mnfireman

Per MLBTR: By Steve Adams [December 6 at 9:57am CST] The Mariners and Robinson Cano are in agreement on a 10-year, $240MM contract, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com (Spanish link). The contract will tie Albert Pujols for the third-largest deal in Major League history. Reports from earlier today indicated that talks between Cano and the Mariners had crumbled after Jay-Z suddenly upped his demands back to $252MM when the Mariners were prepared to offer $225MM over nine years. The two sides appear to have reached a middle ground, with Cano's camp dropping by $12MM or so and the Mariners agreeing to add a tenth season at $15MM. Cano, who turned 31 in October, batted .314/.383/.516 with 27 home runs in 2013 and has averaged a batting line of .314/.369/.530 and 28 home runs over the previous five seasons. Paired with plus defense at second base, Cano has been worth an average of 6.8 (Baseball-Reference) or 5.8 (Fangraphs) wins above replacement. By joining the Mariners, Cano likely displaces one of Brad Miller or Nick Franklin. Miller impressed by batting .265/.318/.418 with eight homers in 335 plate apperances and playing solid defense at shortstop as a 24-year-old rookie in 2013. Though Franklin entered the season with more prospect hype, he wilted down the stretch and finished with just a .225/.303/.382 batting line. The 22-year-old Franklin spent nearly all of his time at second base this season (he played just 20 innings at shortstop), so it would seem that he is more likely to be the one who is displaced by Seattle's blockbuster addition. Cano's enormous sum is just $2MM more than the combined $238MM that the Yankees paid to sign Brian McCann (five years, $85MM) and Jacoby Ellsbury (seven years, $153MM).

Throw the money at Garza and maybe take a Kazmir for a test ride for a year.

I say do it. He seems to be improving every year and there is some guy named Mauer who can work with him a little bit also.

Alright sports fans, how about we look at things with a dose of reality. Gibson might make the team out of spring training, Meyer should be here around the all-star break, maybe sooner. Mays might get a September call up, but probably 2015, along with Darnell. The big guns, Stewart, Berrios & Gonsalves arrive 2016, and there are other names on the prospect list that will get shots during this time period. Okay now, the team has to get to these kids and maybe have some veteran leadership to help guide them along. 3 year contracts would be best, but then you are getting Arroyo, Capuano, etc... older type pitchers that (hopefully) eat innings. To get Garza, Nolasco, Santana, or Jiminez they would have to go 4 or 5 years, thereby postponing the arrival of prospects or putting the team in the position of having to try to trade them after 3 years, which sends a bad message to future free agents about signing here. If the team (and I mean Ryan) sticks to past protocol, we'll see one (or two) of Kazmir, Floyd, Pelfrey, Hughes, Capuano and maybe Narveson on a one or two year make good deal and Arroyo or whoever will take 2 or 3 years guaranteed. I personally would like to see Garza for 4 or 5, Arroyo for 3 and Kazmir or Pelfrey (preferably Kazmir because he is LH) for 1 or 2. This gives the team a veteran presence for a few years and allows a rehab project a chance to rebuild value while not holding back any prospects.

With the payroll that is coming off the books the team should push hard towards Tanaka and Yoon, as well as Haren, Johnson, Lincecum, Santana, Kuroda, & Garza....basically chase 'em all. If they get 2 or 3, plug and play and fill in the rest with whoever has the best spring. If they get 0, bring up the kids and play for the future! They should also pursue Choo, Ellsbury, Napoli, Morales, etc. and see who will come and play!

Let Texas sign him and try to work a deal for Andrus or Profar!

Yes, those were all names that I saw and included as "a few others". I didn't want to sound argumentative with Mr. Brooks (I saw the movie, he's a scary dude:)), so I hoped somebody else might help me out. While its true that most or all of these prospects may not pan out, I am getting tired of 27-30 year old soft tossers continually being trotted out there and we are just supposed to take this because its the Twins Way. Look at all the other teams with 25 year old and younger starters having success. I understand the importance of not advancing these kids too fast, but if the better coaches are at the higher levels, then these kids shouldn't beheld back for the sake of holding them back. I sometimes think this organization hinders there own prospects development by advancing them too slowly (i.e. making them do a whole season at each level unless they are a "super" prospect). And if our better coaches are not at the higher levels than this organization is in a bigger mess than I, or most of us, would think.

Meyer, May, Rosario, Gibson, Wimmers, Stewart, Berrios, Gonsalves, plus a few others look like real prospects. So if 1 of 3 develop, the Twins are looking at 3 or 4 good major league starting pitchers in the next 3 years or so. It will be a crapshoot, but I think they could deal from amongst this group.

I generally don't think of A-Roid very often, but after the last couple of days its hard not to. He is suing everybody! MLB, Bud Selig, Yankee doctors, NYC hospitals....who's next? My thoughts are this: He's guilty, he'll be banned from baseball (and the HOF), thereby nullifying his contract, so he is suing everybody in hopes that he'll win at least one of them and receive a huge settlement. This will allow him to leave the game on his own terms (in his mind anyway), and score one more huge payday. Everyone's thoughts and comments appreciated (rip him to shreds but stay within TD comment policy )!

Regardless of anybody's thoughts or feelings on Gardy's extension, its there. Now if Ryan and the Pohlads are committed to winning with Gardy they need to do a couple things: 1 - Implement a plan. Commit to either a full rebuild or make it impossible for the big free agent names to say no. 2 - Hold the coaches more accountable. Times have changed, power pitching and power hitting are more a part of the game, i.e. the teams that win have both. Teams still have to advance runners, induce groundballs, hit the cut off, do the little things to win, but also need the extra base hits and strikeouts. Either the coaches can coach this or they can go away. 3 - Quit mismanaging players. Hicks should have been demoted long before he was so he had a chance to get his head on right and maybe earn a September call-up. Gibson should have been up long before he approached his innings limit and arm got tired. Arcia should not have been shuttled back and forth. Hernandez and Walters should never have started a game for the big league club. I am sure there are many more examples, these were just fairly obvious. The examples stated above have been mismanaged for years, so it may not be easy, but needs to be done.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/09/robinson-cano-seeking-ten-years-305mm.html

Anybody else love the fact that Morneau was directly involved in the play that clinched the Pirates first playoff berth since 1992?

Love him or hate him, Gardy's fate is not in our hands. There are, as there should be, arguments to be made for keeping him, and for letting him go. Based on the fact that Terry Ryan won't commit either way, I think he is letting Gardy decide. He has a job if he wants one. I would like to see somebody different man the helm, like AAA manager Gene Glynn or, as mentioned in another posting, Dave Martinez. Both have ties to the Rays and, I believe, know how to handle younger players and a roster in constant flux. Rick Anderson's fate should be a little clearer - don't bring him back. The game has passed him by. Pitching to contact can be a good thing, but doesn't apply the same to every pitcher. Some guys have the ability and the stuff to strike guys out, teach them how to use what they've got. Cuellar is already with the big league club and familiar with working many of the players, and also speaks Spanish. Promote him.

Yeah but Reggie Jackson just made it seem like everyone was doing it>

This argument right here is what is wrong with baseball today. Unwritten rules are the glue of this game. Hit a homerun, get some chin music your next at bat. Hit our guy, your guy gets hit next inning. Showboat a HR, here comes some chin music. Up by 4 or 5 late, no stolen bases, no trying for first to third or scoring from second on a single, no hard slides. Today's game is all about "me" and trying to get paid. I'll take 70's & 80's baseball any day.

I think Mauer needs to play 1B and DH the remainder of the season so we can see Herrmann and Pinto showcase their talents behind the plate. Hicks should be recalled as well. Arcia should be back shortly (the team keeps telling u so!) and should get RF. The rest is a crapshoot. Doumit and Willingham should play LF and DH. Presly, Mastro, Thomas & Ramirez are the same guy, 4th & 5th OF's. How they play in September is anybody's guess. The young arms from AAA should get some spot starts and/or long relief appearance to see what they got. But we all know that Gardy will march "his" guys out there.

Lets take a look at our Minnesota Twins. They do not chase big name free agents, they develop prospects. Morneau is league average at 1B right now (check the stats). Herrmann and Doumit are above league average (smaller sample sizes, but nonetheless). Pinto is on the horizon. Colabello is old, Parmalee is AAAA (again check the stats) and there is no one in the higher minor leagues. Do they sign Morneau (if he'll take a pay cut and a 1 or 2 year contract) and hope for a return to better days or start a multi-player, multi-position rotation between Mauer, Pinto, Herrmann, Colabello, Doumit & Parmalee. Throw Willingham in at DH once in awhile and it probably looks like this: C - Mauer, Pinto, Herrmann & Doumit 1B - Mauer, Colabello & Parmalee RF - Arcia, Herrmann, Doumit & Ramirez DH - Mauer, Doumit & Willingham Doumit being the most position flexible could be traded to avoid the four catcher rotation. This also assumes Hicks is ready in second go-round in CF. Then next September we see Sano, Rosario, Buxton & Romero.

Some people try to live through their kids, Gardy tried to have a career through Punto. Gardy attributed the 2006 turnaround to Punto becoming the everyday 3B, not Morneau's monster run from June until the end of season. I think he even lobbied for Little Nicky to get some MVP love. And everything stated here has a ring of truth to it - as spectacular has Punto could be on the field, he also messed up the fundamentals, be it a missed bunt or a strikeout looking with a runner on second and nobody out to running himself into an out during a potential rally. Simply put, he was Gardy's pet. Some of the things he did would get other players buried on the bench or sent out of town, but not Little Nicky.

I think Farrell got more out Toronto than Gibbons is, and Toronto added a pile of "talent."

It is commonly accepted that one manager is not worth more than another manager - that the results would be the same no matter who is at the helm. However, if one looks at the standings over the last few years, it appears to me that a manager might make quite a bit of difference. Bob Melvin in Oakland, Buck Showalter in Baltimore, Terry Francona in Cleveland, John Farrell in Boston, Clint Hurdle in Pittsburgh to name a few have turned teams around over the last couple of years while Mike Scioscia in Los Angeles, Bobby V. in Boston, and Charlie Manuel in Philadelphia to name a few have had major regressions over the last few years. So my question is: Can one manager make more of a difference than another?

Per MLBTR: Starting pitchers Bronson Arroyo (37) Scott Baker (32) Erik Bedard (35) A.J. Burnett (37) Chris Capuano (35) - $8MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout Chris Carpenter (39) Bruce Chen (37) Bartolo Colon (41) Aaron Cook (35) Jorge De La Rosa (33) Scott Feldman (30) Gavin Floyd (31) Jeff Francis (33) Freddy Garcia (37) Jon Garland (34) Matt Garza (30) Roy Halladay (37) - $20MM vesting option Jason Hammel (31) Aaron Harang (36) - $7MM+ mutual option with a $2MM buyout Dan Haren (33) Roberto Hernandez (33) Tim Hudson (38) Phil Hughes (28) Ubaldo Jimenez (30) - may void $8MM option for 2014 Josh Johnson (30) Jeff Karstens (31) Scott Kazmir (30) Hiroki Kuroda (39) Jon Lester (30) - $13MM club option with a $250K buyout Colby Lewis (34) Ted Lilly (38) Tim Lincecum (30) Paul Maholm (32) Shaun Marcum (32) Jason Marquis (35) Ricky Nolasco (31) Roy Oswalt (35) Mike Pelfrey (30) Andy Pettitte (42) Wandy Rodriguez (35) - $13MM club option with a $2.5MM buyout Jonathan Sanchez (31) Ervin Santana (31) Johan Santana (34) - $25MM club option with a $5.5MM buyout Joe Saunders (33) - mutual option James Shields (32) - $12MM club option with a $1MM buyout Jason Vargas (31) Ryan Vogelsong (36) - $6.5MM club option with a $300K buyout Edinson Volquez (30) Tsuyoshi Wada (33) - $5MM club option Jake Westbrook (36) -- $9.5MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout. Chien-Ming Wang (34) Suk-min Yoon (27) Chris Young (35) Barry Zito (36) - $18MM vesting option with a $7MM buyout

This team has shown improvements (defense, bullpen), no change (starting pitching), and disappointment (offense - was expected to improve) over last years team. Overall the team is better but this group is years (as in Sano, Buxton, Mays, Meyer, and the low level arms) away from competing, still. I think the team will be young enough and cheap enough in a couple years that they should spend big next off-season to get a good product out there, then turn it over to the kids and dominate into the next decade.

The Twins have Bernier to be the utility player, don't need 2. How about Deibonsin Romero to play 3B and give Pouffe a spot in the OF rotation.

The infield fly rule has to be called while the ball is in the air, remember the to do in last years playoffs? I also agree that Morneau should not have swung until Frieri threw him a strike. These are the kinds of things that can snowball - a bad at bat by one player leads to a bad at bat by several players, leads to a bad, series, week, month, etc...

I think Ryan, Gardy and Andy should make it clear that nobody's job is safe - theirs, the starting pitchers, the relief pitchers and the position players - and that everyone should play accordingly or risk being replaced. I suppose Mauer and Perkins are the exceptions, but everybody else is fair game. I understand that everybody slumps, but when do you finally realize that, hey, this guy's not that good! Play like you're fighting for your job, your season, your career or risk being replaced. This team has no room for complacency.