jameshenke78

The decisions made this offseason by Twins leadership have been excellent up and down the roster. Practically every player in the lineup has over-performed expectations, and that extends to the pitching staff as well with Perez and Odorizzi. While it's tempting to see that shiny new toy in Kimbrel, leadership has earned my trust that they are the right people for this team, at this time. Clearly the years combined with the dollars didn't make sense for what they believe is a declining reliever. Will moves be made? Absolutely. But via trade, where we can target players that better fit what we are trying to do....younger and heading into their prime.

I completely agree with you John. There's no way he plays first regularly this year. The ripples of this are not insignificant....does that slot Mauer as the starter at 1b? He can't be thrilled about that because he wants to catch. Does Doumit become the starter at 1b? he's played only 34 games there through 7 seasons. Does this mean more Butera catching? I sure hope not.

I'm not a neurologist, but considering the length of time he's been struggling with these symptoms, I just don't envision him having a complete recovery at this point. I'm reading into these quotes a bit but retirement is definitely an option for him. So my question is, how would his retirement affect the payroll for this year and next? I assume his salary would be taken off the books and that gives us 14 million for this year and next. What moves would the Twins consider if retirement occurs?

When Nishi first arrived in Spring Training last year, he practiced on a separate field, didn't wear the Twins uniform (something about earning the honor to wear it), and had an army of Japanese press tracking his every move. I can't speak to how well he was received by his teamates, but from a fan's perspective he seemed to distance himself from the team. It just seems like he made the wrong first impression and with his injury occuring so quickly into the season, he was never able to be comfortable with himself and his teamates until the season was lost. Here's hoping a normal spring training can allow him to fulfill the ability that Bill Smith and his scouts saw when they signed him.