prouster

It means he can live in the same place year round. That much is obvious, isn’t it?

I get that. I’m not in the mood to drink cough syrup.

Nope. I want them to be good every year for as long as possible. I want them to have Berrios locked down before he hits free agency and quadruples in price. They can extend him and make short term moves to improve the roster. For example, I’d like them to try and pry either Ian Anderson or Kyle Wright from Atlanta. I think Ryu could be a good free agent pick up, but I wouldn’t go longer than 3 years if it was my name in the paper.

They made multiple trades at the deadline. The Dyson deal didn’t work out, but Romo put up a lot of quality, important innings down the stretch. I feel like you aren’t actually interested in discussing this.

Major League Baseball will presumably exist after 2020.

Smarter than the 29 other teams that didn’t sign him because they also didn’t sign him? I know you’re just being glib, but you see how that claim blows up on the launch pad, right?

Pitching is getting very expensive. A Berrios extension would be a great place to start.

Basically every free agent pitcher except Cole has warts.

Well, I know I’d rather have the Twins run by people who have systems in place to aid their decision making. I’m glad they try not to let their own limited perceptions and pre-conceived biases pollute their judgement. I’m glad they didn’t go 5 years for Bumgarner, because I think they’ll develop guys who perform as well or better than him over that span for far less money. That’s the gamble, at least. As much as some people hate to hear it (I’m not thinking of anyone specifically, for the record), roster efficiency isn’t about minimizing costs. It’s actually a way to improve club performance. The idea is that teams can more efficiently win by raising the floor of the entire roster. If the majority of the team is around average, that will go a long way toward winning additional games throughout a 162 game season. This is because a team wouldn’t have to trot out multiple players who are below or well below average, which eats into the surplus performance of their above average teammates. It’s a strategy that depends in part on guys having breakouts while they’re still under team control (e.g. Kepler, Polanco, Sano, Buxton, Berrios, Rogers, Duffy, and so on). This is how the Rays, Athletics, and for a while the Astros have managed to field competitive teams more often than not, and it explains why the Angels are so bad despite having the best player of this century in center field. I want to unequivocally state that I’m not suggesting the Twins should try to be an average team. My point is that spending wisely is not (always or only) about saving the owners money. Teams have determined that shrewd investments lead to positive outcomes on the baseball field. This is why I like the Avila signing—he’s not a so-called needle mover, but he will very likely raise the team’s minimum performance level. As for Bumgarner, I think there are better ways to spend that amount of money. Of course the Twins could have afforded to pay him the same contract (as could the Dodgers, Giants, Yankees, Astros, and every other MLB team). But like it or not (I personally don’t), the Twins were always going to approach free agency looking for value. I’m glad they let someone else commit half a decade to a pitcher who could very well be a full year into his decline. It leaves that money available for extensions and other, wiser roster moves. The front office isn’t trying to hoodwink anyone. They want to win, because their jobs and reputations depend on it.

Apparently it's only DeShields and Clase going to Cleveland. Texas is taking on Kluber's entire salary. Seems like it's a pure cost cutting move on Cleveland's part, unless they're alarmed by Kluber's medicals.

Well, until last year the recent trend in the playoffs was to have the starter go through the order twice, then turn things over to an elite bullpen. That’s how KC won their title, it’s largely how Houston did it in 2017, and teams made some deep runs with that strategy. There is no ideal way to win.

Don’t forget about Cron missing a routine throw that ruined an important double play.

I agree that seems to be the takeaway. We could maybe call it a total system failure?

You forgot about Pineda. And you’re right, this wouldn’t be a good rotation come late March. Good thing it’s only the middle of December.

And expecting pitchers to give the team a chance when they score three runs over two games is also a lot. I agree the pitching wasn’t good, but Odorizzi and Berrios both kept the team in the game. It was Gibson and Stashak that blew it game one. May and Romo let it slip away in game three (the ten million stranded runners certainly didn’t help anything). It was a shame Dobnak was the game two starter. Edit: I forgot about Littell in game one.

Dobnak definitely had a rough start. Game 1 wasn’t Berrios’ best effort, but it was the bullpen that let it get out of hand, largely because Baldelli made some questionable decisions as to who should pitch (no one seems to be worrying over the relievers, interestingly). But the pitchers had virtually no wiggle room in games 2 and 3, when the Twins scored a combined three runs. I’m not saying the they don’t need to add a starter. My point is that the rotation turned into an abomination the day the season ended. The front office hasn’t made any splashy moves, but they’ve done a lot to fill in most of a gaping pit. My secondary point is that it’s the middle of December, and there is plenty of time to sign someone and/or work the trade market. I’m pretty confident they aren’t finished.

The Twins won 101 games last season. They got swept mainly because their bats went ice cold in the playoffs. And, um, a little less mockery would, um, be nice. It’s only baseball.

Nope, not Derek Falvey. I just appreciate what they’ve done so far and realize the winter is only about half over.

Yes, actually he was a free agent. He had a qualifying offer attached, but he had no contract with the Twins and was at liberty to sign with any team. If he had been on, say, Atlanta last year and Falvey signed him, I’m guessing people would be a little more enthusiastic about him. There’s an argument to be made that he was the fifth best pitcher in a stacked free agent class. I find it interesting, though not really surprising, that a contingent of Twins fans are either bored or annoyed at having him back. But in any case, Odorizzi was a free agent acquisition, as was Pineda. These are facts. And I agree Odorizzi would have gotten paid if he didn’t take the QO.

Pineda’s and Odorizzi’s contracts expired. They were free agents. Yes they were on the team last year, but signing them filled a need that opened the day the season ended. Again, they aren’t glamorous additions, but they are additions.

When the off-season started, they were looking at a rotation of Berrios, Dobnak...Smeltzer..........um, Graterol................and, uh, someone else. Since then, they’ve managed to re-up Odorizzi and Pineda, the latter for multiple years. They’ve also taken care of the hole at backup catcher. It hasn’t been glamorous, and they shouldn’t be finished, but it hasn’t been nothing, either.

I graduated high school a while ago now. It’s been a long time since I’ve played anything.

The Astros, uh, won 107 games, won the Pennant, and took Washington to seven games. I guess that’s mediocrity??

Exactly. I remember a lot of carping last year about the lack of activity, the injustice of cutting spending, etc. Then they signed Cruz in January and Marwin shortly after the start of spring training. Then the consensus seemed to be that it was a pretty good off season. The market is moving faster on big names this year, but there is still a lot of time to fill holes and, yes, spend money. The season doesn’t start tomorrow.

This seems right, in my opinion. Not to mention the KBO has a team called the Twins: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Twins. Seems like an opportunity to build some sort of coalition.