Every good move has been undone by a bad one this offseason.

Trade for Castillo, Sign Batista.

Trade JC for a used "No Pepper Games" sign, and keep Lyle.

Lose Jacque to FA, and, well . . . is this going to end up being good or bad?

At least we did replace all of his K's with Batista. Whew!

*sniff* I just can't imagine right field next year without Jacque. Or left field, where I remember him playing back in the day. On the other hand, in order for the younger generation to take over, the older generation has to step away. Best of luck, Jacque. (But may whoever replaces him in right field for the Twins do even better.)

Me, are you sure we kept Lyle? He might've joined J.Ro, leaving Kyle behind for us. I can only hope. Kyle really isn't that bad of a pitcher. He was not good in 2004, but too many people used that memory to judge his 2005 year, which was not bad.

Breaking up is hard enough, this long kiss goodnight is even worse

Kyle is a good pitcher. He has solid #2 potential. Unfortunately his evil twin brother Lyle chloroforms him every other start or so and knocks him down to the bottom half of the rotation. We can only hope Lyle was tucked away in JFC's duffel bag.

Twins PR break -

winter caravan schedule is out:

http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051219&content_id=1284013&vkey=news_min&fext=.jsp&c_id=min

Much love
WW

Why haven't I heard any suggestion out of Twins camp that they might have an interest in Rondell White? He's a free agent, DH, and can play OF if needed.

I have met White and he is very well liked by teammates. Can you say the same thing about Thomas or Piazza? That would be a "NO" regarding Frank Thomas. Plus the Metrodome player parking lot would not accomodate all of the cars belonging to his posse. No clue on Piazza, but he's too Hollywood for me.

Another plus for a Rondell White signing is that he has experience in the AL Central and is familiar with the majority of the pitchers. You can't say that about Piazza.

So, in my humble opinion, Rondell White is a much more viable option for the Twins at DH than Frank Thomas or Mike Piazza.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/features/freeagents

Jacque says no to arbitration
causing not much consternation

for those who ignore the smile
but remember the ever-climbing pile

of strikeouts and forever-long slumps
and outfield throws headed for umps

Can we say goodbye and leave it at that,
and miss the smile but not the bat?

Jacque led the team in HRs last year and was second on the team in RBIs, not to mention coming up with nearly a dozen game-winning hits.

Kinda hard to see how we're gonna make this offense better when we take away one of its better offensive players.

I haven't heard a lot of talk about what exactly we plan on doing with right field? I know there are a lot of different options - but I'm still wondering what Gardy's approach to the RF spot will be come March.

Alot of JJ's game winning hits came after a parade of runners were left on base by him and the other players. How many times did we have a runner on 2nd or 3rd with 1 or no outs and didn't score last year.

I hope those runners are brought home to score next year, that way we won't need the dramatic base hit or home run. A hitter who won't swing at anything as JJ was prone to do might help that cause.

After saying all of that though, I'll still miss JJ b/c of his smile and obvious enjoyment of the game. I wish him success.

Soriano is saying he won't play oufield and Washington wants him to play there. Would any of you being willing to give up Lew Ford for Soriano ? Not saying there even talking about it, just seeing if you guys would be willing to trade him.

p.e.m.

Dear Mr. Mike,

Ford? Sure. I'd miss the little Jedi, but we need hitting and we have an excess of outfielders (Ford, Cuddy, Kubel). I think the only really untouchable players are Joe and Jo, (and Electric Boogaloo is awdully close.) Alfonso, though, doesn't really meet our needs now that we have Lusitania.

Sincerely,
BG

Dear Bat-girl

Could Lusitania play short ?

p.e.m.

ps
the off season really does suck.

I have always enjoyed Jacque - well, at least I've enjoyed him during those stretches in which he isn't swinging over the top of a painful succession of bad pitches, each hack further and further from actual contact then the last - but let's be realistic. The fact that he led the team in homers and was second in RBI is more a testament to the team's offensive ineptitude than it is Jacque's prowess as a hitter. If we can't use the $6 million we saved - SIX MILLION for Jacque Jones???!!! - on someone or ones who can do more, then we deserve to have another subpar season. He'll never be as good as we imagined he was going to be, and that's been true of almost all of the guys the Twins have let go over the past few years. Time to retool and move on.

Kubel, LSN and Cuddy Bear are all better than Jacque right now, all things considered. And they all have upside while Jacque only has downside left in his career.

Kubel in particular could be better than either Morneau or Mauer. In 2004, he hit 44 2Bs, 24 HRs, scored 109 runs, drove in 108 runners, hit .354/.425/575 between AA, AAA, and the majors. He played with Mauer at every level until the Pierzinski trade and usually put up better numbers. If he enters spring training healthy, I wouldn't bet against him being the everyday RF and #7 hitter ahead of T-Bat.

Even if his knee has a complication or two, the Twins can fall back on Ford or Cuddyer. And they'll get a first-round draft pick for Jones in the June draft. I don't see a lot to criticise here.

I would not be too angry about Lew playing in the outfield. He seems to be a much better hitter when he plays in the field. Give Kubel some extra time in AAA to recapture his swing and confidence after missing a whole year and then let the two of them battle it out for the starting spot.

With Jones and his salary gone, Piazza remains the perfect fit for this team. He's a clutch hitter who drives in runs.

At DH, he won't get hurt . . . and he can spell the Chairman from time to time.

Plus, didn't he marry former Playboy Playmate Alicia Rickter? That ought to brighten up the Metrodome!

the twins nontendered Balfour that surprised me. "Ryan and the Twins did cut one player loose on Tuesday -- non-tendering pitcher Grant Balfour."

I didn't expect that.

I'm not all that surprised by that. it was a 40-man roster move to make room for the DH the team will sign in the next few days, and Balfour will likely stay with the organization if they can get him to sign a minor league contract, similar to what they did with Glenn Williams and Jason Tyner.

Acording to the Twins site (just below the line you quoted):

"'We need a roster spot at some point because we want to bring in another player to help,' Ryan said. 'Hopefully we'll still be able to bring Grant back.'

Ryan also said that the Twins are planning to offer Balfour a Minor League contract and hope to have the veteran right-hander in Spring Training to battle for a spot in the bullpen."

I'm a little puzzled,cause doen't Jones' rejecting arbitration also create a roster spot? perhaps Ryan is planning on brining two bats on board (Thomas and Burnitz?)

I really like the Rondell White angle. Wouldn't mind Burnitz either, but he's another lefty. Also, I don't mind having Darth Thomas or Piazza, but would prefer the potential of Thomas. White seems to be the best option, though. He can DH, and play the field. The other guys are pretty much DH only.

I just hope Ryan does SOMETHING GOOD this offseason... and no, Batista does not count. I was an advocate of Batista last year, because there wasn't much available and the Twins were desperate, but this year there was Randa and Mueller who were both better options, and Batista is a year older and didn't exactly tear up Japan.

Patiently,
LTLC

Jones wasted no time.

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051220&content_id=1285214&vkey=hotstove2005&fext=.jsp

Happy Trails, JJ. Thanks for letting us forget about the previous #11 a little. Enjoy those outdoor day games.

It will be interesting to see how well JJ does at Wrigley-with the extremes of the wind blowing out and blowing in. As for Cubs fans, not many of them on their MLB board seem to like this signing.

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