it's time it's time it's TIME TIME TIME for the Twins midoffseason report card!
you may remember that about oh, three months ago the Minnesota Twins made a hasty exit from play-off action. shortly there
after I posted a to-do list of things that absolutely positively had to get done in the offseason. how has the team done so far? and how do my predictions hold up? let's take a look:
1) Pick up Hunter's option, and get a three year extension done, pronto. DONE, sortof. though a lot of members of Twins Nation (?) were clamoring for either a long-term deal or an outright cut-and-run, the Twins went ahead and pulled the trigger on Torii's !$2.5m option for 2007. after that though, he's fair game it seems, as Terry Ryan and crew are busy with some other contract issues this offseason. this is a hell of a deal too for the Twins, comapred to Vernon Wells' recent extension, but regrettably either the Twins will pay near-market for Hunter in the winter of '07 or they will have to wave buhbye to the face of the franchise since 2000.
Grade: (of five smileys)
Me: 
Twins:
2) Get one of the Big Three a multiyear deal, and save the other two for later. um, not yet? I'm still optimistic, especially after seeimg them pre-arbitration exchange figures; though high they were not as high as I was expecting them to be. conventional wisdom is leaning toward Morneau in the long-term contract race but there is an outside chance that both he and Mauer could see multiyear deals this spring. look for Cuddy to re-up for '07 ar around $3.5-3.6m.
Grade:
Me: Twins: incomplete
3) Forget about Carlos Silva. whoops! I blew that one. not only did I get this completely wrong, but I should've seen it coming what with my call in the following section. also, I boofed the dollar amount. and at four million plus change, Silva is a goddamn bargain compared to Gil Meche's or Ted Lilly's deals. let's hope he finds his 2005 form form, which isn't really realistic due to his historically ridiculous BAA. as far as that bottom of the rotation guy I wanted? let's hope the Twins have found him in Ramon Ortiz, the flyball-pitching innings eater from last year's Natspos and the 2002 Series winning Angels. also, a minor league deal has been worked out with Prince Fatty Ponson but I doubt that will do any good, or last past April.
Grade:
Me: Twins:
4) Don't count on Francisco Liriano being around next year. I'm not gonna delight in being right about this one. see you in October, Franchise.
Grade:
Me: Twins: , for being required to shelf him for the season
5) Don't back off Punto. good work guys! thanks for leaving him be. also, signing Jeff Cirillo to fill the utility slot was pure brilliance.
Grade:
Me: Twins:
6) Bring back Rondell and bring on the round-robin DH. another awesome call. bringing White on for '07 is a super low risk, super high reward move, especially when he will be handed the outfield job outright. it also gives the Twins the option to fill the hole in '08 with Denard Span. so, for the foreseeable future, White wil be in left and Kubel will be the everyday DH.
Grade:
Me: Twins:
Final Thoughts well, I didn't start out great. but I sure finished strong. overall, the winter for the Twins has been characteristically productive and quiet, and most of the trouble areas have been attended to. the biggest worry I have is how the six arbitration cases will affect payroll, as last year's was around $67m and so fatr this year, before arbitration, they have committed to around $62m. but only time will tell....
now playing on iPod: Guster 'Diane'
Labels: twins
OH MY GOD EHREN POSTED TO HIS WEBSITE
no I haven't forgotten this site, though it seems like it. I've just been busy with you know, life. it's been blowing up lately and for the first time in quite awhile I feel like I'm in just this awesome place where everything seems to be coming together, and I'm trying to not do a lot to disrupt that flow. except... Blogger sortof did that for me by making me sign in to extra shits to access my content. but hey, that is the way the mop flops. I'm gonna try to start posting on a weekly basis from here on out, because while my old pre-laziness pace wasn't exactly frenetic, it was enough to make this whole website thing feel like a chore, and I really
really don't want that to happen again. so stay close, keep on clickin' and I'll do the best damn job I can to entertain everyone out there.
Happy New Year, guys.
sincerely, Ehren A. Stemme
now playing on iTunes: John Mayer 'Covered in Rain'
Labels: internet, personal, site
