richardkr34

Next year is Jorge's age 20 season

I've only seen reports on the FB at 91-93 or 92-94, touching higher. Never saw a 98 thrown out there. That would be awesome.

Huhguy is really knocking it out of the ballpark with his comments later. First, Pelfrey is a top of the rotation starter and now? He's complaining about podcasts that no one is forcing him to listen to. Beautiful.

Actually, the Rangers are looking more for a power bat, so Arcia and Berrios might be a better package. If it took, say, adding in Adam Brett Walker or Kepler, I'd throw that in, too. I'm confident a package of Arcia, Berrios, and Walker would easily get it done. Rosario could shift back to the OF and the Twins could rely on Sano, Buxton, and Dozier for power going forward. I'm really bullish on the Twins' rotation post-2014 if we can get some guys to bridge the gap to a Meyer/Stewart-led pitching corps (2016ish). With the money the Twins have to spend, they could easily sign Porcello to an extension through 2019 (he has two years of team control left, so a four-year deal wouldn't be out of the question), and that would allow the Twins to bring guys like Jorge, Thorpe, Gonsalves, and Stewart into the fold. Hughes could be signed to a one-year deal as a placeholder for Meyer, and Garza would probably have to be signed until 2018. The Twins are in a great position to add another top 3 arm in the upcoming draft (Kolek? Hoffman?), so getting rid of Berrios shouldn't be that big of a hit on the system, considering there are bigger ceiling guys lower in the system (Jorge, Stewart and Thorpe), and if the Twins sign a proven MLB starter (and yes, Porcello is proven, just not necessarily a #3 starter or above...yet), it's insurance against prospect attrition, which will surely happen. But again, none of this will happen. I saw one of the guys I follow on twitter suggesting that the Twins sign Shin Shoo Choo because, well, he's good and it would excite the fanbase. I think a better way to excite the fan base is to add a player who can play SS for the foreseeable future at a high rate, who's a former #1 overall prospect in the game, with the knowledge that the current #1 prospect is coming in the next couple of years. But that's just wishful thinking...

This is a completely ridiculous-not-going-to-happen-in-a-million-years-but-could-if-Terry-Ryan-was-ludicrously-bold offseason plan. First off, the Twins will only have $46 million allotted to non-rookie contracts; this should free up tons of money. I'm not going to get into money that in depth, but I would like to think any of the players I mention as FA pickups would fit within the budget. Soooo, here it is: 1) Biggest, boldest, boldesterest move: Trade for Jurickson Profar. This seems crazy, and it's absolutely not going to happen, but it would be a godsend for the Twins. Profar would shore up the SS position for years to come, provide good offense for the position, and it would just be generally awesome. I'm thinking a package of Rosario and Berrios would get it done. 2) Big, slightly less bold move: Trade for Rick Porcello. The Twins need pitching and Porcello could be had from the Tigers relatively cheap considering his age, that he's under control for two more years, and that his stuff (particularly the usage of his CB) seems to be on the upswing. For Porcello, the Twins could dangle Danny Santana and Jared Burton. 3) Sort of bold move: Sign Garza. He's hovering around 30, but he's been a solid 3/4 starter his whole career. Correia is the "ace" of the staff, and he's clearly a 5. 4) Not bold move: Sign Phil Hughes. He had a 3.88 era on the road. He's 27. Why not do this? That's it. Three new pitchers and one new SS. Make no mistake, even with a Dodgers-like budget heading into the 2014 offseason, this team would not make the playoffs next year. These moves are to move the team into a position to succeed in 2015. That being said, this is what the team would look like to start 2014: Rotation: 1) Garza 2) Porcello 3) Correia 4) Hughes 5) Gibson/Deduno/Diamond/Worley Lineup: SS: Profar 2B: Dozier 1B: Mauer DH/LF: Willingham DH/RF: Doumit 3B: Plouffe LF/RF/DH: Arcia C: Pinto CF: Hicks/Presley This, of course, is not a pretty Twins line up, BUT the pitching is much improved, the infield and outfield is solid up the middle, and there are pieces that can be easily jettisoned for mid-season/September call ups in preparation for 2015. Around July, I'd pencil this configuration as a perfect world scenario: 1) Garza 2) Porcello 3) Gibson (he takes a step up) 4) Hughes 5) Meyer (Correia is flipped for a HD-DVD player or a case of OK Soda) Lineup: SS: Profar 2B: Dozier 1B: Mauer 3B: Sano RF: Arcia DH: Doumit C: Pinto LF: Presley CF: Hicks (Willingham is trade for the ghost of whatever he could have netted in 2012) All this, off course, leads to 2015, when Buxton shows up and turns water into wine. So, that's my plan that will never, ever happen. Yup.

[*=left]CF Byron Buxton [*=left]3B Miguel Sano [*=left]RHP Alex Meyer [*=left]RHP Kohl Stewart [*=left]C Josmil Pinto [*=left]RHP Jose Berrios [*=left]2B/CF Eddie Rosario [*=left]LHP Lewis Thorpe [*=left]RHP Felix Jorge [*=left]2B Jorge Polanco