rdehring

Always fun to follow this series, Nick.

I don't often disagree with you, John, but I find myself doing so today...if I read the tone of your piece correctly? We won't know whether or not the Twins were a success or failure this offseason until the games have been played and the season ends at the end of September. If the Twins are again division champs and headed to the playoffs, everything they did will have been a success. If they fail to make the playoffs without having an unusual number of injuries or suspensions, then you will have been proven correct. My point is that it is way too early to proclaim that what they didn't do is a failure. It is frustrating to me when so many people seem to think that the only thing that matters all winter is how many dollars they are spending. I for one, am happy that we have a FO that appears to have a business plan that calls for caution when chasing free agents. I am glad they have both dollar and length of contract limits that they appear unwilling to violate. And none of us know whether or not they believe ethat the best two of the four young guns we saw last year will perform as well as many of these free agents in 2020, given the opportunity to do so. Personally, I can't wait to sit down at my TV and watch Thorpe or Smeltzer or Dobnak or Graterol toe that rubber every two of five games for the first six weeks of the season.

Took the words right out of my mouth, Seth, or in this case off the tips of my fingers. Sure glad our FO isn't likely to give away the farm for one cow with her best years of production behind her. Or in the case of Boyd, a young heifer that looks good but ain't done that much as of yet. So I will sit back to see IF the FO does a trade. And if they do, expect it won't be for a big name at a big price. And if they don't, will enjoy seeing last year's four young guns battle for those two spots for a couple months. If they do, I expect they will outperform at least two of the above four.

The above comments really caused me to sit back and think about what you said. Damn, that's about as mind awakening writing I have seen in awhile. Thanks.

First, Happy New Year Seth. I think the signing of Hill/Bailey means the Twins don't have to complete a trade for a top starter at a cost beyond fair value. Should they find that opportunity, at a reasonable cost, I expect they will pull the trigger. What is more likely, is they find a deal similar to the Odorizzi deal and trade a mid-level prospect (or two) for a pitcher with some upside that isn't a name you are familiar with. In either case, they will then have one excess pitcher when Hill is healthy, plus all the young kids.

How do you know he isn't? Were you on the line when they discussed whatever they discussed? Were you with them if/when they met? If not, then you have no idea what was discussed when Odorizzi was making his decision. For all you know, his agent was recommending against it (I also wasn't there and don't know), when Odorizzi made his decision.

Went to the Twins website and see that both Bailey and Hill are included on the 40-man roster, which now stands at 41. Does that mean that we will soon learn that someone is going thru the DFA process? Hill cannot be put on the 60-day IL until spring training. Can they move Pineda to the restricted list now?

I believe that as long as this front office remains, the window will be open much longer than expected or the norm. They have two of their cornerstones, Kepler and Polanco, signed thru 2025, including options. Will they extend that another couple years in the future? Should they negotiate similar length contracts for more dollars with Buxton and Berrios this winter, they will have four (five including Garver) of the best young players in the game playing through at least 2025. Kirilloff, Larnach, Graterol, Balazovic, and Lewis won't be arriving until next summer or the following year. All five are not likely to become superstars, but I would be shocked if at least two do with another one or two becoming solid big league players. All of these player will be under team control until 2025 or beyond. Additional players will come up thru the system to augment this core group of 8 to 10 players. If management does a little bit every offseason and at each trade deadline, there is no reason that the Twins window cannot remain open thru 2025 and beyond. I don't view this window as being favorites to win the world series, more that they are in the hunt for division championships and likely in the playoffs. And we all know that once in the playoffs, anything can happen.

Just think how good Garver, Berrios, Arraez, Polanco, Sano, Rosario, Buxton or Kepler could be if they have that magical season in 2020. What's amazing, that is eight guys who all are on the cusp of becoming superstars. Just think the year the Twins would have if say three of them play at or near their ceilings? If forced to put one name out there for 2020 MVP, my choice is Kepler.

Many of you have suggested he remain in AAA to start the season to work on his changeup. There could be another reason to have him open in the minors, but not AAA. With his history of injuries, it may make sense to have him begin the first three or four weeks of the season in AA where weather won't be a factor.

I have been saying this should be the plan for a month. Would have Littell be his designated opener for most games, pitching the first 2 innings. Then bringing Graterol in as you suggest. Littell would also be available to pitch an inning or two in games two and three days after his opening appearance, so he wouldn't be limited to pitching only 2 innings every five games. When facing a team with a strong group of lefties in their top 6 hitters, would use Clippard rather than Littell for that game's opener. I believe there is a strong possibility that this combination (Littell and Graterol) could have the best results of any starting pitcher in the rotation, perhaps amongst the league leaders. Who knows, might be a new way to find that ACE...this year. And Merry Christmas, Seth.

It may not have been solely the most money. What was a shock to me, Ontario has the largest population of Canadians of Asian descent by more than two fold over British Columbia, which would have been my guess. Considering that Toronto is by far the largest city in Ontario, it's a good bet that it has a large Chinese, Japanese, Korean community.

Agree with you that agents use this period to talk to potential teams to get a feel about their client's demand on the market. Are you aware of the conversations he had with his agent? None of us are. It is more likely that his agent told him he didn't have anything solid that early in the process (he legally couldn't), but there was a real chance he could get a multiple year contract for XX +/- dollars, perhaps similar to the QO. Now I don't know that to be the case, just as you don't know that the agent is incompetent. We also don't know what was going thru Odor's mind. He was aware of what Kuechel and others went thru the previous year. He had stated on several occasions that he liked it here and was interested in staying. Although I don't know, I suspect he then made the decision to take the QO after being given whatever information from his agent. It is those prior comments that make me hopeful we will hear about an extension before the end of spring training.

Very interesting, Cody. And what is most interesting is the few changes from the current lineup. Moving Rosario seems to be the in thing this winter, and with the young guys coming up it probably will happen. Like you, don't have a clue where Lewis will play when broungt up. I do expect that to happen this year as the AFL MVP has a history of playing in the big leagues the next year and normally playing very well. I respestively disagree with those who maintain Buxton won't be extended. The player I think could be most likely to be gone would be Sano. With all the hurdles he had to overcome, many that he caused, its hard to get a handle on what he wants for his future. One day I think it is a big contract in a market with all the hype. Then I see him on the bench having fun with his Latin teammates he came up with and see a young kid who is very happy. I guess his future remains to be seen. As for all his warts in the field, his bat can play for anyone. Thanks, Cody, and Merry Christmas.

You did it again, Doc. Well said!

I hate it when people do stuff like this and never clearly tell you at the end who they are. As such, your comment is meaningless. And we also don't know which year is which. Is the first year listed last year? Or is the last year listed last year? As for the Pineda comment, be real. He was coming off of TJ and didn't pitch an inning in the big leagues in 2018. It took awhile to get back and was pitching about as well as anyone I saw by early summer. Then the bottom dropped out and we were screwed. I believe that big Mike can be a better pitcher than either MadBum or Ryu. Will he? Who knows, we will find out over the next 10 months.

Good question, Mike? I don't know, but I would bet there is a good chance that one of the rookies will have a better season than one of Ryu or Bumgarner. Don't know which rookie and don't know whether it will be Ryu or Bumgarner. I also don't bet, so that is said in jest unless you are talking about a glass of wine or bottle of beer for you and a coke for me. [i forgot to add that you will have to remind me come October because I sure as heck won't remember]

I have a question? And I'm to old to go digging around to try to find the actual quotes. I know the FO has made comments about a need for "impact pitching," or something like that. Did they ever say that was tied to getting an impact free agent? Or was it a general statement of their goal for the off season?

Do they expect to fill three of the opening day spots with the kids from last year? I doubt it. Let's sit back and chill and wait for them to do something. They aren't half way to pitchers and catchers reporting.

I believe, John, that everyone is looking at the past 45 days as a failure. But what is the truth? The Twins began free agency needing to fill four of five starting spots in the rotation. I would call filling half those spots a success. Unfortunately, they were Odorizzi and Pineda who were signed and everyone is looking at that different than if they signed Ryu and Bumgarner. After Cole and Strasburg, who weren't coming here, the only other free agent I would rather have singed than the two we got was Wheeler. All the others have too many warts to be worth what they got, both dollars and years, in my opinion. Congrats to the FO for not getting sucked into the rush to sign some of these guys to what may be damaging contracts two, three or four years down the road. Would I have liked to see them also sign Wheeler, sure. But I see this as a successful journey to this date. Now on to the trade market for another good pickup , hopefully, someone who disappoints many of us but turns out to be another Odor trade. Then the final question, do they go into the season with the four young guns battling for Pineda's early starts and #5? Or do they sign another veteran starter, more of a reclamation project to give the young guns some competition? You speak of Gibson and Perez. On paper, the young guns aren't as good as Gibson and Perez were thought to be last spring. But Gibson and Perez both had very disappointing seasons (Gibson had the illness. I both respect the hell out of him and will miss him). If two of the young four pitch the majority of the year for the Twins, I suspect their results at year end will be better than Gibson and Perez put up in 2019. Don't know which two it will be, that's why they play the games. Now time to sit back and be patient while waiting for that trade to be announced. OH, and Merry Christmas John and all here at TD!

As a life long Packer fan, I loved the Ponder comment. And yes, come Tuesday morning I will be ok following my Packer loss Monday evening.

Really enjoyed reading this, Andrew, especially your writing style and outlook for the season ahead. Agree that come July, the Twins may be able to pick up a top starting pitcher rental much cheaper than today. And that's ok as I expect they will be in a good position come July, although I am a glass half full guy and have been wrong before.

When I commented earlier, was thinking the Twins still needed a second lefty in the pen. But after reading more comments and learning how effective Clippard is against left handed hitters, that is no longer a concern. Probably especially true in what is now 3-batter baseball. Was thinking his signing brings the 40-man to 38. Well, I was wrong as it is now at 39. Yes, I went back and counted twice and then a third time. So there is one spot open and if we are lucky it is gone today to fill our corner infield spot. If they get their fourth starter via a trade, that will likely include one, or two players currently on the 40-man...so no problem. If it is a free agent, some pitcher will be moving on. Have my idea, but won't mention who because it probably won't be who they decide to move on from. Speaking of Clippard, you gotta really like how this bullpen is shaping up. Rogers, May, Duffey, Romo, Clippard, Littell. That's six. Give the eighth long reliever spot to the Rochester shuttle and you are down to one opening. Stashak and Harper are the leading candidates, but you also have Poppen and a handful of guys with some major league experience signed to minor league contracts. One of those guys usually has a great spring and forces himself onto the roster, like Harper last year. We also don't know what their plans are for Graterol, who could be a heck of a lot more than the #7 guy in the pen.

I debated whether or not to click the "like" button. You see the problem I had was that I "loved" your comment, Doc. Don't know what the tech guys can do, but how about adding two more buttons..."loved it" and "hated it". Adding the later would eliminate some/many nagging responses.

Another solid move that makes the bullpen a bit better and certainly deeper. My hope had been that they would get a second lefty, which certainly can still happen. Looks like this may push Stashak to AAA to start the season, which wouldn't be all that bad. Also looks to push another reliever off the 40-man once they get around to signing a corner infielder, starting pitcher and that lefty.