ScottyB

I haven't given up on Dozier, by the way. In the minors Jeter had a year with over 50 errors, but they let him work through it. Jeter doesn't have great range, but his instincts are great because of his experience. If the Twins let him, that could be Dozier as well. They just have no patience, in this case it's on Gardy (and I'm a Gardy backer). Having no experienced infielders on the coaching staff doesn't help.

What may be the main problem for the Twins is that in this key position in the middle of the infield, the Twins don't realize that you can't get a decent SS for less than $5-$7M (not good or great, but decent). They have a knack for drafting decent to great CF'ers, so they've had a good pipeline of those since Puckett. They can't draft a SS to save their lives, and when they get a decent one like Hardy, they trade him because he's too expensive. As much as I hate the Yankees, they invested in Jeter and built around him, and because of that they have nearly constantly been in the playoffs during his tenure. The Twins need to make SS a cornerstone position - which they never have in over 50 years of existence.

It's not like this is a new problem for the Twins. The Twins have NEVER been able to scout shortstops in their over 50 year history. They have had only 2, count 'em 2, shortstops who have started in multiple seasons that they have drafted - Danny Thompson and Pat Meares. Other than Zoilo Versalles (who was acquired before the draft existed), every other starter of consequence was received in a trade. Leo Cardenas from the Reds, Roy Smalley from the Rangers, Greg Gagne and Christian Guzman from the Yankees, Jason Bartlett from the Padres, Nick Punto from the Phillies, JJ Hardy from the Brewers. Other than those guys the Twins have always had garbage placeholders - guys like Sergio Ferrer, Jackie Hernandez, Luis Gomez, Juan Castro, and Brendon Harris. They have drafted shortstops who have succeeded at other positions (i.e. Chuck Knoblauch and Michael Cuddyer, possibly Trevor Plouffe). As it stands now, Brian Dozier ranks third in number of games on the Twins list of drafted players to have played SS. It's an embarrassing record.

I was just having fun with it - wasn't thinking about colors. I don't like the current logo. I liked when they added Penn State and mixed in the 11. I just grabbed random colors - not married to them at all. I do get your point, maybe I'll play with it more. Thanks for the input.

I'll take your word for it Pig

I've attached my proposal for a new Big 10 logo with the addition of Rutgers and Maryland. It could also be easily changed when the Big 10 expands again. Rumors for next expansion are North Carolina and Kansas. What do you folks think? Big Ten Logo.pdf

Just curious--how does one track that down to find out? Not a defense of any poster/opinion. You need access to users' IP addresses. I'm pretty sure they're not the same person, BTW. The person would have to operate on a technical proficiency level that is... Unexpected, given their writing style. Separate devices, seperate networks and a new identity would allow dakota to bypass his banning. Seems strange that trader t starts up after dakota's 3rd banning. It must be tough for him to occasionally use the shift key.

None of these guys have been non-tendered yet. It was just a partial list of potentials. We'll know by 12/1

Considering the Twins tendency to go after items on the scrap heap, do any of these potential non-tender candidates interest anyone if they hit the open market (basically looking at starting pitchers or infielders): Starting Pitchers (including ages during 2013): Dallas Braden (29), Luke Hochevar (29), Tommy Hunter (26-27), Jair Jurrjens (27), John Lannan (28), Kyle McClellen (28-29), Mike Pelfrey (29), Kevin Slowey (29), Chris Volstad (26) Infielders: Emmanuel Burris (28), Jack Hannahan (33), Sean Rodriguez (28), Ian Stewart (28), Luis Valbuena (26)

I sure hope they make a trade or two to clear out some space for the Rule 5 draft. I'd take a flyer on Daniel Rosenbaum from the Nats. I think he could be 'Diamondesque". A lefty starter with 4 pitches. Not a top-of-the rotation guy, but better than anything we've got right now. Question: Are there multiple rounds in the draft? It seems to me that the Tigers had multiple Rule 5 picks 1 year when they were awful.

My guess is he could be a utility infielder as much as Brandon Inge could be a backup catcher - in other words - NOT. Besides, we now have no room on the 40-man roster (although I don't know why).

According to MLB Trade Rumors Nick Cafardo says that Pavano was cleared medically in September and could sign a minor league deal. Should the Twins persue this? I think on a minor league deal, it can't hurt. If he pitches well in ST, he could be at the back of the rotation. If he pitches poorly or is still injured, you cut him. And he doesn't take up a spot on the 40-man. Discuss

Hey, Brenden Harris, Luis Rodriguez, Terry Tiffee and Matt Tolbert are all availalble to add infield depth - imagine that!

I wasn't trying to play "Captain Hindsight" as you say - I was just having fun and looking at what could have been. I know we never would have had a rotation like I laid out, or the potential team. It would have been way too expensive for the reality which is our Twins. My main point is that the Twins are a team that lives and dies on their farm system. And because of that, they live and die by the draft, and a number of those players would have been very tradable to restock the farm clubs once they got too expensive. Obviously, the Twins had a number of very good to great (or potential) first round choices as well - Torri Hunter, Michael Cuddyer, Joe Mauer, Denard Span, Ben Revere, Trevor Plouffe, Glen Perkins, Chris Parmelee, Aaron Hicks, Kyle Gibson, and Byron Buxton. But, the Twins had way too many early round draft busts from 2000-2005, guys that didn't even smell AAA, let alone MLB. That's why we're in the place we are today. I also believe that the last several years have been better, but only time will tell.

I decided to take the time machine back to 2000 and look at the drafts since then - I almost threw up when I saw what our rotation could have been. There is no way we would have lost 90+ games. Let's see what could have been. [TABLE=width: 500] Year Round Pick Available 2000 1 Adam Johnson Chase Utley [/TD] 2 Tagg Bozied Xavier Nady 3 JD Durbin Chad Qualls 2001 1 Joe Mauer 2 Scott Tyler JJ Hardy 3 Jose Morales Scott Harriston 4 Angel Garcia Ricky Nolasco 2002 1 Denard Span 2 Jesse Crain 3 Mark Sauls Josh Johnson 2003 1 Matt Moses Chad Billingsley 2 Scott Baker 3 Johnny Woodward Jonathan Papelbon 2004 1A Trevor Plouffe 1B Glen Perkins 1C Kyle Waldrop Gio Gonzolez 2A Matt Fox Reid Brignac 2B Anthony Swarzak Dustin Pedroia 2005 1 Matt Garza Sand A Hank Sanchez Clay Buchholz Sand B Drew Thompson Taylor Teagarden 2A Paul Kelly Chase Headley 2B Kevin Slowey Jeremy Hellickson 3 Brian Duensing 2006 1 Chris Parmelee 2 Joe Benson 3 Tyler Robertson 2007 1 Ben Revere 2 Danny Rams Jonathan Lucroy 3 Angel Morales 2008 1A Aaron Hicks 1B Carlos Gutierrez Lonnie Chisenhall Sand Shooter Hunt Jason Kipnis 2 Tyler Landedorf ??? [TD]3 Bobby Lanigan ??? 2009 1 Kyle Gibson Mike Trout [/TABLE] In the 3 drafts since 2009, it's still too early to judge. But our scouting was terrible from 2000-2005. We could have had a rotation of Chad Billingsley, Gio Gonzolez, Jeremy Hellickson, Clay Buchholz, and Josh Johnson. And we could have had other options including Matt Garza, and Ricky Nolasco, and then we could have drafted Mike Trout instead of Gibson. And the infield would not have been the problem it is today. Boy, talk about woulda, shoulda, coulda.

Quick question Seth - would these guys then be eligible for Rule 5?

It looks like we would have traded Dozier, Deduno, Benson, Rohlfing, De Vries, maybe Parmelee, maybe Harrison, maybe Slamma since we aren't giving up any major league chips by your lineup. My guess is we wouldn't have gotten the haul for garbage - basically worthless parts we wouldn't miss like I mentioned above.

Amen

Add one more point to analysis - he's not a long term solution, he's a Boris client looking to cash in.

At this point in his career Inge is about as much an option at catcher as Willingham. In other words probably an emergency option somewhere between Carroll and Morneau (who was drafted as a catcher).

Your 2015 American League Champion Minnesota Twins: 1B/C/DH Joe Mauer (80/40/20 Games) 2B/CF Eddie Rosario 3B/1B/DH Miguel Sano SS Daniel Santana C Jarrod Saltalamachia LF Max Kepler CF Aaron Hicks RF Oswaldo Arcia DH/Super UT Trevor Plouffe OF Ben Revere C/OF Chris Herrmann 1B/OF/DH Chris Parmelee UI Brian Dozier PITCHERS SP Josh Johnson (FA signing 2014) SP Scott Baker (Last option year 2013 contract) SP Kyle Gibson SP Scott Diamond SP JO Barrios Bullpen CL Glen Perkins RP JT Chargois RP Mason Melotakis RP Luke Bard RP Michael Tonkin RP Jered Burton RP Sean Manaea (2013 first round pick long relief/fill-in starter takes over for Baker in 2016) $84-85M payroll Manager of the Year: Paul Molitor

Santana is a right-handed Liriano. He's got the stuff, but totally inconsistant. If you wouldn't drop $13M on Liriano, why drop it on Santana?

If Blanton is the best we can do (having made $10M last year), we're in deep trouble. He hasn't shown much since '07. Hopefully, there's someone out there who's willing to do what Jackson did last year - take a one-year deal to set themselves up for a multi-year deal. And if we're lucky, they'll do well, like it here and want to stay longer term (i.e. Pavano, Willingham, Doumit).

Let's give them Casilla and Butera for both and then not pick up options on either. Both teams get rid of non-tenders,

Has Angel Morales really fallen so far? He's still listed as the #10 prospect on Twins site. He hasn't shown much in a couple of years because of injuries, but to not even show up in the top 50?