Fighting the Negativity: An Experiment for a Harmonic Twins Daily

[nicksaviking]

I love the Twins, I always have and always will, but I admit that my darker urges take hold of me when discussions turn toward the front office. I know this board has lately seemed like it's the Negative Nancy's vs. Twins Appolgists which frustrates everyone particularly those that run this site. After all, we really all have the same end goal for this team.

 

My goal: To periodically (daily? weekly? whenever I feel like it? I don't know, this isn't very well thought out) list something positvie about this organization to help balance out the sometimes negative comments I'm unable to resist posting in other threads.

 

Rules: There are no rules, like I said this isn't well thought out. However I will not attempt to post something too broad or too obvious. After all, it would be boring if I just typed, "I think the Twins minor league system rocks!" or "Miguel Sano hit's the ball far!"

 

Twins Daily pessimists, please feel free to join me! But be warned, this is a negativity and snark free zone. Violating this one term will cause banishment and forfeiture of all property, deeds and parental rights. Though I'm not sure what kind of lawyers the Twins Daily staff has on retainer so parts of that are still up in the air, can a mod get back to me on that?

[nicksaviking]

Throughout his career, I think Terry Ryan has done a wonderful job of putting together a bullpen. He has never spent big on free agents and he has let plenty of his own guys go, but it rarely matters because he is spot on when it comes to identifying the pieces that make up not only a functional bullpen but generally an elite one.

[Linus]

I consider myself someone that falls in the middle when it comes to ownership / front office. I don't find praise or criticism offensive or irritating except when entire threads become bashing based on nothing more than rumors or suppositions which are represented as facts.

 

Here are a couple examples: the lengthy and, to me, tiresome debate about free agent pitching choices last winter. We have no idea which free agents the Twins pursued or what they offered to various free agents, yet entire threads go on endlessly presupposing that the Twins didn't even try. Perhaps they went hard after the pitchers they were interested in but couldn't close the deal

 

Another is the classic trade bungling thread where a poster uses something written on MLBtraderumors as if it is fact. We have no idea what the Red Sox or Yankees really offered the Twins for Johan Santana, yet many people will absolutely chew the Twins up for "not getting the best deal". One thing I really appreciate (as I'm too lazy to do it) is when posters research recent trades of similar players and what the team got in return. This "fact checking" really helps keep the trade discussions grounded in some form of reality.

 

That said, I love the site and visit it daily. When the comments get over the top, I just skip reading them. My one point of positivity: I think Terry Ryan is an excellent talent evaluator and is adept at getting maximum value in trades. His track record supports this.

[Winston Smith]

Here is a link to Jon Heyman @ CBS sports about Gardy likely coming back next year. That should make some people happy if true the other people happy if it isn't!!!!

 

Much ado about Gardy, but smart money says Twins keep him in '14 - CBSSports.com

[ThePuck]

I appreciate the link. In this case, though, I wonder if anyone ever really thought he wouldn't be back if he wanted to be back. This can be considered positive by some fans.

[buckninetyone]

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x143/buckninetyone/gardyhelper.jpg

[orangevening]

Well stated. I tend to side with the apologist. A series of bad trades/signings and failed high draft picks esp., during the Bill Smith (although not all his fault of course) era doomed this club to where it is now IMO. Terry Ryan knows that you build a club through the farm system then fill in holes with free agency/trades when the time is right. Having one of the top farm systems in MLB we are on our way back and on the right track. 90 losses to 90 wins rarely happens in baseball.

[SurroundedByTigers]

Living in Tigers' territory, I can say without reservation that the typical Detroit Tigers fans holds Gardenhire and the Twins organization in high regard. They also are somewhat terrified that the Twins might get their act together and sneak up on the Tigers and win the division. That said, people are never satisfied - Detroit fans are currently freaking out and would swap Gardy for Leyland in a minute. So, the moral here, if there is one, is be a fan, live and die with the team, but don't be a fanatic. There are more important things in life - like trying to make every day great.

[Riverbrian]

I love this thread... Positives can be found anywhere... For example...

 

Drew Butera is 6-1 and 6-1 is considered to be tall minus the worry of being decapitated by a powerful ceiling fan.

 

Drew Butera also did a great job playing Kevin Costner's father John Kinsella in "Field of Dreams"

 

[cmb0252]

I think I come off overly optimistic because I don't see rebuilding as a dirty word (most likely because I follow the Twins farm system, college baseball, and the draft religiously). I enjoy watching kids we draft move up through the system. Unless you are going to buy a championship, which we are not because we aren't the Yankees or Red Sox, you are going to have to rebuild at sometime. This isn't football or basketball where one good draft and a few FA signings puts you in the playoff hunt.

 

Things that excite me:

 

Law released his top 50 prospect list today and we were tied for having the most prospects on the list at 5. Buxton (1), Sano (4), Stewart (30), Meyers (38), and Rosario (41). The rest of the AL Central combined had 4. This is even after the Twins graduated three of Laws top 60 prospects to start the year in Gibson (41), Hicks (49), and Arcia (59). While all 3 have struggled at times, 99% of prospects do their first year, I don't think they have show they can't at least be average big leaguers.

 

All our minor league teams are over .500! Yay!

 

While being a top prospect doesn't guarantee you will be a top player in the bigs, or even make it to the bigs for that matter, studies have shown the higher you are rated not only are you more likely to succeed but be a star. That shouldn't come as a surprise but the rate of success for prospects is a lot higher than most think. Scouting and development has come a long ways in the past 10 years.

 

Losing= high draft picks! Next years draft is considered deep in top end talent. Especially in pitching and SS which just happen to be our biggest areas of needs.

 

According to several experts we have the most wanted piece in Perkins at the trade deadline. LH proven closers are always at a premium at the deadline but this year is considered a down year for RPers. Experts have suggested there could be a bidding war if the Twins decide to trade him. Best case is there is a bidding war and we get a massive haul while the worst case is what? We hold onto our local, cost controlled, shut down closer? Darn!

 

I know most aren't happy about our payroll but looking at the bright side with Morny's and Blackburn's contract off the books we will have no real bad contracts at the end of the year. This gives us a ton of flexibility moving forward. Heck, even if we decide its time to move on from Gardy we don't owe him any money!

[Bark's Lounge]

Drew Butera also did a great job playing Kevin Costner's father John Kinsella in "Field of Dreams"

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4834[/ATTACH]

 

How has this flown under the radar for so long without anyone putting 2 and 2 together?

 

Great observation RB! At least for today, I can say I learned something... which isn't very often.

[buckninetyone]

nattering nabob of negativity

 

mmm..nutty kabob of negativity.

[Squirrel]

Not sure why we all can't just agree that it's a half a glass of water instead of insisting it's half full or half empty.

[TheLeviathan]

Not sure why we all can't just agree that it's a half a glass of water instead of insisting it's half full or half empty.

 

I refuse to accept your reasonable alternative!

[TheLeviathan]

This seems a bit combative for a thread on being positive.

 

Well that's because you're being a nattering nabob of negativity. Clearly.

[twinsnorth49]

Well that's because you're being a nattering nabob of negativity. Clearly.

 

I love alliteration.....how's that for positive?

[TheLeviathan]

I love alliteration.....how's that for positive?

 

Would've been better if you absolutely adored alliteration. But who's counting?

[Winston Smith]

Here is a way to "fight the negativity", win more games!

 

 

See it works!

[Riverbrian]

How about as a way to end some of the negativity people quit calling anyone who doesn't see the front office the way they do apologists? No one labels you a nattering nabob of negativity to cut on you while disagreeing with your viewpoint.

 

Nurse... I agree with you... However you may have missed the spirit of the thread by a little bit.

 

It should be more like this!!!

 

[LaBombo]

Not sure why we all can't just agree that it's a half a glass of water instead of insisting it's half full or half empty.

 

Well said.

[LimestoneBaggy]

BYTO would never allow a thread like this to exist.

 

I am one of the Gardy lovers/Ryan supporters and even I can say this thread is a little ridiculous. I am very positive/homerish about this team, but to be frank this team once again is looking like they will lose 90 plus. There is no reason whatsoever to say everyone should remain positive.

 

The twins very well could be on their way to amazing things the next half decade, but at the end of the day it doesn't excuse them of the disaster the last 3 years have been, if people wanna be negative, they deserve that right and have earned it.

 

[Riverbrian]

Alright... Hopefully no one will take offense... But I'm going to prune a few posts from this thread including some of mine and see if we can keep things fun and lighthearted and not heavy discussion over negative or positive.

 

We have plenty of other threads for that sort of thing.

[Squirrel]

Woohoo! Who cares about the Twins! I'm on my way to Vegas!

[twinsnorth49]

Alright... Hopefully no one will take offense... But I'm going to prune a few posts from this thread including some of mine and see if we can keep things fun and lighthearted and not heavy discussion over negative or positive.

 

We have plenty of other threads for that sort of thing.

 

[cmathewson]

I don't consider myself an apologist. But I acknowledge that I don't have visibility into a lot of the decisions, so I give them the benefit of the doubt when I can't know something. An example is on free agents, where we don't have visibility into what we offered to whom, except in rare cases, when the player or his agent says so (e.g. Liriano).

 

On the other hand, if I know the facts and they clearly made a mistake given the facts, I am comfortable criticizing the FO. In my experience, those things line up less often than the critics on this site seem to think.

 

Now for my positive: I think the Twins have done a great job the last five years in acquiring young talent. Unfortunately, the four years prior to 2008 were not good in that department, and we are dealing with the aftermath of those decisions on the big league roster now.

[rcfarmer]

Here is my positive, Parmelee and Arcia are sent to AAA for 2 weeks to get on track. The trade deadline comes and openings are available for them back in Minnesota. They come back up and Arcia bats .300 the rest of the way and Parmelee hits for power and about .280, and we all feel better for next year!

[Halsey Hall]

Pelfrey continues to impress!

[JB_Iowa]

The grass stays green, the beer stays cold, the young guys continue to mature, the minor league players make steady progress and no one requires TJ surgery.

[nicksaviking]

I forgive Seth for overlooking the most important development in New Britain yesterday. It was their Christmas in July promotion:

 

New Britain Rock Cats wear Santa Claus jerseys for 'Christmas in July' | Larry Brown Sports

 

What kid wouldn't be thrilled to open up a pack of baseball cards and find Miguel Sano wearing this uniform?

 

http://larrybrownsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/New-Britain-Rock-Cats-Santa-uniform.jpg

[JB_Iowa]

Record since AS Break 3-1 and keeping the fans entertained with thrillers.