Reider

It's time to stop beating the dead horse on Drew. The law of diminishing returns is way to large on this one. Claims that Drew is a better SS than Florimon are false. Florimon was arguably a top 5 SS last year and has the potential to be #2 next year behind Simmons if he can limit some of those easy ones, including the ones in cold weather in April/May. On offense, yes, Drew can help generate more runs than Florimon, but at what cost? 20-26X the cost of Florimon, plus a second round draft pick. The law of diminishing returns is huge. Drew isn't even 2X as good as Florimon, but the Twins would have to pay 20-26X the cost of Florimon to get him, plus a 2nd round draft pick? That is steep. Very steep. Not to mention, Drew is older, slower, not as good at SS, his health is a question mark, and he did nothing in the playoffs last year. I guess the last point is inconsequential considering the Twins probably won't make the playoffs anyways, but you get the point. If the Twins want to spend the $ and platoon Drew with Florimon, I would be OK with that as I have nothing personal against Drew, but it really doesn't make any sense at all, when you do a cost-benefit analysis. The Twins would be wise to try and make a deal with Baltimore for Hardy before offering Drew a contract. I'd be fine with Florimon in 2014.

The Twins have plenty of OF options. I don't think they need Morgan. As for Hicks, he has all the tools to be a well rounded MLB outfielder. He probably just needs a little more seasoning. It's way too early to write him off.

I'd rather see the Twins trade for JJ Hardy than sign Drew.

I like the idea of signing Garza. I would have been happy with only signing 2 starting pitchers this off season + 1 high risk guy like Johan Santana. However, if you consider that a) Hughes is a bit of a question mark Deduno's health c) Correia's contract expires in a year d) Budget is a non-factor e) Injuries occur throughout the season and f) There's always room in the bullpen Signing Garza would not create a bad problem at all. After 3 horrible seasons, it's not hurting my feelings that the Twins are kicking tires, knocking doors down, and bringing in anyone who will sign on the dotted line.

Does anyone even watch the games? I've said this multiple times on here and I'll say it again.. Twins fan's don't even know what they have in Pedro Florimon. It's absolutely crazy that fans are trying to categorically place him as an "average" defensive short stop. This guy has great range, a strong arm, and yes, he has big play making ability too. I've played short stop competitively for many years (I still play for fun) and it's been a frosty Friday since I've seen a Twins SS that's impressed me this much defensively. His skill set is elite and he's an absolute treat to watch. It's only due to the number of "easy" mistakes he made in 2013 that he gets bumped down to "great." Easy mistakes can be fixed. Trying to categorize him as average is laughable at best. His defensive skill set and play making ability are not average. Yes, I did see Florimon make some small mistakes that I would like to have back, but considering it was his first full season as an MLB SS, it doesn't surprise me that some easy mistakes were made. Guess what? He'll make easy mistakes in 2014 too, I just hope he makes less of them. Some fans have suggested that some of his mistakes early on may have been due to the cold weather and that may be true. I don't know. But I tend not to get too excited over mistakes that are made in the first month of the season (from all players). Dozier and Florimon solidified the middle infield and will likely build upon their chemistry from last year. Offensively, we all know the story. He is a below average hitter, but can hit home runs and has pretty good wheels. I admit that right now i'm not really confident that he'll turn into a .300+ hitter, but I think an obvious achievable short term goal for him is to strike out less. If he strikes out less he should be able to improve upon his numbers from last season. Considering last year was his first full season in the MLB, the Twins would be wise to at least give him an opportunity in 2014 to improve upon his numbers from last season. If he can show any sort of improvement, he will prove to be really good value @ $500k/year. I don't follow sabermetrics numbers and all of these other numbers too much, but if sabermetrics has him top 5, I believe his skill set is up there for sure. I'm not going to sit here and blow smoke up everyone's yin yangs and try and claim that he's a clear #2 or #3 SS behind Simmons. But I do believe that he has the skill set to be a #2 or #3 if he reduces the easy mistakes he made last year. As far as this UZR rating that has at least a dozen guys ahead of Florimon, I say no. Plenty of those guys do not have the range, arm, or play making ability of Florimon. His skill set is just way too good to be considered "average." Realistically, top 5 sounds about right for Florimon, top 10 at worst, with the potential to be #2 or #3 if he can cut out those easy mistakes.

Was anybody in attendance for Jason Kubel's 2009 upper deck walk off grand slam to hit for the cycle against the Angels? That has to be on the list.

Parmelee will never be able to run like Mastroianni or Revere, but if he leans out (e.g. the way Morneau did) and trains properly, he might be slightly quicker. I can't see it improving his hitting.

Parmelee isn't the fastest guy in the field, but he isn't afraid to get dirty and seems to have a fairly strong and accurate arm. I was definitely impressed with his ability to throw guys out from right field in 2013. If he could hit the way we want him to, his arm, accuracy, and his willingness to get dirty would make up for his lack of speed. But unfortunately he's just not hitting good enough.

Deduno's talent isn't going to go away, just like Florimon's range and strong arm isn't going to disappear next year. If anything forces Deduno to take a step aside, it will be his health. If Deduno isn't able to keep up (e.g. durability wise) with the high pitch counts that are required of a starter, he could always be moved to the bullpen where he could continue doing great things without needing to worry about high pitch counts. And if his health prevents him from being able to perform at the MLB level, then I guess we all have no choice but to move on. But hopefully things work out one way or another for him.

Like Florimon, Twins fans don't even know what they have in Deduno. The guy is awesome when he's healthy. He is a gamer. He doesn't go out there to nibble at corners and pitter patter around. He goes out there to dominate. He embraces the challenge in front of him. It's unfortunate that he's having shoulder problems, but he is the type of person we want on the Twins. Fans need to start watching the games instead of playing on their cell phones and looking into outer space, while the game is on. People who are placing Gibson and Worely in the starting line up and writing Deduno off of the team should feel embarrassed. The only thing Gibson and Worely proved last year was that they weren't good enough (yet?) to pitch in the Major Leagues, while Deduno proved that he can pitch on a big stage and dominate (WBC) and was arguably the Twins' best starting pitcher, while healthy in 2013.

There's no point in getting worked up. It's difficult to turn the worst starting rotation into an above average rotation in one off season. Secondly, like was already mentioned, we can't force people to sign here. We have to take what we can get. If guys like AJ, Salty, and Garza prefer not playing in Minnesota this year, we have to deal with it and move on. Thirdly, it seemed like there was a general consensus that fans felt the Twins needed to sign 2 or 3 starting pitchers. The Twins went and signed Nolasco and Hughes and brought Pelfrey back. And now everybody is whining, when the Twins went out and did what they set out to do and what the fans wanted them to do. What more do you want in one off season? Would you rather Terry Ryan sat on his hands like he's been doing up until now? Unbelievable. Who did you expect the Twins to sign?? The Twins couldn't have signed guys like Scherzer because they aren't even free agents. Yeah, there were and are guys out there like Kazmir, Arroyo, and Garza, but what if they won't sign with Minnesota? What if one of them will sign with Minnesota soon? Will the crying stop? Lets look on the bright side, I'm sure to the surprise of everyone, the Twins are still hot after starting pitching as it was reported a couple hours after the unofficial Pelfrey re-signing announcement that they are strongly interested in Arroyo. Perhaps Garza (or a trade for another good pitcher) is still on the radar? It doesn't sound like the Twins are done looking at their options. Fans need to realize that the Twins can only play the hand that they are dealt. The rebuilding of the starting rotation is only beginning. They can still develop, sign, and trade for pitchers moving forward.We all knew that 2014 would likely be another -.500 year, so lets just see how things play out before we get too excited.

The Twins are "strongly interested" in Bronson Arroyo, even after signing/re-signing 3 starting pitchers, as per the Score. Sounds like the Twins want to make sure that they aren't short at all on starting pitching in 2014.

I know most people (including myself) would rather have Garza or Arroyo on a 2 year deal, but looking at the big picture, we have the same pitching staff as last year plus Nolasco and Hughes. Having those two extra starting pitchers should help take some pressure off of the bullpen. I'm not a big Pelfrey fan, but I'd rather give him the ball, than an AAA pitcher. Stability is good. These 3 guys (along with Correia and a healthy Deduno) should help stabilize the starting rotation and give the Twins something to build upon. They can always trade, sign, and develop pitchers over time.

That is absolutely hilarious!! I thought you were just making those quotes up to be funny. 2 years / $10million seems to be a fair deal for both sides (even though I'd rather the Twins sign Garza).

I just got an alert from the score on my phone that the Twins just made Pelfrey a contract offer. I was under the impression that the Twins already had a 2year/$10m standing offer on the table. Does anybody know more about this? Is this a second contract offer? Or was the 2yr/$10m offer just a rumour?

In terms of what is next for the Twins, I can see them going after another starting pitcher and / or a position player. They definitely aren't done yet. Defensively, the Twins should be rock solid up the middle. Florimon and Dozier will build upon what they had last year and Mauer will definitely hold it down at first. 3rd base on the other hand should be the same old song and dance unless the Twins find someone else who is better defensively. It looks like Plouffe will be given another opportunity though. If he starts cranking home runs again, there won't be too many people complaining about his defense. It's really hard to say what's going to happen with the outfield. The Twins could cover a lot of ground out there if they used Hicks, Mastro, and Pressly, but I don't think that's how it will unfold. Willingham, Arcia, Parmelee, and Doumit etc.. will be utilized I'm sure. Speaking of Hicks, I don't think anybody should be giving up on him at all. He wasn't very consistent last year, but you could tell just by watching him play that he has all of the tools to be a very well rounded MLB outfielder. It'll probably just take some time, then hopefully one day it will all just click, similarly to the way it did with Ben Revere.

Due to his shoulder problems or lack of talent? It would be a shame if he goes from arguably the best pitcher on the team to not being good enough to pitch in the major leagues over the off season, unless it's due to health reasons.

You put Worely ahead of Deduno in your line up and as a side note you said you'd rather have Gibson in the line up instead of Deduno. The only thing Gibson and Worely proved last year is that they didn't belong in the Majors. Unless those guys show significant improvement, the only way either of them are better than Deduno is if Deduno's shoulder doesn't hold up. Deduno was arguably the best starting pitcher on the team last year, especially if it is taken into consideration that he was pitching with a bum shoulder at the end of the season.

I'd like to see Pinto and Herrmann (more so Pinto) get more playing time in 2014. I'm not against the Twins signing another catcher, but I'm not convinced that Arencibia is the answer. Salty might be okay, but how many years would you have to sign him for and would he be a good fit? I don't think catcher is an emergency position as they have Pinto/Herrmann/Fryer/Doumit/Mauer (would he catch in a pinch?). But I understand if the team wants to bring a catcher in. I just hope that if / when they do bring a catcher in, they bring one in that actually makes sense. I'd like to know what the Twins are thinking here..

I'm fine either way. The Twins don't need to sign another pitcher to prove to me that they are serious about improving the team. I'd be just fine if Gibson took the bull by the horns and showed that he's MLB ready. And Deduno has proven that he's good enough to pitch at the MLB level. I'm just curious how Worely is penciled into the rotation instead of Deduno? I'm actually curious as to why Deduno wasn't mentioned at all? If you don't think he will be healthy in 2014, that is my concern as well, but he proved that he's good enough to hold a roster spot if he is going to be healthy.

If that is the case, do you think the Twins should sign one more starting pitcher?

It's great that the Twins signed Hughes and Nolasco, but they lost Pelfrey and Deduno's health is a bit of a question mark going into 2014. I don't think it would hurt to sign one more pitcher. Of course, guys like Worely, Diamond, Albers, and Gibson have the potential to play good enough to hold a spot, but the uncertainty is unfortunately there.

Looking back, Correia and Pelfrey did alright for what they got paid. The problem is that even with the signings, the Twins were still short on good pitchers. There were too many innings pitched by AAA guys. The Twins really could have used a couple of more good pitchers (e.g a couple of pitchers better than these two). Looking towards 2014, the Twins made the right move in signing a couple of starting pitchers (Nolasco and Hughes), but they lost Pelfrey (as of right now) and who knows if Deduno's shoulder is going to hold up, so they would be wise to sign one more pitcher. Either bring Pelfrey back or find someone else who can at least be serviceable.

According to the Score, the A's are set to sign Kazmir to a two-year, $22-million deal.

I really like Terry Ryan's aggressiveness this off season. Signing a couple of starting pitchers made sense. The $ was available and the Twins needed starting pitching in the worst way. Maybe Nolasco and Hughes will turn out, maybe they won't. But at the end of the day, you can't fault Terry Ryan for his effort this off season. I'm sure Nolasco will be just fine and Hughes has age and new scenery on his side. Signing one more pitcher wouldn't hurt, but I'd be okay if they called it an off season. I also feel indifferent on signing a positional player. I'm fine with a Pinto/Herrmann/Doumit combo at catcher, but I'd also be okay with Pinto backing up AJ or Salty. Either way, I'm feeling a bit better about 2014 and beyond knowing that Terry Ryan isn't going to sit on his hands.