Twins Off Season Commentary

[powerchord86]

Cripes, Ryan has barely moved in and people are already after his head? LOL As Forrest Gump says, Stupid is as stupid does..

I am with you on Kubel and Cuddy. I like both of them. Cuddy has been the team MVP the past coupld seasons and if Kubel left I just wouldn't feel the same wearing my Kubel jersey.

 

[buckamania]

PC - You better check in with the "other" site, the fur is flying! Apparently, Ryan hasn't done anything all Winter and Gardy is still the cause of all the problems. These guys would re-book passage on the Titanic too. Who's RoderickJames? I kinda remember the name but I'm not certain of that. He's lighting-up Hauv/TY, they are one in the same, it would appear.

I got a Cuddy jersey "and" a Mauer jersey, but my Go-To jersey is the one with "no" name on the back. Had it for years and it's always current that way. I can't see wearing a jersey with Plouffe on the back. Can you?

Later!

 

[powerchord86]

No on the Plouffe jersey. Dinkelman maybe.. lol

 

[powerchord86]

I like the Doumit signing. Big step up from Butera. Time for Drew to get real or get out.

 

[powerchord86]

I am assuming/hoping that since the Phillies signed Wiggy they are no longer going after Cuddy. He is still looking for three years though and is in for some good offers I am sure. I remember him saying last season that he would be willing to give a hometown discount to the Twins to stay in MN. Guess we will see if there was any truth to that statement in the near future.

 

[powerchord86]

Wow, Nathan signs with the Rangers. Good place for any player to be with the club they got togther. Congrats to both parties on that one. Best wishes to Joe.

Now the Twins have a huge (hugh?) question mark at the back of the pen. Help wanted!

 

[powerchord86]

Do the Twins have the cojones to land Street? Probably not...

 

[buckamania]

PC - You've been real busy lately with Twins stuff! I've been chasin' my tail. I don't recognize Street??, give me more info. on this guy when you get a chance.

I think the Nathan trade was the best scenario for both parties. Joe is a heckuva a guy and was a great reliever but the Tommy John-thing usually means curtains for pitchers his age. Now Ryan can maneuver a bit more as he rebuilds the team Smith ran into the ground.

Butera is toast! Everyone, including the axis-powers guys, knew this last year. How Smith kept him as the backup is beyond me, but that's in the past, we all gotta get over it. Ryan "will" pull the trigger and find someone, something, better than Drew but it may not happen until after Spring Training and there are other major holes in the team that need to be filled just as bad. Ryan really has his hands full and the fans are impatient.

P/S - Got your other ideas today too. I agree with you.

 

[powerchord86]

Huston Street = closer for the Rockies/FA. Has built a rep as a pretty effective closer. Better than what we got right now for sure.

 

[SandyBeach26]

Well, guys n gals, with the signing of Joe Nathan to the Texas Rangers, the big three FA from the Twins becomes the big two....
It may still be a long shot, but I am still hoping the Twins look to try to bring back Kuble and Cuddyer. From what I understand, the Twins payroll WON'T be under 100 million anyways, so may as well sign these Twins lifers, then look to shore up whatever else they may need.

I agree Huston Street may be a good fit in Minnesota...and I liked the signing of Ryan Doumit, though I would have preferred Jose Molina to Doumit, it is a nice signing anyways. Hopefully, Doumit can stay healthy, and he can share duties behind the plate with Mauer, and his batting average doesn't even have to be specatacular.....just better than the .200 the mighty combo of Drew Butera and Rene Rivera gave us. Don't have the stats in front of me, but I believe Doumit is around the the .260-.270 mark.

The Jamey Carroll signing? Hmmm..not so sure about that one. I hope both Casilla and Nishioka take this as a personal challenge an up their game to become what SHOULD be MInnesota's middle infield...we will see.

Any word on what the Twins may do with Kevin Slowey? I called for a trade...at least a AA guy or two...maybe some draft picks.
I also was hoping for the Twins to somehow pry SP Gio Gonzalez from the Athletics...he is a restricted free agent I believe...but could be wrong. I thought I read somewhere during the end of the post season that he could be available to teams.

Back to the closer role, someone on another site suggested Jose Mijares....it took everything I had to NOT barf all over my keyboard...

You guys already know I don't feel comfortable with Glen Perkins doing that.
Right now it is a huge question mark...though to be honest, it is further down the to-do list, as I believe starting pitching takes precedence.

Soooo, how has everyone's off season outside of baseball been?
Mine has been pretty good. Both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Minnesota Wild are playing good hockey, so I am enjoying that....plus on the homefront, my 4 yr old and I have started to play board games together..
Ya, ya, I know..VERY sports related, but it's my post, and I'll Mom if I want to....

 

[Hauvster]

I agree with much of what you say there Sandy. I wasnt thrilled with the Carrol signing. i think we have some players already to fill that void. But the Doumit signing was a relief. I think he came cheaper than Molina, and with all the money tied up in Mauer, I'm thinking thats what they were thinking.

I hadnt given much thought to a closer because I really believed Joe would sign back up. Total bummer. Capps isnt the guy, and I am not comfortable with Perkins, but jeesh, Mijares? Please no. That guy is a one batter pitcher. Never been more than that. Guess its time to start looking at whats out there.

I think the siging of Doumit might also be insurance against/or because they may/will let Cuddyer go. If he does, Kubel will be signed. The Twins have to have someone who can hit a homer. But my gut tells me we will lose one of those guys. We have three months to see what shakes out.

 

[SandyBeach26]

I am still holding out hope the Twins would resign both Kubel AND Cuddyer, however, I do know that the Twins may not have the highest bid for Cuddyer. It may come down to whether he is willing to take a discount to stay in Minnesota.

Capps, thankfully, won't be part of the Twins next season, and the Twins may have to go with, at least to start out with, a "closer by committee"...
Not recommended, as that often doesn't work well, but right now, it's the only way they can go....but like you said, Hauvster, there is still time left in the off season, then you have spring training, and even once the season starts, deals can be made.

Not a huge George Sherrill fan, but I believe he is available and has closer experience, perhaps he can help? Boy, would a Heath Bell be nice,but pricey, pricey, pricey....plus, would he even WANT to come to Minneapolis? What with the offense being a bit in shambles..will there be leads to protect? Probably what he may think...

Still think the Twins should concentrate on starting pitching though...a guy like Gio Gonzalez, Edwin Jackson...maybe a Rich Harden or Aaron Harang? I mentioned all those guys on my opening post, and I still think one or two of those would help Minnesota....of course, there is the matter of price tags on some of those guys....

As far as Mijares, if he NEVER pitches another inning for the Minnesota Twins, I will be a happy gal. He along with Alex Burnett, Jim Hoey, Anthony Slama (really, Slama?? as in give up the Grand Slama??...ok, I digress...), and that Hacker or Hackett guy...full name escapes me right now...I really don't care to see those guys suit up again for the Twins.

Then of course, you have the Blue Cross Blue Shield cases in Justin Morneau, Denard Span, and Francisco Liriano....all HUGE unknowns, and really, not knowing about how well they will be able to perform, if at all, may very well be holding back the Twins decision making process.

And so the wait goes on...

 

[powerchord86]

Twins Open To Bringing Matt Capps Back
By Mike Axisa [November 22 at 9:34pm CST]
The Twins had two players save 14+ games this past season, and one of them agreed to join the Rangers yesterday. Minnesota is open to bringing the other one back, as John Shipley of The Pioneer Press reports that both GM Terry Ryan and Matt Capps are open to a reunion. The two sides spoke on Tuesday morning.

Ryan acknowledged Capps' struggles in 2011, when the 28-year-old right-hander pitched to a 4.25 ERA in 65 2/3 innings and was regularly booed off the field at Target Field. "I would say I'm looking back two years ago to the type of year he had," said the GM, referring to the 2010 season. Capps saved 42 games for the Nationals and Twins that year, posting a 2.47 ERA in 73 innings.

Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, Capps will be treated as a Type-B free agent. The Twins would receive a supplement draft pick if he signs elsewhere, but his new team will not have to forfeit a pick. The Red Sox and Angels have expressed interest in the burly right-hander recently.



If this goes down I hope Capps can get his butt in gear and bring back the Matt from the 2010 season.

I am with you Sandy on Cuddy and Kubel. Hope they stick around! :smile:

 

[SandyBeach26]

Well, powerchord, the only way I see Matt Capps succeeding is for him to add some life to his fastball. I mean, he throws hard, but it is way too straight.

He pitches to contact, which is fine, but when his pitches have no movement, they are easy for a pro MLB player to drive.
And that will be true no matter where he ends up.

 

[powerchord86]

That has been his story even since I have known of him. Maybe the dog can learn a new trick.

 

[Hauvster]

Thats my stance as well Sandy. Spend the money on a couple of quality starters. If we dont atleast do that, we have no chance next season. I think we could survive with some of the players we have in the line up (now that Butera is done). Not saying we wouldnt have dry spells, but I saw alot of positive play from those no namers.

But that pitching staff, bull pen included, just stinks. I hold out hope that leadership can play a roll in bringing it around. I can live with Baker and Pavano, but after that, we better have a couple guys that can win. Maybe some of the old starters can slide down to the pen, but I'm not even sure they can do that. We need quality pitching, not just warm bodies that can throw strikes. Thats my PoV...spend the money on pitchers.

 

[powerchord86]

Damn, just as I was about to suggest Broxton the Royals step in and scoop him up. Sounds like they got him on a one-year deal for 4MM. Not a bad deal for a decent closer who can still throw hard and is looking for a bounce back year.

 

[Hauvster]

What is Capps going to cost us this year? More than 4 mill, I am sure.

 

[powerchord86]

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [December 1 at 8:54am CST]
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire joined 1500 ESPN's Talkin' Twins show last night and said the Twins are attempting to put together a team that can win even if Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau aren’t ready for Opening Day. “I think that's a pretty good idea,” Gardenhire said. “If we have those guys back on the field, which I believe we will... we'll have a heck of a baseball team." Here are more details on the Twins’ offseason plans, via Phil Mackey of 1500ESPN.com:

•The team has made offers to some of its current free agents. The Twins are “making a mad effort” to sign Michael Cuddyer and they’d “love to have” Jason Kubel back. However, re-signing both players isn’t necessarily realistic.
•Matt Capps struggled in 2011 and could bring the Twins a compensatory draft pick in 2012, but the team is working to re-sign him. Gardenhire would like to bring the right-hander back because he’s a “great teammate and a good pitcher” who pitched through pain in 2011, even though the results weren’t there and “people got frustrated with him.” The 28-year-old posted a 4.25 ERA with 4.7 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 65 2/3 innings in 2011 and his peripheral stats were significantly worse than they were in 2010.
•Gardenhire said his entire 2012 rotation is “not necessarily” on the Twins roster just yet.

I like the sounds of that last comment from Gardy. Let's hope this means they are getting ready to go out and get some arms. :help:

 

[buckamania]

Good report, PC! - Morneau ain't coming back, he'll try, but it's not realistic. He's toast like Aikman and Koskie were and he's missed too much game-time to boot. Speaking of concussions, Sydney Crosby's return was pretty impressive but if he got dinged like Morneau did, he (Crosby) may wind up in the DL again himself. Hope not! (Didn't someone we used to talk to say Morneau was faking his injury?) That's a real genius at work!

I fully expect Ryan to do a lot of "housework" between now and the start of the 2012 Season so I'm just gonna let him do his job. After what Smith did (Nishi, et al) I don't expect miracles, but with a lot of luck with Mauer and maybe Morneau, we must remember that this is still "just" the Central Division and it's always there for the taking. Also remember that in the Twin's hey-day they were never rated higher than 4th-6th in the AL, and that's when everyone was younger and healthier. The Yankees always dusted them off in the play-offs which told me that the Twins were fun to watch, but don't consider them a true play-off threat. Later!