70charger

This. I get it, but I don't get it. The bullpen is an area in serious need of a rethink, and I would hazard a guess that the first manager to use it effectively in a statistics-driven way will change the paradigm. However, I wouldn't expect much of this type of thinking out of Gardenhire, nor honestly would I expect it out of pretty much any manager out there today. Maddon, maybe.

Good call. I now have a hold on the Central's copy.

You say this like it's bad, but I think the Indians made some terrible deals this offseason in the vain hope that they're just a player or two away (they're not). I would never pay mid-30s Nick Swisher up to $70 million for 5 years. That's just dumb. And I would be even less likely to pay Michael Bourn (a.k.a. Chone Figgins 2: Electric Boogaloo) $48 million for 4 years. And on top of that, they gave up a draft pick to do it. Again, that's just dumb. This probably has little to do with the philosophy of building a team, with regard to how much should be allotted to drafting, free agency, international, etc., and at what times the amounts should change. But comparing the Indians' offseason approach to the Twins, it's hard for me to see how they did as much better as some people here choose to believe they did. I'm not even seeing how you could say they did better at all.

You have a little kool-aid stain on your mouth. ...there, you got it. (Kidding, I actually agree with all of this.)

I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV.

That's over. Reid Brignac traded from Rays to Rockies - MLB - SI.com I actually would have liked the Twins to pick him up, but as some have said, I agree that we should not have had to give up much of anything to get him.

I agree with all this, but I don't think Diamond is going to be good to go on opening day, is he? Bone chip surgery or some such thing? It would be a great honor for him, and well-deserved after bailing the team out so much last year. He was the lone consistent bright spot on the pitching staff. But if he's not ready he's not ready.

Sweet. Solid. Awesome. Not bad. Mother of God. Okay guys, I think I know where all of the offseason payroll money went. Strangely, I feel okay with this.

It's a cliche, but I want to believe.

Honestly, there's a lot of stuff at Target Field that's just retarded. The dance off doesn't belong, the sing-along to Fishing in the Dark makes me want to punch people, and for God's sake can we change up the batter's entrance music at least once or twice a year? It got to the point where every time I left a game I had "Your Love" by the Outfield stuck in my head for hours. This is one of the all-too-underappreciated things about having a stadium with crappy technology: less opportunity to abuse jumbotrons and sound systems. For my money, it doesn't get much better than "Walks Will Haunt" accompanied by some organ.

I agree. By comparison, the Twins are pretty well protected against age and gross obesity when it comes to Joe Mauer. I think that Pujols is easily one of the best baseball players not only of our generation but of all time - an inner circle hall of famer when he's done. But that doesn't mean that he won't be today's A-Rod when he's at the end of his contract. Sucking up dollars, producing little on the field.

I just don't see Appel going over slot. I think he has to have been chastened by last year's experience (and if not, he's way too stupid to be at Stanford), and he also has to realize that there's nowhere else to go if doesn't sign. He has to be aware of the indy ball horror stories. He has to realize that his failure to get paid last year has already put a dent in his potential career earnings. He has to know that teams are already looking at him warily. I expect a more pliant Appel this time around.

It's more something not-to-be-fatalist about. Yeah, we certainly could suck - but you can't say we certainly will suck.

Thanks Kanye. This statement is indicative of the level of discourse happening in this thread. Maybe I should quote Ralph Wiggum next...

I fully expected Morneau to be traded at the deadline coming into this season. But now that we've been seeing what kind of leverage teams have over players like this if they make them a qualifying offer, I think it's at least plausible that they keep him around if he turns out to be fully healthy. Then, after the season, they offer him another year at $13/14 million (or whatever qualifying is). He turns it down, they get compensation that would make up for the lack of a trade return. He accepts, great, another year of healthy Morneau. And I do think that if he stays healthy, Morneau is worth $13 or 14 million. Terry Ryan says that he worries less about overpaying in dollars than he does overpaying in years. Given the opportunity to tack on extra years one by one should be appealing to him, don't you think?

Despite being very different players, he's sort of like the next Killebrew. There's really nothing bad you can say about him as a person. He's a genuinely good guy, and that's valuable to baseball in general, and to the Twins in particular. But beyond that, I completely disagree that his contract is bad. All major free agent deals overpay to an extent when you're comparing WAR/$ to a league average that includes cost-controlled guys in their first few years and arbitration years. But if they were really overpriced, I doubt they'd actually get such enormous amounts of money consistently. Now, there are people who have gotten enormous contracts that put them in Mauer territory that I don't think are deserving. The most recent one that springs to mind is Zach Greinke, but I would guess that Pujols and especially Prince Fielder are going to look pretty silly when they're still getting more than Mauer when they're 40 years old and/or 800 pounds. But let's not forget how ridiculously good at baseball Joe Mauer is. If we're reducing it RBI, we're cutting out the most important parts of Mauer's game (OBP is the most prominent example), which incidentally are those parts of the game that correlate far more positively to runs and wins produced than does RBI. It still blows my mind that we are watching a future hall of famer (barring constant injury or sudden, inexplicable ineffectiveness), and all some of us can think to do is bitch about his paycheck. I for one am glad to sit back and watch him swing.

I admit I'm optimistic about Worley's talent level too. I just hope the offseason health concerns have been taken care of. I hope bone chips are just bone chips.

The middle infield looks to be a real problem. The only guy I think can really "make it" is Brian Dozier, and I doubt that'll be this year. Let's just pray that Morneau stays healthy, Plouffe isn't a mirage, and the other teams don't hit it to the shortstop...

Has this deal been done? I've heard this reported from multiple sources, although it seems like the multiple sources all go back to one source. No official source has ever weighed in as far as I can tell. Basically, it's just Ken Rosenthal and a bunch of people quoting Ken Rosenthal. I realize these things take time, and they're contingent on physicals, and whatnot, but is it possible they jumped the gun?

Will you bring the beer?

Reasonably big.

The difference between realists (you call them "optimists") and you is that we can see both downside and *gasp* upside. For you, if the Twins arent losing, the world is falling apart. Feel free to post one of your tedious manifestos in response, but you should also consider doing something more productive. Like punching puppies.

I'm going with 75.

First of all "all of that" isn't that much (kind of the point of the post), and second of all, if the Orioles can make the playoffs with this same kind of projection (also mentioned explicitly in the post), why would you assume that the Twins would necessarily end up short of .500? You can be a pessimist, but don't misinterpret what people are saying.

I can get behind that.