Joe Gunderson's Minnesota Twins Fan Profile

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Just in case you thought I went away posted on 01/11/2010

Hey Everyone,

First, allow me to apologize for the length of time it has taken to post again.  I have had a busy few weeks since my last entry.  I've gotten engaged to my long-time girlfriend (I honestly am not sure why she waited for me but oh so glad she did!). Christmas and New Years and my birthday have all come and gone and were wonderful and I miss my extended family already.  And of course there has been lots of baseball news, though not Twins related, the biggest of which happened just a little bit ago today.

The list of baseball news includes the following:

-Matt Holliday re-signed with the St. Louis Cardinals for 7 years and $120 million

-Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman signed with the Cincinnati Reds for six years and around $30 million

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Winter Meetings conclude, Twins don't do a lot posted on 12/10/2009

Hello Everyone,

Well the Annual Winter Meetings have just concluded and while there was a lot of activity, not much of it involved the Twins.  The Twins pulled off one move really, designating Boof Bonser for assignment and then early this morning they traded him to the Boston Red Sox for a minor leaguer to be named later.

There was some rumors about what the Twins would do at third base but none of those things have come to fruition yet.  They have apparently talked to free agents such as Adrian Beltre, Mark DeRosa, Joe Crede etc., as well as explored a possible trade with the San Diego Padress for Kevin Kouzmanoff, their young third baseman.  The two names from that list that really intrigue me are DeRosa and Kouzmanoff.  DeRosa because I think he's the best of the guys the Twins would possibly try to get and Kouzmanoff because he's the youngest and most affordable and could turn out to be the best in the long run.  Kouzmanoff's numbers were decent last year but remember that he played his home games in probably the toughest park for anyone to hit in, San Diego's Petco Park.  You could make an argument that his numbers there would mean they'd be probably anywhere from 5-15% better anywhere else.  And we don't know what the Twins new park will be like as far as whether it will favor pitchers or hitters more.

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Action starting to heat up in free agency, trade market posted on 12/08/2009

Hello Everyone,

Sorry I've been absent for a few days.  There really wasn't that much to report or discuss.  However, that has changed in the last 24 or so hours as the annual Winter Meetings are underway.  First, the Twins offered pitcher Carl Pavano arbitration as I said earlier and as of last night he has accepted this offer which essentially means he will be in the Twins rotation in 2010.  To make room for Pavano on the 40 man roster, the Twins designated pitcher Boof Bonser for assignment or release which means he will either be released by the Twins and be with another club for this coming season or he will start the season in the minors. 

There's not much else currently cooking on the Twins front other than that they could possibly look to trade starter Glen Perkins now that Pavano is most assuredly back.  The reason they could do this is because one, there doesn't seem to currently be a spot for him, unless he earns it in Spring Training, and two, he is not on managements greatest side after last season when he did not come forth with the fact that he'd been pitching with an injured shoulder until he had a really rough outing.  Then, when he was ready to return, he was sent to the minors, which upset him, because it meant that he does not have enough service time to qualify for arbitration himself.  He filed a grievance against the club to try and obtain some or all of his service time back, which he did get some, but not enough to qualify for arbitration.

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Twins offer arbitration to Pavano, decline to do so on others posted on 12/02/2009

Hello Everyone,

The Twins announced yesterday they've offered arbitration to only one of their pending free agents, pitcher Carl Pavano.  They've declined to do so with third baseman Joe Crede, pitcher Ron Mahay and shortstop Orlando Cabrera.  Cabrera had a clause in his contract that stated that whatever team he was on was to not offer him arbitration.  These moves were pretty much expected and does not mean that Pavano will for sure be back with the Twins, nor does it mean those not offered arbitration will be back or not be back.  All it really means is this, one if Pavano accepts the Twins offer, he could be back, but if he signs elsewhere, the Twins get a draft pick from the team that signs him.  If he does not, then he could still come back if they come to another type of contract agreement but if he doesn't and signs with another team, the Twins get nothing.  For those that were not offered arbitration, if they sign elsewhere, the Twins get nothing in return. 

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First ten days of free agency a real yawn fest posted on 11/30/2009

Hello Everyone,

I don't have a ton to say today, basically because there hasn't been much going on in the world of baseball lately.  I mean, if you really want, I can break down the Blue Jays acquisition of Alex Gonzalez but I'm guessing you all would be in a coma by the end of that!

I just wanted to give my two cents as to why we haven't seen much action in the free agent market yet.  I believe that it's due to the affects of 1. a slow economy and 2. the fact that the date for clubs to offer or decline offers of arbitration to free agents hasn't come yet.  I really believe that once we see this date come and clubs make those decisions, the signings will start to happen.

Basically what offering or not offering arbitration means to clubs wanting to sign free agents is they find out if signing said free agent will cost them a draft pick or not.  Also, if the player accepts the arbitration offer, then he will go back to the team that offered it to him, which is why a lot of teams will not offer arbitration to some of their free agents, because they don't want him back!  Or, maybe they do want him back but for more than just one year in which case, they will want to try and work out a multi-year deal instead.

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