Orlando Hudson signs with the Twins.

[Dipre]

The Minnesota Twins and second baseman Orlando Hudson have agreed on a one-year, $5 million contract.

 

The Twins announced the deal late Thursday night.

 

As part of the deal, the Twins agreed not to offer Hudson salary arbitration if he is a Type A free agent next offseason. Thus, a team will be able to sign Hudson without losing a draft pick, making him more attractive on the open market.

 

The contract does not include incentives.

 

Hudson gives the Twins a veteran at the top of the batting order with a .282 career average and four Gold Glove awards. He played in his second All-Star Game last season, his only year with the Los Angeles Dodgers after four with the Toronto Blue Jays and three with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

 

He'll form an all-new double-play tandem for the Twins with shortstop J.J. Hardy, who came in an earlier offseason trade from the Milwaukee Brewers. The 32-year-old Hudson batted .283 with 35 doubles, six triples, nine homers and 62 RBIs in 551 at-bats for the Dodgers last year.

 

Nice signing for the Twins.

[VA Sox Fan]

Way to go O-Dog!

[Plumpamania]

1. CF Span

2. C Mauer

3. 1B Morneau

4. RF Cuddyer

5. DH Kubel

6. SS Hardy

7. LF Young

8. 2B Hudson

9. 3B Tolbert/Punto

 

OR

 

1. CF Span

2. C Mauer

3. 1B Morneau

4. RF Cuddyer

5. DH Thome

6. LF Cuddyer

7. SS Hardy

8. 2B Hudson

9. 3B Tolbert/Punto

 

 

Either way beast.

[Dojji]

Span

Hudson

Mauer

Morneau

Cuddyer

Thome

Hardy

Tolbert/Punto(/Lowell?)

[Keeper]

They're pretty strong up the middle now. Not saying much, but they definitely have the best lineup in the AL Central. If they can get a full season from Slowey, they'll be in good shape.

[Cocos Disciples]

Span

Hudson

Mauer

Morneau

Cuddyer

Thome

Hardy

Tolbert/Punto(/Lowell?)

Gotta have Kubel. I'd say:

Span

Hudson

Mauer

Morneau

Kubel

Cuddyer

Thome

Hardy

Tolbert/Punto

 

Or some permutation of those players.

 

EDIT: I just realized your order has 8 players so you probably just forgot Kubel.

[Dipre]

Span

O-Dog

Mauer

Morneau

Cuddyer

Kubel/Young

Thome

Hardy

3B FAIL.

[Dojji]

Gotta have Kubel. I'd say:

Span

Hudson

Mauer

Morneau

Kubel

Cuddyer

Thome

Hardy

Tolbert/Punto

 

Or some permutation of those players.

 

EDIT: I just realized your order has 8 players so you probably just forgot Kubel.

Yeah had my head in the NL or something. that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Emmz]

Span

O-Dog

Mauer

Morneau

Kubel

Cuddyer

Thome

Hardy

Punto (Who can be a pretty solid player, and I've seen it before)

 

That's my preferred lineup.

[Keeper]

Span

O-Dog

Mauer

Morneau

Cuddyer

Kubel/Young

Thome

Hardy

3B FAIL.

[Dojji]

Well, now we know one place we could send Beltre to if we get Adgon.

[Dipre]

Well' date=' now we know one place we could send Beltre to if we get Adgon.[/quote']

 

Did Beltre f*** your sister or something?

[redsoxrules]

Did Beltre f*** your sister or something?

 

LOL

[Dojji]

Just continuing a thought that had popped up in another thread.

[Dipre]

Just continuing a thought that had popped up in another thread.

 

You should wait to see what he does. It seriously comes off as if you have some sort of irrational dislike for the guy. The FO is more capable than any of us of evaluating talent, and if they deemed Beltre was a solid option for the 3B issue, they did so with a reason. If he sucks, then you can call for his head, meanwhile, the jury's out.

[Dojji]

I haven't made a secret of the fact that I'm suspicious of Beltre. The low-risk deal he's on makes him palatable, but he's not a player I'd ever want on this team long-term. His offensive skillset is just too volatile, and he's a very slight regression away from being nearly useless..

 

Doesn't have much to do with the Twins or Orlando Hudson though.

[Emmz]

Didn't realize this was the official Adrian Beltre thread...

[Emmz]

I haven't made a secret of the fact that I'm suspicious of Beltre. The low-risk deal he's on makes him palatable, but he's not a player I'd ever want on this team long-term. His offensive skillset is just too volatile, and he's a very slight regression away from being nearly useless..

 

Doesn't have much to do with the Twins or Orlando Hudson though.

 

... But what's his regression been? His past few healthy seasons he's his around 25 home runs. Don't see how that's useless. And like you said, this is way off topic.

[Dipre]

I haven't made a secret of the fact that I'm suspicious of Beltre. The low-risk deal he's on makes him palatable, but he's not a player I'd ever want on this team long-term. His offensive skillset is just too volatile, and he's a very slight regression away from being nearly useless..

 

Doesn't have much to do with the Twins or Orlando Hudson though.

 

He's here on a one-year deal with an option, and he has the exact same skillset as your beloved Mike Lowell. Why the double standard?

[Dojji]

No double standard. And no, their skillset is not the same. Mike Lowell's offense rests on the basis of a solid batting average and consistently good contact skills, while Beltre's all or nothing. Trying to pretend that isn't the case is an exercise in denial.

 

If I thought Lowell would actually be healthy, I'd still be protesting the Beltre signing as unnecessary. Since I know he isn't, I perfectly understand and accept the reason for the signing, especially since as I said in my prior post, it's a low-risk deal. But Beltre is still a very volatile player, coming off a bad year and a surgery that might impact his offensive performance this season. He doesn't offer us that much security and could very easily be the next big Fenway bust. I thought we could bring in a solid 1B that would free Youkilis to take over third, I'd do it five times over by now.

[Dojji]

Didn't realize this was the official Adrian Beltre thread...

 

It went that way when Dipre decided to take a throwaway line of mine and turn it into another thread where he declares his unrequited love for our new third baseman.

[Dipre]

No double standard. And no, their skillset is not the same. Mike Lowell's offense rests on the basis of a solid batting average and consistently good contact skills, while Beltre's all or nothing. Trying to pretend that isn't the case is an exercise in denial.

 

If I thought Lowell would actually be healthy, I'd still be protesting the Beltre signing as unnecessary. Since I know he isn't, I perfectly understand and accept the reason for the signing, but Beltre is still a very volatile player, coming off a bad year and a surgery that might impact his offensive performance this season, and if I thought we could bring in a solid 1B that would free Youkilis to take over third, I'd do it five times over by now.

 

Mike Lowell has had one season with a BA over .300, so has Beltre. They both post similar statistics, but Lowell strikes out a bit less, and has better OBP, but Beltre has better D, and at this stage in their careers, hits for more power, not to mention he's getting out of SafeCrap and on to Fenway.

 

Someone's in denial (and has a double standard here) and it's not me.

[Dipre]

It went that way when Dipre decided to take a throwaway line of mine and turn it into another thread where he declares his unrequited love for our new third baseman.

 

Throwaway?

 

It's a trend.

 

I don't like Scutaro, but i don't bitch about him every chance i get, man. It gets tiring.

[Dojji]

... But what's his regression been? His past few healthy seasons he's his around 25 home runs. Don't see how that's useless. And like you said' date=' this is way off topic.[/quote']

 

Bad health is a form of regression. In fact in the end it's nearly always bad health that carries a player off into retirement, whether it's through tragic youthful injuries, or simply through someone like Curt Schilling no longer being able to bounce back from surgery anymore.

 

Since we're going to talk about this, I'd like to point one thing out. Beltre is 31. That's not very old, and on paper it would mean he's a good bet to bounce back from surgery and put up a healthy year. But Beltre broke into the league at age 19. He has more major league miles on his body than most 35 year olds. That makes him a good candidate for early decline, especially with the heightened injury concerns from last year..

[Dipre]

Bad health is a form of regression. In fact in the end it's nearly always bad health that carries a player off into retirement, whether it's through tragic youthful injuries, or simply through someone like Curt Schilling no longer being able to bounce back from surgery anymore.

 

Since we're going to talk about this, I'd like to point one thing out. Beltre is 31. That's not very old, and on paper it would mean he's a good bet to bounce back from surgery and put up a healthy year. But Beltre broke into the league at age 19. He has more major league miles on his body than most 35 year olds. That makes him a good candidate for early decline, especially with the heightened injury concerns from last year..

 

I don't see how that argument holds water, for one. And also, do you think Lowell is a better bet to rebound than he is? Because that's really what it comes down to.

[Dojji]

No, I wasn't really arguing in Lowell's favor. Would like to see this team invest in a solid 1B at some point in he next 2 years though. Remember, what started this was me saying something in passing about dealing for Adgon.

[Dipre]

No' date=' I wasn't really arguing in Lowell's favor. Would like to see this team invest in a solid 1B at some point in he next 2 years though. Remember, what started this was me saying something in passing about dealing for Adgon.[/quote']

 

The problem is that he's not necessarily the odd-man out come crunch time, if he is at all. I'd love Gonzales on this team, but there's both the issue of SD trading him, and who's sucking enough to justify the trade, and until baseball is actually being played, there's no way to know who will it be, or if it will actually happen.

[Dojji]

The problem is that he's not necessarily the odd-man out come crunch time' date=' if he is at all. [/quote']

 

I'm sorry, but even if Beltre is the starter, it's exactly and OBVIOUSLY Beltre who loses his spot if we bring in a 1B or a 3B. I mean, you really think Youks is going to play his way out of the lineup? He's the other option.

 

The only way Beltre wouldn't be the odd man out, is if Ortiz slumps, in which case the newcomer might DH to keep Beltre's glove on the field, but I'm 100% positive I saw you post repeatedly in this forum that you were very confident in Ortiz to put up a rebound season.

 

Now if you're just talking about Roster space I'm more inclined to agree, if you assume as I could be convinced to that Beltre would make a superlative defensive backup even if the bat doesn't return.

 

 

I'd love Gonzales on this team, but there's both the issue of SD trading him, and who's sucking enough to justify the trade, and until baseball is actually being played, there's no way to know who will it be, or if it will actually happen.

 

That I'll agree with, but someone our corner IF and DH group sucks bad enough that we need to bring in a high-priced guy from outside the org, the smart money says it's probably Beltre anyway.

[Dipre]

I'm sorry, but even if Beltre is the starter, it's exactly and OBVIOUSLY Beltre who loses his spot if we bring in a 1B or a 3B. I mean, you really think Youks is going to play his way out of the lineup? He's the other option.

 

The only way Beltre wouldn't be the odd man out, is if Ortiz slumps, in which case the newcomer might DH to keep Beltre's glove on the field, but I'm 100% positive I saw you post repeatedly in this forum that you were very confident in Ortiz to put up a rebound season.

 

Now if you're just talking about Roster space I'm more inclined to agree, if you assume as I could be convinced to that Beltre would make a superlative defensive backup even if the bat doesn't return.

 

The problem is that he's not necessarily the odd-man out come crunch time' date=' if he is at all. I'd love Gonzales on this team, but there's both the issue of SD trading him, and who's sucking enough to justify the trade, and [b']until baseball is actually being played, there's no way to know who will it be, or if it will actually happen.[/b]

 

The smart money is in letting baseball be played instead of trying to emulate Nostradamus.