laloesch

HA....Sano has a LONG.... LONG........................ LONG way to go before he could even sniff Killebrew territory. Not bad for a kid who grew up on a farm in Idaho and once hit a 522' long homerun at Metropolitan Stadium. Arguably the greatest homerun hitter of all time, Harmon Killebrew was a god amongst men in the 1960's. IMO HE IS the greatest homerun hitter of all time.

I really like this move. If the Hughes extension, Santana and Hunter free agent signings are the three offseason moves I'd give Terry Ryan a solid A-. Extending Hughes was a no-brainer and signing Santana will give this rotation a solid 1 2 punch for at least four years. It also could mean that Nolasco is expendable and will be shopped this season. After all, he did tweet he wished he was still in LA back in late September. Move him out and we still have a strong rotation of Hughes, Santana, Gibson with May, Meyer & Berrios competing for #4 & #5. I like it!

My mistake on the rule IV vs. V typo. The only thing with Santana was that by the time he joined the Twins as a major leaguer in 2000 he was 21 years old. When he turned 25 he had already completed the transition to full time starter and WON 20 games in 2004. Meyer will be 25 in January. Do the Twins really want in the bullpen at his age? I still think the better path would be to make the team as the fifth starter (assuming he earns it) or pitch in Rochester as starter until there is an opening.

Not sure that Meyer, May or Berrios is going to get a real shot at the rotation anytime soon. With Pelfrey and Milone still on the 40 man i think its highly unlikely any of the before mentioned three breaks the rotation this season to start with. Nolasco is under contract through at least 2017. Santana 2018. Hughes 2016 (they should extend him) and Gibson is not a free agent until 2019.

I'd much rather see the Twins keep Meyer in AAA as a starter than plopping him in the bullpen where he'll get used sporadically. He's only pitched 1 season at AAA and by all accounts his off speed stuff needs a lot more work. Why not keep him in the role he was traded for and work on that in Rochester? People keep mentioning the Santana example as a route to follow with Meyer, but they forget that Johan was a rule IV pickup.

Yeah! The idea of batting Arcia, Sano and Vargas 3-5 is intriguing to say the least.

Agreed. Will someone please tell Ryan this? Forget all the fringe #5 junkballers on the market. Just let May and Meyer start for goodness sake. Either way you look at it the Twins are going to have to go through the transition anyways. Just get it over with. Both these youngsters are already 24/25.

1) Yes 2) No 3) and No! We don't need anymore soft tossing sinkerballers with mid 4 era's on this staff.

I agree and I don't think its worth getting upset about either. The Twins need to stop *bleeping* around with the pitching prospects and go full throttle. Meyer and May are ready and BOTH NEED major league starts this season. It's time to turn these two lose and see what they can do in a full season. May started 10-12 games last year and it started off real rough but he seemed to turn the corner towards the end. Trevor features 4 solid pitches including a low 90's fastball that can reach 94-95. That is nothing to scoff at. Meyer had a great season at AAA although many argue his offspeed stuff still needs a bit of work. I can seem him starting the season in the bullpen but eventually transitioning into the rotation later on. Both of these prospects are 24/25. If the Twins don't commit soon with M&M they might as well throw them on waivers and let them go. I don't really see the urgency of signing this Korean.

I will be upset if we pay anywhere close to 13 million a year for him. In fact I'll be disgusted if we sign him at all. I just don't see the logic of it. Sure the starters weren't good, but the outfield is the biggest need in my humble opinion. Address that first and foremost. Ryan is probably under pressure this season, but they need to be patient with the starters. We have Milone, Meyer and May ALL ready to go this season. Berrios is a year away tops. That's six starters not counting Berrios, Darnell or Gilmartin. Why spend this kind of money on a 30 years old, who has only had two winning seasons and sports a career average 4 + era. It just doesn't make any sense when you consider he's a sinker / meatball tosser (aka Silva / Blackburn type) and we have one of the sketchiest outfields in all of baseball. To me this is a no go decision. The Twins have a huge mess in the outfield and are about to shake the infield up too by moving Santana to short stop full time. I don't like the thoughts of signing ANOTHER mid 4 era starter when we have tons of options within.

Those deals were never TRUELY on the table In my opinion. It was typical Red Sox vs. Yankees BS / feuding going between Epstein versus Steinbrenner. In some ways it was clear tampering so that neither franchise got Santana. Selig should have stepped in and told them to knock it off or make a clear offer. Anyways, if the Red Sox had offered Lester and Materson plus one prospect I'd have jumped on it. The Yankees offer of Hughes and Ian Kennedy plus one other (Twins also wanted Joba) would have been good as well. And from what I understand the Dodgers were also in on it, offering two of their top prospects from James Loney, Clayton Kershaw and Jonathan Broxton. However, they eventually backed off because they were worried about the cost of signing Santana to an extension. (funny how they have unlimited money now). In my opinion the Pohlads should have fired Smith on the spot after that trade. He should have also put Ryan on notice (who was then scouting but also consulting with and approving Smith's moves). The fact that we walked away with basically walked Gomez and a bunch of junk is brutal and inexcusable. But at this point it's water under the bridge. Your right, the centerfield is truly a mess. Santana, Hicks, Rosario, Schafer and Arcia are all options I guess. But I hope they figure something out there as it could be a long season of sloppy play in the outfield.

I will be angry if the Twins sign Materson, which keeps May and Meyer in AAA all season. Materson's velocity has dropped significantly to the point that he barely cracks 90 on his fastball. DO we REALLY need a right handed version of Milone? A junkballer? I just don't see the logic of this. May and Meyer will BOTH be better pitchers then Materson, Nolasco and Gibson. This is utter stupidity signing this guy. If the Indians want nothing to do with him, you can bet he's damaged goods.

Thank you! The Twins don't need to go out and sign ANOTHER reclamation type pitcher be it Masterson, Billingsley, Josh Johnson, Morrow, etc. Not with Pelfrey and Milone on the roster. By all accounts Ryan has all but committed to Pelfrey starting this season (gags and then slaps forehead). Signing another starter will only be a waste of payroll and further retard the growth of May and Meyer both of whom will be 25/26 this season. Such a signing would mean that May would go back to AAA and pitch most of the season in Rochester alongside Meyer & Berrios. I really think the Twins start 2015 with the following rotation (I don't like this either): 1. Hughes 2. Gibson 3. Nolasco 4. Pelfrey 5. Milone / May By August Pelfrey will be history and hopefully May will have stepped up like Gibson did last season. Meyer should then be able to start 10 games or more. However, the wildcard / monkey wrench in all of this is Milone. If Terry Ryan sticks to his stubborn guns and trots Pelfrey and Milone out, start after start, until mid season it will not be good for either of the M&M pitchers regardless of how well they do in AAA. YES! WE DON'T NEED ANYMORE starters, unless they go big and sign Lester. Lets be real it ain't gonna happen, not in a million years.

I'm hoping Cederoth develops into a starter. His stuff is just plain filthy and the Twins would be foolish not to try like they are doing now.

I agree, the popular characterization that Ryan rode in and saved the day, aka cleaned up "Billy's mess" is not true AT ALL. Ryan was still with the Twins during Smith's tenure as GM, functioning as a scout. In reality Terry Ryan was an assistant to Smith and okayed all his player acquisitions. Completely inaccurate, that Ryan was somehow detached from the situation. He really does bare a good junk of the responsibility for the mess we are in right now. But IMO Ryan's biggest mistake was trading Castillo (Santana's good friend) and POing Santana. He also failed to discuss an extension with him prior to 2006 which was a huge mistake as well. That's completely Terry's blunder. The Hunter situation was similar. No discussion of contract extensions until the 9th hour when it was too late. The Twins need to lock up players a year or two before free agency because as soon as they see what they can get in NY, Boston, LA, etc. they are gone. You wait they'll do the same thing with Hughes in 2 years.

Upstate NY is not at all polluted like it was in the 50's & 60's. Most of the industry left the "Empire State" decades ago for Japan (late 70's early 80's) and China (late 80's early 90's) There's nothing left in Buffalo and Rochester except boarded up factories, collapsing houses (similar to Detroit) and a population of aging, miserable, destitute people who are mostly on public assistance because they can't find work. Source. Lived in Lockport, NY (halfway between Rochester and Buffalo) for four years.

Agreed. Rotation: Hughes Gibson May Meyer Berrios Relievers: Pressly Burdii Thompson Cederoth Milone Theilbar Perkins Lineup: Santana (SS) Buxton (CF) Dozier (2B) Vargas (DH) Mauer (1B) Arcia (RF) Plouffe / Sano (3B) Suzuki / Pinto © Hicks/Schafer (LF) Bench: Pinto Escobar Schafer Parmelee

Agreed. It's time to move on. We have Milone, Meyer, Pino, Darnell, Gil Martin and Berrios (by next fall). That's PLENTY of starting options in case of injury, fatigue, failure, etc. I don't like the thought of moving him to the bullpen either. He's really only a one pitch pitcher (fastball). That doesn't bode well for a reliever, especially with runners on base. IMO he's dead weight. If I was GM he'd be a DFA candidate.

Do you honestly believe that Lester and Shields or any other ace quality starter would sign with the Twins? Even if Pohlad and Ryan were willing to spend the money (probably would take 25-35 million a year), no legitimate ace is going to sign with a franchise mired in 4 seasons of losing and rebuilding. Just not gonna happen. I mean we can sit here and daydream all we want, but the facts are the facts. The only way out of this disaster is to lose more games and continue to stock pile talent like the Royals and Pirates. What we really NEED is a #1 or #2 pick in a pitching heavy draft. Those top two or three picks are where you find top tier pitchers.

Wow, excellent news! I was beginning to think that they'd wait until September or worse yet next season.

I am not a fan of how the Front office is managing this. For the first time since the early 2000's this team FINALLY, has multiple high end starting pitching talents on the horizon. Yet at the same time they are busy wasting time evaluating Darnell, Pino and Johnson. While I understand the need to evaluate all talents and leave no stone unturned, Ma and Meyer are both pushing 25 years old. While I understand the angst with Meyer who needs further refinement, May should have been promoted by now, no excuses. Both these guys are premium talents and should trump any of the AAAA talent we have been optioning back and forth to Rochester. What' complicated the issue even more is the acquisition of Tommy Milone (a soft tossing lefty). Either he takes the place of Darnell or pushes Meyer and May down one slot further. Honestly, I think it's time for several DFA's and offseason releases.

I don't see the rush to extend Dozier. He's under team control for 4 more years and hasn't displayed the high batting average that I would like to see. If he were hitting 20-30 points the last few seasons, along with the high OBP and homeruns, i'd be all for it. At this point though, no. I also want to see what Santana, Rosario and Sano bring to the table, as all three could potentially be more complete players than Dozier. Same goes with Plouffe. Batting average is too low and he's not really hitting the homeruns this season either. He's one of those "on again off again" players that drives you nuts. I'd offer him a one year deal at most with the understanding that he's likely just a stop gap guy. Suzuki. I like him a lot. I do think that his plate calling is a bit overrated but no one can argue that he has done a fantastic job in lieu of Mauer wimping out and the front office's fear of committing to Pinto. The problem is he's already 30+ and unlikely to repeat this years stats. He's probably less likely of accepting a backup job and backup dollars either after the all-star game. My recommendation.... sell high but don't overplay your hand. Morales.....no. He's just another overpriced "has been" that Boras is trying to scam the Twins into buying (see also mike 'paltry' pelfrey). I find it strange that a guy who has been with the team less than 2 months already wants an extension. Smells fishy; injury concern? Anyways, he's already 31 and not part of the future plans. Willingham. Should have been dealt two years ago, but alas he's still here. Hopefully Minnesota can find the right trading partner and deal him. I just don't see the sense of signing a 35 year old to a multi-year deal when the team is in the middle of rebuilding. I wouldn't expect much in return just another roster clearing move. Correia - No Fein - also no Brings me to Pelfrey and Nolasco. I am of the strong opinion that Mike is simply a lost cause. He has not been healthy in over two years and with May ready and Meyer close behind, why do the Twins need him? DFA him eat the remainder of his contract (5 mil). Nolasco. I'll admit I was excited about this signing, especially if Garza was the other piece to be added. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and what I've seen of Ricky, is mostly a junk tossing, meat baller. This guy is prototypical national league pitcher all the way. It's amazing that he's had the winning seasons in the past. (again don't over estimate the NL). I think the Twins just need to admit this was a bad move and find anyone willing to take him off our hands in exchange for half his salary. Ricky sucks.