LaBombo

I had heard Wimmers was the 'safe' and most league ready arm if I remember correctly. A two year ETA doesn't seem too out of reach with that being said. Unfortunately he's free fallen since the organization COMPLETELY screwed up his UCL tear. Too stupid to get the surgery done right away. I'm sorry, but if you seriously believe that the Twins FO in 2010 was counting on a guy with at BEST one full year of LOW minor league experience to hold a spot in the major league 2012 rotation, well, that's just crazy. When have they ever done that voluntarily, with either pitchers or position players? And the idea that Wimmers would take the place of a near-Cy Young candidate under contract through 2012 just indicates that you don't believe your own point about the 'woe is me' luck of the Twins with injuries. If you thought the point could stand on its own, you wouldn't have to rely on the rainbows and unicorns scenario you concocted to place Wimmers (darn the bad luck!) instead of Liriano (who sucked instead of getting injured and didn't fit your bad luck narrative) in the 2012 rotation. Agree with your assessment that the Twins multiplied their own bad luck with their handling of Wimmers' injury. It's an ugly, repeating theme in an organization that has several others as well. It's looking more and more like the Twins fear losing a bunch of games more than they fear not contending, and fear change even more than they fear losing. Twins Fear-o-meter summary: not contending < losing season(s) < change.

How many people are discussing the Twins' pitching philosophy purely in terms of velocity? Most people are talking in terms of "pitch to contact" and the low strikeout rate that goes with it. In Liriano's last good year, 2010, the Twins still managed to finish ahead of only perennial also-rans KC, Baltimore, Seattle, and Cleveland in K rate among all MLB teams. Last year, they were dead last, and will almost certainly finish 2012 in their current position, dead last. When an organization posts a dreadful strikeout rate and then lowers it in the following seasons despite spending more than the league average, then two things are apparent. 1. Blaming Ryan for this mess after less than a year on the job is beyond ridiculous. He was handed a bag of crap that started really stinking after Wild BS took over. 2. At least some, if not all, of the facets of the organization you insist are not bad... are pretty bleeping bad.

I'm in. Pernell Roberts has checked out, so I hope Sally Struthers is available for a TV spot.

+1, but ironically a reason to hate Tommy Herr even more. TH's failure led to the Twins trading for Backman. At least it was just prospects instead of a popular member of a WS winner like Brunansky/Herr.

thrylos98 - I won't say you're missing the point about Nishy, but you're maybe undervaluing it. Yes, it's true that short of maiming or murdering productive teammates, Nishy in a utility role won't affect the outcome of this throwaway season in any meaningful way. That's not the point. The point is that Nish isn't being played to avoid the appearance of sunk cost, he's playing because an injury to one infielder has left the Twins with no appreciably better option than an abject failure. This is a guy who barely looks like he's played any baseball before, let alone the major league kind. Just his presence on the roster is a powerful indictment of the failure of a business that has received an enormous public subsidy. Sure, that doesn't obligate the Twins to spend, let alone win. But short of Terry Ryan forcing the fans at home games to enter through a single gate and personally telling every one of them to go f#@% themselves, it's hard to see how he could cultivate more ill will than the kind generated by allowing a ballplayer who can't play ball to suit up every night. PS Thanks for posting the awesome Nishy Error photo...

It's heavily dependent on exchange rates and the ability to self-administer antibiotics... > Crain Wreck > Gray Lady Down

Or Jose Offerman. He's not even top 10 worst Twin material, but it's just so much fun to say 'Awfulman'.

There's an idea. Instead of placing a high priority on acquiring defensive savants who can't hit, let's work on replacing our p.t.c. guys with real pitchers who can miss some bats! That way they won't need the savants, and would have the option to eventually pursue adequate defenders who can actually hit.

Last night? LAST F'!ING NIGHT? Unbelievable... And yes, the Twins are fairly stocked up on no-hit infielders. The difference between most of those guys and Nish is that he's no-field as well. Anybody who thinks that assessment is based on just "last night" hasn't watched a lick of Nish's 2011 fielding 'highlights'...

The only sane motive for this must be to embarrass Nish into accepting a lowball 2013 buyout.

Are you aware of the fact that Tsuyoshi Nishioka played second base for the Minnesota Twins last night?

I submit Brandon McCarthy for consideration as the new "cheap ace" example, even though he's maybe more of a #2, even after his 'breakthrough' 2011 season. Sore shoulder discount may entice the Twins. There's speculation he'll be waived, since he's a free agent after 2012 anyway. Flame away. Btw, does anybody else wonder if the Twins are probably one of Lee's 20+ no-trade teams? It's certainly possible he'd waive that, but what evidence would he have that the Twins will spend what it takes to compete in 2014/15, other than that they claimed or traded for Cliff Lee? In addition to Lee's huge impact on the overall payroll, I'd imagine the Twins would be worried about the huge risk that his contract represents. It's hard to see the Twins gambling on mega-contract like Lee's when they've spun the wheel of fortune once already with Mauer, and are probably still sour on the way Morneau's contract has played out.

Also, from an Occam's Razor angle, what's more likely... that Butera's defensive value is being inflated by a tiny sample of a shaky stat or two... or that he's found a new ability to handle pitchers that produces overwhelming, repeatable results, but he's refusing to even explain the breakthrough, let alone teach the new ability set to Mauer and Doumit, all with the apparent total disregard of on- and off-field management?

How about a breakdown of the quality of lineups that Butera's pitchers have faced? He seems to get the 'day game after night game' starts fairly often, along with the other scrubs of both the Twins and their opponents. Maybe it's just me. As for being useful as Liriano's personal catcher, well, the idea that Liriano needs a replacement-level catcher to be effective sounds like another reason to trade Liriano, not elevate Butera to near-everyday status. That leaves the 10 starts with non-Liriano pitchers. Given that CERA is already suspect at best for career-sized samples, those 10 starts represent no discernible analytical value to me. I agree with you the Twins are out of it. I even agree with you that Butera should catch more, though not for the reason you suggest, and not nearly to the same extent. I'd just like to see Butera out there a little more just to save wear and tear on Mauer and even Doumit. That being said, the idea that there's no risk to elevating Butera to near-regular status isn't really true. The Twins still need to put butts in the seats, and it's not going well. Selling already disenchanted fans on Butera catching more than Mauer based on what's likely no more than a statistical anomaly would be an ugly PR undertaking. But let's say you throw attendance caution to the winds, keep running Butera out there the rest of the season, and get similar non-Liriano numbers. Now you're going to dump Morneau, convert an already-expensive Mauer to a much less valuable position , and insert a replacement-level bat into the starting lineup based on what's still a microscopic sample size of one of the weakest predictive stats in baseball? Pass.

Yes, trade him for a good prospect. His hot streak is another mirage, because he's been healthy and good exactly one time in six years since his debut. And even despite his hot streak his 2012 walk rate is the highest it's ever been, 5+ BB/9. The difference between bringing him back for one or, say, three years is the difference between taking one bad risk or three.

That's the spirit, Lloyd!

What Twins am I watching? I'm watching the ones that are still tied for dead last in MLB in run differential. I'm watching the ones whose above-average June offense has been predicated almost entirely on getting nearly a bomb per game from Trevor freakin' Plouffe (1 HR/6 AB in June). I'm watching the ones who rank dead last in MLB in bullpen K's per 9 (sustainable success, anyone?). And since you asked, starting May 10th I began watching a Twins team that's played .500 ball against a group of opponents who are a collective 40 games under .500. Look, they're obviously not the historically awful goon squad we saw in April, and they clearly will have money coming off the books as you pointed out. But the idea that the Pohlads will start, rather than finish, building a contender with high-priced FA starters seems terribly optimistic. There's the modest spending history of the Twins in free agency, and then there's the high probability that the recent surge to respectability has a pretty substantial mirage content to it. Or maybe we're thinking more alike than we know, and it's just that you're much more excited than I am about what the Twins can do next year with a rotation headlined by a show-stopper like Joe Blanton, Jeremy Guthrie, or Derek Lowe.

Hey, Jim. You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. The Twins will not write giant checks for "FA starters" next year and suddenly transform from crap into contenders. Frugality aside, their rotation currently boasts exactly zero reliable starters who can be counted on in 2013. Zero. Jim, this is still for you. Are you with me? Zero. That leaves the lineup and bullpen. Which of those two (both?) were you going to hang your hat on in 2013 to make up for an absolute vacuum of starting pitching? An offense that's been dreadful despite healthy, productive seasons from M/M/S and a nice shot in the arm from Willingham? Or a bullpen that, despite you bizarre assertions to the contrary, possesses nearly all the smart, quick turn-around tradable assets in the entire organization? Once again, Jim, pretty much everything you said was wrong. Other than that, it was an enjoyable read.

Hicks easily makes the conversation for disappointing outfielders. He's batting just .239/.325/.384 with 41 K's to 19 BB's in 138 AB's. It's his first go at AA pitching, so it's not time to panic, but if he's still struggling against righties later in the season, then the Twins need to scrap the switch hitting and have him start batting right-handed.

Where's the poll for how many games the umpire should be suspended without pay for his embarrassing incompetence and his ridiculous Frank Drebin theatrics? Love the conspiracy theory that it was a deliberate bank shot off the ground. Which Lawrie no doubt practices every day in the off-season.

I'm unsurprised. Revere is a replacement-level player at the moment. It's unsurprising that a front office that looks good mostly because the previous GM destroyed the franchise would call up a player who is better served by playing every day in AAA where he's not consistently overmatched.

Ben Revere cannot get on base. Ben Revere cannot drive the ball. Ben Revere cannot throw. He can run fast and he has great range. There is a very specific name for a skill set that limits a player to being a defensive sub and pinch runner. It's called '5th outfielder'. Revere may still develop. He's approaching the point in his career that's comparable to where Span was when the light came on for him. That happened for Span in AAA. I hope it happens for Revere, too. He still may become something more than a 5th OF. And if that happens, it will probably be in Rochester.

He's not hitting enough bats. And at 28, his bat-hitting skills are unlikely to improve any time soon. He'll probably end up missing bats for several years in one of those foolish organizations who believe in pitchers getting hitters out that way.

Yep, and Coomer had quite a bit more success than Disco Danny in the minors before finally getting a crack at the majors. Maybe a better comparison to Valencia's offensive ceiling is Scott Leius. He was a nice little piece of the puzzle in '91, posting a .795 OPS while platooning at third against lefties. Pressed into service as a near-everyday player in '92, he went down in flames with a .626 OPS. Now the Twins just need Burroughs to get his Pagliarulo on...

I'm surprised that somebody who wrote an article this good would have anything positive to say about Brackin's blatant propaganda piece about pitching to contact. The lack of (true) supporting evidence in it was unforgivable, even for a second-rate rag like the Strib.