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I really didn’t think I needed to write this article. I really didn’t think I’d let the awful commentary on social media get to me. I figured it would die down after a few days. I was wrong. Very wrong. For having signed two notable named Asian players, Twins Territory (and what I hope is a very vocal minority[see what I did there?]) sure is up-in-arms about potentially signing two more. With the news of the Twins actively pursuing both Yu Darvish (who comes with his own set of health concerns) and Shohei Ohtani (a young Japanese phenom who can pitch and hit), there seems to be a few comments on every article or Twitter comment thread about the fears of signing another Asian ballplayer. For being one of the largest continents on the planet (even encompassing parts of Russia), Asia is made up of 48 different countries. Some of the bigger countries of note are China, Russia, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and South Korea. Huh. There are a lot of countries in Asia where the people who reside there sure don’t look alike. In fact, they don’t even speak the same language or share a government. But for Twins fans, it’s been an almost daily occurrence where some Rube (see: casually racist social media user) has made a comment about not taking a chance on another Asian ballplayer since Tsuyoshi Nishioka and ByungHo Park didn’t pan out in the major leagues. Injuries aside, and the fact that they “look alike” (which they don’t at all, unless you just see a tan skinned person with black hair who comes from the same continent and assume they’re from the exact same place), the Twins have the potential to sign a possible once-in-a-lifetime player in Shohei Ohtani, and a 4-time All Star in Yu Darvish. Improvements to the one part of the team Twins fans have complained about improving for almost a decade: pitching. I jumped ahead though. Let’s go back to Nishioka and Park. Nishioka is a Japanese baseball player who plays in the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization, based in Japan. Byung-Ho Park is a Korean baseball player who plays in the Korean Baseball Organization, based in Korea. While those two countries are relatively close to each other, they are not the same. Neither are the Caucasian, Latino, and African ballplayers that have come through the Twins’ organization over the years, in much larger quantities too. Some Twins fans are now basing their choice to not pursue Ohtani specifically, based on the fact Nishioka and Park didn’t work out. Seems like an incredibly small sample size to base your opinion on, and it also comes off as racist. I don’t see these same people crying wolf that the Twins shouldn’t have chased after Royce Lewis, Hunter Greene, or Brendan McKay based on the fact that former Caucasian and African-American players didn’t pan out. If it didn’t matter then, why should it matter where Ohtani comes from? The Twins have an opportunity to sign a superstar ballplayer to join an already impressive young core of talent from the across the planet. Take a look at the Twins’ 25-man roster this season and see what countries all of the players that helped contribute to a postseason berth for the first time since 2010 call home. After you’ve done that, find it in yourself to consciously stop using the “Nishioka and Park” argument against signing Ohtani. If you’re incapable of doing so because you can’t figure out how to say you don’t trust an unproven player with no MiLB or MLB experience (there, I figured it out for you!), then maybe you should keep your awful opinions to yourself. And no, we don’t all look alike. – Panda Pete (South Korean)

This week, Byung Ho Park came to Minnesota, agreed to a deal, and yesterday met the Twin Cities media in a press conference. Since news broke that the Twins had signed Park to a four year, $12 million contract (with a fifth-year option that could make it 5 years, $18 million) plus incentives, there have been a lot of interesting topics discussed. I think there are also quite a few misconceptions out there that I thought I would touch on briefly today and encourage more discussion.Here are a few of the misconceptions that I’ve noted in recent days. Expectations Should Be Lowered For Park Based On His Contract Should they be lowered? No. Will some lower them? Certainly. In my opinion, he is the same player whether he signed for $3 million a year, as he did, or would haive signed for $8-10 mllion a year, which was rumored. He is the same player. He will go through the same struggles as he adjusts to life in the States, playing with a new team, playing in a new league. It’s like expecting Joe Mauer would suddenly become an even better player because he signed a huge contract at age 27. Expectations based on contract are hardly ever fair. The Twins Low-Balled Park That was the first reaction of some Twins fans. It was also the reaction of many in Korea who thought he would make more coming to MLB. That showed in yesterday’s press conference when two members of Korean media started with questions about the contract. The reality is that the Twins worked within the current rules set up for players who are posted from Korea. Even Park’s agent, Alan Nero from Octagon, said that they played by the rules. He was a better player than Jung Ho Kang who signed a year earlier after putting up great numbers in Korea, and he got a little bit more than him. Was the contract fair? That could be debated. Is any contract fair when one party is negotiating solely with one other party? But that’s not the Twins fault. If anything is to blame, blame the system. We Have a Good Idea of How Productive Park Will Be Like any player, or especially any free agent, we have no idea how productive Byung Ho Park will be for the Twins in 2016 and beyond. Can we compare his stats in the KBO to the stats of Jung Ho Kang’s numbers in the KBO and then consider Kang’s number in MLB last year and assume that Park’s will be a little better than that? Sure, we can do that. Does it mean anything? Maybe, but probably not. Park could come in and put up the types of numbers that Jose Abreu did in his rookie season for the White Sox two years ago. He could run away with rookie of the year votes. He could become a fixture in the middle of a strong Twins lineup. Who knows? He could hit 40 home runs every year. Or, he could hit .185, strike out 210 times a year, and really struggle in the adjustment. I hope people are already over the misconception that we can compare Park coming to the Twins with Tsuyoshi Nishioka coming to the Twins half a decade ago. However, it is fair to say that Nishioka’s resume in Japan (in the NPB which is generally considered a better, more talented league than the KBO) was almost as impressive as Park’s in Korea. Nishioka was an All-Star, a batting champ, a gold glove winner. He had a ton of accolades. Park has been an MVP, a gold glove winner, a home run champion and more. I think this signing will be great, but clearly, time will tell. The Twins Have To Trade Trevor Plouffe Terry Ryan surprised several people yesterday at the news conference when he flatly said that he would keep the rest of the lineup intact. He said Plouffe would be his third baseman, and Miguel Sano would move to the outfield. Most have been working under an assumption that the Twins would deal Plouffe for pitching (or other talent) and clear the way for Miguel Sano to play third base. There is this thought that Miguel Sano can’t play in the outfield. He’s too big. Not fast enough. Hasn’t played the position in his life. Of those three things, only the last one is probably true. Yes, he weighed in at 268 pounds at the end of the season. Yes, that is a number that he and the Twins will need to watch closely as he moves forward. It’s likely a weight that will hold him back as he ages. But for 2016, he is a great athlete. He can get going. There are many slower outfielders out there. I mean, Oswaldo Arcia and Josh Willingham come to mind. Michael Cuddyer was not any faster than Miguel Sano is, and he was able to handle right field. The phrase “once he gets going” would likely be uttered a lot. His size isn’t the concern at this time. The fact that he hasn’t played in the outfield is a concern, but that is a concern whether he weighs 268 or 208. It will be an adjustment. He is talented and knows the game enough to catch fly balls. That’s the easy part of the position. But positioning, playing the ball off the wall, knowing where to throw, hitting the cut-off man, adjusting for slices, playing the ball hit directly over your head. Those are not easy. However, there have been a lot of infielders that have moved out to the outfield. Chipper Jones moved from third base to left field. Miguel Cabrera came up for the Marlins as a 20 year old in 2013 and played left field, a position he hadn’t played before on a World Series champion team. Last year, the Cubs played Kris Bryant in the outfield in 16 games, and Kyle Schwarber was an outfielder in the playoffs. These guys weren’t great (or even good) outfielders defensively, but it does show that winning teams can make these types of decisions. The best example, from a positive perspective, might be the Royals Alex Gordon. He was a questionable third baseman who was pushed to left field and has become a multiple Gold Glove winner. The idea of a Rosario, Buxton, Hicks outfield was very exciting for Twins fans (and Twins pitchers), but it's likely that two very good outfielders will be in the outfield. Ryan also said that the offense was a problem in 2015, and I think we would all agree, so trading Plouffe isn’t a great plan. I think we can all agree with that. The team does need to score runs and having Plouffe and Sano in a lineup gives it a better chance to do so. Plouffe Won’t Be Traded I have to add this one as well. While I believe that the Twins won’t be actively looking to deal Trevor Plouffe during the Winter Meetings next week, I don’t believe that they won’t listen to anyone who is interested. If a great package of players that can help the Twins win in 2016 and beyond is offered, it could happen. Terry Ryan shouldn’t trade Trevor Plouffe just to make room at third base for Miguel Sano. However, if he gets an offer that he can’t refuse, well, he shouldn’t refuse it. Some have even said that because of the contract that Park signed, and the fact that it was less than assumed, the Twins no longer have to trade Plouffe. The Park and Plouffe contracts are not restraining the Twins if they’re both around. They can still go out and sign a reliever or two and address other needs with both on the roster. The idea of trading Plouffe is about opening up third base for Sano and adding arms, not about money. The Winter Meetings should be interesting for Twins fans. How will it all play out? Well, I guess we’ll find out. Click here to view the article