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The only problem that counts is when we have too many quality starting pitchers for the five major league slots.

What would we do without Mauer questions? He is a nice player who used to be a great player, but I do not believe that sentiment is going to stir our new front office. When I see someone suggest Hosmer I just see the same discussions - just a change of name. Neither one is a good signing for the future. Rooker is the only 1B/DH option I am interested in and I could see him making it to MLB at some time next year.

Nothing to lose - it makes me wonder how many players go through our system each year. Without TD most would go without an acknowledgment, but in reality the number that is in the system just looking for a moment in the sun is staggering. My best answer 250 - 300 https://www.quora.com/How-many-baseball-players-are-there-in-a-Major-League-Baseball-farm-system That means there are 10+ players for every major league roster spot.

Not disappointed. As I have said before I do not like chasing players - I am an old fashioned develop him ourselves. If he turns out to be what is expected there will be another chance when he becomes a free agent. In the meantime, get a coach - maybe our new extra pitching coach, to go and spend time with Romero and Gonsalves and get them primed for Spring Training and beyond. Invest in our own players.

His weakness in the bullpen, besides his obvious lack of speed, is the fact that he gives up a lot of home runs. It is time to move on. It has been our reality for a long time that big stars in any sport do not see Minnesota as a destination (Hockey should be the exception) and that makes development more important that any other consideration at this time since we still have a good minor league crop.

Nice comments - I too would listen while on my bike and often when I am just walking the state forest roads around my home. The chatter from a baseball game is soothing.

With all your options why would it matter to you? We all find a way to connect and I grew up in Minneapolis and I know how hard it is to realize that life is different in the rest of the state where I now live.

I am not underestimating how good he is. I do not know how good he is. I hope he is terrific because I like good baseball, but I do not like signing him like this.

As a hold out against the Free Agent and Ohtani sweepstakes I want to enter one support document. https://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/27-worst-free-agent-signings-mlb-history.html/?a=viewall There was a wise executive in everyone of these signings who thought they were really smart. There is repetition in this, but some new names too and lots of pitchers: https://www.thesportster.com/baseball/top-20-worst-free-agent-signings-in-mlb-history/ Yes there have been some good signings - like Erv Santana, but for one Erv we have a Nolasco, Hughes, Correia, Milone, and Pelfrey. Develop your talent! And trade when it will make a real difference for a championship.

That is true, but it does not want me to spend it. They will spend it and the $3 million for a year, then there will begin the next contracts and extensions and free agency. Nothing buys a real future except for the minor leagues and development. When we prove that we are real world series contenders then is the time like a Verlander style acquisition. Houston was smart and patient and they created a wonderful model.

Plus the posting money to the club - a big commitment of resources

I think that were will be many - they are so starved for pitchers they will overpay for Arrieta too. He has had a nice peak, but I do not see him finishing well with any multi-year contract. Here are the pitchers who are free agents - http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/free-agents/starting-pitcher/ But I also believe Ohtani is also going to get way too much money because the narrative outweighs the actual proof of his talent level. We have seen a lot of "great" Japanese players and Korean Players signed over the years. And finally I will say on the trade market that Cole and Odorizzi will command more than they should despite their off years. This is crazy money and a feeding frenzy.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/10091.htmlhttps://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2014/1/12/5299086/home-run-strikeout-rate-correlationCount me among the fans who do not accept the strikeouts. ​It is true that our pitchers might be behind the curve, but certainly Sano, as a hitter, is not. ​When Nolan Ryan was the strikeout king batters were trying not to strikeout. Today batters give away their at bats in search of one glorious home run - boring. I loved Altuve moving around the bases, creating excitement, or Byron Buxton upsetting the pitcher, catcher and defenders because of his speed. Here is a USA today article on the more HRs and More Ks - https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/10/01/home-runs-strikeouts-hit-highs-complete-games-bunts-sink/106222140/ - want to create more action, move the game along and perhaps shorten playing time - put the ball in play! Of course it is a longer game - it takes longer for the big swinger to amass all those strikes, strut and step out and try to look like they were robbed. One analysis looked at the correlation between hitting home runs and striking out - What we do not have is a true measure of comparative values. Do all those worthless swings or standing and watching the catcher catch accomplish anything? Is it possible to strike out less than the number of homeruns you hit? Check out this listing. These are true hitters: https://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/10091.html A homerun can be exciting, but if we are just going to watch nine inning home run derby's I have something better to do. Give me the era of Maury Wills and Rickey Henderson. Make the game exciting. And if the K rate for pitchers goes down, fine. It will be a reflection of pitching and not just the fact that the batters have no control.

Thanks for stoking the hot stove since the Twins are doing very little to get it warm. Lots of comments, no action, yet. I may be the only one on this page who does not want the Twins to pursue the two sure-to-be overpaid free agent pitchers. I look at Seth's top prospects and see two inexpensive, young, potentially long term starters who should be worked in this year and two more that could be ready the year after. Let them work us forward. Our team moved forward without great pitching so lets teach out pitchers to use their own abilities to the max. We now have an additional pitching consultant to go with a pitching coach who will soon be joined by a minor league pitching coach so evidently we are setting up either a bureaucracy or a system to get the most of our young pitchers so keep the overpaid FA signings to a minimum and spend on our own talent. After posting this I found this report in Bleacher with lots of ideas for dumping salaries. I look at the list and the players and the idea that strikes me is - why not avoid the bad contract to begin with? Yes there can be injuries and other problems that arise, but in the long run, investing in youth has a much better return on investment than any of the FA finds that are already in their thirties. Report http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2746082-salary-dumping-szn-trade-ideas-for-mlbs-worst-contracts?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=mlb The one repeated question for Cody is who is at 3B in 2020. I guess it must be Escobar! But I am guessing it will be Polanco.

I feel like I keep putting up the same post, but the reality is, we have two arms that are cheaper, younger and ready - forget the free agent fishing trip and concentrate on getting our own players into the lineup.

I understand what you are saying, but KFAN and the other FM stations are good for the cities, not the state. CCO has that clear channel and it works, plus they used to have a great state network. I am assuming you might be in the cities so they are not essential to your listening pleasure, but I still do not know who those other stations are.

As one who would never vote for Edgar I can say that if Ortiz does not make it in I am fine, but if he does, he certainly is more deserving than Edgar. Ortiz had that special quality that caused fear in the opposition and confidence in his team. I know that current metrics do not measure clutch, but if they did they would call it the Ortiz factor. ​Edgar - nice hitter, not much else. Sorry you are not HOF.

Rooker looks like the real option for filling the void if Mauer leaves and he would give us a good and typical 1B bat. I am not as excited about Ben at catcher but pleased to know there are other options coming along too.

I read the announcement that the Twins were going back on to WCCO and I was delighted. It did not get as much attention now as it would have 30 years ago (of course they were on WCCO then) but that is because TV and all the cable networks have changed the way that we enjoy the game. ​Growing up in Minneapolis in the 1950's I would take my little transistor radio to bed with me and hide under the pillows to listen to Earl Gillespie and Blaine Walsh tell me about the Milwaukee Braves game. In the dark those voices brought the game to life and I felt like I knew the announcers and the team. I even rooted for them when a foul ball was hit and their fishing net would come out of the broadcast booth to try and catch it. They painted word pictures and made the game something that Television could not. Today we talk about pace of game and I, like so many others, really do mind that the games I listened to are so much longer - https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2015/1/29/7921283/baseball-game-length-visual-analysis In those years of transistor radio enjoyment the game was done in less that 2 1/2 hours. I would not have made it through the 3+ hours that the same game takes today - I would have fallen asleep or I would have been busted. And of course TV is part of the problem. No forced radio time outs they could put their ads in during the lulls that are part of the game. The lulls in activity did not stand out like they do on TV where they have to run the replays 5 or 6 times. The conversation in the booth seemed to involve me and I was sometimes sorry when they got cut off by the play on the field. ​When the Twins came I heard Halsey Hall who was always good for mangling the narrative, the smooth Ray Scott and Bob Wolff for 1961; replaced by Herb Carneal which made the broadcast the best ever! So baseball remains a radio sport for me, the best of all sports on radio. The chaos of moving parts in Hockey, Soccer, and Basketball do not lend themselves to thoughtful listening for me and I drift away quickly. Football is the only other sport I can listen to because like baseball there are lots of open moments between plays when the announcer and the analyst can talk and fill in the blanks. They enrich while the three continuous action sports are a race for the announcer to keep up. I love the sound of a baseball game in the background whether driving or splitting wood. I enjoy it biking, hiking, sitting on the deck and watching the feeders. I can tune it out and still catch the sense of excitement when a play happens that I do not want to miss because the intensity of the voices. I know they will replay it in ways that make seem like I saw the play myself. But then the Twins went on a search for something better - KSTP, TWTN, and KGQO. Since I am very rural I have no idea where the last two stations are and they do not broadcast out into the woods where I live. It is true that many of us in the rural landscape have television (even though I do not) and they get cable, but when you are in the rural areas there are farm chores, woodland chores, repairs to be made, things to do, even travel to be done and those are not places where you can watch TV. When the Twins needed support in the past they had a ready support from the rural area, but then they built the new stadium and shut off the voice in the rural landscape. In recent years I was able to listen to an affiliate station in our area that carried the broadcast, but traveling further afield I do not have Sirius Radio so I searched, often in vain, for the Twins game. For a team that carries the State's name this is not acceptable. So WCCO I am pleased that your are back. Not only can I now find the Twins, but you might even catch me listening to something else on your station, something I have not done since the Twins left. Will you bring back Danny and Corey or will there be a new voice? If I might suggest - Corey is quite good, but I think I have heard all of Danny's stories.

I find all the discussion about Darvish to be fascinating. His 162 game average is 15 - 11 with a 3.42 ERA after five seasons and an average of 3.9 WAR with one season of 5.8 pulling the average up. Santana was 16 - 8 with a 3.28 ERA - his career average is 4, but who is to say that with our defense it is going to rise to 4 again? His 162 game average after 13 years is 13 -11 with 4.02 ERA and a 2.4 WAR. Not equal, but is Darvish the one we saw in Texas or LA? His line suggests that he peaked early and is not the pitcher we saw when he came to Texas. Will he age well? I am not as excited as others about Darvish - if we sign him that is fine, if we trade Santana to acquire Darvish we have stayed in the same place we are now.

I am a small Hall person, I would not put in Mussina or Shilling and I would not put in Santana. Loved to watch him, but not an all time great.

Count me among the readers who would not have Kiriloff above Rooker at this time. I understand that position players come back from injuries better than pitchers, but Kiriloff has not had enough playing time in the system to really tell us if his potential plays out. When you finish the list I would love to see you put down the entire list in one column and expected time to reach the majors next to each one. I also would like to see gains and losses - those who dropped in the ratings and those who rose. I am also surprised by Graterol rating this high, but mostly because I really do not know anything about him. I saw his name in some minor league wrap ups, but did not see him getting this high this soon.

We have a curveball specialist on the team and I do not hear much excitement since he burst on the seen with a sensational end of the season debut. But Duffey has not progressed and when TD puts up starting and bullpen reflections his name is conspicuous by its absence. Enlow's curve is a good signature pitch, but he needs a bigger arsenal.

Interesting, but put me down as skeptical - especially on the batting side. Do you guarantee so many DH appearances to someone who might be overwhelmed like Park was? I love these stories - I believe that they are good for baseball especially in the offseason when everyone is a star.

It was worth the gamble. It hurt nothing. No Twin was kept from advancing and if it had worked it would have been great. The Korean League can pretend to be the major league and players like Park can be heroes. Now he can even say he played in the American MLB and that can only help his reputation.