Twins GFP

Neshek always seemed like a good guy, his internet presence was awesome. Hope he comtinues to pitch well (except against the Twins).

Aberdeen, SD They used to have an Orioles farm team back in the Jim Palmer days. They currently have the Pheasants playing in the Northern League. Small city tht would enjoy the exposure, only 5 hour drive from Minneapolis.

Mauer won't get put on waivers, the fallout from that becoming public would be bad to say the least. Virtually everybody else could be though. We still may see a few moves yet...

Most everybody goes on waivers.

I like what you guys are trying to establish. I also believe that the negativity is driving some people away from writing more extensively. A couple of suggestions: 1) Create a seperate forum strictly for individuals that want to have their writing critiqued (or to help critique others). Access to the forum could be made by request to admin, and monitored by admin. Anybody crosses the line, they get banned from the forum. That way only people interested in being critiqued from a journalistic point of view would be involved. The understanding is that comments in there are more of a clinical nature. 2) Push more member articles to the front page. I enjoyed the article about the guy and his annual pack of cards. You might see more in-depth writing from members if the "carrot" was a little more pub. 3) You could create a "Blogger of the Week". Every week pick somebody who has been blogging semi-regularly, ask them a few canned questions to show people what they are all about, and put in on the front page. Again, would give individuals more publicity and a louder voice. 4) A "Question of the Day" thread would give your regular debaters something to, well, debate about on a regular basis. Thanks guys and keep up the great work!

Voices of reason? Posting comments?? Where is all the fire and brimstone? When the Twins a strong in a couple of years, I hope that all the naysayers will post videos on Youtube eating crow. (But I know they won't).

Gardy has always let the save stat determine how he uses his bullpen, it is one of his bigger faults. He wouldn't pitch Burton or Perkins until the save situation came up or he had no other choice. The Save, in it's current form, is a joke. I like rewarding pitchers for excelling in high leverage situations, but starting an inning with a 3 run lead is not high leverage.

Because otherwise people would have to discuss the Vikings. Do they really want to go there?

Finally an article on the front page showing a little bit of reason. So many ignorant overactions to the FO and the perceived lack of activity or intelligence.

I also read the Klaw article. My takeaway was more that it was worth the gamble for the Sox to take. Costing them some money and and few low level prospects for the possibility of some good starts down the stretch. Klaw was wrong about one thing though. He mentioned that, if anything, Liriano would help them to manage innings down the stretch. I wonder if he realizes that even at his best, Liriano only typically gives you six innings due to high pitch counts...

The Twins did not make any deadline moves! Hide your women and children! Anybody listed as non-player personnel in the Twins organization beware of flash mobs of angry Twins "fans" distrought over the fact that there were no trades today. Ron Gardenhire - You will be doomed to write the same lineup as yesterday! The horror! No trades to complain about how we were hosed!! No new players to mock and ridicule!! Terry Ryan... can only whine about ...your "non-moves"... Can't... watch... Span.. in... lineup... tonight... AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! (running away from my computer screaming and cursing Bud Selig..)

The Twins did not make any deadline moves! Hide your women and children! Anybody listed as non-player personnel in the Twins organization beware of flash mobs of angry Twins "fans" distrought over the fact that there were no trades today. Ron Gardenhire - You will be doomed to write the same lineup as yesterday! The horror! No trades to complain about how we were hosed!! No new players to mock and ridicule!! Terry Ryan... can only whine about ...your "non-moves"... Can't... watch... Span.. in... lineup... tonight... AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! (running away from my computer screaming and cursing Bud Selig..)

It's a crapshoot. With Blackburn, you know you will need 4-5 runs to win, but it probably only be 4-5 runs. Liriano may give you 7 shutout innings, or may give up 8 runs in two innings. Either way it's a roll of the dice.

With all the screaming, there is another thing to remember. The Twins are leading all of baseball in runs scored for the month of July. All of the position players are signed through next season. The position players as a groups have shown regular improvement since the beginning of the year, I can understand why TR is willing to give that away. Of course the pitching is bad, but robbing Peter to pay Paul isn't the answer either.

Wow! Somebody used Liriano and poise in the same sentence.

I think one of the major differences between Liriano and Blackburn have to do with consistency. While I would be interested to see some sort of analysis, I believe that Blackburn was more consistent than Liriano. The general difference between a good Blackburn and a bad Blackburn is relatively small. The difference between a good Liriano and a bad Liriano is gigantic. Overall the numbers are equally bad, but the wild swings are different. Over the long run, you get similar numbers, but in a shorter window, Liriano can look pretty good (depending on the window). I think this may be partially what John was trying to get at. That being said, the overall trade value for Liriano was not going to change whenever Ryan made is deadline for deals. Everybody, including John, knows that Liriano is a crap shoot. Nobody will trade any true value for that, especially a team trying to get to the post season. I think some outside teams, and many local fans for that matter, look at Liriano as somebody that can be fixed. His upside can be so high, people can't understand the possibility that maybe what you see is what you get (anybody remember Bobby Witt). I wish Liriano luck (after he leaves the White Sox), but I don't believe he will be anything more than he already is: yet another case of a talented player not living up to their potential

Fire Terry Ryan for making this trade!!! no wait... Fire Rick Anderson for not getting more out of Liriano!!! that doesn't work either... Contract the Twins because they have been bad for about 265 games and they have a whiney fan base with a short term memory!!! There we go.

Touche. If somebody doesn't say it, nobody will.

Ok. So Liriano has been traded to the White Sox for two marginal prospects. Let's look at at a few things we can assume to be correct: 1) The Twins were not going to offer Liriano the $12.5 mil qualifying offer at the end of the year. 2) The Twins do not want to roll the dice with Liriano in the future (ie long term contract). 3) The Twins made the best deal they could as the deadline approached. Like it or not, 2 low level prospects was it. Now, Let's look at some facts: 1) $2 million saved is $2 million saved 2) At this point and juncture, trading to an intra-divisional rival has zero impact on the future. Liriano is a FA at the end of the year, at which point he could sign with any team. As the Twins are out of the race now, it has no bearing on this year whatsoever. 3) We, the general public, know nothing about anything. We do not know what the Twins front office thinks about Liriano, his pitching, or his state of mind. We do not know what Liriano or his agent told the Twins about next year. We do not know what other offers were on the table for Liriano. I continuously make the mistake of looking at the comments and reactions to things like the Liriano trade, or other moves the Twins do/don't make. It never ceases to amaze me how much anger and hostility there is at the Twins and the organization. I'll bet the negative comments outweigh the positives ten to one, and the positive comments are met with ridicule and "homer" comments. It reminds me a lot of my 2 year old. Scream and yell at everything if it isn't perfect. If something doesn't go the way you think it should go, throw a tantrum. If complaining doesn't get your way, complain louder. It makes me wonder how the Twins Daily guys could possibly keep an open mind on things when they are constantly reading whine, whine, whine all day long. All I can say is that I empathize with them as I watch my 2 year old. Here is my take: 1) The Liriano trade was fine. Liriano's ups and downs made it impossible to get any value for him. 2) Terry Ryan needs more time to be adequately evaluated. Drafts and prospects need 3-5 years before they can be considered good or bad. 3) I have said this many times before. Ryan is working under the guidelines set before him by the Pohlads. He is working under budget constraints and who knows what else when it comes to the decisions he has to make every day. The last time Terry Ryan left, it put us back into the situation we have now. If Terry Ryan was fired today, who knows who would come in. Be careful what you wish for. Folks, rooting for the Twins can be very difficult at times. They don't throw money around like its water (like the Wolves and Vikings have done in the past). We all know how the Pohlads operate, that they treat the Twins more like a business model, and less like a girlfriend. Not every team can have Mark Cuban as their owner. But you have to know and accept this to be a Twins fan. Otherwise you are just wasting your time and mine by having to read your whining. The Pohlads are not going anywhere. Deal with it. Live with it the way it is. Take the Twins organization for what it is. Otherwise, please take your unfounded whining about the intelligence levels of the front office, managerial staff, etc. and direct it about 4 hours east of here. The Brewers need more "fans" anyways.

Ok. So Liriano has been traded to the White Sox for two marginal prospects. Let's look at at a few things we can assume to be correct: 1) The Twins were not going to offer Liriano the $12.5 mil qualifying offer at the end of the year. 2) The Twins do not want to roll the dice with Liriano in the future (ie long term contract). 3) The Twins made the best deal they could as the deadline approached. Like it or not, 2 low level prospects was it. Now, Let's look at some facts: 1) $2 million saved is $2 million saved 2) At this point and juncture, trading to an intra-divisional rival has zero impact on the future. Liriano is a FA at the end of the year, at which point he could sign with any team. As the Twins are out of the race now, it has no bearing on this year whatsoever. 3) We, the general public, know nothing about anything. We do not know what the Twins front office thinks about Liriano, his pitching, or his state of mind. We do not know what Liriano or his agent told the Twins about next year. We do not know what other offers were on the table for Liriano. I continuously make the mistake of looking at the comments and reactions to things like the Liriano trade, or other moves the Twins do/don't make. It never ceases to amaze me how much anger and hostility there is at the Twins and the organization. I'll bet the negative comments outweigh the positives ten to one, and the positive comments are met with ridicule and "homer" comments. It reminds me a lot of my 2 year old. Scream and yell at everything if it isn't perfect. If something doesn't go the way you think it should go, throw a tantrum. If complaining doesn't get your way, complain louder. It makes me wonder how the Twins Daily guys could possibly keep an open mind on things when they are constantly reading whine, whine, whine all day long. All I can say is that I empathize with them as I watch my 2 year old. Here is my take: 1) The Liriano trade was fine. Liriano's ups and downs made it impossible to get any value for him. 2) Terry Ryan needs more time to be adequately evaluated. Drafts and prospects need 3-5 years before they can be considered good or bad. 3) I have said this many times before. Ryan is working under the guidelines set before him by the Pohlads. He is working under budget constraints and who knows what else when it comes to the decisions he has to make every day. The last time Terry Ryan left, it put us back into the situation we have now. If Terry Ryan was fired today, who knows who would come in. Be careful what you wish for. Folks, rooting for the Twins can be very difficult at times. They don't throw money around like its water (like the Wolves and Vikings have done in the past). We all know how the Pohlads operate, that they treat the Twins more like a business model, and less like a girlfriend. Not every team can have Mark Cuban as their owner. But you have to know and accept this to be a Twins fan. Otherwise you are just wasting your time and mine by having to read your whining. The Pohlads are not going anywhere. Deal with it. Live with it the way it is. Take the Twins organization for what it is. Otherwise, please take your unfounded whining about the intelligence levels of the front office, managerial staff, etc. and direct it about 4 hours east of here. The Brewers need more "fans" anyways.

I hope that Valencia does exceptionally well while he is up. That way the Twins might actually get something for him when they trade him this offseason.

You guys crack me up. Is there ever going to be any situation that will make you happy? The Twins decided Liriano was not going to be back next year and they weren't going to offer him the qualifying offer, so they made the best deal they felt they could. Who cares where he went this year. The Twins are not going to win the division this year. If they kept him through this year, he could still go to the White Sox (see Jesse Crain). They could trade him somewhere else and he could still end up in the division (see AJ Pierzynski). You guys all called for Liriano to be dumped after the horrible start, sat around waiting for the other shoe to drop while he was pitching well, and now that he's traded, complain we didn't get enough for him. You are already complaining about the 40 man roster for next year? Everybody needs to look at the reality of the situation and chill out. We got a utility infielder and middle reliever, both young and under team control. You were expecting Miguel Cabrera?

This just reported from Sid Hartman: Twins believe that winning will help attendance. Sources tell him that they are making efforts to improve this team for next year and the future. The last time Sid was relevant, cell phones were the size of a briefcase.

I know, let's take it this way. Since everybody wants "change", we could hire Bowden as our GM and Dan Gladden as our manager. Bowden brings his willingness to trade current talent for minor league "prospects" and Gladden brings his folksy, beer drinking, grittiness. It's a win for everybody! (Excuse me while I go waterboard myself)