Thread: The True Shape of the Hole

If you're getting value out of league-minimum guys, $23M sunk into one All-Star isn't going to hurt that much, even if payroll does drop into the $80Ms. The Hole is here because, whether by trade or the draft, the Twins haven't acquired a single prospect who has made a sustained, positive Major League impact since 2005. Part of that is cyclical - even in the 1st round, only about half the picks pan out. But another big factor is the failure of the Twins' medical and training staff to keep good players healthy, at all levels of the organization. Lack of depth at the upper levels + lots of injuries to your few key players = lot of bad baseball.

Thankfully, the Twins seemed poised to add some cheap talent back into the mix in the next 12-14 months. A little more maturation/adjustments from Dozier, Revere, Parmelee, Benson, Hendriks, Gibson, Guerra, Waldrop, Diamond, etc. and they'll have the makings of a low-cost core around which a few judicious FA selections (a la Willingham & Doumit) and maybe one splurge could lift them back to the top of a very low-quality AL Central. The rest of this season is about seeing how far those young guys can get by October.

Last year our bullpen guys stunk and this year they are surprisingly good (except Perkins seems to have taken a step backwards.) Our starters are a mixed bag to say the least, although MAYBE Diamond and TJ will pan out. No one thought Liriano would become even MORE of a head case, or that Baker would be out for the season, or that Joe would lose his MOJO. I also thought Morneau was going to have to retire but MAYBE he'll be okay (the jury is out on this.) I'm really confused about them giving up on Revere and replacing him with an assortment of WHO ARE THESE GUYS? Nishi--let's not even go there. What happened to the promise we saw in Parmelee and Plouffe? Who would have thought that Danny V. would get so bad that he'd even struggle at AAA? Willingham and Doumit and even Jamey C. were good additions, and Dozier is an EXCITING player. So where does all of this leave us?? In BAD SHAPE to answer this thread's initial question. I ordered good, expensive tickets from stubhub in Feb. for several games. I was lucky enough to be there April 12 for the slugfest that we won against the Angels, and unlucky enough to be there yesterday. My son said, "Mom let's go to games early in the season cuz the Twins are going to be out of it by June 1." He was right. I LOVE the Twins, been a fan since 61, but I am not going back to beautiful TF until we have a team that can at least score some runs. Yesterday was pathetic. Heartbreaking.