Tolleson - as good as he looks on paper?

A year ago I did not even know there was such a thing as Winter Leagues, now I am busy looking at the stats, trying to gleam an idea of who will be hot who won't be. But if you are a reader, you know I don't believe that stats are everything. Stats can't catch the little webgems that we get out of Punto or Casilla. But given no other info, I am using them.

I am truly excited to see one player in action, Steven Tolleson. Again, going on stats only, his OPS looks impressive at .991. His OBP is .449. He is pretty even on right and and left and has a 1.121 OPS with runners on. Alone the numbers mean little, but he is playing comparable to Casilla at this point. He is on the 40 man, but as a short stop I doubt there will be a place for him on the 25, but you never know what will happen. Have to see how well he does in Spring Training.

Ok, so we aren't a successful team at bringing in or keeping big names, but here is another example of young talent that I cannot wait to see in action.

Punto signed

Miss me??? I have missed being here. Life gets busy and of course, there hasn't been much going on. I was hoping for tons of news coming from the Winter Meetings this week in Las Vegas. Lots of rumors, but unfortunately, not a lot of dealing.

Well, there was movement in the front office today, albeit not the kind that I hoped for.

Punto had been talking to several other teams including the Yankees, Mets and Diamondbacks, and chose to sign with the Twins. His deal includes $4 mil for two years, a $5 mil club option for 2011, and a $500,000 buyout. Gardy has said that Punto will start the year as shortstop.

As you know, I think Punto is a mixed bag. Sometimes making plays that are incredible and then following it up with a misstep that makes you wonder how he ever made it to the majors, he is someone you can't decide whether to love or to hate. Is he worth the $4 mil a year? Dunno, but I hope that the decision frees them up to seriously start looking for a good trade for a 3rd baseman. Love him or hate him, he does some solid things. I love my puppies, but we need to invest a little cash to improve the team. Think of the team we could have with a majority of the players we had last year, but adding some strength on that side of the field. Keep the youth to keep the excitement and drive, and add some talent and experience to complement it.

But I am so excited to get back into reading about and talking about the team. I hope you are too!

Okay - so I will try not to be down on Punto this year when others bad mouth him, and try to stay supportive during his blunders. Of course, I plan to lose 10 pounds in the next few days, too! hee hee