Kelly Vance

Saves are a meaningless stat, until they aren't. Sometimes, playing a shorter game because of the closer is what makes a manager look like he employed a good strategy. Look at the Yankees with Rivera. They only had to defend 8 innings. It was over when he came in. So saves were not a meaningless stat in that case. Saves equaled wins and no late inning comebacks. I do like a reliever that can be a high leverage gunslinger. Having a bullpen arm that you can rely on to get one guy, maybe two, with the sacks packed (in whatever inning) is huge. Thing is, this is not difficult or complicated. Little League coaches have been doing this for years -- ever since the pitch count thing came in. Top of the order coming up, Jimmy pitches, weaker hitters (7-8-9) coming up, ok to try Tommy. Reminds me that it is still a kid's game.

Memo to Sano: Learn from it kid. Never give them a chance to put the arm on you. That means behave yourself, especially with ladies. And, remember, your actions impact others, not the least of which being millions of fans and your organization (the one that made you rich) and team mates.

when you have a guy with Kinley's stuff, you are patient. Remember Jesse Crain? When he found out how to throw a slider and not just a straight fastball, he got better. I think they view Kinley as a potential closer, long term

Excuse me, is it required now to have a reliever capable of giving up a 3 run homer in the 8th inning?

we put two of those guys on the wire, JT and Burdi, and they were both claimed.

a guy that throws 99 mph doesn't clear waivers. Make him a BP swing man. Stuff like that is rare. Besides, other guys are just other guys. I say carry him North. Use him often early before the hitters catch up.

well, yeah, but you could just as easily imagine Gibson is decent and Romero and Gonsalves do well the first time around the league. By then Erv is back and May is soon ready.

might be wiser to use the money to extend our outfielders and Doze. Let Romero and Gonsalves take spots 4 and 5. A year from now, they will have learned the major leagues and we will have locked up our crucial position players long term

"I'd be willing to go as high as...." nice of you to offer your own money to sign the FA pitcher.

The more I think about it, the more I want our Twins to let Gonsalves and Romero compete for the 4 and 5 spots. Look at it this way. If 2019 is the real year we will expect to go deep into the playoffs, those guys need the year to get hit, get beat, and get better. OJT. Worked for Berrios. So why let the old guys block them? Let the kids play. May will be ready down the road and Santana will be fine in a month or two. As a spectator, I'd much rather watch the kids than watch Hughes or Sanchez get shelled.

$ 10 million a year is not as low ball, especially for a NL pitcher who has had no other action and is crossing over to the AL and having had a recent TJSurgery. It was an opening offer that any non-idiot would counter. Thing is, unless they are staying in shape, they could sign late, get injured and end up sucking this year. Lynn can't play hardball at this point. These FA pitchers should sign one year make good deals. I suspect that Lynn just doesn't want to pitch for the Twins. OK. I saw somewhere that Odorizzi has been lobbying for an offer to Cobb.

My four man rotation would be Palmer, Cuellar, McNally and Dobson

Twins don't need 3 first basemen/DH types, so Vargas is gone. If they put him on waivers now, he could maybe catch on somewhere. Keeping him is just injury insurance. Grossman gets on base but can't field much. Still, he is the first bat off the bench in a clutch situation. That has value. I think they keep him over Granite.

Don't want Danny Bull. He is a clubhouse cancer with a bad attitude.

The Fat Kid was the greatest Twin ever and nobody paid him a nickel for his glove. Still, Sano's obesity shows a lack of self respect, and self respect is what fuels great players. This guy is destined for a short career that, looking back, will be disappointing.

Sano needs fewer (dinner) plate appearances

No disrespect to Palacios, who I hope has a long career and makes this trade seem one sided for the Rays (good luck kid) but getting a starter that makes people argue about whether he slots at 2-3 or 4 for a SS not named Gordon is something we weren't counting on after missing out on Yu know who. So we can still add a FA starter? This allows Gonsalves and Romero to start in AAA and build up some work before getting the call. It puts Sanchez in the garage. Realistically, this takes pressure off but at the same time sharpens the focus on the competition for the last two spots. Going to be interesting to see

My brother is against trading Max. He touts his defense and says he doesn't have many years playing the game and is still learning. He thinks good defense is more important than pitching (yeah, I know, pitching is the most important part of defense). But he overrates Max I think. Thing is, Max is arguably only our third best outfielder, depending on whether you value Rosario's outfield assists, which were plenty in 2016 and not so much as teams stopped challenging him last year. Rosario is improving a lot. He made changes to his swing to stay in the strike zone and he is a clutch hitter. Trading your third OFer who has trouble hitting lefties is a no brainer. For me, it isn't about preferring to trade Eddie.... If Tampa Bay wants Max and not Eddie, that is not an option. I'd rather keep Eddie. I see his hitting improvement as a sign of maybe more ability than Max. Prospects get traded for known commodities all the time and for a reason. Gonsalves and Romero might be ready, but they may also have a debut like Berios and get shelled their first time up in the Show. They may not get it together until 2019, if at all. Looking at this from a functionality standpoint and taking out the sentiment for Max, it looks like this to me. On a contending team, you only have one or two spots in the field that might be weaknesses and could be upgraded. A team on the bubble, like the Twins, may have 3 or 4.So if you can get a #1 or #2 pitcher, who will actually be an important cog, for a few prospects who may be a year or more away and an outfielder not named Buxton, you do it and don't look back. Because on the field, you add a proven SP that you don't have to worry about. That is 20 percent of your SP. Thing about trades, you gotta give up good players to get good players.

You need an ace who can throw that three hit shutout in game 1. Then you need a solid #2 that can hold serve. A good #3 helps, but the days of winning a series with a #3 pitcher like Les Straker are long gone

I side with the fans who have to pay over twenty bucks for a beer and a dog.

I forgot lefse, somebody send Yu a box of lefse. But hold the lutefisk.

Someone needs to take Yu ice fishing. Maybe he will catch a walleye. Then he would realize that Minnesota has way more to offer than LA, which has a boring 70 degree climate in winter, Disneyland, Universal Studios, Magic Mountain, Hollywood, Laguna, Malibu, Knotts Berry Farm and all those boring warm weather golf courses.

Look, the two wins is just a projection, meaning a guess. I suspect Yu brings us closer to 7 -8 wins above last year. Think of comparing his W-L to our current squad..and potential 4-5 starters. That is what we'd be gaining, a #1 slotting in ahead of Erv and way better than our 4-5 starters

Pats 31-28. Sign Drew Brees

Bux needs to bat leadoff.