The Twins would be talking world series today if they had made the trade the Jays made with the Marlins. 2SP & 2 MI was just what the Twins needed. Now you can just wish for another 5 years.
Printable View
The Twins would be talking world series today if they had made the trade the Jays made with the Marlins. 2SP & 2 MI was just what the Twins needed. Now you can just wish for another 5 years.
Most good teams don't worry about clearing a path. They let the best players play and give the top prospects a spot when they can. Given the "talent" in that list, there shouldn't be many there that we made an effort to keep a clear path for. Only Hicks was truly deserving of that notion.
You definitely don't worry about clearing a path one or two seasons before it's clear they are ready.
I agree with this, but I am at a loss to think of too many players who did not earn major league promotion, outside of last year's pitching staff, in which the whole starting staff went down to injury or utter ineffectiveness and needed emergency replacements. I guess they rushed Gomez and Casilla. More often than not, though, they have done the opposite. Thus, for example, Bartlett was held at AAA for two years in which he had OBPs over .400 each year, while the Twins wore out aged utility players every day. By the time he came up, he was 26 and already starting to wear down. That was the Twins way (Cuddyer, Kubel, etc.), unless the player was a rising star like Mauer.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Crikket
The best examples of clearing the path were Pierzinski for Mauer and Mientkievicz for Morneau. This year, I see the center field situation in that light. Hicks showed he was ready by the end of last year and that made our two CFers expendable, where they could be used to acquire pitching. Soon we'll see something similar with Arcia coming in for Willingham. I suppose I could say not acquiring someone is like clearing a path for Dozier. Ditto for SS, where neither young candidate earned promotion, but there were no good (internal) alternatives.
As to the starting pitching, it wasn't as much clearing a path as scrapping what we had and starting over with whatever we could get our hands on. Gibson and Hendriks earned it, as did Diamond. But outside of Worely (my pick to stick), the others are retreads, who will take up temporary space until May and Myers are ready. Like 2012, Ryan will not be patient with the retreads (he canned Marquis after 6 starts and DFAed Blackburn despite a large contract obligation). When it comes to former college pitchers, the Twins have been aggressive with promotion. I see that repeating itself in 2013. Not signing a big free agent gives them the opportunity to be aggressive. I think that's Seth's point.
You win the special Olympics! Yay!Quote:
Originally Posted by Top Gun
I enjoyed the picture featured in this article more than I should have ;)
Nice Article but like others, I think it only pertains to the outfield.
There is no need to clear any paths for pitchers or infielders. The system is still weak in high level pitching and still very weak when it comes to infield guys. The MLB team's infield and pitching staff will be well below average and I think Rochester's will be as well.
Its a shame that Ryan hasn't brought in some more minor league free agents to give the AAA club a chance.
Hey, don't be a sore loser because he beat you. You still get your participation medal and a hug.Quote:
Originally Posted by 70charger
"Clearing a path"? Mauer is the only player blocking a path for anybody. Theorectically all five starting pitching positions are open, with Worley and Diamond only promised long looks and patience as opposed to a guaranteed contract. I the bullpen, it appears that only three names are firm: Perkins, Burton and Duensing, (and I'm not certain about Duensing). Infield, Morneau is only guaranteed until July and then 1B is open. Plouffe has not been engraved at 3B, and the MI is clearly wide open as is CF.
It might seem like fun to watch a bunch of rookies (or near rookies) scrap to prove themselves as MLB players--but not at $70+ a ticket plus travel, concessions etc. for an entire season. Even the cheap seats range from about $15 to $25. Add other normal expenses per game. At the dome when he tactic of promoting the top prospects from the minors to the Twins, tickets cost a whole lot less. $6 for the OF, $12 upper deck behind the plate. At those prices it sort of worked (though attendance was lack lustre) but not today. It makes a lot of sense to sign some solid free agents to market contracts and add the top prospects around them as they climb through the system. This was part of the premise for the new stadium--the ability to attract and retain top talent and be competitive.
I would agree overall with the article specifically related to this Twins team. Normally, I think I would agree that we need to be smart and sign good free agents and supplement those players with our good minor leaguers.
However, what people seem to forget is that we were not close to contending last year or the year before. Before the Span and Revere trades, we are coming into this season with questions marks at right field, 2b, SS, 3rd base, and at least 3 members of our rotation. This is not discounting the injury history at 1st base and catcher, or finalizing our bullpen.
In addition, there is at least 1 team in our own division (if not 2 or 3) that our much closer to competing for a title. And that is not even counting teams in the East and West divisions. So even if we were able to sign Sanchez or Jackson (80 mill and 50 mill contracts respectively) and maybe trade or sign a good middle infielder ($20-30 mill), where would that leave us? We would still have 5-6 legitimate holes to fill, a heavy reliance on young players, and several teams in the AL in a much better position to contend in the next couple of years. And who wants to give 5 or 6 years to Jackson or Sanchez, when they probably won't be key pieces of our team when we do actually have the ability to contend. They are good pitchers, but by no means elite. Even if we did the Blue Jays - Marlins trade as some suggested, we would be giving up a lot of young talent and be getting a couple of good pitchers, but still doesnt fix the massive amounts of holes that would be left.
While I cannot defend the Correia signing specifically, I am not sure why people are so upset with this off season. Even if we had the Yankees payroll, the Twins would have a hard time contending the next couple of years because so many teams are in a much better position. Why spend money on mediocre free agents that still will not help you contend now, when you have minor leaguers that regardless of whether they 'deserve it,' the Twins at least want to look at. And in a couple of years when we have 'filled' some of our holes (hopefully through our higher upside Minor Leaguers), we can sign a couple of bigger free agents to supplement what should already be a good team.
I think clearing the path is the right decision. In the past I had a problem with the way Gardy managed prospects that should be playing (Cuddy and Kubel come to mind). I felt those guys should have been left alone and allowed to play. I guess when a team is in contention the situation can be different. That should not be the case this year. There are four players in that situation this year IMO: Plouffe,Dozier, Parmelee and Hendriks. Unless they fall completely flat on their face, all three hitters should get 500+ AB and Hendriks should get 30 starts. I argued earlier for signing a Cedeno type player as insurance and I would still support that since I don't put Florimon in that category. I would put Hicks in that category if he comes up, but I would put him on a shorter leash since he hasn't proven himself in the higher minors yet.
I agree, those four should play all year, that still left plenty if room to add free agents. So yes, clear a path where it makes sense, but some of us think the current path is too wide, and the people in it too gar away not to sign a legit free agent or two.