drjim

Veteran 4th OF type, not veteran starter. There has to be a backup plan if some of the young guys aren't ready or regress.

The bigger blunder was Ryan only going 4 years in the initial contract instead of 5 or 6. Really put the franchise in a jam following an MVP season heading into a new park.

Correct. Having May and Jepsen in the pen from day 1 make it clearly better than last year. And adding a good lefty would make it that much better still.

I guess I see both, especially the bullpen, as in better shape heading into the season relative to how it performed last year. There is certainly an opportunity, perhaps even an easy opportunity, to upgrade both before the season starts. But they are better in my mind. Perhaps luck cancels this out but I'm skeptical.

This strikes me as especially trivial, but I thought Mauer spent a pretty significant amount of his offseason in Minnesota now, since he is married to a Minnesota girl and grandparents and all that.

I do think most of the chance for the Twins competing will come from internal improvements, like it does for most teams most years. I would like to see another reliever, possibly two added, a better veteran OF option, and possibly some consolidation in the back end of the rotation, but that last one is probably more wishful thinking. Even if they do great on a reliever and a veteran OF, that really doesn't add a whole lot to the total wins, the angst seems a little overblown. I see improvement happening like this - Rotation: Hughes bounces back a little, Santana is here all year, Gibson stays about the same, and the collection of Milone/Nolasco/Berrios/Duffey scrounge out representative 4-5 spots in the rotation. Bullpen: Should be better, maybe significantly especially if May spend the whole season there. This would be helped by adding a good lefty, and I do think a guy or three should emerge out of Burdi/Reed/Chargois/Pressly/etc. Lineup: A little upgrade at C, probably an upgrade at SS with Escobar there all season, Dozier and Plouffe should be about the same, and OF/1B/DH should at least wash as there is enough depth to compensate for injuries and bad performance. I would like a better veteran OF option. The big beta here, in my mind, is Sano and Buxton - they have the talent to explode, with the potential to add 5-7 wins between the two of them, but I think at the very least they should about equate the production from last year. There is some optimism here (especially in the rotation), but if they only match last year in wins it would be a mild disappointment in my mind. There is enough upside that it could be significantly better, even with the few moves they have made.

I just assumed most people put me there already.

More accurately the Twins are on the cusp of a plus plus defender in CF, a very good corner (Rosario) and Sano. Seems acceptable.

I put credence in his opinion but I think the Sano can't handle the OF because of weight is more narrative than reality, and the three primary points he uses to justify the position comfirm that. Trading Plouffe was probably the best solution, but Sano will handle a couple seasons (at most) in the OF just fine and move to 1b when Mauer moves on. Miguel Cabrera is such a perfect comp to this situation it's embarrassing he didn't mention it. Basically the same size. Signed as a SS, played almost all IF in the minors, broke in to the majors for 2.5 years as a corner OF, played next 2 years at 3B, then played almost the rest of his career at 1B (one misguided season aside). Stunted his growth so much he's the best RH hitter of his generation.

I would push back to the article in three ways: 1. I don't think Mauer is a better athlete than Sano right now. Not close. 2. The comparison with 250 lb OFs is instructive, but Sano is younger, has a much stronger arm, and started as a SS, so he should pull it off much more successfully. I thought he should have been playing OF last year. 3. I don't really buy that playing a corner OF is going to wear him down so much it will stunt his development. He's 22 for one thing, and is very likely going to DH around 30 games even if there isn't an injury. He'll survive a couple of seasons just fine. The truth is, of course, is that the shadow of Mauer is really handcuffing this team. The rest of it is the same things people have debating up and down, Sheehan may certainly be correct. He may be wrong.

To expand on the point some more, I think every team in the AL can squint and see themselves as a contender. No reason for any of them to pass up the opportunity to add an upgrade for the right price, though Tampa would potentially move a piece or two. I see Colorado, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Philly, Atlanta as having basically no chance and San Diego and Miami as having very little chance - those are the teams I would obviously target for a trade, but not sure what exactly is still left to pick off at a reasonable price.

I don't see the downside for the White Sox other than money. They still likely aren't good enough, but they didn't give up much and if they keep treading water the next couple of years they could always flip him at the 2017 deadline. They have an ace, a very good middle of the order bat and some other pieces that could click.

Like the trade a lot for the Sox. Kind of surprised that is all Frazier would get.

I agree with you that Cruz is more likely to win a general than Rubio. Rubio might tack a little more to the center, but it's not like he would sway any of the people that post here. I also suspect that the country isn't going to vote another young, inexperienced Senator to be President.

It will be interesting to see if the Republicans can escape this mess. Trump and Carson are both making noise about leaving the party or running as third party candidates. They signed a pledge not to, but have the easy out of saying the party elites are getting together to conspire against them (I always thought this was a likely outcome, and that was before Trump proved as resilient as he has been). The Republicans also need many those voters. Even if Trump/Carson don't leave the party they have to be beaten in a way that won't alienate a significant amount of those voter. Cruz seems like he is angling to try this tactic, will be interesting to see he can pull it off. And Cruz has plenty of his own problems/liabilities. So they have to beat Trump (and Carson), but in a way that is seen as legitimate so they won't bolt the party. Good luck.

Sano is big, but he's also 22 and a good athlete who runs a little better than people seem to want to credit him for. He isn't going to disintegrate playing an OF corner. I imagine he'll also DH a decent amount throughout the year to keep him fresh.

I shoulf add A Rod too. Clearly deserves it based on production. Cano would need quite a rebound. Sale too if he somehow stays healthy.

I would say Kershaw is pretty much in, Felix is on a great trajectory, Bumgarner has work to do but has a great base. Agree on first list of hitters, and not sold on many more. Don't want to predict anything for Harper/Trout but they are certainly off to a good start. Posey/Molina/Cutch/Stanton cerainly worthwhile to track. And I have a feeling a rookie or four from this class might put themself in the conversation. Correa is my first guess.

There is nothing in there about what the Marlins turned down. It (might have) said what it would take, which is the same as saying they aren't trading Fernandez.

Not to pile on, but the #2-3 prospect in all of baseball for two years of a relief pitcher with injury concerns? To me, Polanco and an arm (Stewart/Gonsalves/Burdi) seems about right. I would do it.

Does he make the Twins Hall of Fame? I haven't dug deep enough to find the reasonable cutoff, but I imagine his off the field stuff would easily break a tie.

Is Houston actually a year ahead? They had 3 more wins in an easier division. The next couple of years will tell more. Chicago has lapped both in my mind.

I don't. Pinto was hurt and the others showed little. Considering the 40 man situations, acquiring those 4 would be more negative than positive for a team, certainly not worth a decent reliever.

Agree with this as well. It will be especially good for the Cubs if they can sign a CF and flip Soler for a starting pitcher. Heyward is certainly good and still young, but I'm slightly skeptical when a significant part of the value is tied into being a much better defender than the 30th ranked RF in baseball.

At the very least the new head of NASA. Let's actually do something with the agency.