33 thoughts on “December 5, 2019: One Name Off The Board”

        1. I don't think it is usually anti-Minnesota. Usually pro-West or East Coast.

          St Louis attracts some decent players and that's a much worse place to live. 😉

          1. I didn't mean it to sound like it was just Minnesota. Most players like playing where they grew up, or in absence of that more popular places. Or where their spouses like. When the $$ are comparable, it ends up a deciding factor, unfortunately.

            1. and not a lot of major leaguers come from this area because you can only play baseball here for part of the year

  2. This morning's bus had "GO TWINS" rotating through its lit number ID.
    I wonder what's that about.

  3. I remarked to my brothers that Bumgarner & Ryu do not get me excited as the “impact pitching” the front office has vowed to land. Neither of them are good enough to be an ace, and Berríos has yet to show he can be, either. (Ryu I'd be fine with on a three-year deal, but not as the primary addition. Bumgarner seems like a bad bet at five.)

    The problem is, free agents just cost the team money. Acquiring an ace via trade is going to involve a substantial prospect cost, and I’m not sure any team is open to trading high-quality starters this offseason.

    1. If by "Impact" starting pitching, we were all hoping for Cole or Strasburg , we have set ourselves up for disappointment. Only way we land either of those is with a gigantic overpay, which is not something we should really root for IMO. Wheeler is also not an ace (yet). I think those comments by the FO are unfortunate as they set up an unrealistic expectation for the offseason.

      1. I don't know about rooting against a giant overpay. I have this notion in my head that the Twins need to "get over the hump" to show they'll actually spend on free agents, as right now there is a perception that they won't. Perhaps once they really go all-in on a free agent that story changes, and how people (including free agents) view the Twins starts to change for the better?

          1. Well kind of... yes. I'm not saying we need to keep overpaying. But obviously free agents are willing to listen to their pitch with some frequency.

      2. If the FO is making a sane offer to these guys, that's all I'm asking. Like CH said above, the only real key to success without handcuffing yourself is great scouting and drafting.

      3. Perhaps it’s unfortunate — “impact” is such a weasel word, and it creates potential for mismatched expectations. If the FO had described their goals as either “acquire an ace” or “improve the rotation’s depth” or even something as silly as “add an All-Star pitcher,” those would’ve bounded expectations better than the words Falvey chose. In any case, a 101-win team getting blown out of the postseason will raise expectations for improvements.

        At the same time, the rotation already was the part of this roster with the greatest need, given the impending free agency of two starters, Berríos’ second-half fades, and the wheels coming off Perez.

        1. I get frustrated with the definition of "ace." It seems like only the top 12 or so pitchers in all of baseball are considered aces, when you would think there would be 30. If you crowdsourced the fans of every team you would probably find there are 15 aces, and 120 #4 starters.

      4. Wheeler is going into his age 30 season. If he's not an ace yet, odds are highly against him ever becoming one. Steamer has him projected to be worth 3 WAR next season, same as Kyle Gibson. That would mean the Phillies are paying him about $7.8M per win in the first year of a five-year deal, assuming it's prorated the same each year.

        1. And yet Wheeler got a contract four times larger in total guarantee. $8 million per win is a good deal in free agency, even after suppressing salaries last year.

      1. Simply getting the band back together is not an improvement. I hope they don’t think they’re done addressing the weak spots on the roster.

        1. I assume they're not done. I rather think a rotation of Berrios, Odo, Pineda, Cole & Strasburg is pretty solid.

          1. Yeah, that wouldn’t be too bad...

            I don’t expect them to land Cole or Strasburg, so they’re going to have to get creative in order to exceed status quo ante. Teams can acquire pretty good starters via trade, but the challenge is finding a good match & swallowing the cost.

        2. I'm fine with Pineda coming back. I agree that just keeping who they have is not improvement, but I don't think the front office thinks it is, either. I don't think they think they're done.

  6. 180 years ago today, General George Custer was born. Someone should write a book about him.

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