Hello Twins Daily Participants,

It appears fortune is on my side today as I have lined up an interview with my Anger. Some may find that a strange concept, but I very often have problems accessing certain areas of my emotional palette. My anger is a very private entity and mostly, he only shows up when I least expect it, which in turn has made my adult life an adventure, a mess and somewhat interesting - mixed together with a handful of days spent in the local detention center. Just to be clear, most of this interview will be based on Twins baseball. I wouldn’t want to abuse the privilege of using this site for non Twins related rants.

Before I begin this interview, I feel the need to recognize the passing of Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman. Mr. Hanneman - thank you for being a huge contributing force behind the albums “Reign in Blood”, “South of Heaven”, and “Seasons in the Abyss.” Without Slayer, this interview would not be possible. For those 3 albums, Slayer was the perfect marriage between Metal and Hard Core Punk. Mr. Hanneman – your music will live on forever and you will never be forgotten. Rest in Peace my friend.

Bark’s Lounge: Hello Anger. How have you been doing since the MLB season started?

Anger: Can’t you tell by the holes in your walls? Obviously, I am doing great. I have been enjoying Minnesota’s weekly Snow Storms. It’s always nice to have a few snow storms in… what month is it? August or something?

Bark’s Lounge: Actually, It’s early May, but I get your point and I have noticed the holes in the wall. Thanks for that. Second question – how about the play of your Minnesota Twin’s through month #1 of the season?

Anger: Their record is a lot better than I could have anticipated at this point in the season, but for the most part they have been a drag to watch. First and foremost they probably should have cancelled the first month of the season because of the god damned snow. Besides the snow-outs, the Twins have been playing like a person with a bi-polar disorder who is not taking their happy pills. For a short stretch they appear to play with a little bit of fire in their belly, but they follow that up with a stretch of disinterested and uninspiring brand of baseball that is not worth investing your time into. The s@#&*y thing about that is you never know what team is going to show up. If I hate one thing – it is inconsistency.

Bark’s Lounge: Understood. What do you foresee happening for the Twins as the season progresses into the summer months?

Anger: First of all let’s get through May before we start thinking about the summer. Our season might be over before we get to the “Summer”. Right now, the Twin’s offense sucks. Whether one thinks that the pitching has been good or so-so to this point of the season is irrelevant. The fact is that the starting pitching will get worse as the season progresses. The bats need to get going and going soon. There is some talent in our line-up, but so far it has fallen flat on its face. To win 70 games the offense is going to have to kick on all cylinders for good chunks of this season. Right now, it is hard for me to envision that happening.

Bark’s Lounge: Who are a few of the players you have some concerns with?

Anger: Individually, I care not to focus on the pitching. Our bullpen is okay, but that will change once the starters begin to fail with regularity. At that point, when the bullpen is overtaxed - the dominos of negativity will start to fall. Perkins and Burton will probably be okay… and I do think the Pressly kid is a keeper. If Pressly hits a bad stretch, I believe the Twins should stick it out with him and not offer him Back to the BoSox. He will help in the future.

Bark’s Lounge: Position Players?

Anger: Florimon should not be in the bigs. Doumit has looked like crap, his play is indicative of a player who has aged 5 years in the off season. Morneau has been a bit of a bummer. Most people say he is healthy and he is going to re-emerge into the elite offensive force he once was – I hope it happens, but I have some severe concerns that Morneau is on the downslide Big Time. Dozier and Hicks started off bad, especially Hicks. They have looked better recently, but to rely on them would be suicidal to one’s hopes. To be honest the only position players that have been okay are Willingham and Escobar. Willingham is doing what is expected of him and Escobar will get his wings cut off and fall back to earth. Mauer has perplexed me a bit. A week or 2 ago he was batting .400, now he is batting in the .280’s. Slumps are one thing, but I have to believe something is going haywire with his thought process when he gets up to the plate. Some may think Mauer is mentally weak because of his past injury situations and such, but I am not of that thought. I actually think he is a focused, well oiled machine when it comes to hitting. He is either physically hurt or mentally distracted. His strike-out rate to this point is simply un-Mauer like and shocking… something is amiss. Overall, I do not like the line-up. It is not gelling. Who knows, maybe it will… maybe it won’t. Either way, we have no control over it. It is what it is.

Bark’s Lounge: How about….

Anger: I’m done. I’m tired of this S%@t.

Bark’s Lounge: Okay?

Anger: And by the way Bark. Quit taking your happy pills. I am feeling stifled and boxed in. Let me be free to roam. I am very disappointed that you have kept us in this arctic hell hole. We should have been long gone.

Bark’s Lounge: If I could go back 15 years, we would have been relocated… but I cannot go back and fix it. I did stop taking my happy pills a couple days ago. Does that help?

Anger: A little I guess.

Hello again.

I honestly did not think I would be able to communicate with the living up until a few weeks ago. In my adult life I embraced Atheism. When my organic nature expired on Earth, I was surprised to find that there was an after-life. Fortunately or unfortunately, my current residence is hell, under the dominion of Satan. Life in Hell is somewhat strange and I will try to explain that in this written piece.

First and foremost, I would like to apologize to everyone I disrespected or mislead. My Bark’s Lounge identity was used strictly as a fictional outlet for myself to vent, create, and to have fun. I did not think that my actions were wrong while participating on this site, but the clerical staff in Hell informed me that my involvement and actions on this site were a small, but not insignificant part of my after-life sentencing.

Bark’s Lounge was never living in Japan. 3 or 4 of my last posts focused on Bark’s Lounge living in Kagoshima, Japan. At the time I thought this was a fun avenue to go down and to write some fictional stories to. I understand in hindsight, I went too far with certain things and I would like to put on the record that I am not a rascist. Except for purposely writing from a Japanese Detective’s point of view and screwing up his English interpretation, which I thought was harmless, I feel like I represented appropriately, and if I did not, let it be known that I am enamored with the Japanese society and a lot of stories can be thought up because of their fun loving, unique and glorious society.

My last days alive were filled with needless gambling in Vegas. I got a bit in over my head and ran into the wrong crowd. I ended up borrowing money from some top Yakuza Gangsters and was unable to pay them back in the time frame they deemed acceptable. They drowned me in their hot tub and disposed of my body in a landfill on the southern outskirts of town. When I was drowned, I felt certain that was the end.

When I woke up, I found myself in a very dark, but illuminated dark space which seemed to have no beginning or end. Many physical forms would pass you by and dissolve into the darkness. It certainly was a shock, but soon I would be made aware of my predictament. Beings that I would call Satan’s Clerical Staff approached me and informed me That I was now a resident of hell. My instinct was to laugh, but that emotional reaction reached a dead end wall. In hell, there is no ability to laugh, cry, be angry, be happy, be hopeful – the best that I can describe it is as a blank, zombie like reaction to everything thrown at you. Nothing more – nothing less.

In hell I was able to run into Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby. They were caught up in themselves and were unable to communicate with me. Kirby Puckett is also in hell with me, we chat on occasion, but he is unsure of what has happened. He never talks about baseball, but always asks me if he has been a good person. I never knew him when he was alive, but I tell him – He was a good person and he was a difference maker. It never seems to compute with him though.

In hell I have found out that after 4 months of settling in, the inhabitants of hell are permitted to visit the living humans that were once important to them for 1 week, In turn it is pretty much haunting them. I did not participate, because my wife has already shacked up with a new guy and the new guy was my best friend at the time of my death. What’s the point – she is better off.

I was able to watch some baseball though. What is our record 4-4? Our starting Pitching will be the hang noose of this team, but they have held their own half of the time. I am guessing we have another poor season – this sewn together pitching staff will eventually implode. On paper it looks like everyone on the offensive side of the coin can improve. Except for Escobar or Florimon, who are reaching further than their expectations. In a season of non-expectations, sometimes the cream of the lesser rises to the top. All we can do is hope,

VIVA Hicks, VIVA Plouffe, VIVA Parmelee, VIVA Dozier!!!

Bark's Lounge

Hello Twin’s Daily Participants,

As the representative for the family of Bark’s Lounge, after his death, I was given the task of sorting through his personal affairs and tying them up. I guess that is why I am submitting this. I suppose it is some form of closure, but this is what I am paid to do.

After reading through some of the material Mr. Lounge submitted on this website, I am under the impression he was a not so well liked member of this community.

A big part of my job is to be objective, but after reading some of the stuff he chose to put out there and also having access to his personal journal, I reached the conclusion that he had no business being a member of a Sport’s team based internet chat site, his mindset and personal views, in my opinion, were not a missing puzzle piece for Twin’s Daily.

Mr. Lounge has definitely made some mistakes, and I would say this is on that list. His family requests that I send you their apologies. They have been concerned for him for a long time and unfortunately the thing they feared the most became a reality.

In his journal, he alluded to the fact that he was not well received on this site and seemed to be regretful. My feeling is that he enjoyed baseball quite a bit, but baseball mixed with his other interests and his mode of expression were not meant to pan out for him on this site.

One last note, I found this poem in Mr. Lounge’s journal. It was dated November 21, 2012. This is the note I leave upon you:

Twin’s Daily

An orgy of malcontents
In this brackish water
Too much love and hate

The mix is intoxicating
The hangover is consuming
Pitches, hits, errors and open wounds

The salt has been this past season
I sense the agony in the whole
The offseason manhandles us

Can we be found anew?

Incomplete Voltron – 2013 Twins and Beyond

Now that I am living in Kagoshima, Japan, I have been enjoying myself – it has been quite an adventure and a culture shock. I have procured a job at a Burger King, working as a greeter dressed up as the “Burger King”. I have had better jobs in my lifetime, but overall it has been a pretty good experience. The customers have some nicknames for me, which is touching. They call me “Okuraseru” and “Akushū o hanatsu”. It is nice to feel loved and appreciated by this honorable and glorious society.

I have been running into a lot of Voltron cartoons from the 1980’s. Before the last month, It has been probably 25 years since I had last seen an episode of Voltron. Being that I am in Japan and do not know Japanese, I have no idea what anyone is saying and that makes it sort of fun. Watching these Voltron episodes makes me think about the Minnesota Twins.

In most Voltron episodes (using the Golion Team as an example), after enduring some touch and go battles with their nemesis, the Humanoid piloted Lion robots combine to form Voltron and save the day.

Lance manned the Red Lion and Pidge manned the Green Lion. The Red and Green Lions were the arms of Voltron.

If the Twins were to be compared to the Golion Voltron, they would be armless, they are without a pilot to man the Red and Green Lion.

I would imagine that Zach Greinke, Anibal Sanchez or Shaun Marcum could pilot the Red or Green Lion, but they most probably have other destinations.

Trades could also bring home some able pilots – such as James Shields, Jeremy Hellickson, Kris Medlen, Mike Minor or Matt Moore, but these trades would lead to us to probably having to trade one of the the pilots of the Black, Blue and Yellow Lion… thus making the Twin’s Voltron unable to form.

The next three seasons for the Twin’s Voltron do not look promising. I suspect it will be 2-3 awful seasons of episodes and hopefully in the 3^rd or 4^th season some new recruits will have what it takes to pilot the Red and Green Lion.

Sayonara,

Bark’s Lounge

A lot of folks have high hopes and expectations for what the Twins should do this off season upgrading their roster. Spend money, trade good position players to acquire pitching wealth, and blah, blah, blah.

My prediction is there will be no big splashes and they will indeed trade Denard Span, getting okay, but not very good pitching prospects in return. When this happens fans will get pissed off, but this is what most have been clamoring for and every organization knows we have Outfield depth, thus creating a leverage scenario that works against the Twins. Those who think a “Span Trade” can net young pitchers like Alex Cobb, Matt Moore, Kris Medlen and others have stuck their heads deep into the gopher hole.

Obviously the Twins will not sign Greinke, Anibal Sanchez or Shaun Marcum. Marcum could be had, but I bet when all is said and done he ends up with a 3-4 year contract, earning 10M per annum and I do not think the Twins will go there. I cannot say I blame them as Twin’s fandom desperation seemingly over values the abilities of Marcum. Good pitching is not cheap, but when you are confidently looking down the barrel of a another mediocre season, why spend that kind of money on a guy who will have a +4.00 ERA and win you 10 games or so? I forgot to mention Edwin Jackson… the state of the Twins situation most definitely dictates he is not the right fit, I’d rather have Marcum. As we all know some team will over pay for these guys, and if they don’t, a contender will for one year at a pretty big salary. Our best bet is Erik Bedard… after that, it is Jason Marquis Types.

My perspective is that the Twins will be lack luster next year, Kyle Gibson will be called up by June and pitch fairly well, Aaron Hicks and Oswaldo Arcia will be called up to replace Morneau and Willingham who have been traded in July. The net returns from these trades will be okay, but not overly good. Hicks will struggle a bit, but Arcia will hit adequately. 2013 aside, they both have successful MLB careers ahead of them.

I am not down on the Twins, I am realistic, and it is going to take some time to develop the pitching we need to compete. These days, no one has the pieces to trade to acquire above average pitching, in turn you have to build from within – which takes a few or more years… hopefully.

I have been a Twins Daily participant since March of this year. It has sucked me in, and at times it has been educational, captivating and controversial.

My problem with Twins Daily is that I cannot find the time to fit internet porn into my schedule anymore. I am torn between two worlds and I am not sure what I should do?

In 2003, after work, I would roll myself a marijuana cigarette, smoke it, have a Rolling Rock beer and watch some internet porn.

In 2006, after work, I would lay out a line of crystal meth, snort it, crack open a 13 year old Zima I bought at a garage sale (13 cases) and watch some internet porn.

In 2010, after work, I would pop some pharmaceutical pain killers, drink some shots of Hot 100 and watch some internet porn.

In 2012, as an unemployed citizen, I take some Ibuprofen to relieve my back pain, tooth decay pain, and constant migraine headaches, while drinking a 5^th of Vodka (yearning for a Zima) while participating on the Twins Daily website.

Come Monday, I enter a internet obsession rehab facility.

At least I will have my vodka and Ibuprofen… and maybe some porn rags.


Signing out (If the treatment takes hold)

Bark’s Lounge

Obviously I am no scientist. The folks who have read my threads or other tid-bits on this site, probably consider me some other choice words. I’m cool with that. I consider myself the guy that is rolling some dice in a back alley in urban America, making deals, breaking deals and throwing some ideas out there that probably won’t stick. I still try and one of these days they might stick… Ha, Ha!

Evolution – If you are a human being who believes in evolution, it is probably thought about in terms of a 100,000 – Millions of years.

It doesn’t seem like we talk about it in a year to year, decade to decade, millennium to millennium kind of way and when it comes to Australian baseball players – maybe we should.

What I am about to write is not about superiority or inferiority on a human level, but on a baseball level – please take note of that.

Baseball is an American Sport which borrowed some ideas from somewhat similar sports in the United Kingdom and beyond. America made it their own, ran with it, made it better and created the best sporting contest in the history of the world.

Baseball has reached out to other countries – far and wide and Australia is one of them that has sort of picked up the game.

Baseball in Australia is not a tradition as it is here in the States. I have no percentage on Australians playing baseball, but it is probably comparable to Americans playing Cricket or maybe a better comparison is Rugby.

I would imagine that the baseball gene is not yet imbedded in the muscle memory, coordination, and physical instinct of the baseball playing Australian. It took many generations of Americans to make this game what it is today (1860’s-2010’s). Australia is roughly 25 years into it.

Repetition, physical ability and love for the game are not only passed onto the next generation by word of mouth, but also by the ability to reproduce and implant their genetic mark, a mark that contains the imprint of baseball.

So far in Australia’s brief history with baseball, I am assuming that Dave Nilsson (position player) and Grant Balfour (pitcher) are the best players to come out of this country.

Although many are disappointed with Liam Hendriks and his performance thus far, he is genetically new to baseball and is one of the few Australians who has made it to the MLB level. Maybe he will have success, maybe not, but he will be one of the men who has an opportunity to reproduce, strengthen and further the Australian Baseball movement and evolution.

One day there will be an impact Australian Baseball Player!!!

Tomorrow is July 31, 2012 and we all might have this date branded into our memory if things don't play out right.

Liriano:
As we all know, Liriano pitches against us tomorrow, less than 3 days after we traded him. If real life was a movie in the making - this would be the stage for Liriano to throw a no hitter or a shutout with double digit K's.

Seemingly for most of us, this trade stung a bit and seemed unnecessary because of the return. Yeah, I get it... Liriano was not coming back after this season and the Twins received some players that will play in MLB for a time... great... feels sort of hollow though.

Not to be a Negative Nelly, but I truly hope Frankie sucks tomorrow and gives the South Siders the same headaches for the next few months as we have been dealing with for the last 4 years.

Let me make myself clear. In the first decade of the 21st century when the Twins were going good, but failed to make the playoffs - I instantly became a supporter of the National League, I have no interest in cheering on the AL East or West playoff teams and I especially have no place in my heart to root for one of our AL central opponents. When the White Sox won it all in 2005 it made me intensely sick. Fortunately I had a lot going on in my life at that time, which made that sickening feeling less intense. Whomever wins the World Series this year, I hope it is an NL club.

Judgement Day (Trade Deadline):
It's a crap shoot to guess what will happen tomorrow for the Twins. My guess is there will be no trades made. We have some handsome pieces, but a lot is being asked for in return, which should be the case. If the Twins are overwhelmed with some top grade pitching prospects for Span, Morneau, Willingham, etc., etc. - you have to go for it. It seems that no club wants or will trade these kind of players anymore, so there is seemingly no point to set yourself up for a let down.

So far this season we have one Chump Trade under our belt - I see no reason to have another. It is important to keep the fan base happy to some degree... I hope that is the Twins Organization's thought process on this matter.

As a Twins fan I hope there is no trade tomorrow. If there is, the disappointment will most probably trump the Liriano trade. Where we stand right now in the world of MLB is that no organization wants to trade their top prospects, especially of the pitching ilk. (I apologize for being redundant)

The Twins will need to fix this mess internally. If what I say is the gospel, we better be ready to be patient... very patient.

Good Luck to us all on 7.31.12

I have to admit I am a bit concerned with the impending trade deadline quickly closing in on us Twins fans. Some of you are adamant about the necessity to make a trade and some of you are equally apprehensive about making a trade.

I see both sides, and I am very worried that a few folks on this site might access the end of their sanity with a trade/non-trade and reach and breach their breaking point. I have a few suggestions for those who might feel this is a feasible outcome.

1. Drink a lot of water (with lemon or lime… it makes a difference).

2. For your Gods - Sacrifice a neighbor’s dog, cat or maybe a little bunny inhabiting your yard or recreation area… it might please this mighty force.

3. A Full Body Shave – It is possible you might feel weighted down by the trade situation. Like a swimmer shaves their body to accrue more quickness, by shaving your body you might feel a swiftness to deal with adversity and “swim” through the people you deal with on a daily basis with a positive and upbeat attitude. No one likes a downer… except me.

4. Use recreational drugs. They will most definitely let you escape for a short period of time, but if you dedicate yourself to stopping the intake of negative feelings a daily use of ganja, mushrooms and sometimes alcohol might suppress the darkness that is enclosing your life… maybe.

5. Last and least. Go to your local physician and tell them your depressed. You will instantaneously get a subscription for some Prozac, Zoloft, or another Psychotropic drug that is popular these days. They probably will take away the highs and the lows (side affects included) and you can continue living your life on the basis you do so now.

If you adhere to these five points, I think you will be okay. The one concern I have is the emotional quotient that is baseball. Who the hell wants to lose that?

There may or not be some trades involving the Twins. Let’s hope that Terry Ryan is shrewd in his moves and gets equal+ value. This is somewhat the last chance for the Twins to show that they have a handle on things. If Ryan fails us, I fear that the Twins faithful might be lost in oblivion and the handlers rendered useless.

Liriano pitched a decent game tonight. He was mentally fragile as he usually seems to be, but made it through without incident. It might have made the game 45 minutes longer . (I’m not Bud Selig and game length is of no concern to me.)

Liriano is greatly reminding me of Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade – he needs someone to watch over him at all times. Tonight Drew Butera was Liriano’s Charlie Simms. I am fearful of Liriano’s mental shortcomings. He has great stuff, but seemingly without a trip to the mound every other at bat it seems that he might implode.

I would like Liriano to pick up some of Colonel Sade’s traits – hatred, revenge, and bitterness might serve to be Frankie L’s friends. Like Colonel Slade, Liriano is blind, not in the literal sense, but blind to his ability. Maybe a change of attitude can further his career.

Drew Butera can continue to be Liriano’s Charlie Simms but this is what needs to happen:

Liriano expresses the following:

1. “I’m in the dark here, I’m in the dark here on how to pitch”

2. There is nothing worse than seeing how I amputate my pitching game plan.


Slade: “Frankie, how about getting me a bottle of a complete game?”
Frankie: “Do you mean 5 or 6 innings?”
Slade: “No you dip****, 9 innings – HOOYAA!!!!”

God Damn. You young galoots really have a lot of time on your hands. This computer world thiggamajiggy really dominates a lot of your lives.

When I was in my 20’s, I was out with my friends and carousing with the lovely young ladies. You young bucks really put too much time into baseball, trying to dig up some weird scientific statistics. In the 50’s you knew who a good ballplayer was – The Splendid Splinter, Stan the Man, Ted Kluszewski, Nellie Fox, Jackie Robinson, Mickey Vernon, the Say Hey Kid, The Duke and the Mick are just a few to mention amongst many more. I was fortunate to travel around a bit and see these players I have mentioned play. You didn’t need a calculator to figure out that these were some damn good baseball players… some of the very best to put on the uniform.

I know a lot of you guys have been hard on my grandson and some of it seems a bit over the top, but Joseph can handle it, he was raised to face adversity and he will do a fine job with that. My belief is most of you knuckle heads have too much time on your hands and have your priorities all mixed up.

My advice to you computer baseball guys is to get off your computer, toughen up, head down to your favorite watering hole, be talkative and interesting – maybe make some friends. What the hell… you might even meet a lady friend who might turn your world upside down… it happens sometimes… even for you bookworm types.

Grandpa Jake

Hey Rickie, Thanks for your apology. It is not necessary though. You were just playing baseball to the best of your ability. Maybe the collision scenario was a bit unorthodox, but what the hey - things happen. If I sounded put off by it in my after game comments, I apologize. I was frustrated by being injured on the play and felt that this injury might keep me out for a handful of games.

As you know, I am from St. Paul and I share the same passion as our Twins fans do - as I am a Huge Twins Fan. It kills me to miss games with an injury - I want to be out there competing, I want to turn this dead horse of a season around.

I make a lot of money and I know because of this I will be scrutinized for this as long as I wear a Twins Uniform, but it certainly doesn't mean I do not care. Hell, I might care more than anyone - this is my town, and a lot of people have pinned their hopes on me to help bring them another World Series Championship... this weighs on me.

I might not have the biggest and in your face personality, I might not seem to be the leader that fans think I should be, I am a pretty reserved person - not too many highs or lows - I am even keel.

Rickie, who the hell are you to call me out for being injured? In 8 seasons you have only had 3 seasons with 500 plate appearances. You are the definition of an injured ball player - you are Mr. Glass. It might have meant more coming from a player who actually is durable.

Ricky, you have an all-star game or 2 under your belt and congrats for that. I am the only catcher in MLB history to win 3 Batting Titles, I have won an MVP and I have won more than a few Gold Gloves.

The analysts/scouts have always said I could not be a long term catcher because of my height/size. I am now feeling that they might be right. I like playing catcher and I take pride in being the best I can be and maybe I have held on too long because of my contract. I don't want to let down the fans.

Maybe next year I will play one of the corner OF positions or 1B. It will not be 3B as Plouffe has entrenched himself as a difference maker and power hitter that this line-up needs.

Hey, this year is not said and done yet. Maybe my bat will get hot and I will challenge for a 4th batting title. I can assure Twins fans this. I may never win another batting title again, but I will be in the hunt for many years to come!

I love the Twins Daily Site. It presents to me a lot of insight, angles and intelligence.

I love the metrics also, and I understand it is a sabermetric dominated site - but in a way, I find the Twins Daily site a dominated platform for "Metrics" individuals and it can become quite stifling for some.

There is seemingly a small amount who play it by the vest and display their emotional quotient, but they are on this site hoping for their chance to have a voice... and want/need a platform. I think the metric intellectual pissing matches can turn some people off.

I champion the TD participants who draw on the emotions of a time when it was not so numerical, stiff and void of feeling. Emotion and passion is the core of human expression and in my opinion, is still the core of baseball.

Tomorrow, when we wake up. Most of us will have to go to a job, put in our time, and go home to our lives, that might be stressful, complicated or straight up tough.

Enough of the Chic Automatons. Let us remember the past when great things happened on the ball field and we enjoyed the big moments and let us not forget the crushing and disappointing moments that left us dead for a moment.

Baseball can be, but is not a college mathematics course.

While traversing the threads, blogs, and articles posted on Twins Daily, I really like that this site has sabremetric analysts, purists, extremists, and the alternative of thought. That is super great, but I am starting to feel that the whole trade scenario talk, speculation, and haphazard desire to execute could hamstring this franchise even more.

When I was growing up, there seemed to be an imbedded loyalty to our favorite and best Twins players and they stuck around and we were happy for that even though the team for most of the years was a losing team. It seems that the present time more or less exudes players being looked at as commodities and when a franchise is in a bit of a rut the calls go out to pulling the trigger and getting rid of our heroes, or mainstays for what I can only deem question mark types of players. Maybe the “Commodities” idealism is modern day baseball, with unrealistic expectations and cynicism.

I want the Twins to keep Denard Span, Justin Morneau, and Joe Mauer. I do not think that a Span or Morneau trade will bring back anything that is a guarantee and my thought is we will be the losers yet again if that is to happen. During these tough times I want to be able to watch a Twins game and know that even though the team is lackluster, I might be able to enjoy the game because one of my favorite players had a good or great game… not to forget there will also be some wins here and there.

In the next few years the Twins need to do well with their drafts and maybe think about making a more impactful FA signing instead of coating the cake with a frosting of **** bird retreads. I do not think that trading our most valuable and beloved players is the key to our future success.

I really hope the next time the Twins have a contender type of team that Mauer, Morneau and Span are a big part of it… on the field of course!

No, I am not hear to sell you jewelry.

What a shock! The Twin's Salvage crew this year is a couple of guys who no one would have expected to make any kind of impact. Scott Diamond and PJ Walters. I'll give Diamond a little credit as we traded an interesting prospect for him to retain his rights (Billy Bullock) because of the rule 5 draft. Walters is a little more drifty. Circa the movie "Men at Work", Diamond and Walters are our modern day Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen - which in turn, they get job done, but in a shabby kind of way.

Scott Diamond: He has put up fair numbers in the minors and his K/9 has been decent, but his WHIP is pretty high and only growing higher as he has ascended through the minors (1.403). That is not very good.

P.J. Walters: also has a growing WHIP in his ascension in the upper levels of MiLB and his K/9 has fallen off a bit after a new level is obtained.

These guys are essentially identical statistically and stuff wise. I hope the best for them.

In the my minds view, I hope they continue their current pace, but in all reality they are probably filler.

Come on Scott, come on Phillip Dewayne... prove me wrong!