whydidnt

I think it's a tough call for the Twins. Coming off the injury and having past injury issues limits his market. I don't think the Twins should exercise the option myself. Consider, a healthy Edwin Jackson getting only a 1 year $11M deal this past offseason. Erik Bedard has a more incriminating injury past, but was healthy for most of 2011 and only got $4.5M. Add in a very crowded, as of now, FA pitching market this coming offseason and it's going to be hard for him to get 9.5 million on the open market. I'd love to see them bring him back for less and don't think he'll get as much anywhere else this off-season. I'd guess he could maybe get 1 year $6.5M or 2-$13, something like that, but teams aren't going to line up to break the bank for a guy. with his injury history.

Had a chuckle reading Christina Kahrl's Roster Roundup on ESPN this morning: "Please think these things through: The Twins might be bad on offense, but Ron Gardenhire’s being a worrywart over having Joe Mauer and Ryan Doumit in the same lineup is a way to make a bad lineup worse." I couldn't agree more. I grow so tired of hearing about his worry about his catcher getting injured and not having a replacement. It's not like that's something that happens every day, and even if it does, having to use a pitcher to bat once or twice isn't any worse than having Drew Butera bat 3 or 4 times a game, and Gardy seemed to have no problem with that over the last few years. "Butera is one of the only guys with a realistic chance of getting serious playing time in 2012 who will contribute more than an typical bench player by simply being absent from the lineup". Michael Bates at Baseball Prospectus posted last week, giving me another reason to chuckle (it was that or simply groan over how correct it was). It's frustrating for the Twins to continue making poor decisions that could cost them a run every few games, simply over an irrational fear that might occur once every season, if that. Isn't it time for Terry Ryan or someone else on the Twins staff to tell Gardenhire to get over it and just put the best lineup out there? I'm pretty sure TR did not keep a 3rd catcher this year purposely to take that security blanket away from Gardenhire, much like Smith did last year by not re-signing Punto. The team shouldn't have to make roster decisions simply to keep the manager from hurting the team.

That's the point. He's wasting a 40 man roster spot right now. If he clears waivers, which he will, then he can be removed from the 40 man roster and the Twins can use that spot on someone like Bowden. If by chance someone claims him, they get his contract too, so it's a win-win for the Twins, either way. Seriously are you suggesting there is some benefit to the Twins to keep him on their 40 man roster?

Seriously good idea. They should designate him for assignment anyway on the hope and prayer that some team would take on the 6 Million still owed.

As long as Mauer and Morneau continue to fail to hit and either Strike Out or hit into a DP every time there are guys on base the Twins are going to be on the losing side of things. They have 40% of their payroll tied up in those 2, if they aren't producing it's going to be a loooong season. I agree that Mauer has no business hitting 3rd at this point. I think Morneau simply needs time and to relax, he's clearly pressing. As for Mauer, seriously dude, we know you like to look at the 1st pitch, and so does every pitcher in the league. Is it really necessary to start every at bat 0-1? Start turning and driving those grooved first pitches. I know some say he's been successful doing it his way for a long time, but I say the best players are those that continue to make adjustments and stay ahead of the competition. The entire Twins team, and especially Mauer need to make adjustments and put the other team on their heels for a change.

I was thinking the same thing regarding Bowden. He has the potential to be a pretty significant upgrade over the likes of Gray, Maloney, Burton, etc, is still young, has a decent pedigree and could probably be worked into the rotation within a few weeks.

I guess I'll disagree on this one. It's the same injury he's been dealing with for 2 years, the Twins staff urged rest over and over again for the injury, including after the latest flareup. Baker finally decided to get a second opinion and was told he needed surgery to get things fixed. He misses the season. If he had the surgery at the end of last season he probably would have been ready by late April. Brad Lidge is a perfect example of a guy with the same situation that was addressed properly at the end of a season. Now, admittedly we don't know the conversations between Baker and the Twins staff, maybe he was adamant about avoiding surgery and the Twins had no choice but to go along, but it just seems to be another in a line of injuries that have persisted for the Twins. They are either the unluckiest team in the history of baseball, or their Medical staff isn't properly equipped to manager a multitude of sports injuries.

Actually Strassburg pitched great last year after 12 mos. Others that did include Tim Hudson and and a great comp for Nathan, a 37 year old Billy Wagner, back after 12 mos and dominating in the NL. There are plenty of examples of guys being back at or before 12 months and performing well. There are also examples of guys taking longer or never getting back at all, but you'd hope somewhere along the lines a Twin would end up on the positive end of injury recovery, and that seems extremely rare. I personally am concerned about Gibson, just because the Twins have yet to have a guy return from TJ and be as good as he was prior. Small sample size, but when you consider how Twins injuries seem to be misdiagnosed or stretched out (see Scott Baker) more than typical, it's worthwhile to ask the question.

I posted something similar in another thread, but gladly take up the challenge: I'm not offering Casilla arbitration, so that's another 1.38 - I have 45.25 to start with. Ignoring the signings the Twins made and sign the following: J.Willingham, $7M R.Doumit, 3 E.Jackson 11 E.Bedard 4.5 M.Scutaro 6.5 A.Hill 5.5 J.Keppinger 1.525 C.Qualls 1.5 T.Saito 1.75 D.Wheeler 0.55 M.Wuertz 0.55 (not signed, assuming he'll sign for just over the min) Total of 43.38 - which puts me about $0.5 million over when adding the remaining 5 guys at minimum. I could live without Wuertz if I had to. This gives me: Rotation Jackson Bedard/Baker (One's likely to be injured) Liriano Blackburn Pavano Pen Perkins (Closer) Blackburn (if Bedard and Baker are healthy) Saito (RH Setup, could close if Perkins fails) Duensing (LH Setup) Qualls Wheeler Wuertz Swarczak Lineup Span CF Mauer C Willingham LF Morneau 1B Doumit DH Hill 2B Valencia 3B Scutaro SS Revere/Plouffe RF Bench Revere/Plouffe Keppinger Hughes Towles or whoever wins the spot coming out of camp if things play out like they did with Morneau If you aren't comfortable with the the platoon in RF, or want to favor hitting over pitching and save a few bucks, you could skip E.Jackson, and replace him with a $2M B.Colon a $7.5M J.Kubel and 1M J.Gomes - Gomes and Kubel would be a great platoon in RF, with admittedly ugly D. In either case, the teams two greatest weaknesses are addressed with professional major leaguers in the middle infield and pitching. My team is still dependent on Mauer and Morneau rebounding to some level of previous performance, but with their salaries we don't have a choice but to count on that. When you lose 99 games you have to be willing to blow up a significant portion of your roster, and that's what I've done. The Twins made a few fringe moves, but didn't address their core issues with guys that any other team would consider a solution. I think the team I put together would be very competitive and if things fell right could very well win a playoff spot.

Ouch on the Bromberg performance. I was really expecting a bounce back from him this year. Let's hope it was just and early season aberration.

Good Article. When you see actual changes that lead to improved performance it gives you a lot more confidence that it will continue. We've all seen the "good and the bad" of Blackburn over the last few years, it would be nice if we could see the good on a consistent basis this year. Hopefully, his health will hold this year too!

Wow, I know the Strib's comments tend to run negative, but so far there isn't one comment disagreeing with Souhan's premise and the state of the Twins. A lot of, I think deserved, anger towards the Pohlads for cutting payroll this year there too. Like I've posted before if you cut payroll because of poor performance, it almost becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. You'll always do worse and you'll always be cutting payroll. On a positive note, Baseball Prospectus shows the Twins still have a 1.1% chance of making the playoffs this year. To quote Jim Carey: "You mean there's a chance?!?!?"

Well, after reading this I was 100% convinced that Riverbrian and Gardy are one in the same, but then he had to go and throw a curve ball by putting Doumit at DH. We all know Gardy's head might explode if he has to have a pitcher hit...not sure why since any of the pitchers on our team must be able to hit as well as most these guys have so far, but.... So, now I'm really confused, is it Gardy and Doumit is just at DH to throw us off? Answer this, has any of us ever seen Riverbrian and Gardy in the same place at the same time?

I see what you did there... Very nice!

I think the top of the order needs shaking up.. Revere CF Mauer C Morneau DH Willingham LF Doumit RF Parmalee 1B Valencia 3B Plouffe SS Casilla 2B However, I am willing to bet this is the lineup we'll see: Span CF Carroll SS Mauer C Mourneau DH Willingham LF Doumit RF Valencia 3B Parmalee 1B Casilla 2B Gardenhire wants this to be his every day lineup and coming off an off day, it's the typical time for him to put it back in play.

Thanks for the report. I had just read Wimmer's line and it didn't sound great. I do think he's a guy the Twins definitely need to see move up quickly, too bad about the control issues last spring, but so glad it seems to be behind him.

If he keeps crushing, I hope the Twins don't decide to keep in low-A because of his age. I know it's too early to think of this, but I'd really like to see how he does against some breaking pitches in the upper levels of the minors. He reminds me of M.Cabrera, and Cabrera held his own as a 20 year old for the Marlins. At this point, I know we can only dream of him becoming a Cabrera, but the team's 0-4, let's dream!

I like Revere a lot and hope he out produces what I think he can. He certainly seems to try and play the right way. His defense and speed can be valuable to a team. I just don't think his skill set is one you typically see as a starting corner outfielder on a championship level team, and I want the Twins to endeavor to field a championship level team. Where I get frustrated is when people want to compare him to Kirby Puckett, while the size and attitude might translate, Revere hasn't driven the ball like Puckett did when he came up since low-A ball. It's not a skill he's likely to acquire at this point.

Well, I don't know that I think any of the current Twins aren't trying their best, there have been examples of guys that really haven't tried hard in the past. Manny Ramirez sticks out in my mind, as well as the Twins version of Tommy Herr. I'm sure there are plenty of others that after making a few millions don't like their situation and because of that don't give there best every day. It happens in every profession, we've all probably worked with people, or seen people at work that didn't give there very best every day. I don't think baseball players are immune from that. I'm sure at the MLB level it's a smaller number, since you don't usually get to the top by not giving your best. But we also know people that tend to cruise once they think they've made it, and I think that Baseball players are just as likely as any other profession to have that happen. It's just that if I happen to cruise for a day, it doesn't happen on TV and the whole town isn't talking about it.

I have to say this is a very relevant question. It gets more and more frustrating to participate in some of the threads on this site as they seem to be increasingly populated by people who have no desire other than to; A) rip the Twins no matter what, or cheer-lead for the Twins and their decisions no matter what. I get that many are frustrated by recent results, I am too, but the Twins have brought a lot of fun and enjoyment to most of us, they must do something right. If everything is so awful, why do you want to waste your time on discussing it? On the other hand, if you think that every decision ever made by the Twins was correct and they are above criticism, then why waste your breath entering a discussion about them, just go enjoy the games, what's there for you to discuss? Seriously, when did we, as society, grow into such a bunch of no-thinking dunderheads that have predetermined that every issue must be black or white, with no consideration of gray? Is this something being taught in schools today? Admittedly, I probably tend to fall towards the negative side, though I don't consider my self pessimistic, and few people look forward to opening day more than I do. I consider my self a skeptic, though and believe it's worthwhile to ask questions that might not always have an answer.

Thanks for missing my point. Johnson had 4 straight years of awful control numbers (which I posted in my first post), yet was allowed to learn and grow into the pitcher he became. My question is what would have happened if he was with the Twins then. I have serious doubts the Twins would have sent him to the mound every 5 days for 4 years while he was walking 5+ batters per 9 innings. They just don't have the tolerance for it, regardless of the arm. And, really WAR has no bearing on the question at hand, do you think Anderson or Gardenhire even know what WAR is, much less care?

I guess I disagree, I don't call giving up 4 runs in 7 IPs "pretty well". It's more my definition of pretty mediocre. He gave up about as many runs as he deserved based upon his performance, and his ERA sits over 5. If the entire staff pitched that well all year, none of us would be happy with the results. I'm certainly concerned, the Twins need the Pavano of 2009-2010 if they are going to be at all competitive this year.

Really, I seem to recall him pitching poorly to start 2011, and then hitting the DL with an arm injury, taking closer to 15+ months to return to form instead of the 12 we see other guys take.

I wonder if this thread somehow leads back to the questions regarding the Twins medical staff. I hear repeatedly that guys coming back from TJ surgery often see their velocity increase, and most players are as good or better than prior to their surgery...Strasburg is the latest example. Liriano took way longer than "normal" to recover and his velocity dropped significantly and he's NOT the same pitcher. It seems Nathan took longer to get back to normal and his velocity was down as well. I assume there is a standard recovery plan for this surgery, does the Twins staff alter it and mess things up some how? Not saying this is the case, have no way of knowing, just looking at the circumstances and asking the question.

It's way too early to say. I am disappointed in what I see as a lack of "fire" chasing/diving for balls, etc. so far, but it's early and who really knows if the guy didn't try, or just made a bad play? We all saw Pavano smashing the water cooler last year after the defense repeatedly let him down. Definitely no lack of fire from him, but could use about 5-6 more MPH on his fastball! I think you can look at the top 3 in the lineup and ask if they are all too laid back, though. Do you want/need guys with a little edge in those spots? It's hard to define, but it also seems to me that Span, Carroll and Mauer all have a relaxed approach and maybe one of those guys needs to be the fire starter.