pajavorski

Entertaining article but I can't get on board even if Cano could be convinced. All you have to do is look at the angels and see why this isnt a good idea, Pujols & Hamilton may rebound a bit but their contracts are disgustingly bad. The teams that succeed have top tier pitching and DEPTH on both sides of the ball.

I understand with the price tag of 23 million expectations get raised but I feel Twins fans aren't appreciating what a great hitter Mauer is. Home runs are sexy but honestly having a consistent OBP of around 400 is crazy valuable. Every time he hits a grounder to second I hear jeers at target field. Hopefully we can change this negative perception and get people cheering for Mauer the way that his elite play dictates we should.

Arcia's power numbers are encouraging, but his strikeout ratio raises a bit of a red flag for me. He is currently striking out over 4 times for every walk drawn. This is probably not uncommon for young rookies, it just means we shouldnt get expectations too high for this season

I have fond memories of Morneau, but if he has a good first half he will probably be more valuable to the twins as trade bait than a veteran cornerstone for contention in 2014/2015. Some may argue how much value he has considering his contract but wouldn't it make sense for a contender who needs a bat to give up a Decent B+ prospect if the Twins included some Money? Mauer will be the expensive old man for the next twins contender lets just hope he isnt a light hitting DH by then!

A move to first would definitely diminish his value. I am no expert but shouldn't a move to first be a last resort move in AAA if his defense was just not developing as well as his bat?

Hypothetically if the twins are trying to seriously contend in 2013, they would need a bunch of things to go there way. I.e. mauer/ morneau at MVP levels, pelfrey and Harden healthy and decently effective, plouffe being a HR God. Then I see the logic in getting more middleinfield options like cadeno or making a risk reward signing of Kelly johnson. However I believe the TWINS ARENT PLANNING on competing in 2013 thus. TRs talk is just that talk, and I don't blame him. I hope they are stashing all this extra cash with a note on it saying 2014-2015 younger Ace pitcher. hey a guy can hope right?

"Clearing the path", that makes sense for outfield but who is seriously being blocked in the starting rotation? With both gibson and diamond in the rotation our starting staff has more holes than Swiss cheese. 0% chance on Alex Meyer reaching the majors this year right? And May has some control issues to work out and has not pitched that much in AA. I am fine with the twins not spending cash on a lost 2013 season but that saved money better be allocated to free agent spending in the 2014-2015 time frame to patch the holes and field a true contender. We are going to most likely need two infielders and a quality second tier pitcher or two.

Great point Bonnes, the twins bench is exactly deep with Jim Thome like bats. So when switching between Mauer and Doumit the only real loss is Mauer's superior defensive skills. Priority one should be keeping mauers bat in the lineup as much as possible. If that means 6 days per month at DH/1B so be it. That man is an on base machine and Willingham's RBI numbers are visible proof of that value.

Perhaps the Twins are actually facing reality this year and saving money to complement the prospects we have coming up in the 2015-2016 seasons. But at 4 million I would imagine the small amount of buzz and hope bringing in marcum would have created would have made it worth it. How can TR honestly say he isnt punting the season with these types of moves? With or without marcum this team most likely wont contend this year but there would at least have been some speck of hope, and hope sells tickets no? The Twins currently have an avid fan base and they risk losing a good portion of it with a 90s like stretch of struggles. Ugh