KirbyDome89

The only thing that has limited his mobility to this point is his shin injury, which again had nothing to do with his weight.

Body mass isn't an accurate measure of health, especially for an athlete. For reference I'm 28 yo, I work out 5-6 days a week, and I have a body fat % that's considered "lean," and it shows, yet I'm considered overweight according to my body mass. The one size fits all approach of determining an acceptable weight based only on height doesn't work. I'm not saying everything Sano is packing on is muscle, but athletes (power hitters in particular) tend to carry much more muscle than the average person. If some schmuck like myself is "overweight," just imagine how skewed those numbers are when measuring real athletes. Again, all these ranges mean nothing. Neither you nor I can possibly say that between weight X and Y is a healthy range, yet we're certain he can't play at 280?

I would argue that assuming to know a healthy baseline weight for Sano is obtuse... Who is to say that 280, where he checked in last season, and where he can easily get to after moving around this spring, isn't a healthy weight? Are we certain his body won' allow him to play into his 30s at that weight?

Yeah I know you're not saying he needs to be 230 right now, the point was that if he was already that weight as such a young age it shouldn't be surprising that he's in the upper 200s as he has continued to physically mature. IMO 260 is arbitrary. It's no different than the 10 lbs the Twins complained about a couple years ago. If/when his weight actually impacts his performance in a negative way I'll care. That hasn't happened, so right now Idc whether he weights 260 or 280.

He's 6'4" and he's coming off leg surgery. I'm not surprised that he put on a few pounds in the offseason, nor I worry about him shedding those once he starts running and moving around on the field. If the numbers are to be believed he weighted 230 lbs at age 19. How often do you see kids that size at that age? We keep trying to assign conventional weight standards to a guy that is anything but normal.

That and the fact that NOBODY maintains their weight from their late teenage years. Physical maturation is a funny thing...

Sano was never considered a great defensive prospect, his ability to stick at 3B was questioned through the minors too. He has a cannon for an arm but he has always had some difficulty fielding. IMO the weight is an easy target for a guy that was going to have struggles defensively at the major league level.

He'll mash some homers, continue to get on base, and everybody will silently wait for that first bad week either in the field or at the plate. It'll come, without a doubt, and we'll be treated to more genius Ruesse rants and diagnoses, but thankfully that will fade too. His weight is the honestly the biggest boogeyman since Mauer's contract.

Not only that, but even if they make it to the midway point within reach of contention, the primary focus of the FO seems to be finding great "value." That's going to be tough to come by if they're buying at the deadline, especially if the player is a rental. They weren't willing to make any big moves this offseason, I'm not sure why there is any faith in them acquiring a front end starter at the deadline.

I'm as pissed as anybody about how the offseason went. IMO Sanchez has no chance to contribute in any meaningful way, but he's a flier so what are we really expecting? Odorizzi is a wild card. He might bounce back a bit, or he might be the guy that he was last season. You could argue he's a flier too. I'm not going to determine the competency of the FO based on a couple low upside guys. They aren't off to a great start; they did nothing last offseason, and they haven't done near enough to address the pitching this offseason either. That's a failure. As tired as I am of being told to have "patience," with the FO (and trust me I am,) I think rebuilding pitching organization wide is going to take quite a bit of time, so they're getting a mini pass here. I realize the opportunity the current club has, and I've been harsh in criticizing the FO for not taking advantage as of now. However, I think the long term development of pitching i.e. drafting and development is just as much a part of enlightenment, and so I'm not going to dismiss their aptitude for pitching altogether just yet.

I'm not certain it's fair, no matter what kind of results are delivered, to measure the FOs enlightenment based on either of these two.

No quibble here; for what the Twins paid, Odorizzi is worth the risk. I don't think he's near the pitcher others are convinced he is, but this is a better move than signing Sanchez. Baby steps.....

He hasn't been good for years so unless the Twins have discovered a time machine, I'm not sure I see what upside Sanchez has. It isn't that I'm high on anybody you mentioned, it's that I'm down on Sanchez. He has proven for 2 years now that he isn't a major league pitcher. You're not wrong that that anybody you listed is a backend guy at best, but I think Jorge, Enns, and Slegers can at least give you what Sanchez has the past few years and if nothing else they haven't demonstrated that their arrow is clearly pointing down. If you want to argue that Kinley will be the odd man out I'm fine with that. I don't think either one of them should be on the roster but I think Sanchez has the better chance of being cut loose soonest.

Roster spots are valuable, hence the knashing of teeth when a guy like Kinley clogs up the 25 man or Anibal Sanchez inexplicably is given a 40 man spot. It isn't hard to argue that the arm(s) they expose in the event of another signing(s) are more likely to help than Sanchez. The Twins are a team that operates on the fringes. They've made that abundantly clear this offseason. It follows then that fringe moves carry greater importance.

If he wouldn't sign a minor league deal then wish him good luck finding a major league contract elsewhere. NOBODY was going to question why the Twins wouldn't budge from that position to bring in Anibal Sanchez.

Thats a great point. If they have so little confidence in those guys and another move is coming then what the hell are they waiting on at this point? If this is it, or they're trying to scrape together another 1 year deal then, well.....

I'm not sure why this FO is still getting credit for "being patient." If "patient," is redefined to mean excessive frugality to the point of harming the team I'll give credit where it's due. I was all for trading Dozier last offseason, but they didn't. Holding onto Dozier is a win-now move. I didn't think MN was close to that point, but I was wrong and essentially every member of the young core took strides forward last season. The FO got a lot of credit for feeling out the organization and having the foresight to hold onto Dozier and/or Santana, although I do question how much of those decisions was foresight and how much was simply an unwillingness to walk in and blow things up. Either way, it worked out last year, but they haven't done anything to address their most significant need in either of the last two off seasons. That doesn't mesh with the win-now theme. Refusing to sign front end FA pitchers to long term deals, no matter how desperate the need, means they're counting on prospects to fill in the gaping holes on the roster. That isn't going to happen within the next year or possibly two, so as of now it looks like they're more focused on the future. That runs opposite of the message sent all last offseason. The trade deadline was a microcosm of these last few off seasons; flipping back and forth, a lack of significant transactions to push the club in any discernible direction, and ultimately a team that suffers for it. These moves, or lack thereof, are the same half measures that everybody is tired of, except this time they're on a larger scale.

I hope he's back. I don't think Vargas is any sort of long term solution, and if the interest in Napoli is any indication it doesn't look like the FO sees him in that role either. I'm excited about Rooker but he also hasn't seen a pitch at AA yet, and as far as I know he's still capable of holding down a corner OF spot. If Mauer is on the roster Rooker could still be a great RH platoon 4th OF/DH bat which the Twins currently need. I wouldn't let Mauer go because Sano has to eventually slide to 1B. If Miguel shows he can't handle 3B this season and Mauer has another good year it doesn't make any sense to hurt your defense (Sano at 1B) and potentially your offense (depending on who replaces Mauer's bat) when Sano could just as easily slide into the full time DH role. Granted, there are a lot of "ifs," in that scenario but it isn't inconceivable that Sano struggles defensively and Mauer has another good season further removed from the concussions. If last season was Mauer digging his way out that concussion black hole he could be extremely valuable for the next few years. Admittedly I'm a fan. He has the plate discipline and swing that can play well even as he continues to age. The guy is a professional hitter and a great defender. It would be nice if he was a Twin for life.

There's no doubt that they need improvement in both drafting and developing arms. A team like Tampa has consistently drafted and developed high level pitching. I think that's a much more sustainable model to emulate rather than signing or trading for guys like Carpenter or Jake Arrieta. Don't get me wrong, all teams should be looking for that diamond in the rough, but I think the other pitchers you listed (Martinez and Reyes) are better examples of the drafting/developing prowess of St. Louis.

Carpenter won a Cy Young and finished 2 or 3 in a few other seasons. To me that isn't an example of mediocrity. I agree that St. Louis has definitely been better at identifying talent and developing it, but coaching can only take you so far.

No disagreement about the offense being a letdown in the postseason. I'm giving them a little more rope because it's typically more difficult for offenses to get the best of elite pitchers than vice vera but you're right those were poor team performances all around. Their more recent signings (Ervin, Hughes before the extension) and possibly Cobb or Lynn are definitely a notch above. If we're choosing between a guys like that or a steady stream of 1 year lotto tickets for the next few seasons then I'm pulling the trigger on Cobb or Lynn. I just think the Twins can do better.

2010 they gave up nearly 6 runs a game 2009 they gave up nearly 5 runs a game 2006 they gave up 13 runs in the two games Johan didn't pitch Not many offenses can compensate for that kind of pitching. I'm not saying the lack of playoff success is entirely the fault of the pitching staff, but against elite level pitching offenses are going to have 2 or 3 run games. I would love it if MN had some young arms with elite potential. It's certainly more cost efficient and less risky than spending in FA, but the reality is the Twins have failed in that area for a while now, so their options are limited at the moment. Yes, teams that can grow elite pitching leave themselves with financial resources to commit elsewhere but in that group of teams mentioned earlier many have made big signings or trades.

Having an elite pitcher doesn't preclude the Twins from filling out the rest of the rotation with back end guys (I'm not sure how else to interpret "balanced.") Those type of pitchers can't match up with what Boston, NY, Houston, Cleveland, LA, or even Seattle is going to run out in first few games of a series. The Twins horrific postseason record the last decade + would suggest it's going to take more than 3-5 range starters to go anywhere in October.

I'm not defending the offer MN made. I'm as disappointed by it as anybody, and I think we're right to question how serious the team was about Darvish given what he signed for, the subsequent comments from the FO, the offer they made, ect. That said, speaking strictly from a PR standpoint, I understand why they made the offer, even though I agree with you that they knew there was no chance it was going to be accepted.

But we're ok with pretending that talent won't win out?