Since there is SO much interest in the franchise 'that does it the right way' (whatever the hell that means) I figure I'd start a thread detailing their many offseaon moves:

Twins exercised OF Jason Kubel's $5.25M option for 2011.

Twins declined INF Nick Punto's $5M option for 2011.

Kubel is certainly worth $5.25M but does this spell the end of Jim Thome in a Twins uniform? Thome will surely get a big raise from his $1.5M salary and I'm not sure how they can afford both. The second move looks like a no brainer but Punto is the original piranha. He fills in anywhere on the infield and provides excellent defense, a little speed and plenty of grit. He will be missed.

Sox should bring in Punto istead of Vizquel. I like Omar but you can't expect the old man to have another season like he did in '10.

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I disagree with your assessment of Thome. I think he will once again have to accept a one year contract at between 1.5-3 million. Maybe he will be able to get something a little better through incentives.

This is his 600 HR tour. I have no doubt this will be his last year, so it isn't about the money. He needs to find a situation where he will get enough at bats to produce the HR necessary to get that magic number.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Thome will have many more suitors this offseason. Last year it was either the Sox or Twins but this offseason Detroit, Oakland and Tampa will be looking for a DH and possibly LAA and Toronto. Coming off a 25 homerun season I can see him getting at least 1yr/$5M guaranteed. With Kubel making $5.25M I'm not sure how the Twins can afford to pay a combined $10M+ for the same player.

100% agree

The Twins offered arbitration to Carl Pavano (A), Jesse Crain (B) and Orlando Hudson (B) and declined to offer arbitration to Matt Guerrier (A), Brian Fuentes (B) and Jon Rauch (B), according to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Offering to Pavano and Crain and declining on Guerrier and Fuentes were no brainers. I'm surprised they offerd arb to Hudson and declined on Rauch. If Crain doesn't accept Kenny should call his agent immediately. The Twins are going to have a very different looking bullpen in '11. Still waiting to see if they non-tender JJ Hardy.

Unless they can figure a way to get some power arms into that rotation, they're gonna be a one and done team for awhile.

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50% agree. I don't think Vizquel will be as good, but Punto just sucks.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Wrong Section!

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Proud to be UNVERIFIED.

The Minnesota Twins have won the bidding for the rights to negotiate with Japanese infielder Tsyuoshi Nishioka. The winning bid was estimated to be around $5.3 million. The Twins have 30 days to work out a deal.


Nishioka is 26 and can play SS or 2B. This signing will definitely spell the end of Hardy or Hudson in a Twins uniform. Sounds like the Twins will tender Hardy a contract and let Hudson walk via free agency. Hardy will get a raise from the $5.1M salary he earned last season. That's a lot of money for a guy who hasn't been very good the last couple seasons.

I thought this thread would be started by Mr. Assface, I mean Elmhurst Steve.

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RFDC thinks I'm retarded.

It was NEVER the Sox last Winter.
Do you live here?
Ever hear of Ozzie Guillen?

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There goes one over the fence..Tru Link Fence..Beauty, Privacy Security....Call Tru Link.
Murph's Union 76 Truck Stop....A great Thanksgiving Tradition!!!!

WOO LIFE!!!!

Typical idiot Sox fan opinions, I don't give a flyin fuck what the Twins do! Rather what Ken Williams does to fill the holes in the Chicago White Sox

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

A REAL IDIOT is a Sox Fan who thinks Kenny Williams has a fucking clue.

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There goes one over the fence..Tru Link Fence..Beauty, Privacy Security....Call Tru Link.
Murph's Union 76 Truck Stop....A great Thanksgiving Tradition!!!!

WOO LIFE!!!!

The Twins traded J.J. Hardy and infielder Brendan Harris to the Orioles for minor league relievers Brett Jacobson and Jim Hoey.

Can you say salary dump? The Twins will now have a new SS and 2B after trading Hardy and not resigning Orlando Hudson. Unless they make another move the SS will be Alexi Casilla, who Gardenhire demoted to the minors last season for not hustling and rookie Tsuyoshi Nishioka. It's early but the Twins are off season is off to a slow start.

What's the scouting report on Nishioka?

I don't think there is another player in the MLB that I hate more than Nick Punto.

He's 26 and can play SS or 2B. He won a gold glove as a SS and as a 2B. He also led the league in batting average and hits. He has good speed and is a switch hitter. He projects as a 2 hitter because of his abilty to go the other way. He's injury prone as he has missed time with wrist, neck and knee injuries. He's been called a Ryan Theriot/Chone Figgins type but he looks more like Kaz Matsui to me.

That's quite a range.

I'll just go with the Kaz Matsui reference, in that he was about the most highly regarded Japanese infielder ever, and proved to be slightly higher than replacement level.

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1926-1931-1934-1942-1944-1946-1964-1967-1982-2006-2011

The Dodgers agreed to sign former Twin Matt Guerrier to a 3 yr deal.

The White Sox agree to sign former Twin Jesse Crain to a 3 yr deal.

Couple of big blows to the Twins bullpen. The Twins also have Pavano and Thome unsigned and their pricetags are only going up. It's not early anymore and this has been a rough offseason for the organization that does things the right way. They do have Nishioka coming in to take his physical this week so they have that going for them.......

I've always thought the key to Twins success has been in the bullpen through all these years. The bullpen made their starters appear better than they were and made teams worry about getting a lead in the first six innings. I cannot imagine it will be a strength this year.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I agree. They've lost 2 arms out of that bullpen and it looks like they're going to lose a couple more in Rauch and Fuentes and I read Nathan probably won't be ready at the start of the season. They did trade Hardy and a backup catcher for 3 minor league relievers so it looks like they might be rebuilding the bullpen on the cheap. Curious for an organization that was supposedly rolling in money.

The Padres have agreed to sign former Twins 2B Orlando Hudson to a 2yr/$11.5M contract.

The mass exodus continues. That's 5 players gone from last seasons team. I'm starting to think Kenny saw this coming and used it in his sales pitch to Reinsdorf to increase the budget for next season.

Twins re-signed DH Jim Thome to a 1yr/$3M deal + incentives.

Good call on the salary, GD. After the season Thome had last year I thought he was going to sign for more than this.

This is a good signing for the Twins. Thome will DH against righties and will again serve as a nice backup to Justin Morneau in case he isn't ready to the start the season.

Any update on Carl Pavano?

The Twins have been 'close' to signing him for a couple weeks. Supposedly he's waiting for a three year deal but no one is offering more than two. He should sign soon.

Washington was supposedly interested as well. After missing out on Lee and Grienke, I wonder if they may overpay for a dependable (at least last season) veteran starter.

Rizzo claims he hasn't talked to Pavano which means the idiot will probably offer him a 5yr/$100M deal.

The A's signed Brian Fuentes to a two-year contract. Terms were not disclosed.

The Twins lose another member of their bullpen though Fuentes only threw 9.2 innings for them last season so this isn't a tremendous loss. Rauch is still unsigned so maybe they will bring him back and limit the damage. If not this will be a bad off season for the Twinkes even if they resign Carl Pavano.

Twins signed Alexi Casilla to 1 year deal.