Twins GFP

BA is a tool to help determine success, just like every other statistic. Not useless, but necessary. BA is interesting in that catchers hit for average like Mauer over an extended period of time. That is why players like Bench and Rodriguez are lauded for their offensive ability and durability, and guys like Piazza and Biggio are ultimately shifted in the hopes they can maintain their offensive skills. For Mauer to keep hitting at such a high rate while still spending the majority of his time behind the plate is so impressive.

Capps was ok before he got hurt. The bullpen continued to play well without him. Considering the other pitching holes the Twins have, spending $6 mil on an average reliever would be an incredibly bad move by the FO. (Deja Vu. I swear I made this exact statement less than a year ago...)

WAR isn't perfect, but you can't dismiss it because you don't like the results. Span is an above-average to elite defensive CF, and an above-average lead-off hitter, both premium areas. In relation to the pack, I can see how he has a high WAR. Hamilton plays LF, where the league average numbers a higher. Mauer playing other positions, especially 1B where everybody goes .275/25/95, hurt his WAR this year. Face the facts:Span is an above-average CF and lead off hitter. That his salary is so low makes him that much more valuable. He does things Revere can not do. Better at-bats, slightly more power, better arm, better OBP. Moving Span for the right package would make sense, but they will not get equal value back in a trade because his value is higher than people realize.

If you are an individual that believes the Twins are 2-3 years away from being competitive, how do you feel about the team going out and spending $20-30 mil on FA pitching this offseason? Seems to me you should be upset about the the team throwing money at pitchers when they still aren't close. That being said, what would the opinion be if you felt that way and they didn't spend the money? I believe they are close. Spending $12-15 mil for 2 mid-level FA pitchers could put them back in the mix (assuming they don't make any of the Span/Morneau trades.)

You have a list of names posted from the team media guide at the beginning of the year. You don't know what if any changes have been made since then. You don't know what level of authority they have (you can assume, but don't know for sure). You don't know how many 2nd or 3rd opinions were given from outside the organization. You don't know how the chain of command works within the medical portion of the organization. I am not saying the medical staff is without fault. I am saying that everybody who wants to replace them doesn't know if they are replacing the "guilty" party. They are taking partial comments, a little fact, and a lot of opion and making broad stroke demands. I repeat, we do not know anything about the situation.

As usual, people are trying to make 1+1=7. Take any of the aforementioned injury situations. What do we have: -What appears to be questionable decisions made from the Twins organization regarding DL decisions -Veiled comments from frustrated ex-players that their injuries were not handled appropriately by the Twins organization -No real public responses from the Twins on either item Let's see what we don't know: -How many doctors were in on the diagnosis? -How did the player respond to the initial diagnosis? -Did the players follow the directions of the doctors, or go on their own? -Were there any setbacks during the healing process? I could take this on and on, but you catch my drift. Even if we make an assumption the Twins doctors erred in their work, we don't know who they were or if they are still employed with the team, or if changes have been already made in any capacity. All we have to go on is what is publicly reported or unnamed sources providing 2nd or 3rd hand knowledge. Yet many fans here use this as an excuse to call for personnel changes. Typical. Let me say this again... We do not know anything about the situation.

Can anybody tell me with any certaintity that there hasn't already been changes made and these things are still happening? Does anybody know if their has or hasn't been any changes to their medical staff in the last three years? I am not talking about team doctors, but the techs and specialists that are helping to make these decisions? It seems to me that, as usual, too many people are blasting the situation without any clear knowledge of what is going on.

The same people that are leaping to conclusions about the medical staff are leaping to conclusions about how these situations are handled on other teams. Nobody here can tell me how the Mets handle theirs or the Mariners or virtually any other team. Until somebody comes up with an exhaustive study on what is reported, whether or not they end up on the DL, and follow up, the "it doesn;t happen anywhere else" argment needs to stop. I too am concerned about how the DL is used, but considering the team has had a huge rash of injuries and DL usage over the last 2+ years, with lttle in the way of help from the minors, I can understand their trepidation. Also, players can can be as much to blame here as the doctors. If they aren'y up front about the injury, or the severety, it can be harder to diagnose. Finally, all the players complaining about the Twins med staff are ex-players, except for Pavano, who will not pitch another game for this team. Could easily be sour grapes. Easy to blame somebody who will not respond in the public environment.

It's 100% and it is LAUGHABLE to see people taking this seriously. Good god. This non-story is akin to a Fox News political story in value. I disagree. This could be a bigger story then anybody wants to admit. Lets look at a couple things: - Nobody knows the complete list of who is put on waivers, as it is supposed to be "secret". Big names sneak out because they are big names. Were Pujols, Howard, or Fielder put on waivers? The proverbial "everybody is put on waivers" is a huge ASSUMPTION that everybody makes. Truth is, we don't know for sure. - If the Twins put Mauer on waivers without at least discussing with Mauer first, they are fools. You run the risk of alienating your best player at the start of a long term contract with a no-trade clause. If Mauer wasn't on board with the move, they could have a player and PR disaster on their hands. - The fact that Joe did not get moved leads me to believe this was a trolling expedition by both the team and Mauer to see if there was anybody close to making a move for him. It looks to me like they may both be laying the groundwork for a potential move, possibly as early as this offseason. That being said, I do not believe Joe will be moved. Too many local variables to keep him here.

Justin Morneau was not moved at the trade deadline. We can can deduce one of two things: the packages offered to the Twins were deemed no strong enough or the Twins feel that Morneau could be a part of their short term/long term future. For the sake of this thread, let's assume you are the Twins GM and you would like to extend Morneau. How many years and dollars would you be willing to go. Keep in mind what his market value may currently be and that he is a free agent at the end of next year. You aren't interested in trading him at this time. I actually believe that Morneau should stay with the team, and that he is back to being an above-average to great overall 1B. I would offer this: Tear up current contract. Offer 2 yrs / $22 million, with a third year team option of $16 mil, or an option that could be mutual if cetain criteria are met (say PA or games played). I could see him being very productive into his well into his 30's. This could give him a little more security, and gives the Twins another chance to rework it if he is awesome during the next 2 years. What are your thoughts?

Very cool. Thanks for a different look at Twins history. I agree a reference section would be interesting. It would have to be for uniques things like this though, as ESPN, Baseball Reference, et al, have a lot of these covered already. Surprising the Twins haven't mined that baseball hotbed that is Alaska...

You all realize that everything Ryan says needs to be taken with a grain of salt? GM doublespeak abound.

First off, I am very surprised the team went this route. The only real risk a team has for putting a "superstar" on revocable waivers is that it could alienate the player. This leads me too one of two conclusions: a) The team is seriously considering moving him Mauer requested to be put on waivers to test the market I don't believe moving Mauer is a good idea on many fronts, the major one being that players like Joe do not come around very often. He is very much HOF caliber, you almost always overpay for these types of guys. Keep him as a Twins lifer and move on. That being said, if Joe is moved, it signifies to me that this team will be bad not for 1-3 years, but 4-6 years or more (think 1990's). It would tell me the front office has thrown in the towel and will revert back to the days of $15-25 mil payrolls and play only young guys. It would be devastatingly bad across the board.

As good as LaRussa has been,I don't think he would be a good fit here. Like Torre, he is a better manager of high end players, his strength does not lie in managing youth and rebuilding. I think the Twins would want to go young and new with the hopes of landing a Mike Scossia type coach. Red Dog would be an interesting flyer, especially if he brought in in experienced coaches to help him out.

I'm sorry, but it wouldn't have mattered where the ball was. He was suspended for "intentionally" throwing at Hamilton. Never mind the fact that Oswalt pegged Mauer with the same type of purpose pitch. MLB is under the delusion that they are avoiding retaliation with this type of action. Obviously it doesn't. The sad part is that after Diamond's pitch, nothing would have happened. Both sides would have left it at that and the game would have gone on. This process really needs to be reevaluated by MLB.

That the pitch was up did not matter. He could have hit Hamilton in the thigh and he still would have been tossed. This is a major joke in baseball, everybody knows it. I was watching the game through the Rangers TV feed last night, even their announcers were a little disgusted that Diamond and Gardy were tossed. They knew a pitch was coming at Hamilton, but they ripped the umps for not letting the players police themselves.

I second this. And third it as well.

Stating the obvious, but how about an automatic permanent ban for anybody posting spam? Regarding #7, why are people under the delusion they have "rights" on this website. Admin can pretty much say and do whatever you want with the comments and who they allow to comment. Nobody is stopping you from calling Gardy stupid, just that the powers that be just don't want it on their website. If you can't live with that, go somewhere else. Considering I have seen ESPN link to this site as recently as Monday, this type of control doesn't seem difficult to understand. Common sense and common courtesy folks. Pretty simple.

Any suspicions of Colon's resurgence are warranted: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8292935/rhp-bartolo-colon-oakland-athletics-suspended-50-games-violating-mlb-drug-policy

Maybe I could have phrased it like "Plouffe's aerophobia became uncontrollable" but now we're nitpicking. Royce White's aerophobia has been well documented and he's still "wasting his time" pursuing an NBA career. Not trying to be rude, but you need to go look up the condition and how it manifests itself. This hypothetical is absurd if you know the Royce White story you'd know that his anxiety doesn't prevent him from flying, it only makes him really weak and exhausted when the flight is over from the increased stress. He's found ways of managing it to the point where it doesn't have a great affect on him. A team would know this before signing a player where the job description includes frequent air travel. So again, if Plouffe had the condition, and was now playing MLB ball, it would be because he's got it under control for the most. Part. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9TaK9fCI2U -- Royce White on his anxiety Tangential. Steeler's safety Ryan Clark has sickle cell trait (not full blown anemia) and cannot play in Denver. After playing in Denver a couple years ago he was hospitalized for days recovering. He's still a Steeler. http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/mundy-expands-his-safety-net-role-647933/?p=1 Grienke, Hamilton, these examples are all over the place. How many stories have we read about athletes with diabetes?

Your "rational" fears are a part of the game. If you could not master them, you could not play this game. The "irrational" fears are not typically part of the game. The ones that indirectly impact your ability to be a MLB player (ie flying) would be addressed far before you made it to the majors. It sounds to me like Span was ready to battle his demons (he had drugs on hand), but for whatever reason it did not work. Why mock and ridicule Span for this? Argue about the Twins unwillingness to put a player on the DL, not about Span's personal issue.

Probably Bruno's call. He seems to be doing well in AAA, which is a different coaching process than the majors. Probably be what makes him the happiest. I agree that Vavra is safe.

Contrary to popular belief, it is possible that the team's medical staff did everything right and it was still missed. Can't say that though as I could be labeled as a Twins homer...

Your schtick is tired. You repeat the same point over and over and over again. We get it. You don't like the front office. Stop repeating the same "argument" (for lack of a better term) to the point of nausea. You're bringing absolutely nothing to the forum with these posts. We're instituting new rules on chronic negativity and you will put yourself at risk of a temporary ban if you keep it up. Go ahead and ban me tough guy. Are you that insecure that if someone disagrees with you on a subject your only reaction is to boot them? It is hard to believe there would be any negativity after 2 straight 99+ loss seasons with no end in site. Why dont you just admit that you are trying to kiss up to the Twins by trying to positively spin every disaster in hopes of getting a job with them or some insider info? If you boot me I'll just go back to the only fair and balanced (non ass kissing) Twins site on the web: aarongleeman.com. Brock, I agree that twinswon1991 does absolutely nothing but stir the pot. His comments are almost always inflammatory and provide little insight other than he does not like the current management system and anybody who works for the Twins. I personally do not think he brings anything constructive to this website. hat being said, I don't think he deserves a ban at this time. Posters like him always make me laugh. He rips and rips on the team, yet calls himself a fan. Nothing in the way of how to get better, other than to fire everybody. No comments on realistic ways to improve the team, no constructive comments on why the team is struggling, no constructive comments on some of the positive things (which there are some), just fire everybody. I'll bet he listens to the Common Man and Barrero every day, and devours everything Mackey and Reusse say. Everybody knows he brings nothing to the table, let him squeak his peace then move on to the next topic. Posters like him show that this is a public site. As long as he refrains from personally attacking anybody, he isnt worth the time to monitor. Worry more about the personal attacks and the spam then about posters whose only intention is to anger you. BTW, I am huge fan of Gleeman. When he ultimately moves up in the world and gives up his site, it will be missed.

Pitching coaches and scouts can be finicky. If the Twins were willing to basically eat his entire salary, some national league team may give a PTBNL of the low-level variety, to take a flier on somebody who has had some success in the past.