The Twins either signed contracts or offered arbitration to all seven players who were eligible for arbitration (but not free agency). Thus, all seven players will be back with the Twins (barring future trades). Obviously, some of these moves are good moves (for instance, the Twins decided to bring back Johan Santana). Some of them, however, leave SBG scratching his head. I'm sure you've probably heard that the Twins have signed both Jacque Jones and Luis Rivas(!) to one-year deals. Imagine it. The Twins have given Rivas $1.625 million to play second base next year. I can barely tolerate that.

Some people are all excited about the Jones signing. They like his smile. Whoop-de-damn-doo. It's not that Jones is a bad player. On the contrary, Jones has some real skills. He had a pretty crappy year last year, but he can hit for power (24 home runs last year), even though he is pathetic against left handed pitching and has no plate discipline. He can cover some ground in the outfield. He has a decent arm, even though he often sabotoges his arm strength with a poor release point that results in three hop throws to the infield. Jones is a good player. However, the Twins are chock full of good outfielders. They have Shannon Stewart under contract through 2006. They have Torii Hunter (who whined in the Strib for a second consecutive off-season about roster changes, uh Torii, did you miss Eric Milton last year?). Hunter is also under contract through 2006. They also have Lew Ford. Remember him? And now they have Jones again, this time for $5 million. Four starters, three positions. Meanwhile they have unproven players at shortstop and third base. And now, they have retained Luis Rivas, who has proven he can't play, at second base.

Let's try a thought experiment. Suppose the Twins decided that Ford could hold down the right field job. Suppose further that the Twins decided to put Michael Cuddyer at second base. They could have gone after Joe Randa to play third (he's now signed with Cincinnati) or maybe they could have given Corey Koskie a little more money to play third. The Twins would have a more balanced team and would be spreading their resources out to cover as much of the lineup and field as possible. Instead, it's Jones for a crowded outfield (thereby ensuring that Ford will be the odd man out) and Rivas.

How bad is Rivas? Well, he had an execrable .715 OPS, 11th out of 15 second baseman with at least 350 plate appearances in the American League. His OBP (.283) was 116th out of 120 players in the AL with at least 350 plate appearances (former Twin Henry Blanco was dead last, Henry, we won't miss you). How about his defense? He didn't qualify for statistical leads in 2004 (so I don't know his position), nor did he qualify in 2002. He did in 2003 and 2001. In those years, he had the worst range factor and zone rating among second basemen in the American League. So, we've established that he can't hit a lick and he can't play defense. And, he hasn't shown much improvement. His .715 OPS is a career high but just .020 above his career OPS, and his .283 OPS is a career low (he did hit 10 home runs to amass a semi-respectable .432 slugging percentage). Instead of parting ways, the Twins have signalled that they will run him out there at 2B again. I can't believe it.

In short, I am very disappointed with these developments. I am still hopeful that the Twins will trade Jones for a decent infielder. I am at a loss to explain the Rivas signing.

And one more thing. Stick and Ball Guy does not care if the Twins have 20 new players on the roster next year. I just want to see a good competitive team. Most of the players on this team are expendable (Santana, Radke, Li'l Harmon and Mauer being exceptions). I am more interested in seeing winning baseball than seeing Jones or Eddie Guardado wearing a Twins uniform. Think about this. Oakland lost Jason Giambi. Yes, he's turned out to be a steroid user as well as a major disappointment in New York (yes!). Think about when he left the A's. He was an MVP and one of the most feared hitters in the league. The A's shrugged that loss off, went out and won over 100 games and made the playoffs. Then, they lost Miguel Tejada a league MVP. They responded by remaining competitive right down to the end of the season. This off season, they have lost Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson. I wouldn't bet against them next year. Even if they lose next year, they will be back again soon. The A's have lost more talent in those four players than the Twins have lost in free agency in, well, forever (Hudson and Mulder were traded). And they still win. And if I was an A's fan (and I hate the A's, thank you very much), I'd be placing all my trust in Billy Beane, and I wouldn't bemoan the loss of these guys. Yet, Twins fans were gnashing their teeth over the prospect of losing Jacque Jones. I don't get it.

Incidentally, there is another column in there about Oakland. I won't be writing that tonight, but hopefully I will soon. And SBG will be playing close attention to the A's in 2005.

Other Thoughts

• I don't know if a playoff berth or lack thereof will impact Mike Tice's position as head coach of the Vikings. I believe it when I hear that Tice will be back next year at his miniscule salary.
• The Wolves got clobbered again tonight. I, for one, think that the NBA should institute a minimum age of 21 for the league. That way they wouldn't have had to face LeBron James who was singularly brilliant again tonight. (I think an age minimum is a ridiculous idea. What the NBA needs to do is establish their minor league.)
• I saw about 2 minutes of college basketball tonight. At one time, SBG was a big college basketball fan. No more. But, what I did see brought back old memories, when college teams actually had future NBA players on them. Iowa was playing Texas Tech, pitting Iowa coach Steve Alford against Bobby Knight. Those guys are a link back to the time when college basketball was exciting to SBG.
• It was damned cold in Minnesota today. I miss summer, especially since hasn't been here in a year and a half.
• I was glad to see that the Yankees didn't get Randy Johnson (at least not yet). Think about how different being a Yankee fan is from being a Twins fan. We are speculating about Koskie and Jones. They have added Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright (!?), are lusting after Randy Johnson and are willing to pay Carlos Beltran whatever he wants. They are going to have a payroll over $200 million. I'm sorry, but that's so much that it isn't even fun anymore.
• The AP has pulled its poll from the BCS next year. Yep, that college football bowl system is a great idea. No need for a playoff.

Note: I see that I have a few adjustments to make to my template. Will try to iron those out.