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	<title>
	Comments on: Winter Meetings and Expectations	</title>
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	<description>&#34;like butterflies with hiccups&#34;</description>
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		<title>
		By: Jim Crikket		</title>
		<link>http://knuckleballsblog.com/2013/12/16/winter-meetings-and-expectations/#comment-75807</link>

		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jim Crikket]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Dec 2013 00:18:26 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[I dunno, Lisa. I didn&#039;t have much confidence that Doumit would be a serviceable catcher next year and chances are he wasn&#039;t in the plans for 2015 anyway. There&#039;s no shortage of slow corner OF/DH types so he was redundant. There are 3 catchers still on the 40-man roster, so I don&#039;t know that the trade of Doumit causes any additional problems.

The Twins needed to open up a roster spot for Pelfrey. Trading Doumit accomplished that. I think, with or without Doumit, they planned on trying to add a different veteran backup catcher so that will probably still happen.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I dunno, Lisa. I didn&#8217;t have much confidence that Doumit would be a serviceable catcher next year and chances are he wasn&#8217;t in the plans for 2015 anyway. There&#8217;s no shortage of slow corner OF/DH types so he was redundant. There are 3 catchers still on the 40-man roster, so I don&#8217;t know that the trade of Doumit causes any additional problems.</p>
<p>The Twins needed to open up a roster spot for Pelfrey. Trading Doumit accomplished that. I think, with or without Doumit, they planned on trying to add a different veteran backup catcher so that will probably still happen.</p>
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		<title>
		By: lisatwink		</title>
		<link>http://knuckleballsblog.com/2013/12/16/winter-meetings-and-expectations/#comment-75779</link>

		<dc:creator><![CDATA[lisatwink]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Dec 2013 22:40:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://knuckleballsblog.com/?p=17545#comment-75779</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[So, speaking of needing some offense, as well as the catching that the front office keeps promising they&#039;re looking for...Twins traded Doumit today.  For a minor-league pitcher who hasn&#039;t lived up to his potential in the Braves system (caveat:  only 23 years old).  

So now, instead of having two backup catchers and no primary catcher, we have one backup catcher.  And we&#039;ve traded pretty much every other catcher or catching prospect in the system because we had the best catcher in the business locked up for a bajillion years.  Who now plays first base.

Hmm.  Seems like they just created another problem to be solved.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So, speaking of needing some offense, as well as the catching that the front office keeps promising they&#8217;re looking for&#8230;Twins traded Doumit today.  For a minor-league pitcher who hasn&#8217;t lived up to his potential in the Braves system (caveat:  only 23 years old).  </p>
<p>So now, instead of having two backup catchers and no primary catcher, we have one backup catcher.  And we&#8217;ve traded pretty much every other catcher or catching prospect in the system because we had the best catcher in the business locked up for a bajillion years.  Who now plays first base.</p>
<p>Hmm.  Seems like they just created another problem to be solved.</p>
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		<title>
		By: Jim Crikket		</title>
		<link>http://knuckleballsblog.com/2013/12/16/winter-meetings-and-expectations/#comment-75278</link>

		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jim Crikket]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Dec 2013 19:37:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://knuckleballsblog.com/?p=17545#comment-75278</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[You&#039;re right, Rick. Presley isn&#039;t getting much fan love. I think it may be a lack of familiarity as much anything else. I&#039;m just not sure we saw enough of him to feel confident that he could hold down the position for a full season and provide better offensive production than the team got from CF a year ago. Certainly possible though.

I just don&#039;t think anyone who is a clear upgrade at CF or 3B will sign on with the Twins as long as Sano and Buxton are seen as imminent arrivals. If it turns out Sano has to miss most of 2014 due to his elbow, that will be unfortunate. If you absolutely knew that was going to be the case right now, some FA 3Bs might be more interested in signing on in Minn.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You&#8217;re right, Rick. Presley isn&#8217;t getting much fan love. I think it may be a lack of familiarity as much anything else. I&#8217;m just not sure we saw enough of him to feel confident that he could hold down the position for a full season and provide better offensive production than the team got from CF a year ago. Certainly possible though.</p>
<p>I just don&#8217;t think anyone who is a clear upgrade at CF or 3B will sign on with the Twins as long as Sano and Buxton are seen as imminent arrivals. If it turns out Sano has to miss most of 2014 due to his elbow, that will be unfortunate. If you absolutely knew that was going to be the case right now, some FA 3Bs might be more interested in signing on in Minn.</p>
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		<title>
		By: Rick Niedermann		</title>
		<link>http://knuckleballsblog.com/2013/12/16/winter-meetings-and-expectations/#comment-75250</link>

		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Niedermann]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Dec 2013 15:44:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://knuckleballsblog.com/?p=17545#comment-75250</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I don&#039;t see much love for Alex Presley in the blogosphere.  But I thought he did a real nice job for the Twins in limited play.  An Alex Presley with some help from Mastroianni in Centerfield is fine with me until Hicks proves he can hit in AAA or Buxton mashes his way to the Twins.  I like Floriman&#039;s glove but offensively he is really challenged. Drew would be a great pickup for the Twins.  My biggest concern offensively is Plouffe. There were stretches last year where he just didn&#039;t have a clue and the strike out rate was unbearable. I wish there was a way to fit Michael Young onto this team.  But I can&#039;t see an opening right now. So the glaring weakness I see is the leftside of the diamond, Plouffe and Floriman. It would sure look better if Michael Young and Stephen Drew were being penciled in at 3B and SS respectively.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I don&#8217;t see much love for Alex Presley in the blogosphere.  But I thought he did a real nice job for the Twins in limited play.  An Alex Presley with some help from Mastroianni in Centerfield is fine with me until Hicks proves he can hit in AAA or Buxton mashes his way to the Twins.  I like Floriman&#8217;s glove but offensively he is really challenged. Drew would be a great pickup for the Twins.  My biggest concern offensively is Plouffe. There were stretches last year where he just didn&#8217;t have a clue and the strike out rate was unbearable. I wish there was a way to fit Michael Young onto this team.  But I can&#8217;t see an opening right now. So the glaring weakness I see is the leftside of the diamond, Plouffe and Floriman. It would sure look better if Michael Young and Stephen Drew were being penciled in at 3B and SS respectively.</p>
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