Brock Beauchamp

Yes, this. Duensing came into the game in the sixth inning. Baseball games have nine innings. Count the good Twins relievers. Innings Remaining - Good Relievers = ?

Gibson: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 BB... 5 earned runs. Ouch.

Are we sure Colorado didn't want Reyes? They talked to Toronto about him multiple times. Given the way that franchise is run, I wouldn't take anything for granted.

What a fun collection of stats. Thanks!

There was a really long thread on this topic 1-2 years ago here on TD. Posters did a lot of research and I recall we pretty definitively decided RF received more balls, though I could be misremembering. I went into the conversation thinking LF would be the clear winner, which is why I remember the thread. Any posters remember that thread?

I always assumed more balls went to left as well but apparently, the inverse is true. http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2014/4/3/5576220/right-field-skill-position

I'd put Hicks in RF because more balls are hit to right. Both Rosario and Hicks have good range and arms but I'd give the nod to Aaron in both categories. Therefore, he gets the more premium defensive position.

I just don't see that happening. Yes, it's possible Hu has a decent career in MLB - though I doubt that will be the case - but given the Twins' plethora of options, I don't think it will impact the MLB club much, if at all. As we saw with Duffey over the weekend, the Twins aren't lacking back of the rotation pitching options going forward. Losing Hu wasn't the problem, the return of Kevin Jepsen was the problem. Hu is the type of player the Twins shouldn't hesitate to trade if it helps the MLB team compete.

Yep. The 2016 fourth outfielder should be a thumper. Whether that's Arcia or another guy, I don't really care (though obviously Oswaldo should get the first shot at the job).

The only thing Buxton's stint in AAA has told me is "Byron's thumb is healed and his timing wasn't affected by the injury". And really, that's all we needed to know. If he's not up before the end of August, that's... not smart. Every game matters and while I appreciate what Sugar Shane has done for the team this season, he shouldn't get in Buxton's way if Byron is ready to play.

I find that frustrating as well but I'm pretty sure they've openly said at the latest, May will be in the rotation by 2016. That tempers my frustration a bit.

The Twins never had the worst farm system in baseball. I can't remember them ever dropping below #25, actually. Mistakes were made and the Twins didn't draft very well but coming off a decade of success, it shouldn't have been a surprise the Twins spend a period of time scuffling in the bottom third of farm systems. IIRC, they picked in the top 15 just once from 2002-2011. edit: I just glanced through old farm system rankings and didn't see anyone rank the Twins below #22 from 2008-2010. Most were in the high teens, it seems (and some were actually top ten, gah...).

Yeah, this. I'll reserve judgment until something actually goes wrong. I'm not going to predict massive failure when the Twins are already 5+ games better than any of us expected going into the season.

I also disagree with several of the moves that have been made, particularly in the past twelve months. But you're calling for Ryan's head using a bad argument. It's unfair to point out the successes of other general managers while refusing to give Ryan the same amount of time to fully enact his plan. It doesn't mean you can't criticize Ryan for individual moves but it does mean calling for his head - or the rebuilding of the franchise itself - terribly premature. What happens if the Twins win 89-91 games next season and make the postseason? Will you recant your position?

Have those teams actually done a better job than the Twins? Given they all had 4+ years to enact a plan and see it to fruition, we can't answer that question definitively. This offseason will see the four year mark pass. Right now, the Twins are a fringe contender. Hopefully, they hit the four year mark running next season. Do I wish some things had been done differently? Of course... But you're the one placing expectations on the team that follow an unrealistic timeline, not me. I just listed four of the most successful rebuilds of the past decade and none of them took less than four years to see results. On top of that, most of those teams were mediocre to terrible well before the rebuild was enacted. It's a lot easier to rebuild a team quickly if you have high draft picks for 2-3 years before a formal rebuild even starts. The Twins were a 94 win team in 2010. They didn't receive their first high draft pick until June of 2012.

Whoa, whoa, whoa... I'm sorry but you're 100% wrong about rebuilds. 1. First things first, this isn't the fifth year of the rebuild. Ryan returned to the Twins as GM before the 2012 season. This makes it the fourth year of the rebuild and the Twins continue to toy with .500 this season. 2011 forced the Twins to rebuild, it wasn't a rebuild season. 2. Had the Twins not been on the unfortunate side of the luck donkey in 2014, they'd probably be a few games better in 2015. Buxton, Sano, Meyer, Rosario all had unfortunate setbacks last season. Four of your top five prospects. No team makes it through a season like that without setting back their time table. 3. Rebuilds typically take 4-5 years to complete. How long do you think it takes a high ceiling prep player to reach the majors? If he debuts as a 22 year old after being drafted as an 18 year old, well... I'm pretty sure you can do the math on that one. And that's only applicable to prep players who were drafted in the first season of the rebuild. Expecting a team to debut solid prospects at every position after four seasons of a rebuild is sheer lunacy and completely unreasonable. Friedman was hired by the Rays before the 2004 season and started implementing his new player development strategy. He took over the GM role before the 2006 season. The Rays had a contender in 2008. Five seasons... and this was building a team that had drafted in the top five of baseball for its entire existence. The Astros pushed the big red "EXPLODE" button before the 2011 season. Their first competitive season since that rebuild started? 2015. Five seasons. Epstein took over the Cubs roughly the same time Ryan returned to the Twins. The Cubs' first competitive season? 2015. Four seasons. Before the 2008 season, Neal Huntington took over a Pirates team that hadn't seen a winning season since Teddy Roosevelt created the National Parks system. The Pirates returned to contention in 2013. Six seasons. I do not understand where people get the idea that a rebuild is a failure if it's not successful within 36 months of its implementation. Baseball moves at a glacial pace, folks. You better learn patience with this sport or it's going to drive you to an early grave.

This team won 72 games last season and most of us predicted a win total between 72-81. Yeah, this season can be a success without making the postseason. We can also be disappointed the front office didn't push for the postseason a little harder in July.

I would hate to see the human element of umpiring removed from baseball, even if that means my favorite team occasionally gets the shaft. Try your best to hold umpires accountable but don't remove them from the game entirely. Part of the reason I enjoy baseball is its old world charm. Don't sanitize it to the point where machines are involved. Sometimes we love things because of their imperfections, not in spite of them.

Yes. When talking about the rebuild, people tend to forget 2014 was a pretty awful year for Twins prospects. Buxton, basically out for the season. Sano, completely out for the season. Meyer, late season injury followed by a 2015 implosion. Rosario, development stunted due to his love of ganja. Hicks, so completely lost he gave up switch-hitting. 2015 has been a much better year for the entire organization.

MLB.com has the transaction listed at 1:40am on 8/7. I figure that means it actually occurred on 8/6 because we all know JR already had his milk and cookies and is snuggled into bed by 1:40am (mostly joking). http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/fantasy/news/#player_id=608648

I think Ryan kind of owes it to the fans to give Berrios a shot. He's their best option to salvage the rotation right now. Bring him up. The kid just dominates wherever you put him. I'm not concerned about Jose's options. Like Sano and Buxton, he's approaching the kind of elite prospect status where options aren't a big concern. If he stays in Rochester, he's a top 15, maybe top 10 prospect on some lists this offseason.

Man, the Twins needed and deserved that win. That eighth inning was straight up bad luck. Dozier four feet foul, then robbed of a hit, then Sano missing a homer by inches.

Yes, this. If Byron's "demotion" goes well beyond the expected rehab time (ie. 9/1), then it's time to get pissed off. Now is not that time. Why do we care if he was demoted? If he successfully rehabs and is back in Minnesota on August 28th, what's the big deal? The end result is the same.

But as John said, they went into the break on a high note. From June 1 to July 12, they essentially played .500 ball. That's six weeks of .500 baseball after their ridiculous month of May. They fell to pieces after the break and lost their entire +10 record in that three week span.

I don't understand why Aaron is hammering away at the "worst AL team in the past 2 1/2 months" point when their -10 record came almost entirely in the past two weeks. It's a bad argument that intentionally obscures what has happened to this team since the All-Star Break. On June 1st, they were 30-19. On July 17th (ASB), they were 50-40. Today, they are 55-56. It's not hard to see where everything went to pieces and it wasn't June 1st.