Althebum82

Sadly, his name does not even appear on the Dominican Republic WBC roster (they played against the Twins yesterday). One would hope that he has enough left in the tank to not completely disappear from the world baseball stage. Life does sometimes get complicated, and he would certainly not be the first nor the last person to exit from the public eye with a hard landing.

Can anyone offer a good explanation for this move? Twins Sign Andrew Stevenson To Minor League Deal - MLB Trade Rumors

Vasquez is clearly an upgrade over Gary Sanchez. We need Jeffers to be an upgrade over Jeffers. Wolters signing is great for spring training, but not much value beyond that. Did not even know about Greiner until I saw an article a couple of days ago about his 6'7" height. Hope Cardenas can continue to fulfill his early promise. Williams had me excited last season until I realized that he played more 1B/DH than catcher last year because of his defensive limitations. Overall I think we are in a better place than we were at this time last season, but that is a partial testimony to how rough we looked last year.

Well, if we are trying to make the list complete here, we need to include the two guys already on the 60 day IL. Royce Lewis got off to such a terrific MLB start last year that an argument could be made for the significance of his injury. While the rotation appears to be rich at this point, it sure would also be nice to see a healthy Paddack come back to give us more of a return than Pagan (sigh) on the Taylor Rogers trade.

Not seeing it. Yes, his development has been exciting, but the timing is not yet right. Having said that, if Farmer was attractive enough for the Dodgers to trade us an upgrade to our pitching and catching depth, then the timing could become right.

It would surprise me to see any pursuit of a low-strikeout pitcher. That profile is just not consistent with what gets this FO attention. Hence the love affair with Pagan and Megill. Clearly Coloumbe is an exception, but note that he is presently on the outside looking in, too.

Nice comparison. An additional element to the story is the fact that while born in nearby Northfield, Thielbar grew up and played high school ball in tiny Randolph, and played for the Saints before they became the AAA home for the Twins. He is a real testimony to the belief in himself while continuing to improve his skills and talents. As a reliever he will never win twenty games, but if he can extend his career long enough a comparison to the small town beginning of Rothsay's Dave Goltz accomplishments could also be made.

Well, Fullmer has now signed with the Cubs, so at least as the season starts we shall all have to watch his implosion or success from afar.

Nice research. Either his asking price is a bit steep or other teams are not willing to see past the potential downside that you point out, because I have not seen any chatter that anyone (including the Twins) is eagerly in pursuit of his services. He certainly belongs in the majors someplace. However, I confess to have more interest in seeing more innings from the pitchers already lined up as prospects in this franchise than to turn to Fullmer to take over those innings.

I am glad that you started with the first post-season move regarding the athletic trainer position. This should not be a needle-moving action, but it was certainly hard to have confidence in how things unfolded last season. Correa's return, Vasquez signing, and Arraez trade all show big-time roster-building skills, and Taylor and Farmer are upgrades over last year as well. Pitching depth is strong through even the AAA roster. Many good moves here. My confidence is low in Gallo, Lopez, and Pagan...and, sadly, "wild card" Dobnak. But, that is a pretty short list. Well written summary, Nick.

Is it possible that the team has tried to tried Kepler and just not been able to find anyone interested enough to provide something that the Twins value in exchange?

I understand the value of pursuing Taylor. But ouch. With an in-division opponent, Sisk is very likely going to come back to haunt us more than Taylor will haunt them. Meanwhile, I'm gonna have to swallow my concerns about Joey Gallo and Emilio Pagan and watch to see what amazing magic they can bring to this team which made the FO believe that this trade improves the team's future.

Sigh. A very good analysis of the good times and tragedy mixed with a bit of nostalgia and sense of lost opportunity. Is it just my foggy recollection, or did he get injured this season making a stupid base-running choice at the end of a game where his run in the end really didn't matter anyway? It just seems to me that some of his injury victimness came as a result of less than smart choices on or around the field, also.

So, I realize he played more 1b than C this season at Saint Paul, so more than likely he is not a defensive whiz.....but Chris Williams hit well with the Saints this season and is rostered as a catcher. Was his season just a mirage, or is he a potential consideration?

At first look I thought the first name was Todd. Therefore it could be Todd Ritchie who played with the team in that era and then went on to have a nice career with four other teams. Your other "T" options from that era are Travis Miller and Travis Baptist.