Minnesota Sports Forum

Nolasco signed the other day to a 4-year/$49M deal. It's expected that Hughes will sign a 3-year/$24M deal with us as well. The two guys I really wanted and thought it would be realistic to get. Awesome. Good stuff Terry Ryan! He must read my posts somehow! :D

No offense but I think Nolasco and Hughes are a terrible for the top of your rotation.

As a Brewer fan maybe I've been spoiled by our pitchers (even though last year was tough). The Twins really fucked up when they gave Mauer that huge deal.

I wish you guys the best of luck though, I may be jumping ship over to the Twins either this season or next since I can't watch the Brewers anymore (it take 3 1/2 hours to get to Miller Park and I'm blacked out even though I live in Minnesota) and Ryan Braun is a fake ass cheater.

The only way I think the Twins can crawl out of the cellar is with a Yusiel Puig type prospect and a solid 1-3 rotation, right now they don't pose any threat to the AL Central.

Volans19 wrote:No offense but I think Nolasco and Hughes are a terrible for the top of your rotation.

As a Brewer fan maybe I've been spoiled by our pitchers (even though last year was tough). The Twins really fucked up when they gave Mauer that huge deal.

I wish you guys the best of luck though, I may be jumping ship over to the Twins either this season or next since I can't watch the Brewers anymore (it take 3 1/2 hours to get to Miller Park and I'm blacked out even though I live in Minnesota) and Ryan Braun is a fake ass cheater.

The only way I think the Twins can crawl out of the cellar is with a Yusiel Puig type prospect and a solid 1-3 rotation, right now they don't pose any threat to the AL Central.

Nolasco and Hughes will eventually be our No. 3 and 4 pitchers once a couple of the young arms progress through the minors. Alex Meyer, Kohl Stewart, J.O. Berrios, Trevor May. As long as at least two of these good/great prospects grow the way they're supposed to, Minnesota will be set with a dependable, potentially filthy rotation. I still wouldn't be surprised if Terry Ryan traded for Hellickson at some point either.

The best part about these signings is that the Twins didn't have to give up a draft pick for either guy. Terry Ryan was very smart in not giving up a valuable pick.

Also, they had to pay Mauer. Coming off an MVP season, hometown guy, they had no choice but to sign him back or throw away a ton of Twins fans.

Buxton and Sano are on the way. I'm not worried about next season as contending, but I want to see Plouffe/Parmalee/Dozier/Pinto/Hicks all take the next step in their growth. Dozier broke out last year. Plouffe did the year before. Pinto was a beast down the stretch last year, but we'll need to see a larger sample size. Twins will be back in the thick of the AL within a couple years.

Good post Cam, I will readily admit that I have no knowledge of the Twins (or any other teams) prospects. I still think that Nolasco and Hughes are overrated and they'll be making a lot of cheddar for bottom of the rotation guys but hey if they have the prospects it's nice to have a few vets to hold down the fort while they develop

Yeah like cam said yes are they our 1 & 2 now yes, but in the future they will be our 3 & 4. Volans idk what you wanted them to do go into the year with the same pitching staff historically bad pitching staff? They literally got two top free agent pitchers on good deals. 8 mil is real cheap for Hughes. Just look at the Vargas deal lol. With new TV contracts the twins still have 22 million dollars left to spend if they want too. Also you should look at Hughes stats outside Yankee stadium. Hughes has the 2nd highest fly ball rate in all of baseball which will suit him well at target field because we all know how big target field plays. Plus probably by 2015 the Twins will probably have the best defensive outfield in the league with Buxton and hicks.

2015 rotation
1.Meyer
2.Nolasco
3.Hughes
4.Berrios
5.Gibson remember everyone gets better in there second year off tommy john

Plus kohl Stewart might even be ready so this is why in excited about the signings. Also with a top 5 pick coming up in this years draft. Boy I hope trea turner SS NC state drops to us at 5 but I doubt it.

Yeah, jester and cam sold me on Hughes and how he was not made for Yankee Stadium. Nolasco seems to be similar. He misses a lot of bats, but fells prey to the occasional home run. Some of those fly balls will stay in the park at Target Field.

I'm really pleased with these two signings.

So what do you guys want them to go after now? Terry Ryan said they had 33 million to spend this offseason well they've spent 20 mil, I really hope they go get a short stop.

Jester1534 wrote:Yeah like cam said yes are they our 1 & 2 now yes, but in the future they will be our 3 & 4. Volans idk what you wanted them to do go into the year with the same pitching staff historically bad pitching staff? They literally got two top free agent pitchers on good deals. 8 mil is real cheap for Hughes. Just look at the Vargas deal lol. With new TV contracts the twins still have 22 million dollars left to spend if they want too. Also you should look at Hughes stats outside Yankee stadium. Hughes has the 2nd highest fly ball rate in all of baseball which will suit him well at target field because we all know how big target field plays. Plus probably by 2015 the Twins will probably have the best defensive outfield in the league with Buxton and hicks.

2015 rotation
1.Meyer
2.Nolasco
3.Hughes
4.Berrios
5.Gibson remember everyone gets better in there second year off tommy john

Plus kohl Stewart might even be ready so this is why in excited about the signings. Also with a top 5 pick coming up in this years draft. Boy I hope trea turner SS NC state drops to us at 5 but I doubt it.

8 mil is cheap for a bottom of the rotation guy? I'm not going to believe that Hughes is a good pitcher until I see him begin to pitch well more consistently. It's nice that the Twins are spending money on free agents but I think it would be more prudent to go after pitchers like Bedard, Capuano, Arroyo, Volquez, or maybe even Halladay or Johan Santana. None of these guys can be depended on to win 15 games but let's be honest the Twins aren't going to do jack next year so they might as well save a little dough and piece together a rotation.

I may be talking out of my ass as I did not watch much baseball last year but looking at Hughes career statistics he is not anything to be excited about.

Jester1534 wrote:So what do you guys want them to go after now? Terry Ryan said they had 33 million to spend this offseason well they've spent 20 mil, I really hope they go get a short stop.

Volans, the thing to remember is Hughes will be 28 on the start of opening day. Pretty sure he was the youngest FA on the market (maybe Salty's a year younger, not sure). Still has potential and this will be the first time he's played in a different uniform. For some players, that tends to do brilliant things for them.

Even if Hughes came in and was straight up mediocre with a 4.00 ERA with a bad HR rate and all that. There's a bunch of teams that would like to have reliable bottom of the rotation guy and as long as they're in a position to win, $8M per year isn't bad at all. Should some Twins prospects develop quicker than expected, Hughes could also be dealt for something worthy, whether it be help at another position (SS, C, DH) or a middle prospect of some kind. Best case scenario: Hughes adapts extremely well to the spacious Target Field, cold weather and good defense, and scratches a bit of his potential. ERA of 3.50 and double digit wins. That's really all I'm asking for.

This signing makes a ton of sense to me also in that what if Hughes is really struggling and actually needs to be removed from the rotation. Oh no!? What can we do!? Should a Gibson/Diamond/Albers/Worley/Hendricks/Meyer step up and take his spot, Hughes has shown to be money coming out of the bullpen. Now, $8M is a little pricey for a relief arm, but the fact he's been able to switch to that role and have success in the past makes me feel like the only possible thing that could go absolutely wrong with the guy is injury. Injury's a concern with every player in every sport, though.

Twins could still take a flyer on someone like Santana. That's something I'm still very interested in. Or maybe Gavin Floyd, who knows the division extremely well. Or like I said above, they have the prospects to acquire a Hellickson. Terry Ryan has created himself flexibility to make moves whether it be in free agency or via trade.

jester, I'm looking for the Twins to add AJP to platoon at catcher with Pinto and help him with his game-calling on the defensive side of things. Plus, AJ's still more than serviceable at the dish. He's probably looking for a two-year deal, relatively cheap money. I'd give it to him. As for SS, I have faith in Florimon for the time being. He's actually one of the best defensive shortstops in the game. His bat has been decent in stretches, but fades away from slump to slump. If he can get it going and have a Dozier-type turnaround at the dish, that would be something. Maybe Bartlett somehow finds his old Tampa Bay Ray groove. We have him for Spring Training if I remember correctly. SS isn't a main concern to me right now.

Have a plan for the starting rotation (which it looks like we do), figure out who's going to platoon with Pinto (adding AJ plus Mauer being here should help him grow) and hope that the guys we already have here take another step (Dozier, Plouffe, Hicks, Parmalee, Florimon, Gibson).

Volans Phil's away stats from the hitters ball park that's Yankee stadium

2013
67.1 IP 3.88 ERA 47 strikeouts 24 BBs .254 Avg

Pretty damn good numbers for a guy who doesn't have Aaron hicks and eventually Buxton to go shag down All those fly ball outs he gets.

Cam I just don't see AJ platooning with Pinto, I would like to see it too but I just think AJ wouldn't embrace a mentorship role. He was pretty upset when the white soxs decide to go with Flowers instead of him