes- along with the hitting philosophies). 3) No 20/20 hindsight from many Twins fans who castigated all levels of Twins management at the time (and ever since). The Orioles did indeed "nab" Hardy, Smith continually demonstrated vast abilities at having his pocket picked. 4) Nishi's lack of fundamentals in the field, combined with his Punch(less)-and-Judy batting style negated any marginal increase in speed.

And how did that "revenue base expansion" work out again? Still no fingeprints discovered at One Twins Way, they couldn't even identify the Marketing Department stenographer on that deal.

"Random spouting guy" right back at ya, I think your prose has sprung a couple leaks on the port side. Your constant personal bombardment added richly to the conversaton. I believe I've demonstrated with facts and figures that I have some idea of what I'm talking about. Regarding Pressly, I never criticized the pick, ever. The Twins got the "best pitcher available" in their draft position. They played it safe with the pick. Pressly had recently demonstrated that he was destined for permanent relief duty. I woud say there's a slight-to-decent chance that he can eventually take Swarzack's job, at 3 years his younger and about half the mileage on the tires and potentially provide a small upgrade over Swarzack (although, Swarzack actually had very slightly better minor league numbers). Meanwhile, Kyle Lobtein (age 23) was a year younger than Pressly, has played to the same level as Pressly (AA), has better minor league numbers than both Pressly and Swarzack to the same point in their respective careers, and has yet to fail as a Starter. He was brought up through an organization (Rays) that has a reputation for developing pitchers; unsurprisingly, he apparently was blocked by even better prospects. He actually demonstrated in the draft that there was more than passing interest in him, the Mets drafted him and immediately flipped him for cash to the Tigers. Trusting that the Twins had a decent look at him, they felt he was a little riskier than Pressly and passed (A comp might be DeVries, who remains in SP Twins pitching depth, Lobstein is 4.5 years youngers with better minor league stats to the same point in development). The stats suggest that, given the Twins desperate need for starters, it might have been worth the exta risk. The main argument was about passing on Lara in the 2nd round. Virtually nothing was at risk in kicking the tires on a very rare skill set. Head-scratching that anyone would criticize such a move for a team currently grasping at any possible color of straw to fill their woeful pitching needs (Read Phil Mackie's best-case Twins scenario for simply an attempt at pitching mediocrity: 1500 ESPN Twin Cities ? Minnesota Sports News & Opinion (Twins, Vikings, Wolves, Wild, Gophers)) Regarding the Marlins, you really demonstrated your lack of appreciation for irony---- but sincere grasp of the obvious. 70charger liked this. Of course he did...

Literally, no. Figuratively, repeatedly. Crapshoot was the characterization. Here are some of the synonyms: [TABLE=class: the_content] Synonyms: shot in the dark, iffy proposition, time-waster, big chance, risk, risky business, spin of the roulette wheel [/TABLE] a venture undertaken without regard to possible loss or injury I believe that taking a flyer on the likes of Lara literally represents significantly minimal risk with little waste of time.

Since Pitching is at least 75% of baseball, last year was a major Fail, but I don't fault TR for his lineup acquisitions on the 25% aspect of baseball, just a general lack thereof- they didn't completely replace the manpower lost in 2011, still waiting for the MIers above replacement level to surface.

Disingenuous? Really? I clearly stated that is was all theoretical and that the Rule 5 is a crapshoot, where being forearmed can pay dividends, Diamond demonstrated that fact. I responded to those who said that looking for players in that venue is a complete waste of time, I demonstrated that that is a false assertion and the Twins are living proof of that. Moreover, since they won't spend what it takes for the quick fix, I graphically stated it makes financial sense that the Twins need to improve and redouble their efforts in all of the 4 talent-acquisitiion venues that actually are the topic in this thread. Not taking virtually no-cost flyers in the Rule 5 Draft's various phases on the likes of the guys I mentioned is what I was referring to. Lara should have been a no-brainer. I went on to show that the Marlins picked up 3 very intriguing prospects in this year's draft with virtually no down-side risk, without disingenuity.