mikelink45

I get the feeling that you wrote this after a really good New Years eve party. Keep celebrating.

I believe that is what spring training is for. If Robles and Rogers are no better than they were last year they are just fillers and not to be relied upon. If Colina got rid of his jitters last year he might be the option. So far this is a BP that still looks very shaky to me. Duffy and Alcala are the best two arms at this stage, Stashak is a dependable arm. Then we hope to be pleasantly surprised.

I prefer your discussions. Maybe it is just that I do not care for game shows, but I tried and could not stay with the program.

I am curious what the similar TD headline was last year at this time. It seems like the Padres are really taking advantage of the insecurity of other teams.

If we look at the last two playoff losses - our hitting did not hold up. I agree with good fielding, but when it is crunch time we need bats that will produce.

Wow is this a boring move. The Angels are desperate for pitching and they did not want him. Wes Johnson is not a wizard from Harry Potter as far as I know. He needs some basic skill to start with. Yawn. I am still waiting for a real move.

As I read the entries on the TD sight we all imagine getting players in Free agency or big trades. This is especially true when we see the Padres making their moves. What I really liked was the WAR team ratings that MLB.com got from Fangraphs and I used for the Blog photo. This is really significant to me. It shows us ranked fifth, but there are five teams close behind us and only two in the AL ahead of us. So any move we make has to keep us above the teams right behind us like the White Sox. And ideally we would catch Houston and New York. This means any signing has to add WAR to our team and we have to subtract any WAR associated with the player we lose or demote. Trevor Bauer jumps the other teams, but looking at the rest of the top free agents - we do not need another catcher - Realmuto cannot get us there, does LeMahieu replace Arraez with enough positive growth - no. Ozuna could replace Cruz, but would not give us more than Cruz provided so it might be good long term, but it would not make a one year rise in team strength. Springer is great, but Kiriloff might be, Buxton might play a full year. He might give us a rise, but not all the way. Is Siemian enough of a SS and WAR player to lift the team when Polanco is subtracted from the WAR total? No. Sugaro? Who knows? He might be the wild card and maybe he can lift the bottom of the rotation enough to make the difference that we need. Hendriks would definitely give us a boost, especially since we have jettisoned so many, but if we subtract those we lost what would the net gain be? So we are in a rut. We are good, we will stay good, but will we rise? I think Trevor Bauer might be the only one who can do that for us and I do not feel like he is on our radar.

Our rotation is not a WS rotation and bringing back Odorizzi might keep us good, but not great. We should be looking to get better, not say the same, and at the same time we have to do what Preller did and protect the best prospects while bringing in a real upgrade. The remaining pitchers are starting to lose their luster except on the trade front.

I am not in on this and the SS discussion is the wrong direction for me if it is a trade. Whatever the trade chips are they need to be used for a SP. Go free agent otherwise. I love that the Padres added two ACEs but did not diminish their roster or there top prospects. We have to think along those lines too.

How many times do we see teams sign big contracts and then have the regrets? Pujols, Ryan Howard, Melvin Upton...then the team is financially strapped, does give away trades, limps along. There is a message here, but MLB owners do not seem to read it. Hopefully the next three years of Donaldson will not be filled with regret. The Padres made wise trades - Darvish (34) who is performing at top level has only two more years after 2021 and should be at least an above average pitcher at that point. Snell, with less owed to him is only 28 meaning he might be reaching a peak. For those who doubt his ability to go more than 5 innings I can only say it up to the team to develop a good strategy and Snell has the talent for 7 innings. With Dinelson (24) they have three ACEs and two good pitchers to round out the rotation. Then there is Chris Paddock who would be the best #4 or #5 in MLB. And next year they have Clevinger who will be 31 to make 4 ACES. I love their aggressiveness because they have the team to play behind these pitchers. Teams have certain windows open - look at the Twins. We were on top in 2019, now we have moved on from Rosario, Cruz is a question mark, Garver may or may not go back to the form we dream up. Are the new rookies going to push us upward or are we going to slide back? I am hoping for up. Our rotation had one ACE in Maeda if he goes back to form he is a two and two twos in Berrios and Pineda. I loved the Dobnak story, but I think his story is over. So do we have the courage to go Balazovic and Duran who have upside or do we sign Odorizzi again for a good number 3. Stack that up with the Padres, Braves, and Dodgers. And then there is the BP. In a couple months all this could be moot, but right now that playoff win is a long way away.

That was a fun dream. Now we wait for reality to set in.

I remember the 1965 rotation - Mudcat Grant 21 - 7, Jim Kaat 18 - 11, Jim Perry 12 - 7, Camilo Pascual (injured and missed part of the season) 9 - 3 with Al Worthington in the BP winning 10 games. And young Dave Boswell 6 - 5 and Jim Merrit 5 -4

It will be interesting, but I am not looking for a big improvement. Semien is still a one year wonder so it makes me wonder if he can step in and be the improvement we want. I like the 1 year option with Lewis in the background. Of course no one has speculated that he might be the super utility guy and not Polanco.

The nice thing about baseball in the winter is that we can dream anything we want. Keep dreaming - I enjoyed the article.

I do not want Kepler/Cave/Wade in CF. If Buxton goes down I want a true CF even if he is not yet at the development level the team wants. Defense and speed do not need more minor league time.

This really lost me. Lets see what happens. I think we can write this off to December hopefulness.

Below Larnach the list does not look that great to me, but luckily we have Rooker, Kiriloff, Larnach, Kepler, Cave, Wade at the top - too many to get playing time. I do hope the Twins get over the keep him in the minors for two months routine. When players are good they get extended before arbitration ends.

If they can trust Rogers to comeback they should trust Hand to continue his excellent work.

How fun - I loved the Liberace segment - it was so out of the spirit of the evening and thus a good laugh. Wish Bob Allison had been on longer. But overall a wonderful fun video and I am so thankful that you posted it for all of us to enjoy

I do not deny that we have quality at the top, but I do not see quality below. 1B has a young starter in Sano, and Rooker, Larnach, Kiriloff behind him - that is strength of position which also covers the corner OF positions, but catcher has excellent MLB strength and some fill in strength, but as we look beyond Rortvedt I do not have any faith.

I would like to agree with the statements above, but it is not a position of strength until we see 2021. Does Garver come back?Does Jeffers have a sophomore slump?Is the turtle really a viable option or has his time passed?Why have so many clubs passed on Tomas?Can Rortvedt hit? Can anyone below Tomas on the chart hit? We have catchers, but at this time all the cream is at the top.

I am not in on this rumor but it does allow me to think about Arraez. If his injuries are not career threatening he is essential. It is his bat skills, contact, on base that are what the HR/K/BB league are desperate for. That is why LeMahieu is in such demand, it is why Brantley has so many suitors. We have and need to keep this valuable asset.

Cody, relax. New Years is still 12 days away. Spring training - who knows. It is fun to speculate, it is fun to predict, but lets not get too upset - yet.

David you have too much time, too little to do. Come up north, I have a couple extra chain saws. We can thin the forest, get some fresh air, and let the winter settle in before going crazy with Twins wins predictions.

Three reasons to not believe. He had a season way out of line with his career - beautiful, but not necessarily repeatable.He is a catcher and they are very inconsistent - event the HOF kinds.He did not burst onto the scene until he was 27 and had his out of this world season when he was 28 and blew up when he was 29. What makes you think he is a great player?I hope he comes back and is really good, but if he isn't I don't think we should be surprised.