Wille

Personally, I don't think any pitcher with five seasons of between 29 and 33 starts without ever recording a Batting Average Against under .275 (and that was in the NL) really deserves the opportunity to be starting in the majors once again so that he has an 'opportunity to shine' and prove he is starter material. Pelfrey might be a decent guy, but he is an eminently hittable pitcher - always has been, and I'm willing to wager always will be. He might be able to pitch at replacement level toward the back-end of a bullpen, but it's hard for me to imagine him ever being able to serve as a contributing member of a championship caliber pitching staff. I thought it was a very bad signing when Ryan originally signed him before the 2013 season, but that misstep was eclipsed with the inexplicable 2-year extension. I really don't understand why Ryan and the Twins are willing to waste their limited budget and playing time on players such as Palfrey when they clearly don't have what is needed to move this team to where they ultimately want to be (or at least where I hope they want to be!).

My #1 priority would be to sign Josh Johnson to a 1-year deal ($14-16 million?). Twins will probably have to go above market to sign anyone that's modestly desirable. I think he's the only one that has delivered exceptional results in the past, has the ability to anchor a rotation for a winning team, isn't too old, and won't require a multiple year commitment. If things work out well, extend a qualifying offer and/or try to extend him (he might be intrigued by the talent coming up toward the end of 2014). If he fails, at least we tried to materially improve and we can move on in 2015. Next, I'd target Scott Kazmir (2-years for $25 million or even 3-years and $36 million). We really need a lefty in that rotation, he's relatively young, his stuff looks good, and he's reasonably affordable. If unsuccessful with either of them, I'd focus on short-term deals with either Dan Haren or Scott Baker, or a mid-length deal for Phil Hughes. By no later than July, I think our rotation would be: - Johnson - Meyer (I actually think he should be in the rotation out of spring training) - Kazmir - 2 of Gibson/Correia/Deduno/May/Diamond/Worley I'd love to add AJ's grit, durability, leadership and performance, and I'd be happy to give him 1-year and $10 million, if that'd get him back to Minny. Finally, I'd shoot to add Boone Logan to the pen for 3 years and $12 million, and then dump Duensing (net cost of roster upgrade ~$2 million?). Might be hard to get him for that, but I can't see paying him more than Perkins makes. Something like $40-42 million for 2014, but not much committed beyond that. Would be rather refreshing to see the Twins at least attempt to field a winning team. They certainly have room to spend that much or more.