jokin

So this makes the Twins glass half full? Shark should be judged on his last 3 years, plus playing for the hapless Cubs in Wrigley. If you assume the last 3 years are his true performance range, he's practically at 9 in K/9 with a .241 BA, plus you can pencil in 200 innings with a 3.29 FIP

Decisively and "seriously".

The Twins missed on Abreu last year. and LaRoche was a better bat addition than the Twins made this year. The Twins don't have an Ace, the Sox now have an Ace and a Half- and Quintana in 2014 was pretty close in performance to Sale and Shark. If Rodon has a big splash debut, they have 4 imposing pieces in the rotation. The Sox don't have the Twins farm system, but most of their young guys are already on the roster, with a few Top 100 infielders and a few more arms knocking on the door.

Two prime bullpen pieces and a near Ace added to Sale, Quintana and possibly Rodon makes for a strong rotation and closing corps, once you've got pitching at that level, anything is possible, depending on how well all of their young players develop. Are you really saying that the Twins don't need an upgrade in the pitching rotation, besides adding at least one of the four non-tender relievers that Terry Ryan is so "serious" about adding?

It's even worse than you make it sound, Seth. This is Terry Ryan's quote leading up to the introduction of these names. Hard to appreciate the bitter irony considering when you juxtapose at how "serious" the White Sox were on Monday, by comparison. How did LEN3 keep a straight face when he wrote just who the names were?:

Not a great trade for the A's unless that third player has some significant upside. Bassitt showed some promise + 3 more years getting paid at the ML minimum, but only likely as a #4 or #5 starter.

It''a certainly interesting... AJ's take, along with yours Doc, and Halsey's, is diametrically opposed to many on TD at the time of the incident in 2013, ie, those who either roundly condemned Sano for his behavior we all witnessed on Youtube... or expected more such "maturity problem issues" to delay his quick ascension through the Twins system.

If Thorpe is healthy, he's the SP that could make the 2 level move, likely starting in A or A+, and ending up in Chattanooga for the playoff run. Cederoth jumping from Rookie ball this year, could potentially be throwing in Ft Myers or even Chattanooga by the end of the season. Among the relievers, Burdi, Reed, and a real sleeper, Brandon Peterson, should all have a great shot ending up 2 levels higher than they start out. If Zach Jones starts out in Ft Myers, it's easy to see him finishing up in AAA if he gets his control issues in order.

I admit that I come in with some confirmation bias on my part, but I'm really with you on this one, Transplant. I only saw him play one minor league game in Cedar Rapids, but that was enough to convince me. Too many people are too dismissive of what he accomplished this year (including Terry Rayn), especially considering that this was the first year he has been primarily at SS. I've documented it elsewhere, but I'll say it again, based on how he closed out the 2014 season, he has the best chance to be the guy who comes out swinging in Chattanooga and end up banging on the major league door by July. People, including Terry Ryan, are under the impression that he struggled after his promotion to AA. But if you break it down in half, here's what happened: First 18 games- .214/.225/.257/.482 BB% 1.4% K% 19.2% Last 19 games- .347/.413/.431/.844 BB% 10% K% 17.5% Yes, it's only about 160 PAs, but the contrast is still pretty striking, and confirmed with the spike in improved plate discipline. And although he's been in a little slump lately in winter ball- plus acknowledging the sketchiness of the winter ball numbers, he's still slashing at .328/.394/.469/(863), which would put him in the top five or better in every category, if he qualified. And there are some pretty good players in that Dominican league that he's up against. Put him in AA in April, plus with a little head start on all of the rest of the studs that will be joining and surrounding him in the Chattanooga batting order, plus the hitter-friendly Lookout ballfield, it's easy to envision a big bustout for Jorge.

By the time the Twins get on board with accepting that Moore's Law must be acknowledged and adhered to, to be able to compete on a level playing field, the Law itself will be obsolete, replaced by some Quantum Mechanical re-ordering of baseball at the sub-atomic level. And they already have fulfilled somewhat your Twin Cities corollary to their cherished Alchemist Theory of Small Market Baseball Success, with the emergence of former St Paul Saint, Caleb Thielbar, and maybe Mark Hamburger not so far behind?

Hoo-whee... and +100! With that many golden nuggets in one post, it's obvious to me that you've been on hiatus for too long. This one has me still howling: Welcme back Bombo... and don't be a stranger... or you'll miss claiming the trophy for the TD Understater of the Year AwardsTM. You must get Wi-Fi inside of Cheyenne Mountain, right?

Me too, but it would have taken more than Malone, and I don't think Ryan is ready to give up any of his prospect "pieces" yet.

I said it right after the presser- Isn't it likely that Terry Ryan wishes the State of Minnesota had a "lemon law" that applies to professional athletes?

And though I missed it the first time in yesterday's presser, Ryan also confirmed that Arcia was headed to LF.

Yep, you're definitely on to something here- there weren't a lot of options. I've written about it before, but since the Twins were insistent on going this route, a more defensible case can be made for the soon-to-be 34 year old Rios (and his estimated one-year price of $8.5M would have saved them some money, besides).

Pretty good summary, Seth. I've been waiting for someone to float this trial balloon: The perfect name to pick up to continue the "break-up-the-country-club(house) with more aging-gamers-and-grit" offseason theme. I am also surprised that Andrew Albers and Johan Santana, Craig Breslow and Jesse Crain weren't mentioned. They could trade for Grant Balfour and it would likely only cost them a C- prospect- in so that the Rays could get out of the $7M contract. Back to the Future, Part Deux, indeed.

I think given Ryan's past comments on him taking responsibility for the teams he's given Gardy, it seems like it might be worthwhile to consider what Molitor is looking for in further position player upgrades. Ryan might be inclined to accede to Molly's wishes and still be "looking to see what's out there" at the Winter Meetings as well as what's on the waiver wire/Rule 5.

Actually, this door is not quite closed all of the way. This afternoon he told Berardino this:

The source involved here was likely Hunter's agent playing hardball with the Twins.

Greed is spot-on here. On every little turn in the story, the Twins were still a part of the conversation. When it was reported that Molitor was doing his own full court press, it was very evident that the Twins weren't going to give up on this one. Terry Ryan identified early-on what he wanted, statistical evidence be damned, and he's been really good in the past at bargaining against himself (Pelfrey). Once we heard about Guardado and Thanksgiving dinner, I was pretty sure that we were witnessing the Twins version of a Brett Favre moment. My only question at the time was whether or not they would be held up for a two-year deal to get it done.

Terry Ryan said the Hunter is the RF. Multiple reporters, including the MLB.com guy that writes all of the content on the Twins own website (Rhett Bollinger)... have reported this and of Arcia's destination. I have a hard time thinking that just-the-facts Bollinger just made this quote up out of whole cloth:

And Berardino is hearing about his own faux pas on social media.

Terry Ryan, and Paul Molitor, to an even greater extent, are staking their careers on the exact opposite assessment.

As I said, I'm wondering if he was asked that inappropriate question in LA or Detroit in the same circumstance. It looks like he got a "gotcha" question when he least expected it, and reacted poorly. It happens.

Citing Deadspin as a credible "national media outlet" as his excuse for asking the question? This is the gotcha group that "bought" a HOF vote from Dan LeBatard, and just beclowned themselves by breathlessly reporting the "scoop" that the Senator-elect from Colorado had never played varsity football in high school. Their single "source" was a confused old man who immediately denied the story. And all Deadspin would have had to do to verify the story was to crack a yearbook. Bad timing decision by Berardino, bad source to use for justifying his reportage.