My frustration isn’t so much a lack of big signings (Fielder and Pujols would never have happened), just the lack of common sense signings. As others have said, they could have signed Oswalt, Lidge, Wheeler, etc. at reasonable prices and have overspent on moves that don’t improve the team (I’m still fuming about the Marquis signing). If they had made those moves, I’d be absolutely giddy about the upcoming season. Instead, I’m bracing myself for another 2011. This is basically the problem I’ve been having since the 2010 playoff debacle: It’s just blindingly obvious that this organization isn’t committed to winning a World Series (like we were promised Target Field would help out with), and the added payroll isn’t being put to good use. I know this is an obvious statement, but as long as the franchise is profitable and fans fill the stands, that’s just how they’re going to be run.

Terry Ryan is old, so therefore he has no clue??

Oh, you youngsters….

You are just now figuring this out?

I thought this franchise was moving in the right direction with Ryan. But $8 million on Marquis/Capps would’ve yielded either Edwin Jackson or maybe Oswalt for this season. Neither of those players are perfect but they both offer a lot more upside than the two we have. And let’s not forget about Slowey, who we really needed this year when you look at our rotation. The margin for error this offseason for the Twins was zero, and what we have seen has been a decent but completely insufficient upgrade from Bill Smith.

I’ll be surprised if this team doesn’t lose 90 games, and 100 is a strong possibility if our main upside players (Morneau, Mauer, Span, Liriano) spent significant amounts of time on the DL. And with those four, that’s probably more likely than not, so a 90 loss season is probably conservative.