Willihammer

Every winter I'm disappointed so many fans say the Twins won't contend. How do you know? Is it Steamer? Have you tallied the Steamer WARs and concluded the Twins cant contend? Because, the reigning World Series champs didn't have the highest WAR, not close. Or, are you all able to predict the future?

Well, when the "promote Meyer" club was banging their drum in mid-July last year, we were told his fastball command and changeup weren't up to snuff.

Gah that graphs is awful. Thank Christ, a move like this is a long time coming.

Your projection of the 5 spot + Steamer works out to a 4.42 ERA from the rotation, compared to 5.06 they got last year. Progress. Personally I think Milone will displace Nolasco and May will get the nod in the 5 spot, and both will be better than the 5.00 ERA you estimated here.

This is the best news in a long time. At the same time, the Twins had to make a splash just to keep up with everyone else. Definitely a good start.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I'm biased. Seems like they made more. Actually if you want to extend the timeline back to 1990, the Whities hold a 2061-1940 win advantage over the Twins, although I'm not sure they were as aggressive in trading prospects back then. That was a little before my time.

I don't think there's much question they are in a better spot than the Twins to compete for the next 5 years. But if the 2000s were any indication they'll make a boneheaded move, maybe two before the term is over and at that point the Twins draft and hold policy will start to gain ground on them.

MLBTR saying Liriano and Pirates agree to 3/39 deal. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/12/pirates-to-re-sign-francisco-liriano.html

I don't think anyone believes the White Sox have been a perfectly run franchise or even a better one than the Twins. I certainly wouldn't have traded what the Sox did for a 38 year old David Wells, for example. A 6th rounder and a 16th rounder for a 30 year old Samardzija, who worshipped the White Sox as a kid, seems a lot more reasonable IMO. To your second point, the Twins and White Sox are basically polar opposites of each other in how they handle prospects - one uses them as a pipeline of talent and the other uses them as currency, its interesting to compare the results of the two strategies. And 1150 wins doesn't mean much without some context. Also this is a Twins forum.

People have cried "the White Sox are mortgaging their future!" since the David Wells trade. Since then they've won 1150 games. The Twins? 1153.

Sorry to burst your bubble Kirb but I think "Mystery team" = Astros It would be cool to be a mystery team just once though.

I can't bash the Twins for signing Hunter. They needed someone to put out there with Arcia and Hicks / Schafer / fill-in-the-blank center fielder for a year, and they have a lousy group of OFers to choose from IMO. I do believe Twins scouts may be looking at Hunter's defense through rose colored glasses, judging by Ryan's quotes. But Hunter's healthy and coming off a .765 season. If they can squeeze similar production out of him, then he'll be a great addition to the lineup and I'll live with daily gamble that x-number of high leverage fringe zone fly balls are hit to him. Of course, if he doesn't hit, that's a different story.

Yes, the Twins already have two broken starters on the roster, possibly 3 with Meyer. Naturally, they should seek more.

I concur spanman. I think the Twins view Hunter as a champion of their draft and development philosophy, and the turnaround after the 90s, 6 out of 9, etc. The two do share some things in common - 1st round picks, slow starters, last name starts with H. Hunter's career turned the corner at age 25 and I think the Twins desperately want Hicks' to do the same. I don't know if bringing Hunter in is the best way to accomplish that but reading the tea leaves, I think that's clearly part of their motivation.

IMO the situation is the same. They need at least one front of the rotation starting pitcher to pair with Hughes and to bump everyone down a peg and improve the bullpen. I would keep May in the rotation though. He has been healthy and looks like he could be a workhorse, even if he never turns into an ace.

I appreciate the chasm between lousy defenders and elite ones like Heyward. But for purposes of who the Twins could sign in free agency, here is how Hunter's 2014 season compares to the other OFers on MLBTR's top 50 FA leaderboard (I've also included Heyward just to emphasize what an outlier he is). I threw out innings in CF and any player-position combo under 200 innings. Anyone care to guess who is who?

That's certainly something to keep in mind too. An out on a 190 foot foul fly ball can't be worth as much as a 400 footer to the gap. Not that playing deep is always the optimal spot to be...

Makes sense. He can still be traded, he just has to approve it first. I think SD Buhr has it.

Headers.

If Sano has the glove to stick at 3B, then I think you go year to year with Plouffe and plan on trading him in the next 1-2 years. If Sano doesn't have a 3B glove, then Plouffe is miles away the best 3B in the system, right? Someone mentioned Brandon Phillips (might have been the Dozier thread) as an example of a premature extension for a player who is now in decline. Has anyone looked at the Reds system? I count one middle infielder among the top 10 prospects - some guy named Alex Blandino with a 2017 ETA. Correct me if I'm wrong but nobody is challenging Phillips for the starting 2B job this year. Further, if the Reds hadn't locked him up when they did, they'd be paying more AAV to keep him on for longer years, or else gone shopping in FA and paid the market rate for someone else in decline or fast approaching it. On the other hand, maybe a team like the A's were able to part with Donaldson because 5/5 top prospects are infielders, including two 3B's and a SS. Obviously they got Lawrie in return too so they are 4 strong in that dept. But, after Plouffe, the Twins really only have Sano. Point is, if the Twins determine that Sano doesn't have the glove for 3B then they are stuck with Plouffe. Certainly for 2015-2016 and easily could be longer. Might as well lock him up while they can still pay a discounted rate. edit: assuming of course TR continues to rely on the draft and amateur FA for acquiring 3B talent, and not trade.

I think if the Twins wait another year then they are looking at a Seager type extension money. At that point its almost, why bother? There isn't much money to be saved in extensions after a player cements himself as a solid big league regular anymore.

No, we're not. Read the links.

You would think not. But if you read the links in Parker's article, you'll find no mention of working up in the zone, in a positive way. Its always down down gotta stay down. Even for Scott Baker, who was more successful up in the zone.

I think Gardy-Andy's idea of a "good strike" was the low strike. As if simply keeping the ball low kept the ball in the park. Then to read something like Parker's article, "On Pitching and Philosophy," you find out they might have been completely wrong and counterproductive. I hope the new guy is more open to challenges to his philosophy.