It seems to me that some of the best (the garza's of the world) are not going to be interested if we don't show we are serious (Nolasco and a catcher for example, maybe another pitcher like Hughes, Pelfrey)

I'm there. Diomer Navarro would fill the bill as the FA catcher quite nicely, and well within budget (without the long-term encumberance), while waiting to see how significantly and quickly that Pinto makes his own impact felt.

 

I'm not on board with Half Measures, though. The poster you responded to re-stated the long-time fallacy that the Twins accumulate "rollover" money- while it's readily apparent that they do not do so-there's no such thing as saving up in 2013-14, for purposes of taking a shot at bigger names in 2015. The money is there, the commitment by Pohlad is there, this offseason, right now.

 

Now that Nolasco is in the fold, why not double down....roll the dice.... doing whatever it takes in insuring the winning bid on Tanaka?.....makes a lot of sense compared to trying to compete for more known quantities, Kershaw, et al, one year later. At least 3/5ths of your rotation would be set up for the arrival of the next wave. If Meyer and Gibson come around and establish themselves in rounding out the rotation sometime during 2014, the Twins could actually be a fringe contender as early as this coming season and can realistically plan to hit the ground running as a full-blown contender in 2015.

 

Jokin, I'm not ready to double down this year. Tanaka's probably not gonna happen (not TR's style) and I wouldn't want it to. The Twins in my opinion have much deeper worries than what a couple good free agent pitchers will fix. They need to get their young pitchers going, then groom Sano and Buxton for their call ups. Player development will still be the main focus for 2014. There's no reason Buxton or Sano can't then excel in their first full seasons like the Trouts and the Goldschmidts. Maybe Hicks moves to right. Florimon and Dozier build on 2013. And on a separate note. I know you agree but I will remind you of one more thing. September rolls around and it's quittin' time. For a 27-58 record in September the last three years. Not questioning anyone's individual efforts, just pointing it out. Nobody can or will identify why this happens, but it happens. So that needs to get fixed also.

 

So anyway, even in the wild-card era, it's expecting a lot to go from 96 losses to playoff contention in one season. So I'm on board for half-measures to get this team back to .500 and finishing strong. Nolasco + Kazmir or Hughes + maybe a catcher would be a good offseason, develop your prospects, figure out a batting order, then go all in for 2015.

You might not want to tell him that he also requested Eric Fryer to be his personal catcher.

 

*ducks*

 

 

I know I'm a little late to the party, but this was fantastic.