Will the Twins ever sign a top free agent or are we all just wasting our time?

[DaveW]

Glad the Twins could get the taxpayers to give them a new stadium! But fail to pull the very very very reasonable trigger on Darvish.

 

So my question is:

 

Will the Twins ever be serious about brining in a top FA?

 

Or do we have to hope and pray we develop everything internally and hit lightning in a bottle?

[jimmer]

When the speculation about Darvish to the Twins started, I said I believe it's pure fantasy to believe the Twins will sign Darvish.

[DaveW]

Canceling my 20 game plan next year, hope more follow suit.

 

81-81 baby

[notoriousgod71]

 

Canceling my 20 game plan next year, hope more follow suit.

81-81 baby

 

That is optimistic. We don't even have a 4th or 5th starter three days from camp and if it ends up being Tillman and Lackey we won't win 75.

[jimmer]

 

Canceling my 20 game plan next year, hope more follow suit.

81-81 baby

I'll be there during the Cleveland Series.  Going to the June 1-3 games.

[Jham]

As soon as mlb addresses tanking and hording profits/ profit shares maybe.

[luckylager]

So the Twins missed out on the top SP available. That means they didn't make a serious offer? I wouldn't give Darvish (or anyone besides Kershaw) a 6 year deal.  

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

6/126 is very light. Did the Twins offer 5/126?

[DaveW]

I'll be there during the Cleveland Series. Going to the June 1-3 games.

I will still goto plenty of games, just will buy them at below market value or goto other cities.

 

Shame on the Twins. We somehow are the only franchise in sports that has a young team, make the playoffs and then just sort of be satisfied with that and NOT improve our biggest weakness.

[drjim]

They probably won't and shouldn't. Not sure why anyone thinks they would be able to outbid the Cubs or Dodgers on a long term deal.

 

They can still sign good FAs and top guys on short deals when they are in a good cycle.

[Jham]

So the Twins missed out on the top SP available. That means they didn't make a serious offer? I wouldn't give Darvish (or anyone besides Kershaw) a 6 year deal.

More affordable to the average middle class family: 15 yr fixed or 30 yr fixed mortgage? 15 yr is a better value (potentially) but not feasible for people on limited incomes (payroll constraints). Doesn't mean you shouldn't buy a house if you can only afford the 30 yr. Might be your only option in fact.

[Riverbrian]

1st... we don't know what the Twins offered Darvish. Where Darvish wants to go is always going to be a part of the equation so a complete rebuke of the organization isn't fair without that key information. 

 

2nd... I will withhold overall judgement until the off season is complete. If all eggs were in the Darvish basket then I think it is completely fair to say that they failed. 

 

3rd... If Plan B or C is decent enough... The benefit of the doubt is still reasonable. 

 

4th... Yeah... If the Twins couldn't top that offer and get a deal done this year in the current climate with the Dodgers and Yankees out. They may never sign a top free agent. I think feeling that way is completely fair. 

 

5th... I would have given him a 7th year or 6/150 but I'm not responsible for keeping the current and future math on the spreadsheets on target. 

[drjim]

1st... we don't know what the Twins offered Darvish. Where Darvish wants to go is always going to be a part of the equation so a complete rebuke of the organization isn't fair without that key information.

 

2nd... I will withhold overall judgement until the off season is complete. If all eggs were in the Darvish basket then I think it is completely fair to say that they failed.

 

3rd... If Plan B or C is decent enough... The benefit of the doubt is still reasonable.

 

4th... Yeah... If the Twins couldn't top that offer and get a deal done this year in the current climate with the Dodgers and Yankees out. They may never sign a top free agent. I think feeling that way is completely fair.

 

5th... I would have given him a 7th year or 6/150 but I'm not responsible for keeping the current and future math on the spreadsheets on target.

They offered 5 years, a little north of $100mil.

 

I'm with you on B. Nothing wrong with going after Darvish, but it was always a longshot and I hope they lock up Cobb or Lynn.

 

My expectation was always one of those two on a 4ish year deal and then another guy on a one year deal.

[crapforks]

Benefit of the doubt. No reason to not believe the Twins weren't serious about Darvish. All signs pointed to CHC, LAD, NYY, and maybe TEX as preferred landing spots. Not unreasonable to consider the Twins offered the same contract (or even beat it) and Darvish simply chose the larger market. 

[terrydactyls]

Glad the Twins could get the taxpayers to give them a new stadium! But fail to pull the very very very reasonable trigger on Darvish.

So my question is:

Will the Twins ever be serious about brining in a top FA?

Or do we have to hope and pray we develop everything internally and hit lightning in a bottle?

Maybe the Twins did "pull the very very very reasonable trigger" on Darvish and Darvish responded with "I don't want to play in Minnesota." No one writing on this web site has all the facts surrounding the negotiations, so to start the whining about a free stadium is a little childish.

 

And out of curiousity, why would anybody "brine" a free agent? Aren't they tender enough already?

[Riverbrian]

 

They offered 5 years, a little north of $100mil.

I'm with you on B. Nothing wrong with going after Darvish, but it was always a longshot and I hope they lock up Cobb or Lynn.

My expectation was always one of those two on a 4ish year deal and then another guy on a one year deal.

 

Maybe... but I haven't seen anything definite about what the Twins offered... Maybe the Agent never called the Twins back to say that the Cubs are at 6 years to give them a chance to beat it. Maybe the Agent has been telling the Twins that Darvish had a 6 year offer every single phone conversation. Maybe if the Twins would have offered 6 years back in January the deal would have been done. No way of knowing for sure. 

 

But Yeah... The Twins had to know it was possible that Darvish would sign elsewhere... it's time to find out if they had a decent plan B. 

 

 

[notoriousgod71]

 

Benefit of the doubt. No reason to not believe the Twins weren't serious about Darvish. All signs pointed to CHC, LAD, NYY, and maybe TEX as preferred landing spots. Not unreasonable to consider the Twins offered the same contract (or even beat it) and Darvish simply chose the larger market. 

 

40 years of history suggest they weren't serious about signing an impact FA.

[KirbyDome89]

 

They probably won't and shouldn't. Not sure why anyone thinks they would be able to outbid the Cubs or Dodgers on a long term deal.

They can still sign good FAs and top guys on short deals when they are in a good cycle.

The Twins are in a good cycle right now. Top players aren't interested in signing short deals, they made that very apparent this offseason. 

[DaveW]

Love how people give so much benefit of the doubt to a team who hasn’t won a playoff game in a decade+ and who has one playoff series win in 26 years and has never signed a top free agent during that span as well.

[luckylager]

 

More affordable to the average middle class family: 15 yr fixed or 30 yr fixed mortgage? 15 yr is a better value (potentially) but not feasible for people on limited incomes (payroll constraints). Doesn't mean you shouldn't buy a house if you can only afford the 30 yr. Might be your only option in fact.

 

Agree to a point. The meat of the Twins' roster is young and not currently sucking a ton of salary. That is going to change rapidly in the next 3+ years. I would hate to see year 5-6 of Darvish's contract cause the Twins to lose a Berrios, Buxton or Sano.  

[DaveW]

Agree to a point. The meat of the Twins' roster is young and not currently sucking a ton of salary. That is going to change rapidly in the next 3+ years. I would hate to see year 5-6 of Darvish's contract cause the Twins to lose a Berrios, Buxton or Sano.

The Twins also have a ton of salary coming off the books in the next few years as well.

 

Worrying so much about a bunch of hypotheticals 5 years down the road is a terrible way to run a franchise.

[Squirrel]

My response to the signing ... meh. Not what I hoped to happen but not at all surprising.

 

My next hope would be that when we play the Cubs in Wrigley at the end of June, we face Yu and beat the crap out of the Cubs.

[gunnarthor]

Depends on what you mean by top FA. Both Nolasco and Santana were top 10 FA in their respective years. If you mean shelling out for Darvish or someone even more expensive, no. The Pohlads still own this team.

[DaveW]

Depends on what you mean by top FA. Both Nolasco and Santana were top 10 FA in their respective years. If you mean shelling out for Darvish or someone even more expensive, no. The Pohlads still own this team.

For the sake of this convo: let’s say 9 figures. Or hell even $80 mil+

[drjim]

The Twins are in a good cycle right now. Top players aren't interested in signing short deals, they made that very apparent this offseason.

I expect them to sign a good free agent. Never anticipated them outbidding the top teams for the top guys.

 

By short deals, I meant elite guys near end of career, not elite guys looking at first fa deal.

[Nick Nelson]

Just a reminder that the Twins signed Joe Mauer to a contract that remains one of the 15 largest in MLB history. 

[DaveW]

Just a reminder that the Twins signed Joe Mauer to a contract that remains one of the 15 largest in MLB history.

He wasn’t a free agent.

 

Also one big contract in 25 years, WOW! Pretty much Steinbrenner version 2.0 at that rate.

 

Color me unimpressed.

[twins_89]

The Darvish situation was an almost unprecedented alignment of team need, personal connections, resources available, and limited competition (Dodgers, Yankees, and Rangers all unwilling to spend the required money). If the Twins were unable to succeed in this scenario, I can't see time in the future where things will ever be more conducive to signing a top free agent, meaning I highly doubt Minnesota will ever compete for top talent.

[gunnarthor]

 

For the sake of this convo: let’s say 9 figures. Or hell even $80 mil+

80m? I'd probably say yes in the next three years. Nine figures? No. Not until we get different owners.

[notoriousgod71]

 

The Darvish situation was an almost unprecedented alignment of team need, personal connections, resources available, and limited competition (Dodgers, Yankees, and Rangers all unwilling to spend the required money). If the Twins were unable to succeed in this scenario, I can't see time in the future where things will ever be more conducive to signing a top free agent, meaning I highly doubt Minnesota will ever compete for top talent.

The cherry on top would have been if he was a Minnesota native.