MNfan34

Sound theory. Probably saves them money . . .

Pass. Infield version of the Willingham last year. As in the bad version. I would choose Doumit. Bad as he was, he outhit this guys last year. Basically the same SLG. 25% fewer homeruns, more singles and x2 doubles. Why? We need table setters. Not more rally killers.

I didn't need more convincing. I was mad last year when it was just a one year deal. If anything I was surprised that we got 150 innings from him last year. If he were to develop an effective changeup and throw more sliders, then he is a TOP of the rotation guy. Basically the fulfillment of his projection as a prospect. I still think that if we have other guys that pitch their way into the rotation, Pelfrey is a candidate to be lights out coming out of the pen with just the two main pitches (same with Hughes) As far as free agent position players, the only places I can see adding would be at catcher or shortstop. And in both cases I don't love the available options. Even if Drew considers the Twins an option (doubt it) I think we would really have to overpay (on top of losing a pick). If we aren't sticking with what we have, I would prefer to shift a top prospect with a AAAA (parms/worley) guy for a younger shortstop with a better contract than to overpay aging and injury prone Drew for a few seasons, and still lose a prospect.

This year: Nolasco, Hughes, Correia, Pelfrey, Worley, Deduno, Swarzak, Diamond, Deunsing, Albers, Gibson, Meyer, Johnson (I guess?) I forget about 2011 rotation. Maybe I have blocked that it out of my mind. Certainly more gifted at the top end and certainly a huge disappointment. The organizational depth this year is far better. After Baker went down, slowey happened, and the Blackburn and Liriano were terrible, what did we have?

I really like Deduno. I expect him or Worley to win the 5th starter spot. That said, if they both clearly outpitch Pelfrey or say Correia, I don't think that Twins will stand in the way of that. Those guys are only making 5 million per. I also think that injuries will clear this situation up. Either someone on our roster isn't going to be healthy, or some other team (not necessarily a contender) is going to have some attrition and will need to turn to the twins for cheap rotation innings. The Twins are lacking an ace, but I don't remember a twins team with this level of depth of both proven MLB arms, fringe arms, and minor league arms waiting in the wings.

I just don't see how there is a big difference between the Hughes signing and the Pelfrey signing. Grass is greener I suppose. Consider: They are both top picks and prospects that failed to pan out in the majors as the dominant starters they once projected to be. They are both coming off of terrible overall seasons. Both had some injury issues that affected their durability. However, Pelfrey's contract is far better if these guys end up being who they were last season. I like both signings for the same reasons, but I actually like the Pelfrey signing more due to the lower risk. Just to be clear, these guys are being paid peanuts if they hit their upside, if they flop, well . . . it would be a shame, but it's not the Barry Zito contract. Hughes has already proven that his fastball would play well out of the bullpen, but I suspect Pelfrey could do the same if we have young starters that simply run away with the rotation spots and either of them underachieve. Just think, they are making roughly 27 million over the next two years while Bartolo is going to make 20. Good signings.

haha we practically double posted. He had a better season than Hughes did. Less dollars and years. It is just because Pelfrey takes 15 minutes between pitches.

This deal isn't worth getting upset about. So much complaining about a FA signing. You would think we traded Ramos again or something. This contract will not limit them in any way. They are limited in the fact that decent players are passing up offers we put down to play in more desirable situations. We know AJ got a bigger offer from us, but chose to play elsewhere. Would I rather have Garza on a 3 year deal? Of course. Would I rather have Kazmir? Yes. Arroyo? Maybe. Until the Twins start winning, they won't sign many players without a big overpay. I don't see this contract meaning that he is blocking anyone. Still, I am in no rush to get Gibson or Meyer to the majors until we are sure they are actually ready and we can put a real team in the field behind them (2015)

Really this is another low risk move. Signing a guy who has proven that he CAN be a legitimate starting pitcher over an extended period of time to set-up man money. Let's hope the incentives in his contract are tied to a hand licking cap and keeping his games under 4 hours. I know people want to get big league experience for the Meyers and Gibsons, but why rush? It also starts the clock to their 15mil + contracts that they will get if they are as good as we hope they will be. When they are ready, it should be obvious. It's not really surprising that Gibson's less than dominance in AAA last year lead to disaster when he was called up. I also think rookie pitching + rookie catching could be a total disaster. Injuries happen. Some team that is contending is going to lose some back end starters and will be looking around for band-aid solutions to get them to the playoffs with their bullpen intact. Maybe we see some deadline moves this year. Best case scenario, someone steps up and pushes Pelfrey or Hughes to the pen next year or to another team in a trade. More than a few mediocre starters in the league have become excellent bullpen arms. For these reasons I would welcome Arroyo on a 2 year or less deal too. If all these guys pitch to their career average, our starting rotation will drop it's ERA by close to a full point.

You are right. They view him as better than Span a year ago for sure (and he probably is). We would have been pretty disappointed in getting Worley and Deduno for Span. Still, he's 30 year old who's biggest strength is speed so he's not that valuable to me.

I've been a Twins fan since 1986. I was age 5 and 9 for the two championships, and while they left an impression, I would say I'm a product of the Kirby era. I felt like every time he came to the plate something was going to happen. I'm sure now I would a more cynical me might get frustrated with the strikeouts, but if there ever was a case for a player being "clutch" it was that man. Throughout the 90's, I listened to every minute of Twins baseball I could on 1240am in Saint Cloud. That signal was not always the clearest (screech!) Herb Carneal was awesome obviously. "Touch em all." So when people say watching baseball is boring, I tend to disagree. I really came to appreciate the deeper complexity and strategy of the game once I was able to watch the Twins regularly. It's a beautiful sport, and at the MLB level, I feel like the talent required for success is simply amazing. I could never get aboard the Mauer contract whining bandwagon, his offensive polish is unrivaled as far as I am concerned. It's not my money, and far from the worst money spent by the club. I am still very happy he is a Twin for now and for years to come. Offseason is great too, especially now that the Twins do things other than just losing established players . . . that's what I grew up with. We lost everyone eventually except basically Puckett and Hrbek. I will be happy to see the Twins return to respectable ball in the coming years. It's hard not to enjoy a good pennant race. Titles are great, but I will have no complaints with another run like we had in the previous decade. Two seasons with game 163? One game playoff. Awesome. Just get to the postseason, anything can happen. I used to post on the ESPN boards under the same account name. What do I still want with this offseason? One more starter. I want Garza, and the money doesn't bother me given the current roster configuration. None of the up and coming studs will really need to get that money before his contract would be over. Sano and Buxton aren't going to be FA before 2019. I'm fine with Pelfrey, so long as the put an incentive in his contract that he needs to deliver the ball in under 30 seconds. Offensively, we need to acquire a table setter. One option: sign another starter and offer the Yankees a Worley, Deduno, or Correa (or 2 of those 3) for Gardner. I think they would be intrigued by Deduno for Gardner. Anyway, I've been watching this site for offseason updates. Seems like an impressive core of knowledgeable people.