gunnarthor

This is a really good run down. Well done. Agree nearly 100%.

Reasonable deal. Obviously out of the Twins range.

I won't complain if the Twins nab him. (He was my #2 choice after Buxton in 2012). I'm not sure why he was so bad last year but if the Twins think they can fix him, go for it.

I do not like this idea

yeah, this loss is totally on the defense. I thought Cousins did a great job pulling the team back into the game. The OL was having trouble all night but he was pretty good. I hated the play calling at the end of the game but that two minute drill was a thing of beauty. The interception and fumble were killers (as was Cook's injury). The referees didn't have a great night. But, holy crap, what happened to our defense? No interior line rush and they were pushed off the ball all night. We don't use Barr to rush either despite him being fairly good at it. The secondary is getting roasted. I have no idea how they can fix this. They could win a wildcard road game in Dallas but I don't see them winning in the second round.

Well, they are clearing up payroll but I still don't think they'll land someone like Wheeler or Donaldson but dropping Cron's modest salary suggests they will do something. If they end up just letting Gonzalez hold it down, I will not be pleased.

Yeah, that was sort of the thought I had. Trade Larnich and Arraez for some pitching help. Not sure who. The Padres get a second baseman (provided they think he can stick there and isn't a UI) and a potential slugger for a corner OF spot. Probably doesn't help too much for 2020 but 2021 and beyond looks better. I also don't know their long term development plans. Maybe they have their own Larnich already.

Just thought I'd get others thoughts. I haven't heard much about San Diego but 1) they have a loaded minor league system 2) they have a fairly big payroll after giving Hosmer and Machedo a ton of money. Even though they only won 70 games last season, presumably they have to eventually get into win-now mode. Looking at their roster, they have a lot of young talent to go around Machedo and Tatis and a number of pitchers that look good and have years of control left plus some good talent at AA or higher as well. But they could use a couple impact bats, potentially in the OF and at second base. Seems like the Twins might be good trading partners there.

White Sox aren't there yet - their a bit older than i thought, actually. I think they can be .500 and if they can be .500, they can overachieve and push for 90 wins if everything breaks right. But unless the Twins really stumble, or the Sox make another major addition or two, Twins should be expected to win 90.

Here's Clemson's schedule - https://www.espn.com/college-football/team/schedule/_/id/228 Texas A&M was ranked (12) at the time but fell out of the top 25. I don't see any other ranked teams. Maybe I'm missing something or the teams became ranked afterwards? I think the Gophers fit well in the top 15ish tier and have a puncher's chance against a handful of teams in the tier above them but would get blown away by the truly great teams that will be in the playoffs. I imagine Ohio State will put up 50+ against Wisconsin again in the Big 10 championship game.

Didn't they have a New Year's bowl a few years ago under Kill when they weren't even ranked? I agree with your general premise about the strength of schedule but I would argue that Georgia Southern was a bit better than awful. They did knock of a top 20 team and finished with a winning record.

Not a great game but i think this board might be a bit harsh. I don't think any of us thought this was a top 10 team coming into the season but we will finish 10-2 with a bowl game yet. Our two losses were a blowout today and a very winnable game against a ranked Iowa team that we looked like the better team for most of that game. I think the Gopher's future looks better than anytime since at least the Mason era but probably since Lou. Agree that the team wasn't able to make adjustments and really surprised they didn't target Batman more but Wisconsin was the better team, period. I'm unimpressed with our big OL.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/11/orioles-reportedly-working-to-trade-dylan-bundy.html Looks like Baltimore is finally going to trade him. Fairly cheap with two years of control left. With all his warts, he was still worth 2.5 WAR last season and will only be 27 next season. Adding him to the rotation would still allow us to dream on Wheeler (which won't happen) but would give us another solid starter with a bit of potential upside left. I'm not sure what it would take but they won't get a top 100 prospect for him but might want a high tools lottery ticket and a fairly safe prospect. Maybe something like Rooker and Celestino? I'm not sure.

Maybe, then, the issue isn't the GMs but rather ownership? Ryan, Levine, Falvey. Say what you want but these are smart guys. They know who the best players are. They are hamstrung by a low payroll and have to figure out where every nickel goes. Maybe they figured giving up 30m for a pitcher who has amassed two straight 2.5 WAR seasons for his age 32-34 seasons would interfere with their other options.

Good luck to him, wherever he lands.

Jeter, Walker, Kent, Rolen, Jones, Schilling. Scott Rolen missed a lot of games with injuries over the years but he should be in the Hall.

I don't think the Twins will pay Donaldson and they little FA money they spend will probably go to bullpen arms. I think the infield will be pretty similar to last years infield.

I don't believe I've ever written a positive statement about the Pohlad family. I'm not as negative on Falvey and Levine although I'm not quite ready to say that they are good at their jobs either. I think, as others noted, Falvey has done a nice job changing coaching philosophies etc but I'm not sure Levine has done a good job at roster management, FA signings, etc. But I'm certainly not ready to call for either of them to be fired.

This seems like another pro-FO piece without a lot to back it up. The FO didn't trade Dozier when his value was at it's peak and threw in the towel at the trade deadline that year as well. Smeltzer is a bullpen and Raley might be a 4th OFer. Escobar is probably the best trade here in that Duran has some real potential as a #3 type (which is a good thing). I don't know how anyone can say the Pressly trade was good. Alaca is 25 years old now and put up nearly a 6.00 era in AA. Pressly is one of the best relievers in the game. Chalmers isn't anything to get excited about. He's 23 and thrown 20 innings above low A ball and has serious control problems. Not a lot of upside there. Last year the Twins had 10 players amass at least 2 WAR. This FO acquired only 3 of them (Cruz, Odorizzi and Pineda). I liked the Schoop and Gonzalez signings last year, Cron was a good pickup and I like that the FO hired Rocco and decided to go with Garver instead of signing someone else to play with Castro. Those were all good moves. But this FO also traded away Huascar Ynoa (who made the majors at 21 for Atlanta) and while they've made a number of trades, they have yet to trade for a top 100 prospect and Jake Cave is the only guy that's managed more than even a 1 WAR season in the majors. I'm not saying our FO is a failure but so far most of their moves haven't done much, although they've made a lot more moves than normal. They didn't understand when they had an opportunity in 2017, didn't do anything to reinforce this team at the deadline this year. There is value in letting guys like Polanco and Kepler play instead of replacing them and those moves look great now. But most of the success is because of the players, not the FO or ownership.

Jeter, Walker, Kent, Rolen, Jones, Schilling.

Wheeler's in a great place and he'll get paid. Too many teams need pitching but can't afford Cole or Strasburg so they'll go hard on Wheeler. One team will pay him more than what anyone expects. I'm not sure he gets that sixth year but I'd be very surprised if his AAV is less than 23.5m.

It'll never happen. I like Betts but you don't give up Buxton and more for one year of him. And Betts is great but part of that greatness is the fact that he plays at Fenway. He's probably not the same hitter outside of the AL East bandboxes.

It's a good move. It makes them better. If you squint, you can see a .500 team in Chicago already. They have some serious issues and their lineup is older than I thought but they have some quality young talent as well. I would be very surprised if they aren't a playoff team sometime during Grandal's time with them.

I'm rooting for him but I think in the end he's a solid bench player. My guess is that Nick Gordon plays most games at second base for the Twins after July next year.

I think the Twins will sign a low bucket FA starter again - I've mentioned Ivan Nova but someone like him for sure. I just don't think the Twins will pay what good starting pitching is worth. The FO comes from a non-spending background and Rocco came from Tampa as well. I think the writing is on the wall that this team is going to adopt a Rays like pitching staff, rather than bring in big FAs. As to the FO's ability to identify talent (especially pitching talent), I think the jury is still out. Odorizzi was a great pickup but many of the trades and signings haven't worked out. Still too early to condemn but probably too early to praise, as well.