freshinthehouse

Sounds like the Twins found their 1st basemen for AAA next year. Here's hoping he can rip it up in the Int'l league.

Hopefully the rest did him some good. We need to be able to push the 'eject' button on Pelfrey as soon as possible.

Love the idea of working out some kind of trade around Plouffe/Nolasco for Shields/Benoit. I think I'd rather see us try find a catcher in another trade. Maybe Hicks + random goodies for Susac?

The answer to this question is always no. GMs tell fans what they want to hear. It's part of the job.

Echoing what Lev said, Foster is a really thoughtful, interesting guy. I hope he can find a job in some form of media after his career is over.

I would definitely entertain trading Plouffe. I would only trade Dozier if we got a king's ransom for him AND you are sure that Polonco could be a decent bat and above average glove at the MLB level.

I do agree with the need for another middle of the order bat. I think Dozier and Sano make a good 3 and 4, but we desperately need impact bats after that. I still have hope that either Arcia or Vargas can become an .800+ OPS fixture at DH. It would be huge for the Twins if Hicks can keep up this pace b/c I think he is playing himself into being on hell of a trade chip. He would be servicable as a corner OFer, but I think to maximize his value he needs to play in CFer. Hopefully some team agrees with that and we can either move him for an upgrade at catcher or a plus corner OF bat. I still hold out hope that one of Kepler or Walker will be a fixture in left while Rosario becomes a jack of all trades type 4th OFer. I also think it will be huge for the Twins if Sano proves to be a legit defensive 3rd basemen, freeing Plouffe up for a trade.

I think I'm in a similar boat about this as leviathan. As far as awful things happening in the world (to animals and humans alike), this ranks pretty low on my list. I do hunt deer, but paying out the nose to do some set up "hunt" for an animal that I'm not going to eat isn't my cup of tea. But this dipstick is one of hundreds (prolly thousands) of people doing something just like this. This schmuck just had the bad luck of hiring an unscrupulous guide and shooting a lion that had a first name. Loss of habitat is the number one threat to lions and pretty much every other animal on the planet. there are too many of us. And as more people across the world start climbing out of poverty, this is only going to get worse. Look what the US has done to its apex predators (though alligators are one of conservations true success stories). You could round up all the grizzly bears in the lower 48 and they'd prolly fit on a football field. as Africa and other 3rd world areas continue to develop this will sadly be the case with their wildlife as well.

Okay.

This would be my choice.

Jesus it's great to see some of the people popping up on here. But everyone had to go and change their avatar and throw me for a loop. ofx, did you have one of the Nazis from Hogan's Heroes as your avatar? And what was Frodaddy's? And did Kobs ever make it over here? SO MANY QUESTIONS.

I got thinking back a couple of days ago that the last time the Twins were this good BYTO still existed and sluts still ruled. I really like TD and check it often, but I'm not really a part of the community here like I was there, so I'm not really sure who from the old gang is still around. Here's hoping this thread will rectify that.

Goodness those were some angry threads. There was a lot of gnashing of teeth over Brian B at BYTO.

I dug it. I've always enjoyed Inarritu's(sp?) stuff, and this was probably his best movies since Amores Perros. But so far I'd say the best movie of 2014 that I've seen is Snowpiercer.

I know that the dinner table scene comes from the short story What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (which I think is also the name of the short story compilation it appears in).

Playing baseball with wrist braces sounds nearly impossible. How do you throw a baseball or swing a bat with wrist braces?

My yearning for James Shields is reaching troubling levels. GO GET 'EM, TERRY!

Sign Shields to a 4/80 deal Take a good hard look at Tomas. If you think he can be a middle of the order bat for the foreseeable future, sign him. I've got a hunch that Twins brass may not believe so, sign a stopgap corner OF like Hunter to a one year deal. None of the corner OF that will demand multi-year deals interest me that much, so put a bandaid on it for now and make it a priority after the 2015 season. Move Nolaso. Offer to pick up 3-4 mill of each remaining year of the contract. Start the season with this lineup (batting order can be adjusted). Santana - SS Dozier - 2nd Mauer - 1st Vargas - DH Arcia - RF Plouffe - 3rd Suzuki - C Hunter - LF Hicks/Schafer - CF Bench: One of Hicks or Schafer Escobar Pinto Nunez Rotation: Shields Hughes Gibson Mays (we need to let him get some innings next year) Pelfrey/Milone (with Meyer up to replace them at any time) I'd also love to see us look at trading some vets, whether it be off-season or mid-season. If we get any decent offer for Plouffe, move him. It may be best to wait and see if he can start out well and move him around the middle of the season, hopefully in time for Sano to take his spot. If not, let Nunez take over at 3rd until Sano is ready. I also want to us to look at moving Suzuki. We need to give Pinto a chance behind the plate. There is too much potential there just to waste it away. If Polanco looks like he is progressing, I'd love to see us see what we can get for Dozier. I like Dozier, but if we can get some serious value for him I think it would be worth the risk. Let Escobar man 2nd, and hopefully Polanco is ready to force the issue in the a year or so. And if Pelfrey defies all odds and is worth something, move him. If the stopgap LFer plays well, move them as well. Hopefully Rosario is ready to fill that spot by midseason. Lets get our minor league ranks loaded up with talented young arms. Trading these vets should help with that goal.

Yeah this doesn't bother me either. Nearly every GM lies through their teeth when they are interviewed. Dude has a some responsibility when it comes to duping the fairweather fans. It's part of their job. What are they gonna say? "Oh boy, are we gonna stink up the joint this year. But hey, stop by and enjoy some overpriced hot dogs!"

I am not ready to assume that Arcia can't improve as a fielder. Dude as a more than capable arm and he it's not like he's a 40 year old Frank Thomas speed-wise. I hate to be the typical Twins fan that harkens back to the days of Tom Kelly, but if this kid was with the Twins in Kelly's day I have no doubt that they'd work with him until he became a passable defender. Also, once Buxton comes in and we have a plus center fielder, I have no qualms with having mashers at the corner O spots. Plenty of teams have won with this setup, and player like Schafer was born o be a pinch runner/OF replacement type. If Arcia (or whoever mans the other corner OF spot) get on base in the seventh inning or later, sub in Schafer, let him wreak havoc on the basepaths, and provide plus defense at one of corner OF spots for the rest of the game.

Santana at SS, Escobar at Util

What I think it will be: Santana - CF Dozier - 2nd Mauer - 1st Vargas - DH Arcia - RF Suzuki - C Plouffe - 3rd Escobar - SS Schafer/Hicks - LF Nolasco Hughes Gibson Mays Meyers/Pelfrey/Milone What I hope it will be: Santana - SS Dozier - 2nd Mauer - 1st Vargas - DH Arcia - RF Tomas - LF Pinto - C Plouffe - 3rd Schafe/Hicks - CF Shields Hughes Gibson Mays Meyers/Pelfrey/Milone

Starting Buxton on the MLB team next spring is madness. He has all of 3 at bats the AA level. He OPSed .718 at A ball last year. It's not like he was knocking the door down. If we're just going to disregard the minors, why not just bring put all of our 1st round picks on the MLB squad as soon as they sign? Let them learn at the MLB level, right? Sano makes a bit more sense, but it's still a stretch. The guy missed an entire year. His defense at 3rd is far from a finished product. If he looks like a beat in spring training, by all means bring him north. But if not, he needs to get some time at the AAA level to knock some rust off. I think it's unfair to him to force him into a situation that he's not ready for just because some fans are impatient. And the service time is worth noting hear. I don't buy the argument that you don't worry about it with bigtime prospects? If not them, who do you worry about it for? Smart teams use it to their advantage. And despite what we all hope, it may take these two some time before they prove if they are worth longterm financial commitments. If that's the case, the money scenario changes. Negotiations are lot different if a player is under control for 4-5 more years compared to 3-4 more years. And while money is not an issue right now (at least it shouldn't be), things could be different down the road.

Unless my North Dakota public school math has failed me, we could offer Tomas in the range of 7/105 and Shields in the range of 4/80 and we'd still be in the 95-115mill payroll range for the next few years. Dangle a 8 mill payment or so and get someone to take Nolasco in a trade. Besides Dozier, who is coming up on arb years that we really have to worry about? This is the perfect time to spend money for this squad.

Unless we are getting a player as pretty much a salary dump, I see no reason to trade for a quality starting pitcher. This is looking like one of the better high end FA SP crops in some time. Why give up prospects when you get someone off the street? Open up the checkbook and get it done, Pohlads.