I just hope he makes a hotter chick than Batista and Castillo.

That makes the Twins his seventh team in eight years. I'll hope for the best but this isn't exactly the offseason I was hoping for.

I feel bad for you guys, your taking the kitties castoffs

Eh, not bad. This guy consistently hits over .300. Plus, his lifetime avg. on turf is .364 or something like that, I think. He may be a dome-ball type hitter. If memory serves me, he's done some damage to the Twins in the past. Quite honestly, this is better than Mike Piazza and less risky than Darth Thomas, IMO. Seems like TR is piecing together a team, rather than getting one big bat and some crappy other hole-fillers. At least all three of these pickups are proven professional hitters.

Castillo - solid
Batista - risky choice, but decent boom-boom stick
White - better than average

I just saw the news and did a little dance.

Cubs and Twins get each other's ex-outfielders. Merry Christmas?

An eggnog-and-fruitcake induced thought as we enter the Christmas holidays:

New in 2006/New in 1991

DH-Rondell White/Chili Davis
3B-Tony Batista/Mike Pagliarulo
2B-Juan Castillo/Chuck Knoblauch

I don't remember a lot of excitement about those acquisitions during the off-season way back then, but I do remember some excitement the next October.

RD,
One question then:
Who is the '06 version of Jack Morris?
Maybe a new bullpen arm we have to yet to add?

Mmm.....Chili.

Uh, have yet to add? My bad.

Hazah! The excitement never sstops, huh guys?

T-mac:I dont think we really need another pitcher. Im very happy with both out rotation and bullpen right now. Its still one of the best in the league.

The Rondell White news is amazing though. This team looks like its ready to come back and take the central by force this year. I'm definitely gonna renew my mlb.tv for this.

Put me down on the 'glass half full' list for now. TR didn't go out and spend a lot of money on big name players but it's pretty hard to argue that that he didn't manage to upgrade the offensive line up with these three acquisitions. With a little luck (say, Kubel stepping up and/or Morneau/Ford/Stewart/Hunter picking up their production), there's enough in this line-up to turn several of those 2-1 losses into W's next year. Combine that with a pitching staff that should be as good as(arguably better than) last year and there is cause for guarded optimism.

Given the salary budget constraints and uncertainty about where the team will be playing in 2-3 years, I give TR a solid B grade for what he's done with the roster this off season.

Thomas or Piazza might have generated more enthusiasm but I won't be a bit surprised to see White have better numbers than either of them by the end of 2006.

Why are we so happy? I don't think we made any serious upgrade from last year. Let's sit back and hope for Chicago and Cleveland to get hurt. It seems like our best chance. Our division got better last year and Ryan is trotting out a club to win the 2003 Central. I can't wait to hear more about how Ryan was contstrained by the stadium issue. Welcome to 3rd place.

In response, "What?", I'll simply ask you this... If this were July 31, 2005, and instead of reading that the Twins have added Brett Boone, you read that they've added Batista, Castillo and White, how would you have felt?

I think most of us would have been thrilled and ready to make a stretch run.

Yes, Jones is gone but on July 31, so was Hunter and he should be back to full strength. Plug either of the rookie starting pitchers in for Mays in the rotation.

If you don't think this lineup is a serious upgrade over what the Twins put on the field the last half of 2005, I'm sorry... I simply don't agree.

It's not cause for champagne, but I'll open a cold beer and raise it to TR's efforts.

And yes, the stadium issue is a factor in the budget. That's life in a small market.

Always been a fan of RonDL. He's the sort of guy a team should ink only if 1) they're hugely confident of the medical staff, because he's always going down with minor owies; or 2) if they have a set plan for time-sharing, because--again--he's not especially durable. Twins look like they'd fall in that #2 category. Comparing White to Jones, he's probably a better hitter and almost certainly a worse defender, and more of an injury risk. But given the contracts, I don't think Twins fans should be unduly upset about this one.

FWIW, I like Ryan's offseason work thus far. With Hunter healthy and a bounceback from Morneau, you should be right in the middle of the division race. White Sox have had probably an even better offseason, but they played so far above their heads last season that they'll still look worse next year. Cleveland, which I always thought was the Cadillac organization of the division, really has me baffled this winter.

I'm with you JiminyC...I'm happy with the moves so far. Yes, I'd like to see a couple more additions before the season starts but for now I think we have a pretty solid balance and, so far, have not given up any of our good pitchers to do so.

We've picked up three very solid players and only lost one. The lost, at least, came in a position where we do have options. So I, too, will be happy to hoist a cold one to TRyan. Ooogy Wawa!

"Just when I think I'm OUT, they PULL me back in!"

BG via VM via The GF3

Johan Santana > Jack Morris
Brad Radke = Scott Ericson
Carlos Silva > Kevin Tapani
Scott Baker > Mark Guthrie

While I am not jumping up an down with joy with this, I have an open mind about Rondell. Plus, everyone needs to remember the Twins tend to sign people who are not on their "radar" publicly. The Twins may not have done enough to make the playoffs, but I don't think they can do any worse than they did last year in the run scoring department.

Of course, there are alot "IFs" next year-which if they happen could mean a good year.

I remember a while ago that if the Twins would have won only 10 more of their one run games, they easily would have stayed competetive througtout the season. With the addition of White, Castillo,and Bautista, ten more games are easily conquered!!!!!

Why won't Spring Trainging come???

Not sure what it means, but as a Tiger fan I wasn't too upset to hear this.

Nothing against White, I just don't think he's a guy that'll have a big impact on a team one way or the other.

12 HRs with injuries last year? They were wise to use the incentives in the contract.

Would it have been nice for the Twins to have picked up an offensive headliner? Sure, but it was a rather dry free agent market this year and the costs went up accordingly.

TR did what he's been doing for the past few years: takes limited resources and give the Twins a fighting chance.

I'm cautiously optimistic about next year. How many days to Spring Training? BG - Can we get that posted on the front page of your site?

Dear Mr. Andy,

That is well beyond Batgirl's technical ability, alas. But if someone can help...?

Woefully,
BG

The lineup we can put out there next year should be better than any lineup we could have put out last year. We're twins fans. Can we really expect more than that from an offseason? I already rate this offseason favorably to many of those in the past [though last years was better because we locked Santana up for 4 years and 40 million. Anyone want to speculate how much he'd make on the open market right now?] Count me in the cautiously optimistic camp.

twinsinboston: I think I have to get MLBtv this year too. Is it worth it? I just don't know how I can go a whole season just watching highlights. And if Johann throws a no-no and I miss it, well that would just totally suck.

Batgirl,

If you DO want such a thing, cut and paste the following code into your web page somewhere:

<script>
d_day = new Date(2006, 2, 2, 6, 5, 0, 0);
todays_date = new Date();
msecs_left = new Number(d_day.valueOf()
- todays_date.valueOf());
days_left = Math.floor( msecs_left / ( 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24 ) );
document.write(days_left + " days until spring training.");
</script>

Or just click my name if you want something more precise.

Incidentally, I went with March 2 and the first actual game.

Bob,
I will be going on my 3rd year with MLB TV and I think it is totally worth it. You get to see basically every game out there. The only draw back is that much too often you get the other teams broadcast and not enough Dick n Bert.

The condensed game feature is great if you miss a game. And I think I can count on one hand the times I had connection problems at the start of the game.

As you can tell I'm a big fan.

Kurtis, that makes my head hurt just reading it.

Of course, it's almost 1 am so maybe there are other reasons for the headache.

By the way... what's going on with the Royals? They seem to be more active than almost anyone else in the Free Agent market. Not a lot of big names, but at least they're intent putting out a DIFFERENT team next year... whether it will be better or not is still to be seen. Gotta give them credit for not just standing pat.

I really don't see that Detroit or Cleveland have significantly improved themselves (if at all).

And while the BitchSox have made a few high profile deals and managed to re-sign Konerko and a couple of their own other free agents, I'm still not convinced they've really improved themselves, on balance.

Mr Crikket, I agree about the White Sox "improvements" this offseason. I currently count four outfielders on their roster; Podesednik, Dye, Borchard, and Anderson. The last two listed combined for 46 at bats last year. Meanwhile, they have six starting pitchers. Maybe they're going to deal for an outfielder? But who? Joey Gathright?

But this is a Twins blog, so I digress. I like the Rondell White signing. Piazza probably would have cost an arm and a leg, and we're about out of those, and who knows who will be more productive? Since White will be primarily a DH, hopefully his injuries will be less frequent.

Dennys "Sampler" Reyes becomes a Twin:

"Free-agent pitcher Dennys Reyes has agreed to terms on a minor league contract with Minnesota and received an invitation to big-league spring training, his agent, Oscar Suarez, said.

Reyes, 28, will be given the opportunity to fill the Twins' need for a left-handed reliever. He would be paid $550,000 if he makes the Twins' roster and can earn up to an additional $50,000 in incentives for number of appearances."

Man, where's the love this holiday season? I'm not a stat guy so I could be wrong, but I got the impression that our pitching staff just needed a few more runs. So, we sign a guy to bat #2 that can get on base and move Stewart into scoring position. We sign a guy that can hit some to play 3rd. And we sign a guy to DH that can really hit when he isn't getting injured in the field. All that on a small market team budget. The pitching staff remains mostly the same, which incidently, is one of the best in baseball.

We're not going to sign any big names, not at those prices. But, we don't have to do that. The ChiSox, for instance, didn't have any "superstar" signings last off season and it seemed to work out for them. What has me shaking my head is this notion that we need to overhaul the team or sign a big name to be successful. Last year's team wasn't horrible. We're not Detroit, or Seattle or (thank God) KC.

I'm looking forward to some entertaining baseball and a competitive season next year.

And Now For Something Completely Different.. Matt Lawton gives probably the first flat-out honest steroid media account ever..

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2268670

" I don't know. I never had the urge to take any of that stuff before, but I was talking to some guys, and they guaranteed it would get the pain out."

So are we to assume "some guys" are other Yankees, and/or part of the Yankees staff, and that steroids are a widespread problem within the organization?

not necessarily, Kurtis. I'm sure Lawton has friends and former team mates all around the league and even outside of the game. I give him credit for not throwing any specific friends under the bus and making their lives miserable.

Longtime lurker here. This site is so much fun... lots of Twins experts and great personalities.

So what got me off the couch??? It must be the overwhelming relief that it seems we will not actually sign the team parasite/plague that is Frank Thomas. IMO that move would have immediately transformed our beloved Twins into the 2004 Bitch Sox -- ooooh I can't wait for the "Big Hurt" to bat (and for the team to lose). I couldn't survive a season like that.

On Piazza, again, not on my Twins. He just doesn't fit. And besides, the dome would have to add a sushi concession on the menu.

Don't know Rondell, but then again, I didn't know Stewie once either.

Anyhoo... Go Twins!

mmmarkiep, I agree. Given what kind of talent was available and the budget constraints, I'm relatively happy with the additions. Need to keep everyone healthy and get better production out of Hunter, Morneau, and others, but having all of the real gaping holes filled before Christmas is a good feeling.

And, when they get $4.00 for a dog, I don't want to find out what sushi goes for.

Man we are really counting on the pitching staff to be just as great, if not better next year. I mean any injuries or long losing streaks and we're toast...

The problem with the 1991 comparisons is the fact that the 1990 team finished dead last. I think that was probably the reason that there wasn't too much hype about Davis, etc. Also, the 1991 team had three upper echelon hitters in Puckett, Hrbek, and Davis, the Twins have just one (tha Good Doc).

Not that I'd ever disparage anyone ... but I think that the owner of the Mets Blog must be stuffing the ballot box. That site doesn't have half the flair of this one. It's the Cy Young award all over again ... overwhelming East Coast bias.

Looking harder at this move this was great for the twins. In addition to their other signings they have passed the completely idle Indians in the AL Central Pecking order and with their pitching staff they could have a shot of challenging for the Wild Card. However your team is also extremely injury prone and that could come back to bite you in the ass.

Hey
Good site here Curtis' game is OK. The Twinkies will be in the mix with these moves, not blockbuster but with some of the injuries, Torii, and a resurgence of the M & M's we'll do well this year. M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S
Rawknee

From the Pi Press...

"White's acquisition might make Michael Cuddyer expendable."

I think I need to start a don't trade Cuddles committee

Expendable? perhaps. But only if you're counting on White to spend some time in the outfield as well as DHing. That's the quickest way to see him on the DL by the All Star break.

Cuddyer doesn't become expendable, in my book, until we're absolutely sure Kubel is at full strength. With a 4 man outfield of Stewart, Hunter, Ford and Kubel, maybe Cuddyer has a limited role. But until I see Kubel, Batista and White all healthy and productive on opening day, I wouldn't send Cuddyer anywhere. but that's just me.

Dear Andre,

Do you have a source for the Reyes signing? I can't find it anywhere, not on the Twins site, ESPN, FOX, etc.

TIA

cmathewson

Here is a link I found about Reyes from Pi Press

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/baseball/13470284.htm

Hmm, I'm not really sure how the Indians should be penalized for being mostly idle when the bulk of their team is fairly young and there's ample reason to believe that they'll be better in '06 then they were in '05.

As for the Twins, the moves they made (sans the Romero trade which seemed to be a bit light in the return) have been very solid given a lacklustre FA market with everyone getting overpaid simply because there wasn't much out there.

The White Sox *did* get lucky last season in 1 run games and as such, had an inflated record. They'll be contenders for the Central crown and/or Wild Card with the Twins and Indians, but they're hardly a lock.

The upcoming season should be interesting with at least 9 teams having an appreciable chance of making the playoffs.

I am pumped about this move. How many flippin' people did we leave on base last year. The tricky thing with these types of trades is that you never know who will be plagued by injuries and when - remember Ortiz? He was made of glass when we had him. Adding incentives to RW's contract was a smart move. I still think TR is making good moves - if not brilliant ones. Time will tell. But I always felt the Twins were right on the edge of being good last year. Hopefully this will be enough to push them over the edge. Wishful thinking?

Heheheh. Ovie, I'm not trying to be mean, and please take this in the good natured ribbing spirit that it is intended but ... I couldn't help but laugh at the characterization of Morneau as an upper echelon hitter.

Once again, poor Cuddyer is getting no love even though he had a better average than the Wunderkind at 1st base (and a better OBP and wasn't much behind in slugging percentage.) And that's even AFTER hitting .187 or something similar to start the season.

Personally I am really excited for next season. and did anyone notice that over the course of 05, the Twinkies lost...27 one run games. Imagine that! If we could've turned those into W's, we'd be at 100 wins.

Dear Mr Nogoodevil:

Before succumbing to the conventional wisdom that 1-run victories are luck, I recommend perusing the history of the team under Ozzie Guillen. You'll find a fairly consistent and excellent record in such situations. Which is testament to an emphasis on pitching, defense, and offensive execution: I.e., the team doesn't make mistakes late, and is able to scratch out for a late run as needed. Even the ubergeek Bill James has admitted that "smallball" teams tend to do better in close games. Without characterizing the Sox as a smallball team, they certainly have the ability to execute smallball offensive strategies late in games.

Strangely enough, there is another team that generally has done well in such situations - your very own Twins!

Happy Holidays, and here's to A Twins-Sox ALCS in 2006!

Sincerely, Clem.

Now, someone remind me if I'm totally off-base here, but aren't most of White's injuries fielding-related? Namely, he tries bouncing off walls, but isn't so rubbery. If that's the case, I wouldn't worry so much about the health thing. (How many walls do you run into as a DH?)

As for our overall look compared to last year, we managed to retain one big strength of ours which was depth. There isn't a single position where, if we lose someone to injury, our hopes go down the drain.