ewen21

Sorry fellas. McCutchen is not the same player. This started in 2016 and he just isn't the right free agent to roll the dice on right now. You can disagree with me if you like, I am not offended. I am, however, interested to know what Leviathan, Chief and Sixel think would be the contract to land him right now. If you guys feel that strongly about it then you must have some numbers. Give it to me so I could maybe understand.

So whatever it takes? Throw more cash at McCutchen than everyone else because we just HAVE TO have him? Sound like Darvish light to me.

You are assuming a lot. I just think we are in a bad situation after a nightmare season last year. The fact that several of our young touted prospects flopped last year puts us in a tough place. To sign a guy like McCutchen (who is on the decline, by the waY) we will need to do a lot to beat out the competition. How much sense does that make in 2019? Not to me it doesn't. And do you HONESTLY think McCutchen isn't looking for something like what Cain got? Do you seriously advocate for a contract like that right now? Sorry. That is foolish if you ask me with the downturn he took last year as a 31 year old outfielder who has played a ton of games.

Bumgarner is looking to be on the Lincecum/Oswalt track. Sorry, not interested

You got that magic dust that will convice the guys to come here in the first place? And as Brooks explained, guy well over 30 can have their careers end in the snap of a finger. Bumgarner was pedestrain these last two years. Seems to me you are taking a pretty big leap when you say he'd be an upgrade given the way he has pitched last two years and Grienke is 35 for God's sake. I don't give a damn about Grienke's history. When you extend the timeline out just a little further on a guy who is 35 his time runs out. Add to it the fact that he more than likely wants nothing to do with a team like the Twins and all we have is a lot of barking and complaining about nothing.

There's that too Look. I don't like it any more than anyone else, but this francise took a big step backward last year. A BIG ONE. Buxton, Sano and Kepler hurt us in a big way and by those three playing so poorly they almost put the Twins in a holding pattern for now. It sucks.How However, to see names like Grienke, Cano, Bumgarner and now McCutchen becoming objects of adornment I really have to scratch my head. We have no reason to pursue players in decline. NONE. I feel this is more about people just wanting the Twins sign a name guy to feel like our front office actually tried. Heck we could sign all four of them an probably STILL not win the Central! 2019 is once again all about the young players in our system who were supposed to lift us up out of the muck I would much rather see these GMs try to trade off prospects or young players to being in young players who can give this frachise a kick in the pants. None of those vets above would accomplish that

Oh goodness gracious. Schoop just turned 27 in October so he isn't a former anything. To anyone pining for McCutchen, I have to ask... What would it take to get him to play here? We are not an attractive destination at the moment. He spent years in Pittsburgh. Does anyone honestly think he is going to come here unless we knock his socks off with a long term deal?

That's all well and good, but what are you willing to pay? Other teams who consider him a GREAT FIT and are contenders will be very aggressive to get him. I am not in the business of overpaying for former stars

Agree with everything, but I am not interested in McCutcheon. He is only a name at this point.

As a person who follows this team daily and obsessively, I have drawn similar conclusions about these players. The idea that no one can draw these types of conclusions that "questions a player's character" has been repeated here many times. I do not understand it all. We have all observed and read everything we can about these guys. How is it that NOTHING can be gleaned from it?

What are you talking about? He is a middle of the road defender by almost any measure: https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=2b&stats=fld&lg=all&qual=y&type=1&season=2018&month=0&season1=2018&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0 Certainly better than Dozier by any measure last year. Polanco isn't terrible at short either. Both are adaquate fielders, not "yikes" Dozier sucked last year and there were a lot of people thinking he should have gotten an extension. I wasn't one of them I like this pickup. What the heck is so wrong with it? I just cannot understand the reaction (overreaction) to this or the Cron deal.

Kinda how? Can you name a single player he signed at this point in their career arc? Guys like Jose Offerman, Tony Bautista, Mike Lamb, Craig Monroe, Rondell White, Adam Everett......(let us not forget Jason Bartlet signed to "improve chemistry"). Ryan signed guys on the last stop in their career. Those are the kinds of guys he signed. To say Cron and Schoop are "same old Twins" signings is inaccurate and unfair. While I am not doing cartwheels, I am actually pleased with these signings. The idea that we need to hand out gigantic contracts and sign guys into their lat3 30's and even 40's are even more ridiculous than the kinds of signings Ryan made. Teams in our own division (with payrolls lower than ours) have made World Series appearances. It can be done with the right signings. There seems to be a percentage of Twins fans who want us to do a blockbuster signing just to see the Twins do it. I am not one of those Twins fans.

Not a bad pickup, and in fact, these are the kinds of deals Terry Ryan never made when we were winning divisions. This is the precisely the kind of player we could have gotten to sit Nick Punto's butt down

A-freakin-men! I will take a guy with a .310 OPS and a .200 ISO over a guy with a 350 OPS and a .100 ISO if all other things are equal. No ifs ands or buts. Getting on base is a big thing, but it's not the BEST thing. I would much prefer a home run to a walk in every single circumstance. One would be insane to feel otherwise.

Compettiion for JOBS. I am not of the school where a guy like Austin is assured a job. I like what he brought last year, like his game, but understand he is no shoe-in. There isn't a player on this roster i feel cannot be replaced. We simply are not that good a team.

Summarize what this means in two sentences.

I like what Tyler Austin brought last year, but what is he really? Austin is 26 years old and he finally punched through last year. Let these two fight it out in ST and let there be some freakin competition for a change. I look at Cron this way: He is going to put up better numbers than our first baseman did last year and he costs about 1/5th amount. Tyler Austin? He is going to need come into camp spitting nails and that isn't such a bad thing. The reaction to this Cron deal is over-the-top. Every team makes pick ups like this every year. This is not a "Minnesota Twins" thing by any stretch

Moreover, how can he be called lazy when he had played in over 150 games per season for 11 straight years up until his suspension last year? That said, a deal for Cano would be utterly insane. If we got him I might stop watching baseball. Can't stand him.

Being against silly deals for guys like Cano is as dumb as hoping every prospect pans out. You are playing both ends against the middle. It is stunning how many of these threads have surfaced lately... Bumgarner, Cano, Grienke??? It almost feels like people want big names just to say we got a big name

White was in his mid-30s and past his prime I am nor understanding the consternation some have demonstrated over this move.

You almost get the feeling that some fans want the Twins to get a big name just to make a splash in the national media. Deals for guys like Cano and Grienke really serve no purpose other than that. We don't have that kind of payroll to eat mistakes. This team should be buiilding for 2 or 3 years down the road

I'm basing this off historical data for pitchers Grienke's. When you extend out that timeline a player's useful life ends. Not many get as far as he's gotten. You cannot act like he's ten years younger than he is. We inherit three years of Grienke in his late 30s. Not sure why anyone would get all fired up to bring him here

Historical data for a pitcher entering his late 30s isn't something I'd use for future projections. Guys in that age bracket fade quickly. Pretend all you want about how he'd be the best pitcher on our staff in 2019. He'd be the highest paid most credentialed guy, that's for sure To keep on insisting he'd be the "best pitcher on our staff" is absurd to me. Grienke makes zero sense for a team in our current position. Zero

He's just going to keep pitching at the same level when he switches leagues at age 35. The money and age makes the move ridiculous. I predict a sharp decline within the next two years. That's not even a stretch. As a matter of fact, it is highly likely

Precisely. And this was a guy held up by some as the "face of the franchise" The market for second baseman was limited and Dozier isn't as good as a lot of our fanbase believed him to be. For the Dogers to deal DeLeon for Forsythe tells you all you need to know about what the market thought of our "face of the franchise" In any event, I don't support a move for a pitcher over 35 years old that's going to cost a ton of money. I don't need to see us make a splash just to make a splash. Grienke's rope could run out at any time given his age. I think people want Grienke just to see the Twins land a big name