SpantheMan

Nice article! I think you meant eligible for arbitration after 2018, not free agency.

There is no doubt that Joe has gotten off to a great start this season, controlling the zone and looking encouragingly like his old self. He currently leads all of baseball with a 2.80 BB/K ratio. Detriot's Jose Iglesias is the only other player who currently boasts a BB/K ratio above 2.00. Mauer is also tied for 4th with 14 BB on the season, and tied for for 7th in fewest strikeouts with 5. Only time well tell if Mauer can keep up his production, but his peripherals would indicate he's seeing the ball better than he has in years.

I honestly hope and think that Swarzek and Duensing will be in the bullpen, with no chance at the rotation.Duensing is a below average at best starter because he has so much trouble against righties. Swarzek is an average long man. I assume we are talking about one rotation spot. Correia and Pelfry should be in the rotation and then at least one of them traded in July. Then we could bring up Meyer or Gibson, who should start in AAA. I wouldn't mind losing diamond add much, but I really don't want to lose either Deneudo or Worley, so if they're both healthy i would keep one if them in the pen. But more than likely Deneudo will start on the DL and then Worley should get the spot IMO.

I'd like to point out that Mauer is one of the best players the Twins have ever had. He is the face of the franchise and they should take his wants into consideration. Catching more makes it more likely that will get into the Hall of Fame.

he will improve

I would have Benson leading off for the first half of the season. He is at the point where the minors won't really help him anymore (he has spent 3 seasons in AA). It is time for him to prove himself and batting him leadoff would allow us to really see what we have in him. After the super 2 cutoff, I would bring up hicks as long as he is doing decently in AAA. He would hit leadoff. Benson would slide to 2 if he had been playing well. If Benson hadn't looked good hitting leadoff he would be moved to the bottom of the order.

Even if we lose outfield production, it is reasonable to think that every IF spot and every SP spot should have better production than last year.

I think there is more room or improvement in the MI. I also believe that Mourneau will be much better than he was last year because he will be another year remove from all those injuries (espn1500 had a nice article about him). Butera getting less ABs because Gardy trusts Doumit more could lead to an increase in production from C. However, I find it unlikely that the twins replace Span's production in CF. Willingham and Doumit are both also due for regression.

Of course, with the new CBA they couldn't go over slot too much. If you were just saying that you wish they could have, then yes I agree.

How many win do the twins he to get for Gardy to get resigned? I would resign him if the twins get 75 wins. But I think TR will go a different way unless he twins are .500.

People new to stop saying Mauer shouldn't hit 3rd because he doesn't have many RBIs. He drove in 18.1% of runners on base when he batted. Higher than Willingham and 8th in the league (according to gleeman).

With Gardy CF almost always hits leadoff and a MI almost always hits 2nd. I would prefer Mauer in the 2hole but it isn't happening.

I wonder if the 4 IF 3 OF formation is really the best. What about 3 layers of defenders or 5 infielders?

Probably wanted to come somewhere where he would be less likely to lose his rotation spot. Also somewhere that would be less critical of him when he posted a 4.92 ERA

That is just depressing. But i think I would take the 2015 twins over 2015 marlins so there's that.

If he wins 2 more batting titles id say he gets in for sure ( assuming the titles are as an at least part time catcher)

If the twins are smart Hendricks will break camp with the big league club. He has far more upside that any other option (besides Gibson) and he has nothing left to prove in the minors

Reading the comments I learned that Mauer would only be a good hitter if he hit 7th. LOL

A possibly interesting and not-necessarily racist point. Although I strongly disagree with the people saying the twins are appealing to a white fan base. Race almost certainly doesn't factor into their decision making.

It would make sense for us to pay some of their salaries. I know Texas has a high payroll but we also have cap room to spare, especially if we trade those two. Then TR could say that we are playing money to get better prospects and bit just being cheap.

BTW: WAR isn't perfect, but for this let's just assume that it is and these stats are actually how much value the players provide over the season.

to get to your 38 WAR we would need more production from the offense, bc we aren't getting any from the rotation. Mourneau and Willingham could have better seasons but don't count on it. If we sign a starter and he pitches 30 starts at +2 WAR that's a gain of over 4 WAR because he't taking starts away from the "other starters"

The D-Backs must have really wanted to get rid of Bauer

Do you really think that Blackburn is a better option? I definitely agree with some of the others but really? Blackburn?

Rock and a wet spot? Isn't it hard place or are you just joking