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2019 Cishek: 2.95 ERA, 4.54 FIP, 8 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, WHIP 1.203 Age 33 2019 Kintzler: 2.68 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 7.6 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, WHIP 1.018 Age 35 2019 Harris: 1.50 ERA, 3.14 FIP, 9.3 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, WHIP .933 Age 35 2019 Hudson: 2.47 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 8.8 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, WHIP 1.137 Age 32 2019 Clippard: 2.90 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 9.3 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, WHIP .855 Age 34 What about comparing those numbers just screams it was a money move? Harris isn't a free agent. Hudson reportedly wants a multi-year deal. Directly from MLBtraderumors: Beyond those surface-level numbers, Clippard, 35 in February, excelled in a number of areas. He ranked in the game’s 98th percentile in terms of average exit velocity allowed, at a paltry 85 mph, and his opponents’ hard-hit rate (28.8 percent) landed in the 95th percentile among MLB hurlers. The .260 weighted on-base average (wOBA) to which he held opponents was also among the game’s best and was a near match for the .264 expected wOBA projected by Statcast. If he would have signed for $7.5M would you have thought this was a better signing? It's not always about the money. Looks on the surface like a steal for the Twins and a great guy to have added to the pen.

Not bad. And one year makes sense.

But criticizing criticism of the front office isn't a waste of time? What about my post criticizing the criticizing of the front office criticism? You may consider the article regurgitation of other complaints, I saw it as a summary. Reasonable, direct, and apropos given the end of winter meetings.

Clippard had a .855 WHIP, 4.27 K/BB ratio in Cleveland... sign me up! I thought he was a lefty at first, but no, he's another righty. Having a bullpen of Rogers, Romo, Duffey, Clippard, May, Littell, Stashak and others is a strong group to start the year, especially compared to last year. Now let's see if we can land Ryu or Donaldson... or maybe both?

That 5.87 ERA was accumulated mostly as a starter, which I don't think he is going forward. I'm willing to bet if he pitches 1 to 2 inning outings, he'll drastically improve.

I really like this, Clippard has been one of my favorite underrated relievers I was hoping the Twins would sign each of the past two years. He's only ever had one bad season, I don't think relievers get much more reliable year-to-year.

This has been one absolutely crazy offseason so far. Teams that don’t usually shell out money have done exactly that and some of the strangest trades have occurred (Corey Kluber to the Rangers, though?). But in all of this change there is something that has anchored us back in the reality of the offseason; the Twins continue to come up short when it comes to acquiring impact talentThe winter meetings came and went and all that came out of the Twins’ camp were rumors and speculation regarding potential targets and offers made to free agents who signed elsewhere. This is, of course, a part of the monotonous cycle of free agency as not every day or week or month can be exciting regarding the moves being made. A few moves have been made but most of them have been foundational in nature and not transactions that catapult the team into the upper echelon of baseball. Before I go further, I want to make something quite clear; I have mostly been a fan of what the front office headed by Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have done since taking over after the worst season in Twins’ history. They have worked wonders in upgrading the minor league system so that players have more personally-tailored coaching and are better suited for major league play when they get the call. They have also been incredibly pragmatic in making moves with the future in mind while avoiding some of the pitfalls that come with being overzealous in the free agent market as a team looking to right the ship. I feel like I have to get this out of the way because sometimes criticism is mistaken for an outright dislike of someone/something as a whole when that isn’t the case. So, with all of this being said, I have one major point of anxiety that worries me regarding how the rest of the offseason will go. Almost a year ago was when Thad Levine dropped his somewhat infamous quotes regarding when a team should make big moves in which he used analogies that included both open windows and neck stomping. The comments didn’t go over particularly well with Twins fans who looked at the remaining free agents who could have impacted the team while also eyeballing the payroll drop from 2018 into 2019 and couldn’t quite understand the hesitation. This type of risk-averse thinking regarding transactions is nothing new in this landscape of baseball but luckily for Levine, the 2019 team did pretty well so his comments can be somewhat forgiven. The thing is, we so far have yet to see this promise to eventually make big moves actually pan out. The Twins had their first shot at proving themselves last season at the trade deadline and acquired two relievers (albeit good ones, at least at the time) when it was painfully apparent that they needed one more starting pitcher as well. We all know how that ended so I don’t think that I need to dwell on this specific instance too much but this decision gave me reasons to pause. Levine specifically stated that they prefer to make big moves when their team is in the driver’s seat, so what gives? Was the position they were in at the deadline not good enough? Many people will point to the Pohlads and their notorious cheapness but I don’t believe that to be the case in these situations. They offered 100 million dollars to Zack Wheeler and Darren Wolfson reported that ownership had no limits regarding their chase for Madison Bumgarner (personally, I think holding back on going five years was smart but that’s a different topic). Both misses hurt but both players also seemed pretty dead-set on joining the locations of each team respectively, so some slack can be cut there. But when will the reasons for a player not joining the team finally end and the script gets flipped? It almost feels like never at this point. This inability to walk the walk is where I have a great level of anxiety regarding the rest of the offseason. They balked once when it came to making a big splash and I tend to believe that executives are consistent in how they make moves. Being gun-shy once would lead me to believe that they will be hesitant once more in actually fulfilling their promises and in a division where the second-place team is literally begging to be buried, this would be a major mistake. The mindset of a lot of front offices is almost always focused on the downside of a move. They look at a player like Hyun-Jin Ryu and think “well, what happens if his injury-prone past continues and he declines rapidly” instead of thinking “what if he’s over these issues and we can snag a pitcher who finished second in Cy Young voting”? We can debate the possibilities of both outcomes and weigh them to reach the optimal outcome, but is that really the way to go about it? Didn’t we just see two teams in the World Series who both took tremendous risks to get there? The exercise in self-discipline in the Twins front office so far regarding these types of moves has been overbearing. Most of us don’t live our lives as purely utilitarian beings with no need to give in to the enjoyments that life has to offer. We like to live a little and do something that might be bad for us because it just feels so damn good to do it in the moment- that’s one of the major characteristics of being a human. With the way the Twins are set up, they can afford to take on a little risk and act in a way that a fan would. They already have Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler locked up long term and most every other major core player is either pre-arb or in early stages of arbitration so they will never be cheaper than they are currently. There will never be an absolutely perfect opportunity to make these kinds of moves so to wait for such a fairy-tale opening would be foolish. The payroll is low, the minor league talent is deep, and the major league team is the best it has been in a long time. Now is absolutely the time to step on the gas and it is completely up to you guys in the front office to do it. The offseason isn’t over yet but the chances to make the impact moves they promised seemingly diminish with each passing day. So, impress me, do something out of your comfort level and change the future of the Twins forever. What do you think? Do the Twins need to own up to what they've been promising? Leave a comment and join the discussion. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook, or email — Follow Matt Braun on Twitter here Click here to view the article

Dang good move here. We will quietly have one of the best pens of '20

They could try cold hard cash. ... ... hahahahahaha I kill me.

Evidently folks don't understand how the FA market works. Top end FA are going to go to top teams in Large markets or go to places that they have history or interest in .... Baumgarner to Arizona because his horses are there... Wow. Front office is working to try to land the talent but if the agent and or player doesn't think it is a fit they are going to go elsewhere. There is a reason why players tend not to come to MN.. past has been $ but also the spring weather... Likely going to need to spin a trade for a starter and use our depth in the minor league to fill the gaps or to be part of the trade. Folks this is the reality and has been for years.. getting pissed at the Front office for not getting Cole, Strasburg, etc is pointless and beyond what anyone in that position is going to be able to do. Sucks but is true....

Deepen that thing!!! Keep going... bring in the arms!

Good, rock-solid pitcher. Very much in the Terry Ryan/Falvine mold of a signing...1 year, vet, cheap, zero-risk. He'll be a good, reliable back end of the bullpen arm

Low risk move who can be cut easily if the wheels fall off.

You are correct, until baseball implements a salary cap, the big boys - the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, etc. are always going to have an advantage, a very big advantage. If the Twins blow it on a free agent, pick the wrong one, he gets hurt, etc, the Twins are hamstrung for years. The big boys just go sign another one.

The Twins continued to address their bullpen on Friday with the announcement that they have signed veteran right-handed reliever Tyler Clippard to a one-year deal. In addition, the Sergio Romo signing was confirmed.While we all wait for the big, "impact" move, the Twins announced a couple of moves that will hopefully solidify their 2020 bullpen. 34-year-old Tyler Clippard was signed to a one-year deal. He pitched in 53 games for Cleveland in 2019 and went 1-0 with a 2.90 ERA in 62 innings. He has been in pro ball for 17 years, starting in 2003 when he was a ninth-round pick of the Yankees. Since then, he has played in 13 big-league seasons and played in two All-Star Games. He has spent time with the Yankees, Nationals, A's, Mets, Diamondbacks, White Sox, Astros, Blue Jays and Indians. The team also confirmed the signing of Sergio Romo to a one-year contract with a 2021 option. The Twins 40-man roster is now at 38. And no, a $2.75 million contract for a reliever has no effect on their pursuit of the likes of Josh Donaldson or Hyun-Jin Ryu. A potential Twins bullpen could now include: Taylor Rogers Tyler Duffey Trevor May Sergio Romo Tyler Clippard Zack Littell Cody Stashak Fernando Romero Matt Wisler Jorge Alcala (and guys like Dobnak, Smeltzer, Thorpe, Graterol) Click here to view the article

A nice stocking stuffer, but I still want to see the 2020 SUV in the driveway Christmas morning.

Solid. Throwing more strikes last 2 years cut his walk rate in half. Less K's than prior years but improvement of WHIP into elite territory.

The Twins are a lot more fun to follow when the are competitive, have a >.500 record, than when they are 23 games out of first place. I'd rather see them be competitive 8 out of 10 years vs pushing all their chips in, signing 1-2 big buck free agents or making big trades, maybe making the World Series -- and then having a string of 5-6 sub .500 years. If they keep a young competitive core, sign an occasional free agent (can you say Nelson Cruz!!!), stay above .500, they'll keep me happy.

Under the radar player who has done nothing but done well. Edwar Colina comes up.

This is just a really long post regurgitating the same points being made over and over; I'm not sure how it constitutes a "message to the front office" (to whom it's not even addressed) or what the purpose of it is. Saying that the front office should "act like a fan" is just about the worst suggestion possible in sports. Contrary to what a lot of people on here seem to think, it's actually pretty hard running an MLB organization. They do consider all of their options and do consider all kinds of different scenarios. The difference is that they are held accountable for their decisions. Fans aren't. The actual professionals have a lot on the line. Message board posters have nothing on the line. If someone has a question or an idea, by all means, discussion is a good thing. Restating mindless, blanket criticism does not generate meaningful discussion and really is a waste of time for everyone involved.

Actually, it has a natural harbor right on the Atlantic Ocean. Plus you could probably get a good deal working as a spokesman for LL Bean.

Better yet, during the game.

I read the headline, Matt, and thought here we go again. Well, that was wrong as I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, we all know much of what you wrote and I suspect the FO would agree with most of it. I believe these guys have a set of guidelines that they may bend, but won't break. I see that type of discipline as a requirement in managing a mid-market baseball team. No matter how much talk there is about the second group of pitchers, let's admit there were only two free agents this year that would have given the team a much better chance at a Series win. And there was almost zero probability of getting either to the land of 10,0000 lakes. The next group has talent, but every one of them also had a lot of warts, including age, health and making that move from the National to American League. It appears they were very interested in Wheeler, who unfortunately had no interest in coming here once his minimum contract requirements were met by a team in an area he wanted to be in. Although Ryu remains, we are now at the third group led by Kuechel. I expect they have had some trade talks, however, won't get serious on that front until they have worked thru this next group of potential signings. But I don't see them forgetting about their guidelines (both dollars and contract length) when dealing with this group just to fill that #4 slot, and they shouldn't. Yes, they need at least one more experienced starter. It is possible they have always thought he would arrive via trade. They just have to work thru the free agent process before finalizing that deal, be it a big one or more similar to the Odorizzi deal. Meanwhile we need to understand they have a plan and as hard as it is, be patient as well.

They could let anyone who signs in free agency run the bases after every game.

With the winter meetings over and the pickings for free agent talent growing slim, it appears that the Twins need some help in landing players. They have a playoff roster and money to spare yet are finding no takers. Clearly, they need some curb appeal. Here are some suggestions for turning this whole thing around.Put some good-ass snacks in the dish at the front desk. You know how when you go to a bigshot corporate office the receptionist has a bowl of, like, Jolly Ranchers or Life Savers at the main desk? Oh. Great. Thanks. But how about when it’s like whole candy bars or cold Gatorade or chicken fingers with an assortment of dipping sauces? You’d probably think, hey, these guys are awesome. Especially if you can pitch 200+ innings in a season and anchor the middle of a rotation for 3-4 years. Hire Chip & Jo. The hosts of Fixer Upper have managed to make total dogcrap houses in Waco, Texas look like attractive, desirable homes with a little shiplap and a lot of dad jokes and farm sinks. You gotta figure we can turn Chip loose with sledgehammer in the clubhouse and let Jo design the perfect workspace for a third baseman who can field the position and hit for power. Offer a chance to record an album of duets with Joe Mauer. The retired Twins catcher already has an apocryphal rap album in his discography. As a father of young children, he probably relishes the chance to get the entire hell out of the house. And who would turn down the chance to enter the studio with a future Hall of Famer to lay down some tracks over some sick beats? Definitely not a back-of-the-rotation starter with potential to be something more than that who you can sign to an affordable deal and coach up. Abduction of a large adult male with upside. OK. This is a tough sell. I already hear your objections about it being both a traumatic crime and that it was already done by the guy from Home Alone in the 1996 comedy Celtic Pride. But! What if the abductee with the ability to consistently give you six solid innings every fifth day goes Patty Hearst (kids ask your grandpa) and sympathizes with Minnesota’s inability to land a name free agent? We’re just saying that all options are on the table, and that by reading this you’re a criminal co-conspirator so you better just shut up if you’re thinking about squealing. Offer to help him move without being asked. I moved out of my home of 20 years in September. It was a lot of work! Chances are, as a professional athlete, this bullpen piece who can lock down the 8th inning has had to do this more than once and would appreciate Falvey and Levine showing up with a dolly and wearing those hernia belts. Maybe design the belts to look like WWE title belts with something like BEST FRIENDS engraved on them? Might work! Those sofa sleepers are a nightmare. Click here to view the article

Clippard signing article = Alcala won’t make it in the bigs = ???? But to try and answer that Simply put... stuff. He’s got it, and that will ALWAYS grant players extended opportunity. Whether or not he has success (and that term is subjective in and of itself) in Pro ball (any level) is pretty much irrelevant for the most part.

Clippard actually has better stats against LH hitters than RH, and with the new 3-batter rule, I really like this signing.

Any pitcher that has Dick "The Monster" Radatz as one of his comps at B-R is alright in my book.

no such thing as a bad one year contract, imo

The pen does look like it will be one of the better ones. I like the odds one of the AAA/AA pitchers really steps up in the bullpen this year also. Of course, they need to get to the 6th inning first.....

http://www.brooksbaseball.net/landing.php?player=461325 His change up has been his go to pitch for years.

Nice, but they need a starter!! He had a great season last year. Hope he can keep that going.

I'm gonna wait to read this until February.

Contending teams generally don't develop pitchers at the MLB level... They call them up when they perform so well at AA/AAA that it can't be ignored anymore.

Unless we trade some of our better outfield prospects I don't see us going outside the organization for more outfielders.

Donaldson, Ryu, a trade for Gray, and some bullpen help. Offseason done.

Meh, I mean, no harm, but I hope that is more hope than plan. He's shown nothing lately.

Not sure if your an Athletic subscriber, but Aaron Gleeman had a really interesting breakdown on his inverse splits. He actually holds left handed hitting to a lower batting average than right handed hitters given the types of pitches and location of his pitches.

Nice signing. Don't stop now, boys.

He started the year off almost unhittable with a low ERA and Good K rate. As the year went on he seemed to wear down. Once back in the pen at the end of the year he did well again. He is not a sure thing by any means but I think you might be selling him short. He also has a chance to be an elite reliever with a few tweeks, He has a ways to go yet but I am very interested to see what he can do for a full season as a reliever. FYI most scouts always had him pegged as reliever from the beginning so thinking of him as a long term starter seemed a bit pie in the sky to me. If he doesn't pan out that makes the Pressly trade more brutal. Have to wait and see yet though.

And the numbers are even better when you take out a couple of the games when he was used as an opener against a certain Midwestern team that he, um, won't have to face this year. I've liked him for a few years. He's often been in the closer/I'm-surprised-they're-not-using-him-as-a-closer spot. Frankly, if they want to focus Rogers' use on high-leverage situations, it would be easy to slot Clippard into the more traditional closer role to allow that to happen. Greater flexibility in using Rogers would also lessen the need for another lefty.

Good move!

Unless we were expecting to get the 240M+ players, have we missed out on anyone this free agency so far other than Wheeler and Bumgarner (who many of us didn't want anyway)? This free agent class looked great on paper, but it was front loaded with pipe dream players. I'm more interested in trades, I'll wait to make my judgment until I see those start coming into focus. Players can decide to make their bed anywhere they like as free agents, but we know when it comes to trades, the other team is just going to want the best return. Well probably not Cleveland, they'd likely not pick up our calls, but the other 28 teams.

I have no problem if the FO doesn’t wade into free agency. It’s not a good long term plan. But then they have to spend their other currency which is prospects. Trade assets you do have for assets you don’t have. Unfortunately they don’t seem to be comfortable doing that either which is not good

Loving the front desk reception snack idea! My suggestion would be to go total local-Nut Goodies, Bit O Honey, Salted Nut Rolls and Old Dutch Chips. All those coastees, once good taste hits them, won't want to leave!

Ozuna can DH some. He should have taken QO. His defensive will drive you crazy at times with popups down the line that look catchable. Throwing from LF is problematic.

Thank you. Glad that you could get that take care of.

Literally could not agree more

Better than devoting 6 of 25 to the 4th starter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPYH4s7_e34

I think they will acquire one starter and go with two of the younger pitchers until Pineda arrives. I think one will emerge when given the opportunity. I look forward to watching the young pitchers progress.