Comments on: Orlando Hudson

By: sirsean

sirsean — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:15:51 +0000

I was kind of surprised by Harden, but really surprised by Sheets.

Of course, after those two set the market, I was even more surprised when Bedard signed. I'm beginning to think Jack Z has a ton of pictures of agents and GMs around the league; how else could he pull off all these absurdly team-friendly deals?

By: FunBobby

FunBobby — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:11:16 +0000

That makes sense. I didn’t realize how much Harden went for.

By: Ragstoriches

Ragstoriches — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:59:06 +0000

Considering the Twins actually went out and filled some needs which 1) they never do, and 2)they promised they’d do with the new stadium, I’m going to give them a pass on Harden/Bedard/Sheets.

By: sirsean

sirsean — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:57:36 +0000

Harden & Sheets ended up being out of our price range (and if we'd signed them we wouldn't have gotten Thome or Hudson).

Bedard would have been interesting and affordable, but he's out until July or later anyway.

I was excited about going after one of the high risk/reward pitchers on the market this winter, but it didn't work out. That's not Smith's fault; outbidding $10M for Sheets would have been a huge mistake, especially given that we don't have that kind of money to spend.

By: FunBobby

FunBobby — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:51:34 +0000

Not to rain on everyones parade, but is anyone just a little disappointed that we didn’t go after one of the low risk/high reward pitchers like Harden, Bedard or Sheets? I guess it sounds kind of greedy, but would have been nice to make a serious run at one of them.

By: sirsean

sirsean — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:46:27 +0000

Presumably Hudson still thinks he'll be worthy of a multi-year deal next offseason (which is probably why he wanted the "please don't offer me arbitration" clause like Orlando* Cabrera), and thus didn't want to lock in this below-market salary for multiple years.

We can re-address 2B again later on, but for now we've turned an incredibly weak infield (Morneau/Harris/Punto/Casilla) into a fairly strong one (Morneau/Hardy/Hudson/Punto), all in one offseason.

By: rghrbek

rghrbek — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:41:40 +0000

It's a great signing no doubt. It doesn't solve our 2b problems for next year, since we really don't have anything in the minors at that position, but non the less they have stepped up.

Good signing Billy boy!

By: MarkW

MarkW — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:47:20 +0000

Damn straight! Not only does this put Tolbert back in AAA, but it will limit our two worst offensive players… Punto/Harris. We also fill a huge need w/ Punto being able to play all 3 INF positions (as he should be used)… We now have the best 1/2 hitters I’ve seen in a long time as well… maybe ever. Span/Hudson/Mauer all with high OBP %’s, for Morneau/Cuddy/Kubel to drive them in… and we finally have a 7,8,9 combo that could do some damage…

Wow, February and I’m this pumped up about April!

By: sirsean

sirsean — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:43:34 +0000

I'm absolutely thrilled about this signing.

I agree with LEN3, who said this is the best team the Twins have had coming into Spring Training in the 13 years he's been covering the team.

If you're a Twins fan, you simply must be excited right now.