Knotholemike

No, no, no to any backup plan that includes signing free agent flotsam. No to the Nolasco's, Bundy's, Archer's, Morrison's, Lynn's and Donaldson's of the FA world. They will make no difference in the win column. Better to bank the funds the Twins otherwise would have spent on Correa, play the kids, see what happens, and then maybe go for it next year. Of course, this assumes that any premium free agent would want to sign to play in Minnesota. The reality is that they do not.

The fact that Arroyo "has not received an offer" is a little misleading. If his agent said the minimum we'll take is "$x" million per year and/or "x" number of years a team is not going to make an offer if their offer would be less than that minimum. This is why agents/teams "circle back" with one another as the off-season progresses to see if either side has changed their stance. Arroyo is probably still holding out for more dollars/years than anyone wants to offer at this point.

Did anyone else notice that should the Twins sign Garza their entire starting staff will be right-handed? I also like the idea of signing lefty Johan Santana to a split contract a la Jason Kubel, assuming he's still got something left.

See. This proves it. All the good FAs go to the West or East coasts.

Exactly. At this point all the Twins are trying to do is to get something out of the $23M per year. The rest of it is a sunk cost; water under the bridge.

So Parmelee, Colabello and possibly Plouffe fight it out for right field/DH. At least one, and most likely two of them are gone by the end of 2014 unless Willingham bounces back and is traded before the deadline.

It is this kind of thinking that gets GMs fired. Cleveland just signed Capps to a "minor league deal with a major league invite" as I predicted. Lose the boss' money on stupid deals (no matter how large or small) will get you fired. [see Smith, Bill].

Yay!

That's what I said. Citing a single number from different sources is different than what Cots presents which is the actual breakdown of each individual salaried major leaguer and other obligations.

The $100M payroll was NOT a media major rounding up. Go to Cots Baseball Contracts on Baseball Prospectus for the actual totals. Minnesota Twins | Cot's Baseball Contracts. The media will sometimes only site the payroll obligations of players on the major league roster, not those who have been cut loose but who are owed guaranteed money. This year's payroll obligation is currently sitting at around $72M which includes Nick Blackburn's $5.5M salary. He's not on the major league roster and some media outlets will site the lower $67M figure. Once all of the kids are signed the payroll, and assuming no other major league player is added, the payroll will be around $78M-80M including Nick Blackburn's salary.

Shhh....Don't let anyone else know. This is our little secret. Why would anyone want to spoil it? Having lived all over the country, I can't think of places that offer what Minnesota has to offer. It is just reality that a lot of pro athletes and their agents want the media attention and endorsements of a big market. The perception is that Minnesota is just fly-over country. The Twins would have to overpay for top free agents which they smartly will not do.

The Orioles have moved on. It is unbelievable how many people on this board simply do not do the math or examine the specifics of what other teams are doing/have done. Saunders has only 3 different options left: Seattle, San Diego and Minnesota. I said this previously to all those wannabe GMs who wanted to give Saunders $10M to $12.5M per year for multiple years. BTB, any "major" free agent will avoid the frozen tundra of Minnesota if at all possible. This is reality. Deal with it. It would take a very special free agent to accept a deal with the Twins. Take that to your ice fishing house and smoke it.

$1M is NOT reasonable. If anyone had offered him a $1M major league contract he would have signed it in a heartbeat. He has not been effective in more than 1 year and there are plenty of younger options with potential upside available for the major league minimum. There are plenty of Capps-like players in AAA that can be had for a minor league deal and an invite.

What are you guys smokin'? $1M - $2.5M for Capps, no way. He'll get a minor league deal with a spring training invite. What he made in the past does not matter. He has not shown the ability to put hitters away in more than a year. He is replacement level at best, and there are lots of guys like him who could be had on a minor league deal.

One of the most over-rated prospects of ALL time.