I still am mildly skeptical about Liriano, but there is no way you can not be just a little bit excited if you are a Twins fan about his performance this winter. Last night, in the final game of the championship series of the Dominican Winter League, Liriano threw 5 scoreless innings, striking out 10 and walking just 1. In the playoffs, Liriano went 3-1 with a .49 ERA and struck out 47 batters in 37 innings.
Stats-wise, it is nice but I wouldn’t get too excited. Many of the lineups in the DWL are prospects, marginal major leaguers, and also-rans. [...]

Who: Danny Valencia
Position: 3B
How Acquired: 2006 draft, 19th round
Highest Level In 2009: AAA Rochester
I probably like Danny Valencia less than any Twins person out there, and that’s fine with me. He certainly has improved over the course of his minor league career, as he was drafted in the 19th round as I said above, but he’ll also be 25 for the 2010 season, which he will likely spend in AAA. By and large, you are what you are at 25 and what Valencia is a good hitter who has been above average at all of his minor league stops, but [...]

According to the Twitters of the Pioneer Press and MLBTR (MLBTR one linked cause I’m too lazy to find the Press’s) the Twins have inked Jim Thome to a one year deal that is heavily incentive based.
Thome’s wOBA has declined each of the last three years, but he was still worth some 23 runs above average last year as a DH. I suspect Thome will see the majority of his action in pinch hitting scenarios as the Twins have lacked some power off the bench, although I suppose it is possible that the Twins will make him the primary DH [...]

All week long I begged. I pleaded. I prayed. Please don’t make me write a post on this Jim Thome nonsense.
Alas.
Jim Thome has, in the last three years, had wOBAs of .367, .370 and .410 the past three seasons. Even with an alarmingly high strikeout rate, Thome can still hit the ball, especially righties. But he isn’t a good fit for the Twins.
The Twins have basically 5 million dollars to spend and, depending on what they do with the bullpen and stuff, one roster spot with which to work. My question to you Twins fans is this:
Would you rather have [...]

I am going to be doing a UZR primer sometime in the near future, but Marlin Maniac has it covered for now
Taking a look at how many runs the Yankees might score next season (River Ave. Blues)
A look at the Rick Ankiel signing (KoK)
Our Tigers blog was on Hotstove.com TV (Motor City Bengals)
We have a new Indians blogger. Here is his debut. (Deep Left Field)
A’s prospect Grant Desme is retiring to prusue the priesthood (Athletics Nation)
Bonus basketball link: a look at rebounding (Beadlemaniacs)
Bonus basketball link part two: a look at the Orlando Magic (Howard the Dunk)

Up until the start of the season, we here at Twinkie Talk will be counting down our top 15 prospects. Today’s prospect is outfielder Joe Benson.
Who: Joe Benson
Where: Outfield
How Acquired: 2006 Draft (2nd round)
Highest level in 2009: Fort Myers
Benson is an athlete. He was highly touted as a high school football player, but chose to sign with the Twins instead. He has had seemingly modest numbers throughout his career, putting up .261, .328 and .323 wOBAs in his three years at A ball, but he had a potential breakout season last year when he hit .285/.414/.403 for Ft. Meyers. His [...]

With the arbitration cases all taken care of, it’s time to see the payroll the Twins are committed to, and to see if there is any money leftover to sign a 2nd baseman. I have included my projected 2010 WAR too. The projection method I use isn’t terribly complicated, so don’t worry too much about it.

Some (well, a lot) of the projections are a bit pessimistic, but coming off a horrible year it’s tough to project what JJ Hardy will do, and Kubel might be due to regress a bit. There isn’t a contract here that I would call bad, [...]

And we’re back! Like I said when reviewing the hitters, I’m glad we got all this nonsense done today and didn’t have to go to any hearings.
Jesse Crain
Crain got roughly 2 million from the Twins. His walk rate climbed to 4.70/9, which is very steep, but he did improve as the season went along. I think he could prove to be a valuable trade chip next offseason as the Twins look to integrate some younger relievers.
Matt Guerrier
Guerrier gets 3.15, which I am a fan of. He’s one of the best relievers in baseball and is well worth the 3.15 mil.
Francisco [...]

First of all, let me say that it’s a good thing that the Twins were able to come to agreements with all arbitration eligible players. I think there were a couple cases they could have won (more on that later) but generally it’s better than there won’t be any hard feelings going into the 2010 season. Let’s get started:
Delmon Young
2.5 million for Delmon Young is awful. Granted it’s not terribly worth it to get your panties in a bunch over a 1 year contract for 2.5 million, but Young is awful. His walk rates have gone down and his strikeout [...]

Who: Billy Bullock
Position: RHP
How acquired: 2009 Draft
Highest level in 2009: NCAA (Florida)
Billy Bullock was a 2nd round pick by the Twins in the 2nd round of this past draft. Bullock has a tall lean frame and is very projectable. He stands about 6′6″, 225 lbs. Almost exactly what you would want from your pitcher.
Unlike last year’s 1st round pick Carlos Gutierrez, the Twins will no doubt leave Bullock as a reliever, and I think eventually he is Joe Nathan’s successor. Bullock can sit in the low 90s, but I think as he develops and is used primarily as a reliever [...]