Twins Off Season Commentary

[ducky]

Twins To Extend Phil Hughes ? MLB Trade Rumors


Gotta love that!

The last time the Twin's extended a pitcher when they didn't need to because they had him under control was Nick Blackburn. We ended up eating most of the money on the back end of that deal.

I personally would have liked to see Hughes pitch another season before I extended him. In totality its a reasonable deal. But the 2 years $8 mil per we had him under before this offered a lot more flexibility and a hell of a lot less risk.

We essentially just gave Hughes a 3 year extension at $42 million. Even if Hughes would have continued to pitch well and left via FA at the end of 2016, that money would have gotten us a comparable replacement. And how well would he have had to pitch the next two years to find a deal that large 2 years down the line? I just don't see the need of why they had to do this.

 

[Nosferatu]

The last time the Twin's extended a pitcher when they didn't need to because they had him under control was Nick Blackburn. We ended up eating most of the money on the back end of that deal.

I personally would have liked to see Hughes pitch another season before I extended him. In totality its a reasonable deal. But the 2 years $8 mil per we had him under before this offered a lot more flexibility and a hell of a lot less risk.

We essentially just gave Hughes a 3 year extension at $42 million. Even if Hughes would have continued to pitch well and left via FA at the end of 2016, that money would have gotten us a comparable replacement. And how well would he have had to pitch the next two years to find a deal that large 2 years down the line? I just don't see the need of why they had to do this.

I'm not sure I have ever agreed with anything more than this...

 

[powerchord86]

Twins GM Terry Ryan and his staff took a gamble by offering Hughes three guaranteed years based largely on his age and upside rather than his results, and it paid off nicely. Hughes set a single-season record for the best strikeout-to-walk ratio ever (11.63) and posted a 3.52 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 0.7 BB/9 and a 36.5 percent ground-ball rate in a career-high 209 2/3 innings.

ERA estimators such as FIP (2.65), xFIP (3.18) and SIERA (3.17) all feel that Hughes was significantly better than his ERA actually indicated, and Fangraphs pegged his 6.1 wins above replacement in a tie for fourth-best among Major League pitchers (tying him with both David Price and Jon Lester).

He's looking like a guy they want to keep around.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

My problem is that we are obviously ok with shelling out money. So why can't we make a big splash like most teams do?????

 

[powerchord86]

Heading out to the Twins caravan tonight. Will be weird not having Gardy there as he usually has been most years past.

Sounds like it will be Caleb Thielbar, Kyle Gibson, and Danny Gladden. Oh and Dave St. Peter too. (yay)

Always a good time watching them trying to convince everyone that this will be a great year for the Twins. lol The past few years have been pretty rough but I kind of feel like we are at least starting to make a turn for the better. These things don't happen overnight of course so we'll have to be patient as the rebuilding continues.

Now to go dig up my Dan Gladden baseball card for him to sign tonight. Woo!

 

[powerchord86]

Was cool to meet the Dazzle man. He signed my card and I told him he still looks the same as the pic on the card but he didn't buy it..

Also had Kyle Gibson sign my ticket stub from his first MLB start and win that I was at a couple years ago. He remembered the date as I thought he would.

 

[powerchord86]

Pitchers and catchers reporting today. I'm ready!

Lets play ball!

 

[Nosferatu]

Looking forward to a season of improvement. No more 90 loss seasons!

 

[powerchord86]

Looking forward to a season of improvement. No more 90 loss seasons!

You damn right man. Gotta go up from here. Just gotta..

There's still a lot of work to do but I truly believe they are at least headed in the right direction.

 

[Nosferatu]

You damn right man. Gotta go up from here. Just gotta..

There's still a lot of work to do but I truly believe they are at least headed in the right direction.

I completely agree, as long as we have hope everything is good... I have hope...

 

[Win TWINS!!!]

What's everyone hoping for or expecting? I'm thinking 80 wins is within reach.

 

[powerchord86]

What's everyone hoping for or expecting? I'm thinking 80 wins is within reach.

I don't think 80 wins is crazy at all. Provided the injury bug stays at bay for the most part and everyone performs as they should the Twins could even pass 80 wins easily. I am pretty excited for this season. The Twins have had a pretty good offseason. With the ongoing rebuilding and prospects marinading in the minors ready to come up they could really be a big surprise and turn some heads.

 

[Nosferatu]

I don't think 80 wins is out of the question at all. 80 - 85 wins is what i'm expecting, there's no reason this club can't take a step forward this year.

 

[Win TWINS!!!]

I don't think 80 wins is out of the question at all. 80 - 85 wins is what i'm expecting, there's no reason this club can't take a step forward this year.

I'd like to believe that they could contend for the division this year, but Molitor is the wild card I believe. Top 10 offense with a sub-par defense and a terrible pitching staff.... I can't see anywhere that the offense would fall off, if not improve.

Sounds like Nolasco shed some weight in the offseason... him turning it around is key.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

I'd like to believe that they could contend for the division this year, but Molitor is the wild card I believe. Top 10 offense with a sub-par defense and a terrible pitching staff.... I can't see anywhere that the offense would fall off, if not improve.

Sounds like Nolasco shed some weight in the offseason... him turning it around is key.

Plenty of spots for the offense to fall off(I don't think it really will but very possible). Santana has never hit close to what he did last year. Suzuki had one of his best years. Plouffe had his first ever rbi production. Dozier tailed off big time. Hunter is blah. Escobar had easily his best year(what's his role?). Will Vargas build off last year or end up kind of how he finished with no discipline?

I see Arcia, Vargas, Hicks(please God), Mauer all being better. Dozier about the same. Suzuki, Santana worse. Plouffe(probably worse) and Hunter wild cards. Then we see when the big boys arrive.

I actually think the starting staff should be much improved and definitely can't be worse.

 

[powerchord86]

I'd like to believe that they could contend for the division this year, but Molitor is the wild card I believe. Top 10 offense with a sub-par defense and a terrible pitching staff.... I can't see anywhere that the offense would fall off, if not improve.

Sounds like Nolasco shed some weight in the offseason... him turning it around is key.

If Nolasco can get it going, Hughes, Santana, Gibson and him would be a solid front end of the rotation.

 

[buckamania]

If Nolasco can get it going, Hughes, Santana, Gibson and him would be a solid front end of the rotation.

PC- What's happenin', buddy! I got an email from SportsHoopla today asking me where I've been and for me to check out the new format. In a nutshell,I've been busy as can be, and I really like the new format!

I've been over to Spring Training a few times, talk about lot's of new faces! The 2-yr remodeling of the stadium is finally finished and it is absolutely beautiful! Way more room in the concourses, much better seating arrangements and sight lines, and the wrap-around walkway is full of new seating, bars, bathrooms, and eateries. If you don't have fun here, you're not really trying. I'll make it to 5-6 games, plus a few more in different stadiums down here. This is a fun time to be a baseball fan. Hope springs eternal?? Isn't that the old saying?

I love my Twins, but I'm not fooling myself, this team is still not very good. If they stay healthy and play just to their potential then they have a chance.

See you later!

 

[powerchord86]

PC- What's happenin', buddy! I got an email from SportsHoopla today asking me where I've been and for me to check out the new format. In a nutshell,I've been busy as can be, and I really like the new format!

I've been over to Spring Training a few times, talk about lot's of new faces! The 2-yr remodeling of the stadium is finally finished and it is absolutely beautiful! Way more room in the concourses, much better seating arrangements and sight lines, and the wrap-around walkway is full of new seating, bars, bathrooms, and eateries. If you don't have fun here, you're not really trying. I'll make it to 5-6 games, plus a few more in different stadiums down here. This is a fun time to be a baseball fan. Hope springs eternal?? Isn't that the old saying?

I love my Twins, but I'm not fooling myself, this team is still not very good. If they stay healthy and play just to their potential then they have a chance.

See you later!

Hey buck, good to see you again. The new ST field looks awesome. Gotta make it out there sometime but I think I say that every year..

 

[buckamania]

Tha

Hey buck, good to see you again. The new ST field looks awesome. Gotta make it out there sometime but I think I say that every year..

Thanks, PC! I'm like a cold, you can't really get rid of me, and I keep coming back. Speaking of Spring Training, I'll bet you'll show up one day and really have a blast once you're here. Gone are the days when it was hard to get a ticket. This joint has a ton of new seats. It is truly a cool place to catch a Twins game!

I plan on going up to MPLS this Summer to catch a couple Twins games downtown. Wish I had my old walleye boat to shoot up to my old spots on Lake of the Woods as well, but she's long gone! I have really lost contact with Gopher & Fighting Sioux Hockey since that Big Ten thing started. Breaking up the WCHA was a darned shame. That was all we had during the Winters up there. Of course, It gets awfully boring wearing t-shirts and shorts down here every day too. Am I rubbing it in? LOL!

GO TWINS!

 

[Win TWINS!!!]

One of these years I'd like to get down to ST.