mikelink45

They aren't good because they are in the AL east, where would the Twins be in that division. I like the fact that the Jays are trying to close the gap.

Here is a question for TD moderators - I have a posting above, but 0 views under the heading. Not possible.

That is fine, but I suspect the Twins would have been happy to experiment with him in the rotation. At least many of the TD writers would.

Hubert Humphrey coined the term "cold Omaha" when he said that the Twin Cities would be a Cold Omaha without professional sports. I believe the Blue Jays must have thought they did not want to be a Canadian Minnesota if they did not sign some players and make the club interesting. Well the Twins are interesting and last year they were winning. Now we do not have Schoop and we hope (and I expect) that Arraez will not regress. We do not have CJ Cron and we hope we have someone to replace his bat and glove and we do not have Juan Castro so we write about how Avila is actually better than Castro (are we dreaming?). Our pitching got us to the playoffs, but could not win a game in the playoffs. We did pull Berrios too soon, the bats did go quiet, and we had no one beyond Odorizzi to stop the bleeding except Mr Dobnak. So we have signed our top three pitchers (actually we have not given Berrios the extension he needs) and we let go the last two pitchers, but we have not signed anyone to take their place meaning that we expect our rookie/young guys to step in and fill the positions. Fine. The Blue Jays had two down years and they told their fans that the are going to do something about that. So they signed Ryu - a pitcher we were told would not want to leave the warm west coast. Does he know that Toronto is south only if you live in Canada? (Disclaimer - I know they are south of Minneapolis - https://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/who-s-the-north-portland-minneapolis-teams-question-raptors-claim-1.2168407) They also signed Travis Shaw (his name has appeared on some Twins posts too). They signed Tanner Roark, they traded for Chase Anderson (pitcher), they are taking a chance on Matt Shoemaker making a comeback and they signed Japanese pitcher Shun Namaguchi too. And they still have Ken Giles (forget about the Twins trade for him - it is not going to happen). And by the way, they have that young nucleaus - Bichette, Gurerro, and Biggio too (and I do not mean their fathers). I believe we have also talked about our window being now because of our young nucleus. What next? Oh, they are talking to the Red Sox about acquiring David Price who once pitched for the Jays.

I am a prospect guy. My only frustration with the free agent market is that the FO gave us false expectations. I am fine with 1B or 3B coming from the minor leagues and the same with the rotation spots. Who among those young players has the best chance, the highest upside, the most immediate impact? Time for a new set of essays.

Good article. Now the postings will include - I didn't want him - he isn't worth it - he has injury issues --- The Angels are interested in Boyd, the Blue Jays want Price, the Dodgers want Clevinger, the Yankees want Hader... This is just what we have. Let's start thinking about our minor league/rookies and start thinking more about what they can do.

The Blue Jays are thinking the same thing.

Which approach do you prefer? Twins or White Sox?

I remember the series of one and out playoffs and all the anguish that was posted. Would people have preferred one championship instead of all the playoffs? Not me, but it sure seemed like it by what was written.

I hate to be trite, but my response is WHY?

The answer is - the old lets wait and see. I am just hoping we are as good as we were last year.

I think you are right

I agree

Well the White Socks are looking like they have completed their laundry list and the Twins might want to look over their shoulders. Here is there roster http://m.whitesox.mlb.com/roster/ and this is before adding Kuechel for three years and $55m. Yes they began with a catcher and added a pitcher (and then Gonzales too) with Kopech and Giolito on their starting rotations too. The Chicago Tribune wrote, "The Sox re-signed Jose Abreu, signed switch-hitting catcher Yasmani Grandal, acquired a front-line starter in Keuchel and brought in two smaller and somewhat riskier acquisitions in Gonzalez and Rangers outfielder Nomar Mazara, whom they acquired for prospect Steele Walker." And the paper adds - "The Sox lineup already was solid with defending AL batting champion Tim Anderson, Abreu, Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jimenez at the top. It figures only to get better with Grandal and the the call-ups of center fielder Luis Robert and second baseman Nick Madrigal, both of whom should be on the roster before May, if not sooner." And then there is this quote, "Believe it or not, the Sox will be considered an American League Central contender in a division with three rebuilds, a slow-motion teardown in Cleveland and the always unpredictable Twins." And, by the way, the Detroit Tigers signed C. J Cron and Schoop - adding some familiar bats to their flimsy lineup. Every time players are signed by another team I see posts that list the next ones on the list. But guess what, those players are on the bottom of the list for a reason.

Until the big deal is announced I am ready to consider all the in house options. I like a mix of Graterol/Thorpe/Dobnak/Smeltzer - in that order for rotation spots (and all will be needed both will Pineda is on suspension and when the injury bug hits. The question I have is how far away is Balazovic? Based on all the articles he ranks with Graterol as a real top pitching prospect. For the infield I am fine with Rooker, but wonder where Raley and Kiriloff are in the 1B mix. Moving Arraez to third and Sano to first does sound like a good idea. I like Kiriloff and Wade in the OF mix.

I would suggest that this story is getting real old and while we are not in on the A level, or the B level the C level is pretty well picked over and the D level looks like a group we should just pass on and move to the prospects.

Let's just add that Cleveland is losing its grip, but the White Sox are not sitting still (I keep forgetting who the other two Major League teams in the division are. Oh well we can continue with AAA Detroit and KC. Since I have asked about the rotation enough, the question remains - who's on first? https://youtu.be/2ZksQd2fC6Y

I see names like Wisler, Harper, and Colombe and Thielbar and I get a queasy feeling. I see the minor leaguers and I feel better. I am not sold until I see it play out in the season. Perhaps our best BP ever, but too many question marks - can Romo keep his luck, can Clippard continue to baffle the hitters?

I am curious why he has been on so many teams. I know we are big on clubhouse guys, since his stats are good why does he keep moving around?

I believe your eggnog is spiked - but that is okay, at least it is something to dream about - but I warn you they are all hitched to Santa's sleigh and will not be coming down any chimneys nearby.

Not even close, but I would still love to see him force his way on to the 26 man squad.

Will the FO read this? DO they care? Is there anything left we should be excited by? Can we add up all the times we were second or third or fourth in the bidding? If you do not want four years - over pay for three. Do something - oh I forgot - Theilbar, etc, etc.

Why not - we need some competition in Spring Training

I am all in on giving Graterol a chance. I have no problem with starting young guys with talent. Dobnak is a nice story, Smeltzer was a nice story until he got scouted, Thorpe has seen his talent sour. I have no confidence in any of the last three. This is a sad prospect for the next season and I see the shuttle to AAA going full blast all season - maybe we can buy a private train car! I like nice stories, but mostly I like raw talent and I can live with the growth and development of that talent. If nothing else, put Graterol in Pinedas place until Mike comes back.

I agree with the rookie - make that a rookie starting or relieving pitcher