Brock Beauchamp

No, but it's fair to think they'll only swap pitcher-for-pitcher on the 40 man.

While I normally agree that it's a bad idea to add guys to the 40 man before they need to be added, this is a special situation. The Twins are floundering and they need help. Berrios is their best chance to receive that help. Would anyone here shed a tear if the Twins lost the likes of Logan Darnell?

This pretty much sums up my thoughts. I was super-high on the Hughes signing. I questioned the extension and received quite a bit of flak for it. I was moderately high on the Nolasco signing and felt it was necessary at the time. I wasn't entirely on board with the Santana signing because, like you, I wondered exactly how many #3 starters the Twins thought they needed this offseason. In the end, I can't single out any of those deals and say "this was terrible" but when combined, they hamstrung the Twins quite a bit going forward.

I'm pretty sure that's against the CBA's rules.

Well stated article, John. As I've said before, I've never been as angry with a Twins front office as I am with the 2015 front office. They've had almost countless opportunities to correct course with the bullpen, yet they continually fail and let down a newly expectant fanbase. I hope they're embarrassed about all of this because they should be embarrassed.

I think it's really unfair to say Buxton floundered in his first stint. He didn't even have 40 PAs. I don't even pay attention to a rookie's performance until he approaches 100 PAs. One bad series to start a career is ~12-14 PAs, or roughly 1/3rd of Buxton's MLB service time.

That tends to happen when guys are seeing the ball and raking. Even the good version of Joe Mauer often saw his discipline drop when he was lining the ball all over the field. Buxton's AAA strikeout rate is pretty much the same as his AA strikeout rate.

Yeah, he's not Ben Zobrist. If a guy with Trevor's bat (and glove at third) can't play an up the middle position, it's probably better to trade him than try to rotate him around the diamond. He has a decent bat for third. His glove is good at third. Neither his bat nor his glove are as valuable doing down the defensive scale.

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.