bighat

At this point the Twins better be planning on starting Graterol out of the gate, and the kid needs to be the next Dwight Gooden. I mean, that's really the only plan that would explain how they've approached this offseason.

Well, so far the Twins received a pitcher with a total of 2 MLB wins, 2 losses, and a 3.86 ERA for Dozier. Dozier hasn't done much since leaving, and probably won't, but unless we trade Raley for MLB talent, and Smeltzer turns into a reliable MLB starter, you can't really say it's a huge victory or anything.

Good.

You left off two other signings in 2020, including Cole Hamels who just signed with the Braves along with highly-coveted reliever Chris Martin and catcher Travis D'Arnaud. The Will Smith signing alone makes the Braves off-season a bigger splash than the Twins. Throw in the other 3 guys above and the organizations couldn't be any different.

I agree it's not what we're looking for when we saw the breaking news notifications this afternoon. I like Romo. It's a solid signing, but there's no WOW factor. Who's next, Ervin Santana? The only free agents we've signed are a backup catcher and a couple of guys who were with us last year. Yawn city. I think we all know Ryu's not coming here, and Donaldson has all but said "no thanks" to the idea of playing for MN. But, the front office guys have done a good job in the past and we have to just trust they've got something up their sleeve. Sure hope they do, for this team's sake!

Yep, I agree with you. I mean, New York and LA are always going to have an advantage. But look at Houston or Atlanta. By all accounts, both cities are urban nightmares, nothing but sprawl and swampland. And it's a million degrees outside and humid as heck in the summer. Why do players go there? The franchises have a history of paying big money, and both seem to be willing to do what it takes to contend. Heck even Detroit was a hot destination for players about 10 years ago when they were making their WS runs.

The Angels actually traded for Bundy, he wasn't a free agent (I think). Still, at least they were out there wheelin' and dealin'.

I don't either, actually. I wanted Wheeler though. And at this point I think MadBum is better than Dobnak. He'd be an improvement over what we have.

Lots of Twins fans out there trying to convince themselves that Devin Smeltzer is the next Rich Hill and Randy Dobnak is the next Matt Cain or whatever. Anything to help ourselves believe that not signing a big name SP was for the best. Because at this point, the Twins aren't getting MadBum or Ryu and deep down we all know it.

Fine as a 3rd catcher, guy with an option who can go down to AAA and rotate in that 26th spot. I have absolutely no issues with Astudillo playing on this Twins team as long as he earns his spot. I think he will. He brings a certain flare to the game and I think his teammates have a bit more fun playing when he's in the lineup. I know that "being a fun player that increases your teammates' joy" doesn't necessarily show up in WAR, but I think it matters. At least a little bit. I'll always cheer for Willians and hope he gets at least a chance to show if he can improve.

So far the only new face on the team is a backup catcher. The Twins are like those would-be travelers who always wanted to go to Europe, but can't find a cheap flight in July. So they put it off until next year. "Too expensive", they'll say. At some point you've got to just open your wallet and pay full price or you'll never go. Twins have to understand that they're going to have to pay market value for talent in order to compete. The Wheeler miss was big. It sounds like Bumgartner isn't interested, and I'm guessing Ryu's statement was only released in order to give him a little more leverage with those West Coast teams. The White Sox and Cubs are upper midwest and they've grabbed plenty of big names in the past via free agency. Houston was an MLB backwater 10 years ago. Money and winning culture go a long way.

Solid backup catcher.

Well, they also dropped Perez. I don't think anyone wanted to see those two back. That said, you're right. As things stand, they have their best 3 starters from last year in the rotation, and they've ditched the dead weight. Nothing more nothing less. This is being touted as a "big move" because, frankly, it's December 6th and nothing else is happening.

This type of thing about "regional ties" always bothers me. First of all, it's always going to work against the Twins because so few MLB players are actually from Minnesota. Everyone's from Latin America, California, Texas and Florida. But frankly it's a poor excuse! How many players want to play in Miami or Tampa because of "regional ties"? Answer: zero. Tampa has a stadium problem and they're considered cheap, and Miami has a baseball culture problem. It's never really about "regional ties", it's always about money and winning. It's a nice way of saying "it's not you, it's me". But as George Costanza knows, deep down it's ALWAYS about you. Houston went from being one of those also-ran type teams into a team that has a reputation as big spenders and major competitors. The Twins haven't made that leap. Like it or not, agents and players see Minnesota as an MLB backwater whose only major contract went out to a hometown boy 12 years ago. The Twins are going to be swimming upstream with all of these free agents until they can somehow change their reputation. The series against the Yankees was another national embarrassment and nobody wants to come here to be a part of that show. I think the Twins are a more attractive landing spot than they were 10 years ago. But we have a long way to go before this team even gets having the reputation of teams like Cleveland, Atlanta, and Philly in the eyes of free agents.

Check that, Bundy was acquired in a trade.

Bundy to the Halos. Another one off the board.

I just thought the old name was too Disney-fied and very "early 2000's cheesy".

I'm fine with Sano at 3rd, Polanco at SS, and Arraez at 2nd. In reality none of it matters unless the Twins get decent pitching. Phillies just got Wheeler. Braves just got Cole Hamels. The Twins are once again in an all-too-familiar spot watching other teams sign the best FA pitchers, while they wait for the annual February dumpster dive.

The "Miracle" was one of the worst names in sports - hearing they finally changed it was a relief.....only to see they somehow made it worse. When you have an opportunity to rebrand, do it right. This rebranding effort looks like it was designed by a couple high schoolers on a "career day" field trip or something.

The Cron move does give the Twins flexibility. They can look for a 3rd baseman OR a 1st baseman in this scenario. Anyone ever thought that the Twins might just go after Greg Bird to play Cron's old part?

I'll never forget that huge playoff HR he had in the 9th inning of Game 5 in Oakland:

The substance he was caught using was a known masking agent. However, his suspension was reduced after it was found that he was indeed NOT using the substance to mask anything. This appears to be one of those cases where the guy just wasn't paying attention. I'd liken it to a player who got caught with THC in his system after taking some over-the-counter hemp supplements. Was it stupid? Yeah. Did it have any affect on his pitching? Nope.

Polanco led the team with 631 at bats last year! Over 60 more ABs than Rosario who was second. Polanco is probably the most reliable piece the Twins have. He has come up huge, doesn't have any real injury issues, plug him in the lineup every day. Seems like a great teammate who hustles out there. He's one of those guys that old school and new school fans can agree upon. If his HR totals dip to 14 or 11 next year, I have no problem with that. The guy's absolute money and he might make 3-4 more All Star games before it's said and done.

Cron was OK. He was also not so great - there were stretches this season where he wasn't just bad defensively. When he was in a slump at the plate, he was really awful for weeks at a time. Injured thumb or not, he ended up putting up pretty pedestrian numbers. You can't say "he could've" or "would've" because we'll never know. When's the last time the Twins had a 30HR guy at 1st? Real contending teams don't use "stopgaps" or "placeholders". If the Twins want to take a real shot, they should go out and get a solid 3B/1B and set up a monster infield. Cron and Schoop were adequate placeholders last year. The the time of being satisfied with spare parts is over. The Twins found our 2020 second baseman in the system and struck gold there. Let's find our final piece of the infield puzzle through the trade or FA market.

I agree that advanced analytics provide great insight into a player's true value. WAR does matter, as does OBPS and the rest of 'em. That said, just because we are embracing these newish statistical categories, it doesn't mean that the rest goes in the garbage can. A .276 batting average with 32 home runs and 109 RBI? That matters too. Also, let's look at Yasiel Puig and Yadi Molina, who also had 1.2 WAR ratings - same as Rosie. Those two guys are vastly different in what they bring to their respective teams, don't you agree? You can't judge a player based on this stat alone.