Brandon Warne

Right. And he was very good last year, and has played better lately after a tough start.

OK, so here's the deal with a potential Plouffe extension: I understand why people would like to wait out the remaining two years he has in arbitration. I get that. But as a super-two, he's going to get pretty expensive even as a decent third baseman over those two years. IF you wait them out and still want to sign him after that, you will then be forced to sign him to a market-level deal, which assuming he has played well will be about four years and maybe $10m AAV. Or, you can split the difference, take him until he's about 32, and play your cards after that. But if you wait it out and then want to sign him, you're not only signing him at market value, but until he's in his mid-30s. A four-year deal under $30 million carries basically no risk for the Twins here, unless he were to absolutely fall off a cliff. But if you're forecasting that, well, you know more than the team does.

Like virtually none of this is rooted in facts, or things that are particularly important.

This post originally appeared at 105 The Ticket's Cold Omaha: Prior to Monday night’s game — the opening of an 11-game homestand that ranks as the longest of the season — Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony provided injury updates on the pair of pitchers currently residing on the club’s disabled list, as well as an update on Trevor May: Reliever Brian Duensing (strained right intercostal) threw a 30-pitch bullpen session, and it is expected that he’ll throw live to hitters before Thursday afternoon’s game. Starter Ricky Nolasco (right elbow inflammation) came out of Sunday’s rehab start in Cedar Rapids — 5 IP, 5 K, 0 BB, 1 R (0 ER) — feeling good. “He had good velocity,” Antony said. “The breaking ball was good. He had good command and control, and the reports we got (from Cedar Rapids officials) said that he threw the ball well.” Like Nolasco, it’s unclear whether the next step with Duensing will take place with the big league team — skipping a rehab stint for Duensing in that case — or down on the farm. May (right elbow contusion) was basically business as usual a mere two days after taking a 100-plus mph line drive to what he called a “weird spot” near his right elbow. All told May considered himself lucky, given the number of different spots he could have been hit in the area that would have been far more catastrophic, and it doesn’t appear that May has any ill effects or massive scarring or bruising. The hope, at least in May’s mind, is that he’ll make his next scheduled start, which is slated to come against the White Sox on Thursday against Chris Sale. “I feel like everything is OK,” May said of the aftereffects. “I feel like I can (make the next start). I don’t think any definite decision has been made either way yet. I feel good.” May admitted he felt “blown away” with how fast the pain went away, and compared the remaining pain to as if he had “banged it against a door.” Sale will be a tough draw for May, who is no doubt pitching for his rotation future as Nolasco nears a return. — Speaking of May, it’s interesting to note how far he has come in a short time command-wise. Even in a very small sampling, May has 13 strikeouts and just one unintentional walk through three starts spanning 14.2 innings. Read the rest of this blog post here.

It's late April. Take a pill.

Well, they saw Cuddyer do it. Kind of.

Did paying Kurt Suzuki that kind of money prevent them from signing anyone else? Or heck, did having Nolasco prevent them from signing anyone else? This is a narrative, and one I don't particularly believe in.

I wouldn't trade for a pitcher like really ever unless I thought I was getting a great deal. You still gotta pay 'em and the injury risk is just too high. Sano could play first or DH. The bat is easily good enough to stick at both. I'm not worried about him and Plouffe on the same team, and I don't think anyone else should be either. I think there's an entire forest that is burning -- a simmering burn, but still -- and we're stuck here looking at two of the nicer trees thinking one has to go. That's just my take.

Yeah I'm not sure what isn't classy about paying out the guy's contract. There's a lot of reasons to hate Loria, but this one falls flat. Hell, it was the GM who cut him after returning from paternity leave. But if you are going to keep a guy around because he just had a kid, man, you should be doing something else.

Well you draft, and develop, and after 11 years...oh.

If he has another year like last year, he's going to get $7 million in his penultimate arbitration year (this winter).

The gap is closer than you think. The MLB average wOBA for 3B last year was .316 and for LF was .318. And you can't equate moving someone off catcher to moving someone off third, because catcher aging curves and all that necessitate those sort of moves. If you were to move Plouffe off third to facilitate Sano, that would be of your own doing rather than being forced. And nobody knows what kind of left fielder he could be. He could literally be Oswaldo Arcia, or Alex Gordon. But for now, he's a really good defensive third baseman. I'd tell the kid to play somewhere else.

If he really is one of the best defensive third basemen of the AL as the stats suggest, I think you move Sano off third. Just my two cents.

Just so we're clear, it isn't even 20 games into the season, right? Hunter started out pretty good last year but had an OPS beginning with a 6 near midseason before picking it back up. Last year in June -- incidentally, 20 games -- he hit just .194/.211/.278. Let's slow down just a little bit. Incidentally, I think we'll find his clubhouse stuff to be appreciated by teammates after he's gone. The vibe is certainly different in there right now, whether it's because of him, Molitor, or someone else.

There isn't going to be clarity on Sano for a few years. And that's the point; Plouffe is going to get really expensive in arbitration over the next two years. May as well cut into those costs if you can.

There’s a Minnesota Twins player who has quietly turned himself into one of the best players in the American League at his position, and it might be time the team takes notice financially. Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson, USA Today There’s a Minnesota Twins player who has quietly turned himself into one of the best players in the American League at his position, and it might be time the team takes notice financially. It’s not Joe Mauer, who is still signed to that hotly-contested deal through 2018. It isn’t Brian Dozier, who inked a four-year, $20 million extension just before the season started. No, it’s third baseman Trevor Plouffe, whom many in Twins Territory regard as flyover country geographically speaking. But while most weren’t watching, Plouffe outperformed the following third basemen last year in wOBA (a Fangraphs metric that takes all hits and properly weighs them before scaling them to on-base percentage for ease of consumption): Pablo Sandoval Evan Longoria David Freese David Wright Xander Bogaerts Nick Castellanos Now that’s a who’s who of third basemen in a couple of different respects. Of course, a number of those guys had down years, but it’s worth noting that with offense down league wide, Plouffe bucked that trend to have easily his finest big league season — finishing 11th among 24 ‘qualified’ third sackers. Plouffe batted .258/.328/.423, good for a .331 wOBA. For some context, the league-average AL third baseman batted .254/.314/.397, good for a .314 wOBA that places Plouffe a solid 5-ish percent above average. It wasn’t just offensively where Plouffe made strides either, as defensive metrics ranked him somewhere between the third and fifth best fielder at third base in the AL last year. And even if defensive numbers leave you feeling confused — quite frankly, that’s probably appropriate — think about this: do you still find yourself catching your breath before each of his throws across the diamond? If that isn’t sign of improvement, nothing is. So how did Plouffe reinvent himself? Read the rest of this blog here: View full article

Post originally appeared at 105 The Ticket's Cold Omaha: There’s a Minnesota Twins player who has quietly turned himself into one of the best players in the American League at his position, and it might be time the team takes notice financially. It’s not Joe Mauer, who is still signed to that hotly-contested deal through 2018. It isn’t Brian Dozier, who inked a four-year, $20 million extension just before the season started. No, it’s third baseman Trevor Plouffe, whom many in Twins Territory regard as flyover country geographically speaking. But while most weren’t watching, Plouffe outperformed the following third basemen last year in wOBA (a Fangraphs metric that takes all hits and properly weighs them before scaling them to on-base percentage for ease of consumption): Pablo Sandoval Evan Longoria David Freese David Wright Xander Bogaerts Nick Castellanos Now that’s a who’s who of third basemen in a couple different respects. Of course, a number of those guys had down years, but it’s worth noting that with offense down league wide, Plouffe bucked that trend to have easily his finest big league season — finishing 11th among 24 ‘qualified’ third sackers. Plouffe batted .258/.328/.423, good for a .331 wOBA. For some context, the league-average AL third baseman batted .254/.314/.397, good for a .314 wOBA that places Plouffe a solid 5ish percent above average. It wasn’t just offensively where Plouffe made strides either, as defensive metrics ranked him somewhere between the third and fifth best fielder at third base in the AL last year. And even if defensive numbers leave you feeling confused — quite frankly, that’s probably accurate — think about this: do you still find yourself catching your breath before each of his throws across the diamond? If that isn’t sign of improvement, nothing is. So how did Plouffe reinvent himself? Read the rest of this blog here:

Dan Gladden on the coaching staff? Now I've heard it all.

I don't think that's the tail end of anyone's prime.

If a deal is done, wouldn't mind at all if Lombardozzi was the third piece (or 2nd piece with a bigger name). But I think those of you throwing around names like Rendon will be pretty disappointed. I could see one top prospect for Span -- someone in the 75-101 range -- but I don't think a guy like Rendon fits that bill.

Only one played with the Twins and managed the Twins. (Tom Kelly)

Because there's a clear difference between spending ANY time in Rochester and spending THREE YEARS?

Only one won a world series somewhere else? (Aguilera)

I don't think either is a bigger threat to ground into DPs than the other.