Minnesota Twins Talk

A little bored on this cold Minnesota week-end while you wait for TwinsFest and spring training to begin? Stop by at www.twinstrivia.com where I just posted my first Minnesota Twins crossword puzzle. Print it out and see how well you know your Twins history. Thank you and I hope you enjoy it.

I've never been to Twins Fest, and normally wouldn't consider going, but my daughter is a huge Joe Mauer fan (she went as him for Halloween) and would love to meet him this year. We also have two free tickets. I noticed that players, like Joe, are available at certain times. I'm assuming he's got the most wait time, but does anyone know what the lines/wait time are like? Any info or experience would be much appreciated. Thanks!

According to Rhett Bollinger, the Twins and Brian Duensing have agreed to a one year, $1.3 million contract to avoid arbitration. He is the last arbitration guy for the Twins, so again, no arbitration cases. My opinion is that the Twins got a very good deal on this one.

Drew Butera and Twins agree to 700K deal. A little more than I thought...

KFFL asks four burning fantasy baseball questions about the Twins, but they're good enough questions for non-fantasy baseball fans: What are Justin Morneau's prospects of returning to All-Star form? How will Glen Perkins handle the closing job? What will Trevor Plouffe do with a full-time job? Where will Minnesota get its best starting pitching?

Justin Morneau is 'miles ahead' of where he was last offseason - Minnesota Twins news | 1500 ESPN Twin Cities ? Minnesota Sports News & Opinion (Twins, Vikings, Wolves, Wild, Gophers) | Sportswire: Minnesota Twins Phil Mackey interviewed Justin Morneau and it was vastly different from when Morneau spoke to the media early in spring training last year. For the first time in years, he has been able to enjoy a normal offseason. Good for him, and hopefully he can put up another monster season in 2013!

I was just wondering if anyone here knows who from the Twins organization is playing this year. I know Morneau and Andrew Albers and possibly Scott Diamond will be representing Canada. Who else is playing and for what team?

Today, LHP Brian Duensing and C Drew Butera were among 133 MLB players who filed for free agency. Duensing could get between $1.5M and $2.0M. Butera will likely get somewhere between $0.6M and $0.8M.

Scott Pianowski of Yahoo Sports gives us an entertaining article previewing the Twins 2013 sason. He asks several questions and then answers them as best he can. Some of them might make interesting forum topics. He also points out some stats on right-handed versus left-handed power..... If you're looking for some fun writing about your favorite team, I'd recommend clicking over. Then come back here with your thoughts.

Vote for up to 2 I personally went with, Twins chances (I give them 20% chance to win the central and a 3-5% to win it all)

Here at Twins Daily, Twins general manager Terry Ryan has faced some criticism for his handling of the offseason as it relates to improving his team for 2013. Twins Daily's Nick Nelson pointed that out that Ryan's statements from earlier in the winter did not quite jive with his actions when it came to fixing the pitching staff. In their weekly podcast, John Bonnes and Aaron Gleeman addressed the same topic and discussed how the team's projected payroll ($78.5 million) is essentially the same as the 2007 opening day payroll of $71 million. Both pieces make compelling arguments for spending more on resources for 2013. Meanwhile, 1500ESPN.com's Phil Mackey takes the st…

Brad Berreman at Rant Sports published an outlook for how the Twins look from a fantasy baseball perspective. I thought it was pretty balanced. I would think the "sleepers" would be Ryan Doumit (who is a better fantasy player than real player) and Aaron Hicks would be near the top of the list. Maybe also Chris Parmelee, if he's overlooked in your league. I especially liked this evaluation of the shortstops....

Minnesota Twins right-hander Nick Blackburn to miss start of season after wrist surgery | MLB.com: News

On Rant Sports, Brad Berreman examines the possibility of bringing back the top remaining FA starting pitcher. MLB Rumors: Will The Minnesota Twins Add A Familiar Starting Pitcher? He concludes that the Twins probably won't (and probably shouldn't) but it's a good synopsis of the challenges Lohse faces in dealing with teams, despite a really, really good year in 2012. His last line... I'll ask - is there a deal out there that would work for the Twins and Lohse? For instance, would you sign off on a 1 year/$10M deal, knowing it's going to cost the Twins their 2nd round pick. Would having the chance at giving him a qualified offer next year, and potentially regain…

As I was reading mlbtraderumors.com, came across a quote from Buck Showalter that I really liked. When asked about the possibility of trading JJ Hardy, Showalter responded "what word is about "overwhelmed?" It just gets me mad thinking about the Twins trading JJ for basically nothing. I hated the trade at the time and really hate it now. My question is what would make the Twins trade him and get such little in return? I realize he didn't have a great year, but shortstops that hit for power and have a solid glove still have value. The Twins traded him at his lowest possible value. Money I think had a little to do with it. However, I have got a pretty good hunch Gardy was t…

GM Terry Ryan says he wants someone to push Trevor Plouffe at 3B. Yet no one has been signed as a FA for this purpose. No one has been received in trade for this. Assuming no one is signed before ST, that leaves just those on the 40-man roster, or those on the invite list. Let's look at the likely candidates to play 3B: ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *BA/OBP/SLG/OPS Trevor Plouffe * * * * * *3 years * .231/.295/.423/.718 Jamey Carrol * * * * *11 years * *.276/.354/.344/.698 Eduardo Escobar * *1 year * * * .217/.278/.261/.539 Other infielders on the 40-man roster have little or no experience at 3B. Among those on the Invite list: ** * * …

On another forum I post on, there are quite a few who don't believe Mastroianni can be an everyday centerfielder. I disagree. Following his stats in the minors, it appears he was drafted out of a Div II school in which he was an All-American and batted .407. He began his professional career in 2007 and steadily rose in Toronto's organization. It didn't appear he got a fair shake there, made one major league appearance, got sent back down and then DFA'd when the Twins picked him up. Notable highlights from his minor league career, he stole 70 bases one year in the minors and was named to a number of league All-Star teams. He impressed me last season as a gamer. He p…

The Twins are offering an interesting option for Twinsfest this week for autograph hounds. What struck me as interesting are the limitations: I'm not an autograph or collectible guy, really, so I'm wondering from some people who understand this stuff a little bit more, how it works. Why won't Mauer put MVP on any of the autographs? Why not a game-used item? Why won't Carew do HOF stuff? Why WILL Molitor? I assume they have some contractual commitments that keep them from doing this? Or is it to protect future autograph sessions when they're retired? Anyone know?

Do you watch the sports show on Channel 45 at 930 on Sunday nights? If you do you may skip the next few sentences. With regards the baseball hall of fame shutout this year mike max asked about changes to the voting system. Reuse and Vice President lavelle both said that the system should stay the same and next will be big to make it up for it. Then people will say they elect too many people to the hall of fame. Sid said it that he can't believe that couldn't elect someone and that is time for a change. And I agree. Maybe we could account for announcers and other Internet writers such as bloggers to reflect the way the sport is covered. It is the most Internet heavily f…

Scott Boras in the past has suggested to other teams that losing would improve there teams in the long run. I still like the idea of signing quality players and using them to build a sucsesful minor leaque system and mlb team. Free agency is not the only way to do this , but is 1 of 4 ways to accomplish it There are F.A. , draftspicks, DFAs, and rule 5s,but if you ignore 2 of these avenues you are missing out on many oppertunitys If you look back at last years draft(which many claim was a total sucsess) you see we chose 1 starting pitcher in the first 10 rounds,and he is an 18 year old who if ever, makes the show will be at least 5 years from now. In the free agent m…

Let's get this down before Marcum signs - what is your over/under number for a "good" contract for Shaun Marcum. Aaron and I wrestled a bit about this on the latest podcast. He's willing to give Marcum a 2-year deal, say for $15M. I'm not. In fact, I'd be more willing to offer him a 1/10 deal than a 2/15. What is your number? It has to answer two questions: - above it, you say "no" - below it, you say "yes" I'm going to go with 1 year/9M. I'm not willing to do a 2-year deal.

Got the following email from someone today... The last couple of times I've gone to spring training, I've mostly seen Twins games at other stadiums, so I'm not sure I have the best answer to this. Any advice from the community? Thanks!

Late this afternoon, Glen Perkins tweeted that he had just got off the phone with Joe Torre who informed him that he would be joining Joe Mauer on Team USA in the WBC.

An interesting quote by Terry Ryan. "'We've got to start being realistic . . . [a]nd realistic is, in September, (playing) meaningful games. You talk about winning the division -- well, we all want to do that. Postseason, we all want to do that. 'But coming off the amount of losses that we've had. . . Playing major league baseball in September when the games don't mean a thing, that's no good for anybody. We need to get to that point before we can start worrying about much of anything else.'" Notebook: Twins Likely Done Making Significant Moves this Ooffseason

As I have my tickets for the week I will be there, I was wondering if anyone else would be going to Spring Training. I know many of you probably think, 'Why? The Twins won't be great this year, why bother?' To me it doesn't matter. I love Spring Training for so many reasons. It breaks the drought and brings on a new seasons of games, and hope, for one. Another, it's a unique baseball experience. Three, it's a chance to see former, current, and soon-to-be players working out. Whether or not the Twins are predicted to have a good or bad year, it's a chance to get 'up close and personal' while scoping out who will make the cut as well as the future team. If you go ea…

Does Nishioka deserve consideration at this point? Who are some other nominees? Terry Felton is probably right up there.

The Chicago White Sox have signed Jeff Gray to a minor league deal. There's your World Series Champs, folks!

In 1990, the Twins finished last in the AL Western Division. In 1991, they won the World Series. Most of us would love to see that happen again. This is intended to be a FUN thread where, within reason, we can post our fantasies about how this could happen. Here are some of my fantasies: 1. Mauer and Morneau both return to MVP form and finish 1st and 2nd in the AL MVP voting for 2013. Plouffe gets a new girlfriend (introduced to him by Bark's Lounge) and finishes 5th in the MVP voting. 2. Some combination of Carroll, Dozier, Florimon, Escobar, etc. comes together to provide at least league average 2B and SS, with clutch defense in key postseason games. 3. …

I've enjoyed these in the past - any word if Seth & Co are producing one this year? Twinsfest is getting awful close.

Word is the Twins have expressed interest in both infielders... Out of the two which would you prefer?