Is bringing Jim Thome back a luxury the twins can afford?

First Let me start off by saying I am a huge Jim Thome fan, he had an incredible 2010 for the Twins. He was a huge asset on and off the field. But I have serious concerns about giving a 41 year old D.H./P.H who cannot field a position a signifigant raise, when the Twins have so many areas of concern that need to be addressed. Here are a few concerns I have about Thome:

He is looking for a significant raise over the 1.5 million he made in 2010.
It is a huge gamble signing anybody of his age.
He is a totally one dimensional player, no defense, no flexibility off the bench.
He does not fit the Twins plans for speed in 2011.

The Twins made so much revenue in 2010 at Target field that they can no longer use the excuse that they are a small market team, they can afford to sign any free agent out there. We all know this will never happen the Twins are still going to do it the Twins way, develop our own players and look for free agent bargains to fill out our roster. The Twins have already shown thatthey are unwilling to spend by letting go most of their bullpen and trading away the best shortstop we have had in the last 30 years for a couple of nobody minor league relievers.
Taking this all into consideration signing Thome makes about as much sense for the Twins as letting go of your starting middle infield and starting Japanese import and a player who has failed to perform every time he has been given an opportunity to start.

The Twins needs for 2011 are bullpen help, we need an bonafide 4th outfielder, we need a bonafide bench player who is capable of playing multiple positions, and we will need a starting second baseman and shortstop after Nisho and Casilla fail miserably. Jim Thome's skill set do not help us out in any of these areas, we do not have the luxury of spending 3 million on a guy that cannot field a position and is a liability on the base paths, we already have that player, his name is Jason Kubel.

Here are a couple odf names I would like to see in a Twins uniform next year.

Troy Glaus - 15 to 25 homers can fill in at first keeping cuddy in rightfield and Kubel on the bench, could also fill in at 3rd in a pinch.

Marcus Thames - Hits Lefties great, can play both first and corner outfield spots.

Andruw Jones - Still plays a decent outfield, still has power.

I wish Thome the best, I hope he has a great 2011 season reaching 600 H.R's, but I think any of the 3 above players would be a better fit for the Twins.

Nisho signing a complete waste of 15 million

I am so tired of reading comments from Twins fans about how nice Nisho is going to fit into the 2 hole and how he is going to make the twins a better team.  To me this signing is a desperate and stupid attempt to make it look like they are aggressively going after players in an attempt to make the twins a better team.  This will be a successful signing in the sense it will get some people exited and sell some jerseys, I think a lot of people see this signing and instantly think of Ichiro.  Here are my issues with it:

First we are taking a 15 million dollar gamble on a player who has received as many questionable reviews as good reviews in relation to how his talent is going to translate to the major leagues.  The Twins are not the kind of team that can afford to make this kind of mistake after making the huge mistake of committing 23 million a year to Joe Mauer.  The smart move would of been trying to sign Hardy to a 2 or 3 year deal at around 6 million a year.  Or if it is true that Gardenhire did not want Hardy around anymore we should have aggressively went after Brendan Ryan or Jason Bartlett, I know both have question marks, but both are proven solid major league shortstops.  We just gave 15 million to a player with nothing but question marks, not the best use of money for the twins.  Another problem I have is people getting over excited about Nisho because he is from Japan, they instantly think Nisho is going to equal Ichiro.   I am not so sure I would be overly excited if he did compare to Ichiro, what has Ichiro ever done to make the Mariners a better team, he can fill a stat sheet like Mauer, but he is not a clutch performer who can carry a team.

Throw making Casilla a starter on top of this and the twins have a recipe for disaster.  Gardenhire is starting to campaign for punto coming back as well.  2011 is shaping to look like 2009 where if Mauer is injured we will Field a line-up where our 7,8, and 9 hitters are all automatic outs. 

Joe Mauer is overrated and way overpaid

This is my first blog post, I love the twins and love reading blogs about them.  I had to create a blog because I feel the need to vent.  Please let your comments rip, lets go!

The Twins have done nothing to improve this off season, we traded away one of the best shortstops in  game for a couple of prospects, we have lost a couple of relievers who have been vital cogs in one of the best bullpens in the majors for the last few years.  And the Twins front office is trying to sell us on a middle infield of Alexi Casilla and Nisho, whatever his full name is, to improve team speed.  I hope I am wrong on Nisho and Casilla but I believe that it is a matter of when not if they fail in 2011.  Casilla is just not a capable everyday major league player any way you cut it, he is a poor defensive player at second and short, he is  equally inept at the plate, and worst of all he is a terrible situational hitter.  Nisho on the other hand is coming from a league that has talent equivalent to double a baseball and we expect him to make the jump to the major leagues playing one of the most demanding positions in baseball, speaking little or no English on top of all this.  Forgive me if I have no confidence in our new middle infield tandem.

  So why are we in this situation, why have we lost Crain and Guerrier, why did we have to trade Hardy away for nearly nothing in return? 

Joe Mauer, Joe Mauer's contract is going to cripple the Twins for the next 8 years. We paid Joe Mauer to be an elite game changing Major leaguer, which he is not.  Mauer is a very one dimensional baseball player, he does one thing really well and that is hit for a high average, he does not hit for power, he has never drove in 100 runs, he should be our #2 hitter in the batting order.  Everybody thinks he is an elite defensive catcher, having a great arm does not make someone a great defensive catcher, I do not think he is particularly good at calling a ballgame.  Don't try to tell me he is great defensively because he wins gold gloves, Jeter wins gold gloves every year as well.  Mauer is a very nice player, he is not a game changing elite talent who gets a 8 year 182 million dollar contract.  How much better would this team look if we paid Mauer 12 million a year, what he is worth, and had an extra 10 million a year to spend on our roster?