mtillma

I really enjoyed this article. Question I have, does anyone think it is possible that Dozier asked to be traded so that he couldn't get stuck with a qualifying offer hanging over him when he entered free agency and the FO did the best they could to comply with his wishes and got back the best they could as a courtesy to Dozier and the time and performance for this team? We have seen recently what the qualifying offer does to free agents such as Moustakas last year.

I like it. This has front office influence written all over it. Having Grossman bat second against lefties provides a good OBP guy at the top of the lineup. I also like Mauer batting between Buxton and Sano, more so verse Righties, to provide another OBP guy and take professional at bats and a completely different look for the pitcher than Buxton and Sano. I would maybe switch Castro and Kepler but not a huge problem with it and I like using Polanco at 7 to break up the lefties. At least it shows innovation and some more modern thinking, progress.

I believe most people on here are really underestimating pedro florimon. Baseball reference had him as a 2.1 WAR last year, third best on the team. It is also difficult to find a 10/10 SS, which Pedro is. With a little bit of improvement at the plate to say .250 BA, with his defense, you are talking about a top 10 SS in the game. Even if he doesn't make a big jump at the plate the Twins can still win with him at SS just putting up a 2 WAR. I would like them to spend their time addressing other issues, like the fact Alex Presley should never start in Center Field for a real winning baseball team, or playing all your extra catchers and first baseman in right field with a bad fielding LF and CF then wondering why fly ball pitchers are bad. Pedro is not the problem and Bartlett is not an answer, he hasn't been good in about 5 years.

I have been reading the posts on here for the last couple of months as a lifelong twins fan and just have a couple thoughts that I don't think have been brought up yet from what I have read, and have a couple of thoughts. First, I fully believe that starting pitching is the biggest need of the club but I will address that last. I do not believe that Shortstop is a problem for the twins, you can win a world series with the current middle infield. If a person looks at baseball reference they will see that pedro florimon has a 2.1 WAR and Dozier had a 3.8 this last year. That is more than good enough, if florimon shows some improvement with the bat (doesn't have to be a lot he was already 10/10 which very few shortstops are) he is above average. One of the twins biggest problems is outfield defense. Personally, I think Hicks should start the season again as the centerfielder but I understand that a lot of people don't think that (he did have a .7 war just because of the defense) but the corner outfield defense is a huge problem and any starter that they sign will have problems because of that. Alex Presley is neither a current or long term solution. If the twins want to start hicks in the minors the guy I would like them to look at is Chris Young. He plays above average defense in center and hits for power, caveat, he also strikes out a lot and doesn't hit for average but I believe he is worth a 1 year 5 million contract because he can shift to any outfield position. The Twins obviously need to trade Willingham, the sooner the better, his terrible defense (along with the catcher platoon in right, don't get me started on that) will not want to make pitchers want to go to Minnesota to "improve their value." but Chris Young plays a really good outfield and can hold down a corner spot with hicks in center until Buxton is ready then hicks can move to right where his arm makes the best choice in the org. once Buxton is ready I believe Pinto can be an impact bat at catcher even if his catching defensive skills are not quite good enough, but an impact bat at catcher for value makes him above average. Let him, Hermann, and Doumit have it, it will be fine. As far as the rest of the lineup goes, I honestly don't want the twins to trade any on the top prospects. If dozier proves (he really has no track record as a prospect, but I believe) he can hit like that the her is a lineup I would love to see. RF Aaron Hick 1B Joe Mauer CF Byron Buxton 3B Miguel Sano DH Oswaldo Arcia LF Eddie Rosario 2B Brian Dozier C Josmil Pinto SS Pedro Floriman To me that is a very exciting line up. The bullpen is fine, they are a dime a dozen the twins have had great luck with that so to the rotation. I truly believe Alex Meyer will be a front of the rotation starter, I also believe Kyle Gibson is going to be a lot better than most people believe he will be on here (he fell to the twins in the draft because of injury in the 1ST ROUND not because of talent, also most experts thought Max Scherzer would be a reliever because of his delivery, so give it time). I think that a majority of the funds should be spent here. The one pitcher that I think would be the best is Garza. He has a proven record as both a strikeout pitcher and an ERA below 4 while being healthy enough to throw innings. I would also be happy with Ervin Santana because of his durability. I don't want to get into dollar amounts but I would rather give Garza 5/80 than anything to any other pitcher because if you look at numbers he is that much better than the rest I think. That doesn't mean I wouldn't like to see other pitchers signed. I like Kazmir on a one year deal, I like arroyo but for less than 10 million a year. I don't thin hughes would be good for more than a year (he has no track record other than his prospect status). I would LOVE Johan, but that might be my fandom. That is all I have for now. Sorry for the long post but hope people comment and give me their opinions!