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I sometimes check out the oppo team's sbn board, just to see how their fans are reacting- and maybe, just maybe, for a little chuckle of schadenfreude. True to form. Of course, just like folks we know (and are), they're kvetching about their recent bullpen acquisitions not paying off, and I got another chortle about one fan's musing that Twins fans must also be cursing their bullpen for giving up the lead. (True dat). But one thing that I appreciate so much about this board- once Arraez got that bloop, F-bombs everywhere, and after the Sano blast, some of them started personally sniping at each other, going so far as to cut and paste weeks-old posts to rub stuff in someone's face. I look at this place as one refuge where fans can bitch and moan and celebrate together-without resorting to personal beefs, and keyboard warriors are not something we have to deal with. (That's what twitter's for). My kudos to the admin's, and to the people on this board itself. I gotta say, these past few days-- my country is grieving and tearing itself apart, and Hong Kong where I live, is literally tearing itself apart. It's incredibly scary here right now; yesterday and last night were some of the worst hours of my life. I needed this couple hours of respite for my very soul today. I'm happy for the Twins win. And I'm happy to share it with folks like you. Thanks.

I knew those cheap bastards wouldn't sign Story!!1!

He couldn't play in the United States either.

How does Danny Santana survive over Park?

It makes absolutely no ****ing sense. I hate this deal so much.

I mean, on one hand Luis Arraez is a limited defensively, questionable knee's, and nil power in a position you need it (assuming he primarily plays 1B and DH). You also acquire a #2-3 rotation player, a top 100 prospect, and a lottery ticket while only giving up the aforementioned Arraez. On the other hand Arraez is a fan favorite and LUIS ARRAEZ. I think in the long run this is a great trade for the Twins, but its gonna hurt for a bit.

Tom, these are amazing. Every day. I used to flip over to MLB.com for the game recap every morning but I now come to my own friggin' site to do it and that's all you. You're the best thing to happen to Twins Daily this season and I hope you realize it. With that said, I have to call you out for not getting "Dubble Bubble" right.

My personal opinion, its a wise, wise move.

He's slugging .643. No need for knee-jerk reactions when you have a double-digit lead in the division.

This take doesn't jibe with the economics of baseball at the time. Mauer was 28 years old when his first contract expired and he got a seven year, $185m deal as a 27 year old. The following year, a 32 year old Pujols signed for $240m. Prince Fielder, a vastly inferior player to Mauer, signed for $215m. Another vastly inferior player, Ryan Howard, signed an absurd $125m contract despite not being a good player when the contract was signed. The year Mauer was due to be a FA, Boston (who needed a catcher at the time) signed Carl Crawford for $142m. Again, Crawford wasn't even close to the player Mauer was at the time. Two years later, Jacoby Ellsbury (lol) got over $150m from the Yankees. The year Mauer was due to hit free agency, both the Yankees and Red Sox needed a catcher. Both teams weren't hesitating in the slightest to sign $125m+ contracts to players significantly inferior to Mauer (and usually older, to boot). Even if you're pessimistic, Mauer would have received his $185m on the free agency market after 2010 and probably received significantly more than that, as he posted yet another typical "prime Joe Mauer season", with a WAR in the 5-6 win range.

Baseball is broken. This is a horrible signing for the future of the league - particularly if the Mets, or any other of the dwindling number of franchises that can compete in this “arms race”, wins the Pennant or WS. This portends even greater loss of interest in professional baseball outside of a few major franchises. For the current and future fans of most of the MLB’s teams, there is very little reason to commit the time and money over years and years to a futile dream. Better just wait to jump on the bandwagon for that one season, if it ever comes, when lightning strikes and the team truly competes. As I have said in many of my posts, I am a “super fan” watching over 150 Twins games each year. Not this year. I have really no interest in prioritising my summer days and nights to watch our current team in this current MLB environment. My love of the game only goes so far. Assuming I reup for the MLB package this season, maybe I’ll tune in more often later in the season when our prospects show up. This is how this super fan feels. It’s not just the CC signing. It’s the direction of MLB and the direction of the Twins within that dynamic. Imagine how the less committed fans will feel over time. For many franchises, the Twins most certainly included, baseball fandom will become primarily a bandwagon phenomenon.

The pitcher should have been ejected. You can't just assault somebody because they hurt your pride. Grow up.

Just curious: Is TD abandoning the written word? I love reports from Spring Training, but I hate listening rather than reading.

Why the vitriol? He isn't doing or saying anything that wasn't expected. He was always going to opt-out. That was clear from Day 1. I thought he phrased it very well. It's actually a really good analogy, very true. Also, why would he get any less than Seager got? He's still young for a free agent, so he should get 10 years (like Seager), but certainly would get at least 8 years. And he'll get $30-35 million per year. At the lowest, he's looking at 8 years and $240 million, and at the highest, it could be 10 years and $325 million. All of that is more than 1 year, $35.1 million. Pretty sure none of us would do any different.

They are on pace to win 100 games, they set the MLB HR record and players all over the lineup are having career years. We not assuming any of that is due to giving the players some extra rest during the year?

What does it matter if Jorge Polanco gets a second cycle or a sixth hit or if Kyle Gibson pitches a complete game? You have them on your fantasy team? When you have a massive lead, it makes all the sense in the world to get some guys work to stay fresh. Under different circumstances, I'm sure Gibson would have pitched another inning, but this bullpen has hardly been used of late. Kyle doesn't need to be stretched out, I'm sure -- Wait, why am I even discussing this!?!?!? The Twins just got a sweep at Toronto in which they outscored the Blue Jays 20-1. The Twins are 23-12. The Twins have the best record in baseball!!! If managerial decisions at the tail end of a blowout victory are the nitpicking points, then we're in a beautiful situation my friend. Might as well let King Midas push whatever buttons he wants from the dugout.

"Wait, you can do that?" - Bartolo Colon

I'm sorry, but I am SO tired of people claiming that any of us who believe the Twins should make SOME attempt to put a more competitive product on the field are saying they should spend like NY, LA and Boston! The bottom line is that there are multiple ways to add legitimate talent to your roster and, yes, all of those ways entail taking some risk. FAs can bust. But so can first round draft picks and guys you trade for. If the FO is so damn smart, they should be as good at evaluating mid and upper level FAs as they are young players. They shouldn't have to consistently take flyers on dregs and reclamation projects that their magic numbers tell them have the best chance of not sucking. NOBODY expects them to spend like the largest markets, but that doesn't mean it's unreasonable to expect more effort than they're making this year. They're not only looking like they'll be pocketing the entire Joe Mauer contract savings, but millions MORE than that! That is indefensible. Plain and simple.

What was your favorite Anibal Sanchez moment?

Dodged a bullet, though not for lack of trying. Lewis or Lee will be putting up fairly comparable numbers in a few years.

13 years? Lmao baseball is ridiculous. They’ll need to install a hand rail going down the first base line for the last year of his contract

Was at the Miracle game and Jordan Balzovic pitched the best game I have seen for the Miracle. He was simply outstanding for the first 5 innings plus. While he gave up 5 hits, two were infield squibs that barely made it past the pitchers mound and one was a dying duck flare hit the opposite way by a hitter who was just blindly swinging. He only walked one batter and struck out 7. Up until the 6th inning, if they did not strike out, it was one collection of weak hit balls after another. His fastball was very, very impressive. I try to describe a pitchers fastball with a little system I develped that gives the range of speeds. In the first two innings he was 94-94-94-95-96 (meaning the bulk of his fastballs were 94, some 95, touch 96). Note: I think the Hammonds Field radar gun is a bit fast. Third and 4th inning 93-94-94-94-95. Fifth you could tell he was tiring a bit: 93-93-94-94-94 He literally had his first 3 ball at bat in this inning. And in the 6th he was 92-93-93-93-94 He pitched in all of the speed ranges with the mid-90 fastball. With his fastball at 93-96, he also throws a slider in the 87-90 mph range. Then a curve in 82-84 and looks like a change upat 78-80. He threw all of these pitches for strikes and hit almost all of his marks. What was really impressive to me was at least 3 of the 7 strikeouts were looking and almost all of the looking strikeouts were 94-96 mph fastballs he just burned by the batter who looked on helplessly. I was also impressed with how he won every battle. There were a couple of batters that fouled off 2-strike pitch after pitch. The batters were just hanging on as Jordan powered fastball after fastball into the zone and they could not handle it. Finally, he threw a curve and struck them out. While I would like to see his 6 inning endurance hold better, he is 20 years old and at 6-4, only 175 lbs. As he matures he should be able to maintain his fastball velocity later into the game. A couple of more outings like this and I think they need to move him up to AA. I am telling you, this guy is a top 10 prospect and probably the #2 pitching prospect in our system behind Graterol. I have seen Thorpe, Stewart, and several others at Ft Myers, and Balazovic was much more impressive than any of them. Other notes: Lewin Diaz absolutely crushed a home run over the Truly Nolen 2018 FSL Championship banner in center field. The guy is really flashy (he has huge earings in both ears and lots of chain) and holds his hands really low. If he had a more conventional hitting approach he might be a much more solid prospect. Im just not certain you can hold your hands just above your waist and hit higher level pitching. Ryan Jeffers is a good hitter that has some potential to move up the ranks, but he is never going to be a major league catcher. The team should use him there in the minors so he can serve as a backup catcher, but he doesn't have the movement skills. Royce Lewis might be slumping a bit, but he is going to be a solid player. The ball jumps off his bat and he is a really solid leader. He keeps his teammates loose.

Things must really be going well when we are talking about getting rid of a player with an OPS over .900.

Your recent Twitter thread should be promoted to all fans. I'm so tired of LEN3 and other media personalities tearing down fans that want to see a bold move.

Strongly disagree that Celestino is the one on the bubble and Larnach will have to "power his way from St Paul to Minneapolis." Celestino has no role on this team with Taylor here. Larnach is on the roster as of now with Celestino finally getting his much needed time in AAA to work on his game.

I'm not a fan of this FO, but I love this trade, selling high on Arraez for good pitching.

LOVE the "Top Prospect Summary". GREAT addition to the report.

Given how this front office has plucked guys like Odorizzi, Morrison, Reed, and now Lynn this offseason for peanuts, I’d be enraged if I was a fan of one of the other 5-7 fringe contender teams in baseball. It feels really good to be on this end of things for once.

First of all, I'm a long time reader, first time poster, which is pretty exciting. I was reading Bonnes' article about Twins Daily and writing and figured I might have a little something to add. So here goes, I'm 25 and a big Twins fan. Grew up in South Minneapolis, been to at least 20 games a year since middle school. Got a TC tattooed on my arm. Got a baby picture of myself behind home plate at the dome. A top 3 moment in my life so far was game 163. I'm also a big baseball fan in general. I've been to a dozen major league stadiums and almost a dozen minor league and independent parks as well. Not much I'd rather be doing than sitting at a ball game with a beer and some seeds. I'm also big into traveling and having new experiences. Took a year off between high school and college and solo traveled through 6 countries in Europe and South America (incidentally became a Soccer fan in the process). In college I studied International Relations and Spanish. I've been to 13 countries and 30+ states. This is all to say, before I graduated college I decided I wanted to live somewhere else in the world as soon as I could. I spent a few years living at my parents house and a cheap apartment paying off my loans, all the while dreaming of where I'd go. I knew I wanted to go somewhere where Spanish was the primary language. While I've studied the language my whole life, I know fluency doesn't come without significant exposure. I knew I wanted to go somewhere affordable (read: cheap living). I also knew through my previous experience abroad, there are some things that bridge cultural gaps and help people meet: Sports, Music, and Drinking. I'm not much of a musician and can't dance, so that was out the window. I also know that drinking is universal; anywhere I'd want to go has beer or liquor or something. That left sports. I've traveled to places that love soccer before, it's an amazing sport but I don't have the depth of knowledge or passion for the sport like I do baseball. Looking at the countries that play baseball, I counted out Korea and Japan right away. Too expensive, and I didn't feel like picking up an entirely new language. That left Mexico, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic, Panama, Cuba and maybe Columbia. Panama, Mexico and Columbia were out; not enough of a baseball presence to really make the most of it. Seeing baseball in Cuba is a dream of mine, but the legal situation made living and working there too much of an uncertainty. I've been enamored with Venezuela since I heard Hugo Chavez telling off George W., but the political situation there is too messy for a white guy like me to expect safety and be able to make any money. That left the Dominican Republic. Through the years I knew many of my favorite players had come from the Island. I also knew that there was both an affiliated Summer league and a high level winter league. So the Dominican Republic was it. Over the years living in Minneapolis after college, my girlfriend (now fiancee) expressed interest in going on this adventure with me. I also went to Hamline University and got my certificate for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Everything was set to head down and see what it was all about. And here I am, over two months in. We've both got jobs and an apartment in the second city, Santiago de los Caballeros. We've made some friends and are starting to get the hang of things down here. On one of my first nights here I got to watch the last game of the world series while sharing drinks with the local guys at the corner shop. Most importantly, I've been to over 15 games at 2 of the 6 stadiums. I've seen all of the teams and a really interesting array of prospects, big league regulars, and has beens. Plenty of future, current, and former twins as well. I've also gotten to know a lot more about Dominican culture and it's people at the games. There are a lot of similarities between games here and games at home, but probably more differences. 1. Tickets I've paid between 1 and 25 USD for tickets. I've bought them both through the box office and from scalpers. Weekday regular season games between the less popular teams are a really easy ticket. Games between the two big teams, Águilas Cibaeñas (my hometown team) and Tigres del Licey (from the capital) are a tough ticket. Last game the lowest price I could find was 20 USD per ticket, so a friend snuck me in through a gate where he knew the security guard. I'd like to see that happen at Target Field. 2. Stadium The stadiums are much smaller than we're used to in the US, with the biggest here in Santiago seating just over 18 thousand. It's one of the few with outfield bleachers. There really isn't a bad seat in the house, and moving from seat to seat is really easy. The stadiums are fairly clean, but definitely in worse shape than any minor league stadium I've been to in the US. The first game I went to there were workers trying to weld a gate next to my seat well into the first inning. 3. Food and Drink Cheap and good. Hot dogs, slices of pizza, bags of popcorn are a buck. Get a burger for a $1.50. Can of the local beer Presidente for a buck. .5 L of rum for four bucks. And all served to you in your seat by a waitress that takes care of the whole section. It's quite a different experience going to a game, sitting in nice seats, having a few drinks and a full dinner for less than 10 bucks instead of over 100. 4. Entertainment The game is certainly the main attraction here. People really get into it. There are songs people sing in between at bats, and chants for specific hometown players, opponents, and umpires. It really seems like there are no half-way fans when you're at a game. The mascots are also hilarious. At one game I watched one go on the field in between innings with a toy sniper rifle, get down on his stomach, and take out the opposing team. Another favorite half-time entertainment are the Super Gato (motorcycle company) girls. These scantily clad women get on top of the dugout at least twice a game and dance suggestively in front of the crowd. Men, women, children, grandmas and players stop what they're doing and watch. So yea, pretty different from the match game at Target Field. 5. The Game It's baseball. The quality of play certainly isn't up to Major League standards, but it can't be much lower than AAA. It may just be small sample size, but it seems that I haven't seen a lot of home runs, maybe 3 or 4 in all the games I've been to. Also, there seem to be more errors committed than I'm used to in the majors, which makes some sense. The pace of play is also dreadfully slow. Not only is there time called often, the rosters are huge and the bullpens are very full. The managers have tons of options out there and like to use them. I've sat through innings that seemed to last forever because there were 4 pitching changes. But overall, good baseball to watch. Danny Santana- I've only been impressed with his play. He's hitting .308 on the year and I've seen him start one extra-inning game winning rally and hit one other walk-off hit. He's played every game I've seen for the local Aguilas, and started in Center. Not too impressed with his play out there, but I also haven't seen any terrible plays. I know he was waived by Atlanta, but it seems to me that if he could play an average center field he could still be an asset to a major league team as a utility guy. Then again, he's struck out 13 times and walked 5 while slugging .397, so it is still the Danny Santana we got to know so well in Minnesota. Kennys Vargas- Kennys came to the Aguilas as a mid-season reinforcement. I was very excited to see someone who I believe(ed) still has some upside in the Majors. Well, it hasn't really gone his way. He quickly made a fool of me singing his praises to my friends here in Santiago by hitting .222 with 20 strikeouts and 2 home runs in 54 regular season at bats. It has been fun to get up close to his antics while he's on the bench for a game. Last game I was at, I saw him playing receiver to a guy in the stands who was throwing him candy. It's really cool to be able to get such a close up view of players in an atmosphere where they're relaxed and having fun (maybe too relaxed in the case of Kennys). Samuel Deduno- This one came out of left-field for me, literally (from the bullpen). He's got the same electric curve-ball and very little command, and now he's pitching out of the pen for the Aguilas. In a small sample of 12 regular season innings, hes got a one and a half ERA and a .81 WHIP. Jung Ho Kang- Wow, another guy I wasn't expecting to see playing down here. It's been really interesting to watch him play, mostly because of the off the field stuff took him out of the game last year, and it's really interesting to me to see how a guy who hasn't played in so long would fare against some pretty solid competition. In this case, let me tell you, it was not good. Through the middle of the regular season, he was starting most games for the Aguilas and got 84 at bats before he decided to head home for the seasons. In those 84 at bats, he struck out 31 times with and OBP of .219 with 2 doubles. Looks like it's going to take a little more time to shake the rust off if he's going to have any shot of playing in the majors any time soon, regardless of his legal status. Alexi Casilla- Gotten to see him play a couple times for the Toros del Este. To be honest, he hasn't done anything that's really impressed me (maybe personal bias), but he's on the league leaderboard with a .315 average. Jair Jurrjens- Yet another blast from the past, he's been the most dependable starter for Licey with a 3.6 ERA in 50 innings. I've seen him throw once, and while his stuff didn't wow me at all, he seems to be able to get through the lineups down here without too much trouble. Another guy I had on fantasy teams back in the day trying to get some exposure down here, apparently he tested positive for steroids this last season in AAA for the Dodgers. Let me tell you, if the winter league is run like everything else here in the DR, I highly doubt there's a strict drug testing policy. Starling Marte- Speaking of drug testing, Marte is another guy who's gotten a lot of playing time for Escondigo because of his lack of playing time in the Majors last year due to suspension. I was impressed the handful of times I saw him play here, he certainly looked like a guy who only had a little rust to work off, unlike the issues Kang was having. Overall, Marte hit .277/.333/.438 this regular season. I would expect him to be back in the Majors doing well this season. Justin Haley- I saw him start for Escondigo against Estrellas, and he looked really good. Solid stuff, and even though he gave up 7 hits over 5 innings, he didn't let any of those baserunners score. That game he had 4 strikeouts to no walks. Over his 5 starts, he's pitched 26 innings with a 2.06 ERA and 17 strikeouts to 4 walks. I left the game thinking the Twins would have done well to keep him, but I suppose that's how rule 5 works. Adalberto Mejia- Here's one guy who I hadn't seen play, but has pretty good stats for the Gigantes del Cibao. It may sound familiar, but Mejia didn't make it out of the 5th inning in any of his five starts, but that may have more to do with the abundance of bullpen options and possible innings limits than anything else. Overall, he had a 3.43 ERA with 15 strikeouts to 8 walks. He's a guy I'll certainly have my eye on this year to take a step forward for the Twins. While there are some other interesting guys that I've seen play down here, these are the ones who stuck out to me particularly. Right now, the first round of the playoffs is happening, which is a round robin tournament with the top 4 of 6 regular season teams. Then comes the Dominican Championship series and after that the Caribbean Championships. Then, I have to wait a few months before the affiliated Dominican Summer League and MLB starts. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what y'all think, so please leave impressions/ suggestions/ questions in the comments.

Dave, good luck to you sir. May your knowledge be thick and your skin thicker if it is not.

His plate discipline is currently best on the team at age 22. He's 22 so his power is still developing. I don't care what the defensive metrics say. I've watched almost every game... I can't recall any moment where he could be perceived as a defensive liability at any of the positions he has played. I'm buying stock.

Get some help for the bullpen. Immediately. Don't dither over the decision, don't haggle hard over the cost. Don't let others beat you to your preferred targets. You have a lineup. You have reasonably strong starting pitching. Your team battles. Crowds are showing at Target Field, TV and radio ratings are up. The entire region is engaged. Don't blow this. Don't chicken out. Don't worry about the possible cost 4 years from now. Do it. Now. Do not let this bullpen cost you any longer.

Both of these games felt like more than routine mid season games. Fun. It's what being a fan should be.

Wanted to pass along a few things I shared on Twitter. This is just me connecting some dots, I have no idea if there's anything to this ... but, I remembered this story from last year in which Stephen Gonsalves kinda sold out Dougie for breaking an org rule/philosophy at the time. "I was going out with 91 pitches, and I think normally there's a Twins rule that you're not allowed to start an inning after 85 pitches," Gonsalves said. "Doug was confident in me and I appreciate that. I was waiting, watching him out of the corner of my eye in the dugout. He walked by and was sitting by the water jug, taking little glances at me." That got me thinking about who he was most responsible for protecting this year. Lachlan Wells, who's still only 20, threw over 100 pitches in three-straight outings in late June. He missed all of July and most of August with a flexor mass strain. There was also a stretch in late August where Doug had Lewis Thorpe, who of course missed the prior two seasons, throw 97, 100 and 101 pitches in consecutive starts. There's no questioning Doug was a winner and his players loved him, but I wouldn't be surprised if his dismissal has something to do with failure to adhere to team guidelines regarding starting pitchers. Again, just a complete guess. Really tough to come up with any other potential reasons/conspiracy theories

This has been a brutal year to follow the Twins, which can lead to a lot of frustrations and make a community like Twins Daily very difficult to moderate. But our moderators have had a steady hand through this storm, and we're better for it. While many comment sections have become a depressing cliche, I have journalists at spring training tell me that they think the Twins Daily forums and community are enjoyable, educational and refreshing. (And, sometimes, infuriating, which is also valuable.) So THANK YOU moderators. I know you you hear every complaint, but for every complaint you hear, there are 50 quiet appreciations, and I hope some of our members will take a minute to let you know just how much we appreciate the work and hassle that you endure so the rest of us can have a place to come and talk Twins 365 days per year. Very sincerely, John

A helpful reminder...In situations like this, there are no winners or losers, just conclusions. Celebrating or defaming either party is not productive and only looks poor for yourself. With that said, I look forward to hopefully seeing a full season's worth of contributions from Sano.

I don't know if I'd say this "great" news... Or bad news. It's just news. I still feel incredibly itchy and uncomfortable with the whole situation.

.860 OPS since the middle of April. A couple hot weeks indeed.

I umpired Brooks' games from Youth Ball, into Babe Ruth and through high school. When he went to college, I got behind the plate during Fall Ball. Brooks has an incredible eye and command of the strike zone. In high school he just overpowered the opposing pitcher. In college he became a very disciplined hitter. Can't wait to see what he does next. Twins are now my favorite team...right behind my Giants. In my opinion, you drafted a really good player and a great person.

Why would we assume he merely lost weight. What if he replaced fat with muscle? Couldn't he be leaner and meaner?

I always wonder why teams try to change a hitter's approach when what he has been doing has been working. In this case, it reminds me of Buxton, and all of the attempts the Twins staff made to change his approach at the plate. Finally, he just chucked all the advice except Oliva's--see ball, hit ball--and regained his confidence. I suspect there are many success stories of players who changed their approach and were more successful, but sometimes I wonder if they outnumber those cases where attempted adjustments mess up players. This kid is an on base machine (career .391), like Arraez, and like Arraez, will likely never hit with power. I don't think that is a horrible thing. We need contact hitters as well as the Joey Gallo's of the world. I would vote for letting the kid play his style at St. Paul and see what happens. I think it will be a good result.

FO has been busy negotiating with Jack Cave.

Well, cut it out. Leave those guys alone.

I know this may sound harsh but... good. The way people rave about Mientkiewicz, you'd think he's Joe Maddon. My understanding is that Dougie doesn't only avoid sabremetric-based analysis, he's often hostile toward the idea. His comments over the years have led me to believe he's simply not going to come around on the topic, which means he's no longer a fit for the organization. Adapt or die. If you're not going to play ball with the new front office's vision for the future, you have no place in the organization. This team had a development problem and I'm not going to cry if Falvey and Levine begin to clean house in the minors.

From Ryan, to Molitor, to the boys on the field: This was a fun season and a better effort than most any of us could have hoped for. Let's hope it's the start of many more seasons like it.

I don’t even blame them for not landing Correa… well, not entirely. But it’s one more thing that doesn’t look good for them. I’m tired of trading for injured pitchers. I’m tired of the lack of pitching development. I’m tired of them disliking long contracts more than they like good players. I’m tired of them not getting “their guy” and instead pivoting, pivoting, and pivoting again. I simply don’t see many reasons to keep them around anymore. They’re not exceptional at anything and have significant flaws.

If basically the only real downside to a trade is "We had to give up an old player who was unlikely to be on the team next year and he's a really good dude"...then it's a pretty good trade. Look, I love Nelson Cruz as much as anyone, but we got two AAA pitchers that are considered to be good prospects from an organization that has a deep minor league system and a great reputation for developing pitching. The hate levels are low. The like levels are high.

I hate to break it to the Twinsdaily faithful. We just acquired a major league talent for the next 4 years for 3 million a year plus incentives. A contract like that isn't going to be cheap to acquire and a contract like that will not hamstring future payroll so we can increase the quality of future adds. It is Maeda plus because the contract allows for a plus. I'll let all those inclined slap some arbitrary number on him... Is he a #2 or #3 or #4. Doesn't matter... He is above average and we got him for 4 years on a contract that allows us to improve other spots on the roster. And... almost just as important... We just cut our starting pitching shopping list for next year by 20%. On paper... we only need to find 2 next year.

Rumor has it they did it specifically for that reason.

They should sign Garcia, and then trade him right before opening day. This will signal to the team that they are throwing in the towel on the season, at which point the players will get angry and prove them wrong. There might also be a life-size cardboard likeness of Falvey involved.