Kelly Vance

Its Cron's job to lose for sure. They didn't sign him to $4.5 million just to exercise an option to cut him and buy him out at $1.2. I think picking up Duda shows more doubt about Austin than it does Cron.

Jim wants to buy Fox. That is where his money is going

So this is what Falvey has been doing with his time instead of finding more good players for the Twins.

Most teams build with power at the corner IF and corner OF positions, even at the expense of defense. Most teams think defense first up the middle. Keps has plus defense in RF and Rosario (when he is not throwing to the wrong base) has a killer OF arm. He started off his career gunning down runners who ran on the rookie, and then seemed to get careless. Both of our corner OF can hit HRs, although 20, not 30. Sano, if he hits the pitch sends it screaming to the wall. He is not a star defender, but he is surprisingly agile for a big man. Cron and Austin are power bats too.So I guess we kinda fit the mold. I am thinking that Buck and Sano got wake up calls last year. I think they will be motivated to rise to the next level. Hitting is a contagion (you catch it from your teammates). I am guardedly optimistic. And I think Ricco will manage differently than Molitor, who seemed like a stick in the mud most of his tenure. I know it is fashionable to say that managers don't matter that much, but again, I am guardedly optimistic. Polanco to me is a key. If he continues to rake and plays steady D, and we get decent numbers out of Schoop, I see no reason why we cannot contend if the pitching is above average. And THERE it is. It looks like the Twins are going with internal candidates for the BP. OK. But if that fails it will be another lost season. This "wait to see what we got" approach is a loser's bet. Contending teams make their move when the opportunity presents itself. Losers and also rans play out the string and go through the motions. Is the FO doing that? Many are saying so. So I am not that guardedly optimistic about the BP. I am cringing at the risky way the FO is playing "toe in the water." Small market teams have to put it ALL together to contend. We seem to be flying into the wind.

this discussion is proof that the offseason is wayyyyy toooooooooo loooooooooong

If it were my team, I would say to Berrios and Rosario and Polanco that they figure in loooooong term. I''d extend them 4 years with increasing pay. I would project a best case scenario and buy in. That sends a message down the line. I'd say to Gibby, "Look you have proven yourself. Stay with us for 4 more years at market. And stay cool. Sorry about that arbitration thing." Then I'd say to Buck and Miggie, "Look guys, everyone says you have something to prove. But I am betting on you doing that. We have a 4 year window here. You are still young. Sign for 4 more yrears, and make good. Then go FA if you want to. By then you will have security and a track record for the big payday." I would extend Rogers for, you guessed it, 4 years. Then I'd look around for anyone else that wants to extend for 4 years. Maybe Nick, Tom, Seth... what do ya say guys? And for God's sake, give Jake Reed a chance. He was lights out at the end of last year.

Getting back to Buck... hopefully I read the article again. I am a little concerned that the extra strength training may make him double down about being a pull hitter. Oh well. Maybe he will eventually be good at that.

I hate pitching machines. They don't teach how to pick up the ball in the window (release point) and you can't get an athletic sense of timing from reading tehe pitchers motion. Wonder if this machine made Joe a millionaire. I mean, it would be nice to know he didn't retire broke, right?

Nobody ever said anything about concussions. It wasn't even part of the article or the posts that followed. Until the poster changed the subject. Nobody ever even mentioned Buck was concussed from making a catch against an outfield wall.The point of my Kareem reference was he had migraines without any sort of bump to the head. Why can't some people just concede the point instead of going off on a tangent thinking they gotta win an argument?

I don't think you get to say what "people on this board" get or do not get. That Migraines have nothing to do with hitting the wall while making a catch. You can get a headache from a bump, sure, but not a migraine headache....migraines are a different type of problem. Kareem Jabbar got them and he never hit a wall ever. Its complicated and neurological. But lets try to stick to the subject, which is Buck

The story was about Buck's putting on 21 pounds of muscle, which wouldn't affect the head.... that is unless you are Barry Bonds. Your comment was that hitting the wall was an "elastic collision" whatever that is. Buck has never had a head injury from a wall collision. When he hits the wall, it is with his body not his head. He is looking up for the ball and hits the wall with his shoulder usually. I doubt that anyone took your comment as relating to the head. Why would they?

I don't know what you mean by "elastic collision" but I do know that the more muscle you have the less likely you are to break a bone. It depends on how you hit the wall. If you hit on a bone, well, a bone is not very elastic. If you hit on an upper arm muscle or shoulder, extra muscle bulk is a good thing to have. I'm really glad to hear he is working hard.

Its not just learning to lay down a bunt, but Buck has the leg speed to give him a better than average shot to beat it out most times. That's why we all want to see him develop that skill. Then steal second. I think with fielding and hitting, improvement shows, sure, but I think it might be easier for him to add 25 hits by bunt than by some other hitting adjustment. I could be wrong. But I once had a .350 hitter in school ball that I taught to bunt. He was fast, so he bunted .500. Bunting has become a lost art and bunting once a game is too much. It is supposed to be a surprise. You do it too much and they are expecting it. But 30 times over 500 PAs is not too much. I guess I look at it as 20 bonus hits he may otherwise not get. And he could make other improvements, like learning to be a spray hitter. With his speed, he should be trying to lead the league in triples (to right field) instead of trying to pull everything.

Ripping off the ChiSox appeals to me. But I don’t like Manny.

Dumpster diving is a way of life in Minnesota Ask any black bear

So we are so desperate for good news we are reporting rumors now?

Every team does it that way.

Cruz had a few teams chasing him. So saying 29 teams didn't want him is just spin. And even of those who dropped out of the bidding, they may have decided to go a different way for a different reason. You have no legitimate basis to say those teams didn't want him.

Of course they do. If you win 20 games, that more than anything gets you a Cy Young these days

Look, Nobody "gives" a guy a shot at the Show. You earn your shot, mostly by paying your dues and showing you are ready for the next level. It has always been that way.

Reminder: This article is about signing the most coveted DH available, a guy who averages 40 HRs a year. You suggested he holds back some minor leaguers and I don't see it, at all.

Nope. Wrong. The teams that spend money usually are deep in the playoffs. Look at Boston, LA, The Yankees.... some years they could be said to waste money, but they try again and again. Those organizations are winners and do what they need to win.

I remember Hughes had a clause where he got a $500K bonus for innings pitched. He fell an inning short, I think. Anyway, my point is that a guy like Odo losing 4 wins over a season could cause problems.Wins are still the currency of the realm for a starter. And a guy with 13 wins gets more as a FA than a guy with 8. Imagine in a salary arbitration hearing how a team preventing a guy from having a chance at a a win would play out. Odo, call your union rep.

Well, you are way in the minority thinking that.

A starter has to finish 5 innings to get a win. And its not my pitching strategy I am talking about, its those starters that get jobbed if they are ahead after 4 and you take them out.... what if they have contract incentives for the number of wins? I'm saying this opener concept seems to try to fix something that ain't really broken