jcphitman

LOL, forget what Shooter will say. Imagine what Sid will say! He's written about Hannahan so much that it's insane. Hannahan coming to the Twins might give ole' Sid a heart attack...

I'm still hoping the Twins will be somewhat competitive next year ... even if it's just like the Vikings to tease us enough to make the season worthwhile to follow (yet not succeeding). However, it's all prospects and minors for the most part in 2013. If we're out of it before the trade deadline, we'll be monitoring that big time ... what vets could bring us what prospects? I'm very excited for Meyer. It's nice to see us finally have a pitcher with high upside instead of hearing the usual pieces we have outside of Gibson. I have to wonder if this kid knows how starved the fans are for a big time ace like pitcher? Boras worries me as his agent, but that's not for years down the road. He's cost controlled for a while and we'll cross the Boras bridge much later on. For now, we can just smile we have hope with one pitcher who hopefully will turn into more good ones to follow. Hope is a big thing these days!

My apologies if this was already posted by someone else. I didn't see a topic dedicated to Jurrjens, so I figured I may as well post thoughts and get the discussion started. Bottom line: Do we take a chance on him and how much do we pay him? Positives: -26 years old (27 in Jan) -Had success prior to 2012 and was selected to 2011 AS Game. -Young enough to possibly "get fixed" and improve his game. -Probably won't sign a big money deal anywhere and could be a trade chip if/when we aren't contending by trade deadline. -Low risk/high reward type of signing. Negatives: -Really bad 2012. -Lost velocity -Braves non-tendered him for a reason. Some think they did it sooner than they should have (wasn't he guaranteed 5.5 million?? Sounds ok enough to take a risk on him for 2013, but they cut him for a reason ... should be a warning to the rest of the league). -Scott Boras client. -A lot of fans from other teams are interested in their teams signing him. Will drive up bidding from other teams and possibly put the Twins out of it right away (especially with Boras as his agent). What do people think would be a fair contract for Jurrjens? Would he be open to a one year make good contract with a lot of incentives? I doubt it with many teams interested. It only takes one team to offer him something insane. I have a feeling he'll get a multi-year deal. Maybe he'll even get an offer better than what the Braves would have been able to sign him for? I'm guessing he goes 1 year at 5 million with some sort of option for 7-8 million for 2014. The Twins could take the risk needing so many starters. He's an interesting name. They just need out-bid other teams and be confident he can be fixed, which I doubt will happen with Rick Anderson as the pitching coach. We'll probably see him sign elsewhere, but it's still a fun topic to discuss.

We aren't getting Grienke. This is the Twins ... not the Wild or even Vikings, who have spent on big time free agents. I'd say we have about a 5-10% chance on Sanchez. I see another team (Tigers?) outbidding us on money and years. Just being 5% will allow the Twins to say they "pursued" him. With that being said, we might have a chance at Jackson or Haren ... not both. I see us having a better chance with Jackson. Haren will want to go to a team that can win now. He'll probably want to go back to the NL with his injury issues. Haren is probably LA or even San Diego bound. It'll take overpayment to secure Jackson. I think we probably have 15-20% chance at Haren and 35-40% at Jackson. I've just seen it with the Twins all these years. We get very excited on the idea of signing free agents and they never come through with it. I'm excited (yet again this year), but I also know not to get my hopes up. I think we're going to sign Meyers for sure. He'll go for 2 years at 14-16 million (7 to 8 per year). A lot for a pitcher trying to start again, but it is what it is. Marcum, we have a chance at. He'll want more than a 1 year deal. I live in Milwaukee and got to see him a few times. He had injury issues. I'd say it will take a 3 year deal to get him signed. Will the Twins do it? I'd say 30% chance they go for 3. I could see more of a two year 20 million dollar deal. That gives me what? 18 million for Marcum and Meyers? I have 7 million left. I'd rather have McCarthy than Liriano, but I have a feeling we'll go for Liriano over McCarthy. Liriano will go 1 year for either 6-7 million. That will about do it for our 25 million we have to spend. I think McCarthy will want at least a 3 year deal with 10 million per. If TR can convince Pohlad to bite on McCarthy at 30 million for 3 years, we'll be at 28 million for 2013 with the three pitchers. I'm thinking it could be done, In the end, I think the Twins will go for two pitchers with guaranteed MLB deals. Take your pick between McCarthy, Marcum, Meyers, Blanton, and Liriano. I think Meyers will be a definite. I'd hope the other one is McCarthy or Marcum, but it will probably be Blanton or Liriano in typical Twins fashion. The third pitcher signed will be Pavano or maybe even Webb on a minor league make good deal. The Twins will spell it they can have a good vet coming back trying to earn his way to the majors for cheap as normal. They'll go into 2013 with: Diamond Liriano/Blanton/McCarthy/Marcum Meyers Pavano/Webb Gibson/Blackburn/Deduno/DeVries/Wholters If I had to pick 5 for sure that will start a majority of the year, it be: Diamond (earned his spot, but not an ace) Blanton (Twins will avoid the Liriano reaction from the fans and not pay McCarthy or Marcum) Meyers (give him his chance to start) Pavano (will bring him back and say his minor league deal was worth it) Blackburn (has the best chance to start due to the money situation he's owed ... not much else of a chance, but to have him start) We'll see Gibson (limited innings), Deduno, DeVries, and Wholters all start here and there (maybe Duensing and Swarzak too, but probably more bullpen for them). It's not a rotation that will make us contend ... looks more like a last place rotation to me. Maybe we battle Cleveland for 4th?

Longtime reader ... first time poster. When I first read about the trade, I shook my head and figured here we go again. The Twins trade their best tradeable asset for one minor leaguer. After I started reading about, Meyer, I changed my mind. I think Ryan's quote in the strib article sums it all up: "These guys are hard to get, and if you are going to get them, it's going to be in the low-to-mid minors. Once they get up to Double A or Triple A, they are almost impossible to get." (http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/181434491.html) We all knew we weren't going to get an ace or number 2 for Span in the majors, AAA, or AA. The best we could hope for might be a number 4. TR had to go to high A to get the best pitcher he could for Span. I'm glad we didn't use Span and other prospects to get Shields. Why waste Span and currency (prospects such as Rozario, Hicks, etc.) in our minor league system for 2 years of Shields before he commands top dollar to stay and further hurt payroll? Rolling the dice on Meyer is the way to go. No guarantees he'll be good, but the Twins at least gave themselves a chance at a strong pitcher by bringing him in. I'd rather have taken Meyer (I'll say "B" level prospect) then hope for two C prospects or a C and a few D prospects in return for Span. The Twins probably could have taken a quantity of lesser prospects, but they sacrificed more pieces coming back for quality. They put all their Span eggs in one basket for Meyer, but he has the best chance at producing vs. any other number of lesser prospects the Nats may have agreed to send. I think it's silly fans (especially on the strib) are ripping the Twins for the move (the early replies of what I read). They don't understand baseball and how valuable young pitching is. You don't just buy young pitchers for 3 million like you do NBA draft picks. You need to either hit them right on the draft or trade impact players away to get the prospects. Span brought us the best pitcher he could. I'm satisfied based on Meyer's potential alone. Let's hope he's blessed enough to avoid Tommy John and cash in for a long MLB career with the Twins!