but we all know it's probably a moot point, as we head into spring training.                                                                                                                    From this list, what I find most difficult to believe is the availability of Kyle Lohse! 
PS  This is a copy and paste job borrowed from that baseball guru Jeff ("God, I had  just no idea how good Ben Revere was - I never saw him play") Passan.

Honestly, from this list, Thome, Sizemore, Loe and maybe Lohse intrigue me.  And yeah, I'd prefer Chris Young over Mike Pelfrey, but yeah, we can't go into the season with too many injury-prone fellas, but I think he'd provide value somewhere...

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  *  Kyle Lohse, SP: A career renaissance in St. Louis has lined Lohse up to take the title of "Likeliest To Be Overpaid." Between the gaudy win-loss record (16-3) and the sparkling ERA (2.86), Lohse is in greater demand than plenty of those ahead of him on this list. And while he has indeed grown into a better pitcher – his control is exquisite – Lohse is still an aging right-hander whose average fastball doesn't crack 90 mph, and that's a troublesome long-term proposition.   

* Carl Pavano, SP: If indeed it was just a bone bruise that hampered him last season, Pavano could be a cheap rotation piece who well outperforms his salary.

* Grady Sizemore, OF: One of the sad stories of the last decade, a resplendent talent undone by injuries. After missing all of 2012, Sizemore, 30, will almost certainly see if a change of scenery can help.

*Kameron Loe, RP: Huge groundball rates, solid strikeout rates, impressive walk rates. Not much to dislike, other than uncharacteristically high home run rate, which should come down.

* Carlos Zambrano, SP: Walked more than ever last season – and went to an increasingly flat splitter far too much. Maybe a move to the bullpen would mask command issues and rediscover the lost 3 mph in velocity.

* Jim Thome, DH: Still mashin' taters, even at 42.

*  Chris Young, SP: Started 20 games last season, the most since 2007. If Young can stay healthy – which is like saying if Pablo Sandoval can slim down – and land in a big park that plays to his extreme flyball tendency, he's worth a million-dollar flier.

*  Carlos Lee, 1B/OF: From $100 million – yes, the Astros actually paid him that, putting him in the pantheon of Hampton, Wells and Zito as history's worst nine-figure deals – to $1 million. No team should pay El Caballo any more than that with his bat flaccid and his fielding laughable.
     

102. Scott Rolen, 3B: Age rendered the borderline Hall of Famer a poor man's version of his prime self. Likely to retire, though if he's willing to accept a defensive-replacement and pinch-hitting role, he's still got plenty of value.

103. Joey Devine, RP: Two Tommy John surgeries later, one can only hope his arm stays healthy, because it's positively electric when it is.

104. Roy Oswalt, SP: Fourth-highest hit rate among pitchers with at least 50 innings? Check. Thirteenth-highest home run rate? Check. Seventeeth-worst ERA? Check. Complaints about role? Oh, you know. The diva role didn't make sense for the 35-year-old Mississippian, but he played it well – and sunk his market for this season even though he still struck out a batter an inning and had better than a 5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Casey Kotchman, 1B:On the bright side: hit a dozen homers, his most since 2008. The world, of course, is a dark, sad place, and so naturally Kotchman hit .229/.280/.333 after a career year and finds himself looking at backup roles.

113. Ryan Theriot, SS/2B: Doesn't hit particularly well, has no power, mediocre fielder, reason the acronym TOOTBLAN was invented. Has been on each of the last two world champions. Baseball is funny.

114. Dallas Braden, SP: What we know about Dallas Braden: He once pitched a perfect game. He has a mustache tattooed on a finger so he can be creepy. Police said after he was allegedly carjacked in his hometown of Stockton, Calif., he told them: "I'm Dallas Braden. I'm a multimillionaire and … I pay your [expletive] salary." And two shoulder surgeries make a minor league deal almost a given.

123. Adam Kennedy, UT: Veteran likely to end up with a big league job somewhere, though there are enough available utilitymen that it's a buyers' market, and those who do sign are unlikely to get a McDonald deal.

128. Scott Podsednik, OF: Empty average, erratic baserunning, middling defense. On the other hand, he improves a team's WAGs by at least 10 percent.

It's too bad what has happened to Grady Sizemore. Could've been a real special talent, but injuries have derailed his career. Still, at 30 he has a little time to make some noise, but man, he could've been pretty special. I'd take a shot on him at the right price.

beast10 wrote: It's too bad what has happened to Grady Sizemore. Could've been a real special talent, but injuries have derailed his career. Still, at 30 he has a little time to make some noise, but man, he could've been pretty special. I'd take a shot on him at the right price.

Agreed and agreed.

If Sizemore can be somewhat healthy, it'd give us another option in CF and I'd feel better about not rushing Aaron Hicks.

Kennedy and Theriot may be nice pickups if at the right price, too. Just some veteran guys to hold the fort down for a year or two until the baby Twins arrive.

Wouldn't hurt to pick up a middle infielder.  Theriot makes some sense if he's cheap.  We could use a thirdbaseman.  Can Kennedy throw it hard enough to play third?  Wouldn't waste  a lot of money on them however.  I've consider giving Pavano a minor league deal once he recovers from the major surgery.  Probably not available until about May / June.

meanwhile, was reading an article about Span being so much more 'comfortable' in a Nats uni..sounding very happy. I still think about what we got for him and I sure hope this prospect pans out.
Not sure what the Twins 'plan' is this season. Truth be told, there really isn't much of a plan except to get thru the season. I can't see this team, as currently positioned to win much more than 65, maybe 70 games tops...unless all these pitchers suddenly all have their career years.

insagt1 wrote: meanwhile, was reading an article about Span being so much more 'comfortable' in a Nats uni..sounding very happy. I still think about what we got for him and I sure hope this prospect pans out.
Not sure what the Twins 'plan' is this season. Truth be told, there really isn't much of a plan except to get thru the season. I can't see this team, as currently positioned to win much more than 65, maybe 70 games tops...unless all these pitchers suddenly all have their career years.

The plan is the future. To be honest, they're just trying to make it through a few years here where things are bleak and put a somewhat competitive team on the field.

beast10 wrote:

insagt1 wrote: meanwhile, was reading an article about Span being so much more 'comfortable' in a Nats uni..sounding very happy. I still think about what we got for him and I sure hope this prospect pans out.
Not sure what the Twins 'plan' is this season. Truth be told, there really isn't much of a plan except to get thru the season. I can't see this team, as currently positioned to win much more than 65, maybe 70 games tops...unless all these pitchers suddenly all have their career years.

The plan is the future. To be honest, they're just trying to make it through a few years here where things are bleak and put a somewhat competitive team on the field.

Which belies what TR is dishing out and making cerebral guys like insagt wonder 'what in the world are you thinking?' with all kinds of moves that just don't make sense (to be competitive in 2013).

while I guess no GM is going to come right out and tell the fans....forget about this season, we're building for the future...he may as well say it. Twins are putting 11 of 12 eggs in the dozen in the 'pray the prospects pan out' carton. I have gone on record as disliking immensely, the offseason trades. I think they gave up way too much to get way too little. But we'll have to see. There are still major question marks all over the infield and the outfield isn't particularly solid either. The pitching staff in a jumble. The rest of the division seems to have gone to work this offseason so a last place finish is very likely....in fact early returns are that they will be lucky to win 65 games. I think thats accurate.

In today's world of free agency and players changing unis every year, a few bleak years is unacceptable if 'rebuilding' is the mantra.

We start out 0-0 like everyone else, but another horrible start like last season will be a complete turnoff to the fans buying the tickets. Twins have a lot to prove in 2013. IMO

insagt1 wrote: while I guess no GM is going to come right out and tell the fans....forget about this season, we're building for the future...he may as well say it. Twins are putting 11 of 12 eggs in the dozen in the 'pray the prospects pan out' carton. I have gone on record as disliking immensely, the offseason trades. I think they gave up way too much to get way too little. But we'll have to see. There are still major question marks all over the infield and the outfield isn't particularly solid either. The pitching staff in a jumble. The rest of the division seems to have gone to work this offseason so a last place finish is very likely....in fact early returns are that they will be lucky to win 65 games. I think thats accurate.

In today's world of free agency and players changing unis every year, a few bleak years is unacceptable if 'rebuilding' is the mantra.

We start out 0-0 like everyone else, but another horrible start like last season will be a complete turnoff to the fans buying the tickets. Twins have a lot to prove in 2013. IMO

Here is what the "plan" seems to be from my point of view. Obviously this year (and maybe next year), they're realistically trying to be competitive. If they're more than that, great. But the target is a few years down the road. The hope is that guys like Sano, Buxton, Arcia, etc. the top prospects make it to their potential or are able to be capable players at the big league level. By not spending money just for the sake of spending money on free agents right now, they're saving up money to fill the holes that will be there a few years down the road and have a team that is young, relatively cheap, and will hopefully have some veteran prescence on the team as well.

insagt1 wrote: meanwhile, was reading an article about Span being so much more 'comfortable' in a Nats uni..sounding very happy. I still think about what we got for him and I sure hope this prospect pans out.
Not sure what the Twins 'plan' is this season. Truth be told, there really isn't much of a plan except to get thru the season. I can't see this team, as currently positioned to win much more than 65, maybe 70 games tops...unless all these pitchers suddenly all have their career years.

There was a thing a saw recently rating the best 10 offseason moves

and the Span trade was rated #1 in the Nationals favor of course.

Good for the Nats doesn't necessarily mean bad for the Twins.  They needed a table setter and centerfielder in the worst way.  We got a solid hard throwing pitching prospect who slots into the 1 or 2 spot in the rotation.  I don't think we got duped.  They've been wanting Span for a few seasons.

ETCDelawareTwinsFan wrote: Good for the Nats doesn't necessarily mean bad for the Twins.  They needed a table setter and centerfielder in the worst way.  We got a solid hard throwing pitching prospect who slots into the 1 or 2 spot in the rotation.  I don't think we got duped.  They've been wanting Span for a few seasons.

Let's not kid ourselves... we got a hard-throwing prospect who could possibly (maybe) one day crack our rotation - there are no guarantees.

The Nats got a proven everyday player, a table-setter, a proven CF'er. 

As you said, they've been drooling over Span for quite some time and had a huge need.  I maintain, we could have gotten more AND that my friend, is why this ranks so highly as one of the best and shrewd transactions over the winter (in the Nats' favor).  At this point in time, that's a fair call...  if we have a future #1 dominant pitcher, well, let's just say the trade will look more balanced.  

On a whole, my report card for TR over the winter at this point in time is a D- and he surely isn't improving his marks by picking up a dud like Kyle Davies.

So yeah... we pick up Kyle "frickin" Davies -

Wth... a completely worthless addition, but fits right into the rest of the crappy moves made by TR this winter.

ETCDelawareTwinsFan wrote: Good for the Nats doesn't necessarily mean bad for the Twins.  They needed a table setter and centerfielder in the worst way.  We got a solid hard throwing pitching prospect who slots into the 1 or 2 spot in the rotation.  I don't think we got duped.  They've been wanting Span for a few seasons.

Twins didn't get 'duped'..they knew all along what they were doing. And I think it was an awful trade because they got only one prospect (unproven) for an everyday player who could have contributed. Granted I believe Span was gone because they had Revere (silly me for thinking they were going to keep him) but they didn't get enough. they really gave Span away. Maybe it will work and if it does, then Twins will get some props.
But coupled with the Revere trade, overall I think the Twins messed up bigtime. Its ALWAYS a gamble to start thinking that 2 or 3 or 4 years down the road, your prospects will ALL make it and your team will be a contender. In todays market, you don't have to wait that long to contend. All it takes is one or two blown out arms and a couple of 'can't missers'--missing. Over the past couple of years, Twins prospects have not fared well at all. This year the pressure will be all over Parmelee to produce...Plouffe is also on life support IMO. Anyone's guess who will play shortstop. Dozier certainly was a disappointment. Benson and Tosoni had forgettable seasons. We could go on.

Glass is half empty for sure. However, if there is any hope at all, its that the Red Wings are said to be pretty strong this year. So maybe there will be some prospects finally starting to pan out. but the Span trade....nope, I'm not a believer...at least not yet.

Hard to believe Kyle Lohse is still available, though we clearly would not be interested. 

However, in something not too far-fetched, how about going after Jim Thome?  He'd be cheap enough, give us a good lefthanded pinch-hitting option and DH vs. righties?
I'd love bringing him back, but we'll see...

brian450 wrote: 

However, in something not too far-fetched, how about going after Jim Thome?  He'd be cheap enough, give us a good lefthanded pinch-hitting option and DH vs. righties?
I'd love bringing him back, but we'll see...

Then our fans at Target Field would actually have a reason to cheer for him! 

If ever there was a season where it would make sense to re-sign a guy like Thome..who is clearly just about finished...it would be this year. Twins have nothing to lose this season by giving him a few AB's. And maybe he might continue to be a fan favorite for the possibility of getting a couple more dingers.
Why not?

I think the history between Gardy and Lohse is what's keeping from the two coming together again. At this point, we need pitching, and I'd give Lohse another shot. He's done fairly well since leaving here. If the Twins can learn to leave him alone and let him pitch and not screw it up, it might work out well. I have high hopes for the guys we have, but you just never know.

Will Diamond be ok after his surgery to remove the bone chips? How will both Gibson and Pelfrey bounce back from Tommy John? Gonna be interesting.

I think it'd be a good move.  Probably only thing to promise him is to make him our #1.  Treat him with respect and let him show the league what he can do as an ace.