Hudson signs with Twins for one year...

...and the contract is for 5 million. Thanks Bill. Kudos are due.

Liriano tears up the Dominican Winter League...

...and for once, I'm 100 percent in agreement with a Twins front office release in that I too am "cautiously optimistic". As the Thesier article states, Liriano pushed his winter team (Leones del Escogido or "Lions of the Chosen One") into the playoffs and then posted a 3-1 record with 47 strikeouts, 5 walks and a .49 ERA in 47 innings. Those numbers are sick. But a couple questions remain unaddressed by the article.

First, what was Liriano's pitch velocity during the winter league? Prior to Tommy John surgery, Liriano's fastball was clocked in the mid to upper 90's and his slider the high 80's with ridiculous break. However, in the past two season after surgery, Liriano has struggled to get up past 92 with his fastball and his slider hasn't been even CLOSE to the dominating monster it was when he first burst onto the scene. This despite the fact that Twins management and executives assured the fans that he was making significant progress and that his velocity was at or near pre-surgery levels prior to last season (it wasn't close). Well, there may be something for Twins fans to take from his domination of the Dominican league, because according to non-Twins reports, his fastball velocity is around 95 this according to some Player Press and Advanced Fantasy, who just happen to call Frankie a "2010 Sleeper".

Second, is there any legitimate MLB talent in the Dominican Winter League or did Liriano just hose a bunch of high schoolers, long-shot prospects and big league rejects? Well, here is the Dominican Winter League site and the rosters for the league. It appears that there are many MLB names on the rosters. Now, it isn't the 1927 Yankees and "Murderers Row". However, it's pretty obvious that the hitters aren't just a bunch of scrubs hacking away without a clue. There are definite MLB talents holding the bats.

Third, we'll heard this type of "optimism" from the Twins executives and managers before. They were telling Twins fans similar things prior to last season: That he was getting up to 95 in velocity and that he was really "letting it go" in winter ball. Well, that proved to be unsubstantiated. He showed up in Spring Training without any jump on his pitches and he looked like dejected half of the time...head down...shoulders slumped...like a kid who's been told there won't be Christmas this year. At least this year there is some evidence to back up the claims.

Finally, where is Liriano's confidence in his repaired arm? Prior to surgery, Liriano's most devastating pitch was his slider. He was willing to throw it at any time during the count. In fact, his willingness to throw the pitch may have led to his injury in the first place. But last season, Liriano's slider wasn't effective. It had relatively little "late" break and hitters weren't fooled. Experts noted that he simply didn't throw his slider as hard last season...and it showed. If you want some nerdery regarding Liriano's "problems" you can check out this AWESOME blog post by Andrew Kneeland at Twinstarget.com. Specifically, it is the organizations tinkering with Liriano's throwing "style" (thinking his violent delivery was what caused the injury initially) and his inability to "let it go". According to Andrew, Liriano was, indeed, throwing his slider with reckless abandon this winter. His slider was reaching the upper 80's and his strikeouts per 9 innings was well over 11. He isn't going to get 47 strikeouts in 37 innings with just a fastball. All indications are that the "high-80's" slider also fooled some hitters...perhaps with some of that "late break". So will he do this during the season? Perhaps more succinctly...will Rick Anderson and Gardy ALLOW him to do it this season? I don't know that answer. But it's obvious that his slider is very good when he does. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that Mr. Gardenhire made a bad personnel decision. How about walks? Is his control better? Well, Liriano stayed in the single digits in walks over 37 innings with 5. FIVE! I think he walked five batters in one INNING at one point last year. He's either adjusted to the tinkering and brought his fastball under control, or has summoned the powers of black magic. Whatever it is, he's throwing more strikes.

So I think the numbers are legit. The Dominican League isn't a Busch league full of talentless pine-riders and he's really doing something different this winter. As a Twins fan, I know he won't be the guy who was making bats miss his slider by 18 inches in 2006. But I'm optimistic that he can now be a legitimate addition to our rotation or, at a very minimum, a solid set-up to Joe Nathan out of the bullpen.

Orlando Hudson is still out there Smith....

...and apparently, the Team at least remains "interested" in him at second base in 2010. Now, I look at MLB Trade Rumors quite a bit. In fact, I have their RSS feed streaming into my Blackberry via Viigo. However, I rarely put much credence into their "rumors". But I've been so wanting the team to sign a decent middle infielder and been so freaking pissed off by Bill Smith's failure to sign any of the most appropriate suitors that the fact that ANYONE is reporting the Twins still being in the hunt for Hudson creates a blog-worthy note.

Thome was a good sign. I'll give Bill Smith that. However, he is an aged veteran and the Twins HAD to sign at least one person of that designation. An Orlando Hudson signing would represent a marked departure from the Twins recent offseason acquisition pattern. I wait... with baited breath...however I'm not holding it.

UPDATE:

Apparently, Hudson is holding out of a contract with the Nationals because he wants more money...as in 9 million-type money. Ok, so I want it clear. I obviously would love for the Twins to sign Hudson. Hell, I think he would be an addition worthy of the Twins adding some payroll. But I would NOT be in favor of the Twins shelling out anywhere NEAR 9 million for him. Wow. 4 or 5 million, fine. 9 or 10...give me a break. If the Nats want him bad enough to pay him 9...they can have him.

UPDATE:

Kelly Thesier is reporting that the Twins are now leading the stakes for Hudson. Apparently, the Nationals and Hudson were "too far apart" money-wise to make a deal work. In stepped the Twins. Who the hell would want to play for that frickin' team is beyond my anyway. Great stadium, for sure. Terrible team. Dan Cole is making the same announcement on the air right now. Well then. Do you imagine that the team was forced to make some acquisitions and prove to team Mauer that they were serious about improving the ball club? If that's the case, Mauer is even more valuable to Twins fans than I originally thought.

Thome in talks with Twins...

...to be an additional left-handed bat in the dugout and veteran presence in the Twins clubhouse, says Kelly Thesier.

And I will be astonished if Bill Smith doesn't find a way to fuck it up, because it would be a GREAT addition to this team. I hate it when the Twins add scrap-heap veterans. In fact, I complain about it religiously on this blog. However, I do, occasionally, press for the signing of aged veterans that I believe have some upside. I did so with Crede last year, thinking he would provide stellar Defense and some additional batting pop over a Buscher-Harris platoon at third base. I said this despite the obvious question marks surrounding his back. The team signed Crede and he did pretty much what was expected of him until his back began acting up again and he was shut down.

Jim Thome would most certainly be another veteran bat that I would be more-than-enamored to have the Twins add to their lineup. He's old for sure. But he hasn't slowed down in the least over the past two seasons, posting a .245/.362/.503/.865 line in 2008 and a .249/.366/.481/.847 line in 2009. Those numbers are hardly shabby. In fact, it puts all the other potential bench options to shame.

Now, there are some considerations when dealing with Thome. First, he doesn't play defense. He would strictly be added for his bat. As shown, however, that's not a bad thing. And considering we have a first baseman already, this shouldn't be a problem. The thing is, though, that we also already have a DH in Jason Kubel, who posted a career-best line of .300/.369/.539/.907 in 2009. So removing him from the lineup is absolutely ridiculous. And besides, Jason Tyner isn't with the team anymore. The thing is, Kubel CAN play Defense and spent time platooning in left field in the past. My thought? Let's put Kubel in left full time, put Thome as the daily DH and leave Delmon Young on the bench where he belongs. Now Kubel is no Bob Allison, but he's also no worse than Delmon Young, who has proven to be one of the worst left fielders in the league. And considering Delmon posted a mere .284/.308/.425/.733 while plodding around like a moron, there should be NO hesitation to replace Delmon with Jason.

If nothing else, Jim Thome is regarded as one of the league's all time nicest guys while we all know that Delmon Young is a grade-A douchebag.

It seems like a no brainer, doesn't it?

UPDATE:

Thome is signed. The one-year deal is worth a cool 1.5 million with incentives pushing it up to 2 million. Good deal. The team is automatically better. No questions asked. Now, the question is...how much better will Gardenhire and Smith allow it to become. Kubel put up career numbers last year and I understand the unwillingness to fix what ain't broke. But there is no doubt in my mind that playing Thome at DH while playing Kubel in left field is the way this transaction should go down. Delmon Young and his terrible bat should come off the bench. Jim Thome has earned the right to at least TRY to start every day. In addition...Delmon Young sucks every time he is on the field. Thome makes the team better.

I'm stoked.

UPDATE II:

Turns out I'm not the only one who thinks that the Twins' signing of Thome is both 1) a very good thing and 2) not something that should be relegated to a "pinch-hitting-only" scenario. Rick Reiley insinuated so on Paul Allen's KFAN show this morning. And Aaron Gleeman (with whom I don't always agree) believes it to be true. Gleeman seems to think that he should play strictly against right handers. However, I definitely think he needs to play all the time if for no other reason than to insure that Delmon Young sits on the bench where belongs.

Maybe we can package Delmon and Perkins for a third baseman?

Mark McGwire apparently used steroids in the 90's...

...I guess we can file his admission to that fact in the "no shit" category?

Well, I think we already knew that McGwire was doing some stuff on the side. I mean, have you seen the guy? His forearms look like whole hams. People have been speculating (with some certainty) about his use of banned substances since he was seen using Andro and talking about it on TV.

What still gets me, though, is the disdain people have for him about his testimony in front of Congress where he refused to answer any questions regarding his past use of steroids. He lawyered up and did the next-best-thing to admitting his use...he said nothing. And he gets CRUCIFIED for it, allthewhile the rest of these clowns get up and lie, bold face, to Congress. Palmeiro, Sosa, Tejada, Bonds, Clemens...ALL of them. And McGwire gets heat. Sure, he never came out and told everyone that he was cheating...but who the hell did? But at a very minimum I give him credit for not lying under oath.

Now, should he be allowed into the hall of fame? The keep people out for dumber reasons. And frankly, considering the moronic nature through which baseball chooses its inductees and the cluelessness evidenced yearly by that process, I wouldn't doubt that he'll be kept out. But I'll tell you this...he re-energized baseball in the late 90's. That league was in the toilet before he and Sosa came on the scene and started knocking balls into next Tuesday. And that's a fact. So in addition to his ridiculous numbers (of dingers relative to at-bats to name one) he's got some SERIOUS historical basis for an argument FOR his induction.

What I'm worried will happen (and "worried" is a relative term because I really don't' give a shit about whether McGwire gets in or not) is that the baseball writers, for whatever reason, will look at McGwire as a pariah but at the same time will forgive the admitted transgressions of their media-darling Alex Rodriguez. What has McGwire done that A-Rod hasn't? Both have admitted to using. Both have admitted that they did it to help them back from injury. Both of them say they regret it. Neither lied under oath. Both of them have the numbers for the hall. Why then, despite this fact, does Rodriguez get special treatment? For if there is a definition of "cheating" that is applicable...it is applicable to both equally. Either they're BOTH in or they're BOTH out.

Frankly though, this kind of discussion makes the Bert Blyleven haranguing all the more unbearable. The dude played for 22 seasons WITHOUT this crap. And he was able to compile absolutely LEGIT numbers for the hall (only morons see otherwise) nevertheless. It makes my freakin' blood boil.

Complete Horseshit....

...Blyleven falls .8% short of the hall. Morons. You'd think that at least SOME of those entrusted with the right to vote players in or out would understand that an astronomical amount of strikeouts, 60 shutouts, a metric shit-ton of 1-0 losses, 20 no decisions in one freakin' season, an ERA in the low 3's, damn near 5000 innings pitched and a 12-6 curveball that young pitchers try to emulate to this day would make up for the 13 wins short of 300 they seem to be balking at.

Idiots.

Bill Smith and the Twins have made an offer to Jarod Washburn...

...and I want to punch myself in the face.

And again, the Twins are hoping to tap into a possible renaissance from the long shot veteran. As the article states, he was having a fairly good season in Seattle before he hurt himself and struggled down the stretch. So there is at least some upside. But truth be told, he hasn't been worth a shit for quite some time.

Can't wait to see what Smith offered to pay him. Ugh.

Bill Smith refuses to budge on possible free agents...again...

...God this is just pathetic.

Adrean Beltre signs with Boston.

Mark DeRosa signs with Giants.

Hell, the Giants even added crappy third baseman Juan Uribe. Can't Bill Smith do ANYTHING?

And of course, the Twins head nodders and hired pens are out in full force justifying the lack of action on the part of the front office.

It's the same every year. And I really LIKE Christensen.

Want to read something incredibly stupid?

Here's John Heyman's newest article on ESPN regarding his "no" vote on Bert Blyleven's hall of fame induction.

Just like all the rest of the Blyleven deniers, he talks out of both sides of his mouth. Numbers aren't important, except the number of wins. Never mind who the guy played for. And apparently durability isn't something to be considered...because we all know that all the 500 homer guys would've made their totals without being around for a while. Apparently "domination" during a short stretch is more important. Perhaps we should already examine Francisco Liriano for hall consideration? Never mind the fact that he's been absolutely TERRIBLE for all but one stretch in 2006. But hey...HE WAS UNHITTABLE for a year!!! Oh, and career Cy Youngs are now an important factor in making one's hall push...never mind the fact that the same moronic rationale is used to vote for the hall as is for the Cy Young (simplicity = wins). For an example, see AL 2005.

Heyman is just another fossil, clinging to the simpler dynamics in baseball like wins, runs, homers, MVP's, Cy Youngs. While he, like the rest of baseball's elder writers, shuns more informative statistics. I'm not sure why they do it. Perhaps one can't figure out WHIP or Zone Ratings with only 10 fingers? But whatever the reason...it's pathetic.