Brock Beauchamp

I'm saying that our expectations combined with the yo-yo development strategy of the Twins has led to immense disappointment. If Buxton was called up two weeks ago instead of two months ago, is he a different player? Is he something more in line with our expectations? Our expectations are that Buxton would be a more fully developed player than he is right now. Is that a fair expectation given the fact he has fewer than 450 plate appearances in the high minors? I don't think the Twins have done the kid any favors. I was fine with the first call-up but since that time, he hasn't been given enough time to settle in at any level. I mean, look at his plate appearances. It's insanity. 2015: 268 plate appearances in AA. Okay, that's pretty legit. Unfortunately, things go to **** after that point. 2015: Promotion to Minnesota, 39 plate appearances. 2015: Demotion to Rochester, 59 plate appearances. 2015: Wait, are you kidding me? Promotion to Minnesota, 99 plate appearances. Oh, thank god. The season is over. Oh no. NEW SEASON! 2016: Headdesk. Minnesota, 49 plate appearances. 2016: Demotion. Of course. Rochester, 129 plate appearances. 2016: STOP IT PLEASE. Back to Minnesota! 169 plate appearances. 2016: Byron, you know the routine. Back to Rochester. Whatever plate appearances. 2016: (sure to come in September) Welcome back to Minnesota, Byron! STFU already plate appearances. Since his first promotion to Minnesota, Buxton has maxed out at 169 plate appearances at a single level before being promoted/demoted. That's roughly one quarter of a season.

Yeah, all of us are disappointed but I think our expectations are partially to blame, along with the Twins themselves. When Buxton was demoted earlier in the season, I didn't want to see him again for at least two months. Give the guy a legit chance to succeed, for crying out loud. He was back up in what, 4-5 weeks? And then, when I disagreed with the promotion, I said "Okay, then let the kid work with Bruno and just hold your nose while it plays out. At this point, consistency is what matters most." And then he gets demoted again. Ugh. This team.

Oh, sure. I'm not saying we shouldn't be concerned, only pointing out that things aren't hopeless. And given Buxton's raw talent, I still believe he ends up a success. I only hope it doesn't require four seasons to get there.

Look at that list of players who started their careers similarly to Buxton, though. It's near the bottom of the article. We should all be concerned about Byron but his struggles are not historically bad, as has been implied on this board far too often.

I think Google's biggest problem might be how it has all these great ideas but isn't equally as great at monetizing them... Yet, anyway. They're doing some amazing stuff with deep learning, autonomous vehicles, virtual reality... The list is as long as my arm. But they still earn the overwhelming majority of their revenue from the core business. I'm hoping the Alphabet restructure is going to pay off in the long run (and I think it will).

I've had a couple grand in Google for the past... two-ish years?... and honestly, they've been disappointing compared to my other tech stocks in Netflix, Apple, and Amazon. But I see Google being a steady climber for a long, long, loooooong time. They're more well-positioned than any other tech company, in my opinion. I'd rank maybe Amazon second, thanks to their rock-solid Kindle platform and their server infrastructure. Or maybe flip the two. Dunno... But I lean toward Google being the more solid company thanks to their burgeoning diversity (which, to this point, hasn't been as profitable as it probably should be... But it took Amazon over 15 years to turn a profit so there you go).

Man, I am so glad I stuck with Amazon. I bought into them somewhere around $340-350 and watched them stagnate for six months or more. Now they're my largest percentage gain stock at 115% gain, followed closely by Facebook (110%) and Netflix (102%). Apple used to be my best stock but they've wilted to about 50% gains (but that's okay because I still get a decent dividend from them). Between Amazon and the hosing I took on Groupon a few years back, that has cemented my feeling that I don't "play" the market unless I'm extremely confident in a short-term stock. If I believe in a company, I invest and stick with them.

The market has been rolling. I'd let it continue rolling until you see the first dip, then consider bailing.

The Yankees moved some high end players and brought back some fantastic prospects. It's not the same situation at all. I didn't expect to see every player get traded, which is why I specifically mentioned that had Antony moved one higher end guy with a fair return, he gets an A. And this is consistent with what I said two months ago when I put the over/under of guys traded at three. Move three guys, I'm happy. Move four, I'm ecstatic.

There are a handful of players who could have been moved on top of the guys who were moved. Suzuki, Milone, Kintzler... And, course, Santana and Dozier. I just listed five guys. That's 20% of the 25 man roster. I like what Antony did this deadline. The return was close to on par with the value of each player. More could have been done, therefore he gets a B. Move Dozier for a top 100 prospect and that jumps to an A. The same goes for Santana. Maybe even Suzuki (though obliviously the return is much less than the other two guys). I don't see why it's so radical that I question some of the moves while liking the general direction of events. This isn't a binary situation.

I'm far closer to your view of this trade but I think the best case scenario for the Twins is for things to play out exactly as they have for the past two years. That's not exactly an unlikely scenario. But you're spot on that any statement of equivalency of Meyer and Busenitz is... Wrong. The real player in motion here is Alex Meyer. He's the guy with legitimate upside and the ability to not only be a productive player but a dominant force in either the bullpen or rotation.

He does and that's a factor in the decision for sure. Though given the Twins penchant for slipshod bullpens in April, May, June, and sometimes even July, that's not a deal breaker. Time may tell us the smart move was to DFA Nolasco and call it a day.

It was a good move by Antony but he gave up Meyer in the process. While it's likely Meyer busts, he still has that 97mph fastball and releases the ball roughly three feet from home plate. If Meyer figures it out, this is a bad trade. That's why I can't give it anything higher than a C+. But in Antony's defense, this trade could also go wonderfully for the Twins. It's a risky move in both directions. That means it *can't* be a great trade today. It's a curious trade whose ramifications we won't know for quite some time.

No offense to Brandon but I think he's way off the mark. As for my own grade, I initially had B- typed and then changed it to a B. Upon further thought, I'd probably go back to the B- but that's picking nits, really. It was a decent deadline.

Brandon just gave him an A-.

Hey, I like what he did. But... - There are still several guys on this roster with little to no future with the team. - Getting rid of Nolasco was nice but Meyer went along with him. That's not a big win. It's a curious move, something interesting to follow. - Nunez was the best trade but even that trade wasn't out of the park. The Twins got a marginal upside guy for a guy posting pretty good numbers with 1.5 years of control. So, yeah, decent. I like what Antony did. That doesn't mean what he accomplished was amazing. I'm on board with the moves but more could have been done. In a grading scale, I'd give him a B grade, I think. Solid, not amazing.

I'm speaking from a fan perspective, not the Pohlad perspective.

Yes. Antony did a decent job this deadline. I don't understand the accolades. What Antony did should be the norm, not the basis for jubilant cheer. I like all the moves. They were all fair trades of talent... But nothing stood out as amazing.

Pretty much. We had the highest volume traffic in the history of the site yesterday.

Absolutely x3 followed by one "hell no".

Yeah, we need to stop throwing that term around. Midseason rankings are a bit different and he hasn't made a preseason list recently enough to matter. But that should in no way invalidate the trade or our opinion of it. It seems like a solid deal for both teams.

John made a good point about innings. It's incredibly unlikely the Twins will want him pitching in September.

I'm a little embarrassed for you right now, nick.

Three years ago, I spent roughly 30 seconds deciding whether to invest in Facebook or Twitter. Facebook won the argument handily, I only wish I had been more confident. I think my reluctance over Twitter carried into my Facebook investment, which never should have happened for obvious reasons.