grumpyrob

Well, here is to TR (as I raise my crow getting ready to eat it since my projected FA pitcher signing was going to be Pelfrey)....surprised me. But lets see where this stops. Hopefully another pitcher, would like to see Garza, but I am sure he wants to much for us, and we will most likely go with Arroyo.

Thanks for the info. I wonder if the MLB will ignore long term medical concerns like the NFL did. Also wonder if there will be some company attempting to make a mask which could deflect a bit better.

Nice article. Just one question though. Everyone says there is an increased risk of getting a concussion behind the plate. I know Mauer has taken his fair share of foul tips to the head, but is there a website which identifies that catchers are more likely to get a concussion versus other players on the field? Just curious.

I will eat those cookies. A couple of things I see a head for this off season. 1. We will sign Pelfrey to a two year deal. 2. We will sign a pitcher who is not worth the money and cant strike anyone out (and not Pelfrey). 3. TR will say that the signing is a great signing and try to sell it to the Twins fans. 4. No other signings from FA. 5. Payrol, while not the be all of baseball success, will not increase. Some other random thoughts....Joe will remain a catcher, he was signed to it, he is great at it, and will have enough say so to keep doing it. I agree with this as well. I take a look at what positions he can play, and see that he can get injured anywhere on the field. We cant protect him from everything. We will not find a first baseman or third baseman for a couple of years. I wonder how the Twins took so many steps back for such a short time TR was gone. I know he was great when he was here, and made some great moves, but didnt he draft those players who were coming up in the ranks before he left? I also think it is time we move on from what front office we have and get someone in place who does take more stock into what role statistics have in the future success a baseball club has. I dont know much, but that is what I think. So, give me some cookies....nom, nom...

I disagree with TR. You cant wait all the time for young arms to develop. It relies to much on probabilities. I am patient when it comes to this team, I think most of us are, and I know just bringing in free agents is not the answer either, but there has to be a happy medium. A starting rotation of Gibson, Correa, Palfry, Diamond, and Deduno is not to scary. You have to at least get someone who has been more successful than those listed above to lead the rotation. And if you dont have that, I think a new pitching coach who can lead would be good to have. Though unfortunately, I cannot think of any right now.

As this season comes to an end, I look back at how the season played out. Sad to say, there was only one ray of light, and that was Brian Dozier. The kid worked hard over the off season, weathered a tough patch at the beginning of the season, and in my opinion, has captured second base for years to come. But still, I remain cautiously optimistic that the turnaround will stay for many years. Scott Diamond did nothing but regress, and in all reality, was probably never fully recovered from the injury and pushed to the starting job. We saw free agent pitching that turned out to be what we expected. The hammer could not stay healthy, and could not contribute. But most of all, the starting pitching never improved to the point where it really made a difference when it came to winning games. But should we really blame them for all the losses? The inability for the Twins bats to hit in the runners who were on base was atrocious. Placing 29th in runners left in scoring position left on is not something to be proud of and tells us we need some hitters. But, it seems like they are on their way with Sano and Bucton getting close. Hopefully we see them next year sometime. Comming into this season, we all knew it would not be something special, and as it got underway, this was apperant. But the little bit of improvement that was needed, never got here. I am not a big stats man, and admittedly, I often do not post on here, but I got bored at work and looked up ESPN stats. I am sure there are other, better sites, but I stuck with them for the stats. This is what I found; last in strike outs in 9 innings, 29th in earn runs against, 29th in earned runs, 22nd in home runs allowed, and 30th in hits allowed per 9 innings. Now like I said, I don’t know much about stats, but this outlines a team that needs to see serious improvements. I have read on this site about giving other pitchers another chance and how we need to pick up a free agent pitcher because we will have more than enough money for at least two free agents. We can sit here and make arguments on both sides of this. We can believe the owner when he said the team would pick up some free agents, or we can believe TR when he said we would not. I tend to believe TR, the owner was most likely telling us what we want to hear. And deep down inside, just like most of the readers here, we know there will be no big splashes made in the free agent market this off season. If there is, it will most likely be the resigning of Pelfrey. Hell, I can even see them going after Baker again. I love the Twins, and believe they can turn the team around. And we did have some setbacks this year. but how much longer do we watch them pick up mediocer pitchers and hope the defense helps them out? The point of this was not to complain and bitch. Do I have any solutions in my mind? Yah, but picking up two starting pitchers in free agency will not happen. Moving Mauer to 1st will not happen. And even though I see and agree with the points of view from both sides, I also agree that we signed him to be a catcher, and that is what he is, and will be. We cannot protect all of our players by just moving them to a different position. We need to realize that every position has the potential for injury. As a first baseman, he poses a risk of sprained ankles while chasing a grounder, ball bouncing up out of the the dirt hitting him causing injuries, or injuries sustained from diving for a ball. So while we can protect him from injuries as a catcher, he is a better catcher than Josmil or any other catcher on our roster and it would be best to keep him in this position. Unlike many DHs, this man can contribute to more than just being a bat. The man can play baseball, we should let him play. We have to look at like this. We all know he is the best player we have. But once we get better than we are now, and we compete for a world series, if he gets injured, we will have other players on the team who will be capable of winning. If we don’t, then we don’t have a good team. One man does not make a team, many do. And they are on the way. From Sano to May and then back to Buxton. One day this team will field a team of all stars. And then there will be more to this team than just Mauer. So it seems, I wrote something, but then, I wrote nothing. I hope that Gardy gets that elusive 1,000th win and that we have a great off season of free agent signings. But in the end, we both will not happen this year. So please leave your comments, but do me a favor and try to be gentle. I dont know who the up and coming free agent pitchers are, but who do you think would be a realistic choice to come to Minnesota? And anothe question is are there any trades out there to be made? Do we have any players that could bring in a return? And no, Mauer would not be on the block?

Nice blog, loved the glasses, and liked on facebook...

I am excited about the future as well. And in all honesty, if I had a chance, I would love to be able to watch this team battle its tail off at a live game or at least live on tv. But, I guess I will have to settle for re-runs after knowing the outcome. Not that great, but I still watch.

Completely agree with your take. We know we are not going too do to much this year, and while the fast start was nice, there does need to be a sense of reality here. While we might compete against some teams, we are not set to take over the division for at least a couple of years. Having some patience in this situation is the key to these players.

I have been in the military a long time and have been privileged to come close to seeing my Twins play. When I was in Minot ND, I had purchased my tickets, right behind third base, had a hotel picked out, selected a friend to go with me, and was two days away from my trip when I got the call. The man on the other end was one who did not ask questions, he was more of a hard assed supervisor who did not discuss much with those he out ranked. I knew I should not have picked up the phone; after all, it had been a very bad week. First, my apartment had flooded and the property management company did not want to do anything about it, they said it was up to me to clean my apartment. Not very nice, so I cleaned out a little water, near the front entrance, my place saw only a little bit of the liquid invasion. Then once I got back from a three day trip out to work, I found my place had flooded again. Once I found out this time, I found out the management company would then clean it and replace my damaged property for me. So, while a bad week, it still had a little good to it, which is until I answered the phone. And then, there went my summer. I had to travel out to work, missed the Twins game, my friend was upset, and I still held onto the tickets for a long time trying to play a game with my boss, who, did not like the guilt trip and told me to cease. That was more than a couple of years ago. That was during the 2006 season, and I have since moved on. I found out I will be going to Del Rio Texas in July, not a bad place considering where I am now, but still not up north where I love it. There will be no snow, little rain, and most of all, no Twins games on T.V. I will have to resort to ordering the MLB network assortment of baseball games, and just to let everyone know, I am currently trying to convince my wife to make it to the Rangers game with me in August. I am sure I will have to bribe her with a shopping spree or something. And to tell the truth, I don’t care how bad they may be, I have come to accept this year will be much like last year, and the year before, but I also think we can win a few more games. People keep saying a bad day of baseball is better than a good day at home, or work, or just about everywhere else. This I believe. I also think the pitching staff might be like last years, different in the end than in the beginning. But I accept this, as a Twins fan, I must face the reality of how bad my team has been the last few years, and may be this year, but I am also looking forward to see them in the years to come. TR did some good trades and the pitching pickups should be a great help in the future. But, I will remain patient, and hopefully will see them in the WS in a few years. I may not be as well informed as many of the other people who write for this site, I dont do all the stat projections or research and all, but I will post something every once in a while and hope people will enjoy reading it.

I have been in the military a long time and have been privileged to come close to seeing my Twins play. When I was in Minot ND, I had purchased my tickets, right behind third base, had a hotel picked out, selected a friend to go with me, and was two days away from my trip when I got the call. The man on the other end was one who did not ask questions, he was more of a hard assed supervisor who did not discuss much with those he out ranked. I knew I should not have picked up the phone; after all, it had been a very bad week. First, my apartment had flooded and the property management company did not want to do anything about it, they said it was up to me to clean my apartment. Not very nice, so I cleaned out a little water, near the front entrance, my place saw only a little bit of the liquid invasion. Then once I got back from a three day trip out to work, I found my place had flooded again. Once I found out this time, I found out the management company would then clean it and replace my damaged property for me. So, while a bad week, it still had a little good to it, which is until I answered the phone. And then, there went my summer. I had to travel out to work, missed the Twins game, my friend was upset, and I still held onto the tickets for a long time trying to play a game with my boss, who, did not like the guilt trip and told me to cease. That was more than a couple of years ago. That was during the 2006 season, and I have since moved on. I found out I will be going to Del Rio Texas in July, not a bad place considering where I am now, but still not up north where I love it. There will be no snow, little rain, and most of all, no Twins games on T.V. I will have to resort to ordering the MLB network assortment of baseball games, and just to let everyone know, I am currently trying to convince my wife to make it to the Rangers game with me in August. I am sure I will have to bribe her with a shopping spree or something. And to tell the truth, I don’t care how bad they may be, I have come to accept this year will be much like last year, and the year before, but I also think we can win a few more games. People keep saying a bad day of baseball is better than a good day at home, or work, or just about everywhere else. This I believe. I also think the pitching staff might be like last years, different in the end than in the beginning. But I accept this, as a Twins fan, I must face the reality of how bad my team has been the last few years, and may be this year, but I am also looking forward to see them in the years to come. TR did some good trades and the pitching pickups should be a great help in the future. But, I will remain patient, and hopefully will see them in the WS in a few years. I may not be as well informed as many of the other people who write for this site, I dont do all the stat projections or research and all, but I will post something every once in a while and hope people will enjoy reading it.

Would really like to see Slama brought up. Does anyone know exactly why he has never been given a chance at the ML level?

Good article. I have to say, I love baseball because it is a great distraction from everyday life. And while there are many tragic events which happen every day, I find myself thinking of baseball more than any of these. Why? Because it brings me pleasure to watch, and in reality, I want to be happy. And when I watch the news, I become grumpy...I guess I am selfish this way. I have been in the military for over seventeen years, and I have loved the Twins everyone one of those years, and for many more prior to joining. Baseball is a great morale and welfare tool I use in unwinding and relaxing. The distraction is greatly appreciated and sometimes, very much needed. With that said, I have been so frustrated at the Twins when I do get a chance to watch them, I have almost lost TVs. But like you said, when a team takes the field, no matter how bad they played the day before, or the even the lack of talent that they display, we know anything can happen. And that is part of the reason I love watching them play. And while I have not had the opportunity to actually see them play in person, once I do return from my overseas assignment, I do plan on making a visit. They might stink it up during the game, but as a fan, it is one of my many goals to do.

I would like to see the Twins stay away from flyball pitchers. Sounds like JC would be the best bet given they could have a couple of years to work with him.

He says what he means and he's unapologetic about it. I like people like that. He stands by what he thinks and he backs up what he says. I like that too. This world has gotten way too touchy feely in general, worrying so much about hurting other people's feelings. Understand I'm not talking about hurting feelings just to hurt feelings...that's not cool. Not only that, people seem to think everything is an opinion, and that's not true. There are times, when people are right and people are wrong. Period. He'll point that out too. I like him. He's a bit harsh, but that's okay. True, true...everyone gets all upset about the way people talk.

So, great update. I have been overseas for a couple of years and try to find out as much info as I can on these guys. Thanks.