Riverbrian

I cheer for Delmon Young like I cheer for a crack addict to turn his life around.. Delmon I hope you learn to care and that is the extent of my Delmon interest. If he's run out of basball that would be OK with me. He isn't a Twin because of Who he is!!! He was Given away because of who he is!!! One of the reasons we are where we are is because of who he is!!!

The Twins have moved every head case out the door over the years and have gotten very little in return for those head cases. It's a pretty strong guess that they(Gardenhire) don't want any. Personally, I have never met the guy. On paper it looks like he has talent. I watched him play a handful of games with the Braves. I saw him dog a couple of plays and thought to myself "what the hell?". Hadn't read anything about him being a problem when I saw him dog it. Just eyeballed it. Later I started reading some stuff about his attitude. Then he was given away to the Jays which is a pretty big clue. I have seen a couple of Jays games and don't recall seeing him dog anything in a Jays uniform. I've read some attitude stuff but I don't know if its leftover stuff from the Braves and of course the pointless eye black thing which I don't care about... I just think it was a stupid thing to do. Pointless at a baseball game and doesn't mean anything by itself but it means a lot as its added to the collective. That's all the info I have... Nothing first hand... Based on that... I'll take Florimon for awhile and hope to improve the position later.

Metrodome payroll changed to Target Field Payroll. This has nothing to do with payroll. The Twins had in house options superior to all of those players. Maybe... But the Twins musta felt differently about the in house options at the time. And the 4 players you mention were attempts at bargain value during a time when the Twins were quite serious about bargain shopping. You and I have a very different definition of the word "bargain." Yeah we must... For me personally... It's a lotta money but I think I pay too much at Starbucks. For a MLB club... Those signings are like shopping at Woolworths. However... Bargains or not... The definition isn't that important. I think payroll constraints from the dome days and the need for power led to rolling the dice on Monroe and flying to Japan to bring back Batista. Everett was released by Houston and could play a few positions. He was defense... He was never expected to hit. Its more important to point out that Batista sucked in 2006 but the Twins won 96 games and the Central title. 3rd best record in baseball. The Tigers finished a game behind and won the ALCS that year. Starting in LF was a guy named Craig Monroe who hit 5 playoff home runs in 2006. Everett and Monroe sucked in 2008 but the Twins won 88 games and tied for the Central top spot losing that one game playoff to the Sox. The mistakes didn't hurt em that bad and personally I remain under the assumption that occasionally you sign crap with the best intention. Not just the Twins but every team. I think asking for the assurance you want to throw at TR Is like asking for assurance that every restaurant you try knocks your socks off... Every tie for X mas is exactly your color and style. Demanding to walk through this life with no disappointments whatsoever. It doesn't happen to us... we aree not perfect so why would you expect that kind of perfection from others. Congrats on a great 2006 season. AL title... 3rd best record in baseball but I'm sorry you have to hang for that Tony Batista signing. Any last words? Do you have any kin to contact? The Twins were good in 2006 because of guys like Santana, Liriano, Mauer, Morneau, Hunter, etc etc guys who had come up through the Twins system more or less (yes Liriano and Santana were pick ups/trades but still developed in the minors) that doesn't excuse the fact that they wasted money in free agency on crappy veterans everyone knew would fail. Hell, I am as big of a Ryan apologist as they come and I think he did a pretty solid job last off-season, but even the Jason Marquis signing reeks of Batista/Ortiz/Hernandez, hopefully Marquis was the last of these type of signings. do I think TR is the greatest GM ever? No... I think he's a man doing a job!!! Do i think he has done better than most? Yes I Do!!! Can anyone name a GM who hasn't signed a Marquis? Vodkadave Et tu Brute "hopefully Marquis was the last of these type of signings" I hope a few more mistakes come thru the door because not seeing them would mean he stopped trying!

lol... It would be an interesting team to watch. C AJ 1B Adam Dunn 2B Yunel Escobar 3B Hanley SS Jose Reyes LF Colby Rasmus CF BJ Upton RF Justin Upton DH Delmon Manny and Milton on the bench. Stephen Drew and JD Drew on the bench. Carlos Zambrano on the mound... Josh Beckett. K rod in the pen. Or we can just look at the Red Sox and Marlins this year... Start with those clubs and make them worse.

Metrodome payroll changed to Target Field Payroll. This has nothing to do with payroll. The Twins had in house options superior to all of those players. Maybe... But the Twins musta felt differently about the in house options at the time. And the 4 players you mention were attempts at bargain value during a time when the Twins were quite serious about bargain shopping. You and I have a very different definition of the word "bargain." Yeah we must... For me personally... It's a lotta money but I think I pay too much at Starbucks. For a MLB club... Those signings are like shopping at Woolworths. However... Bargains or not... The definition isn't that important. I think payroll constraints from the dome days and the need for power led to rolling the dice on Monroe and flying to Japan to bring back Batista. Everett was released by Houston and could play a few positions. He was defense... He was never expected to hit. Its more important to point out that Batista sucked in 2006 but the Twins won 96 games and the Central title. 3rd best record in baseball. The Tigers finished a game behind and won the ALCS that year. Starting in LF was a guy named Craig Monroe who hit 5 playoff home runs in 2006. Everett and Monroe sucked in 2008 but the Twins won 88 games and tied for the Central top spot losing that one game playoff to the Sox. The mistakes didn't hurt em that bad and personally I remain under the assumption that occasionally you sign crap with the best intention. Not just the Twins but every team. I think asking for the assurance you want to throw at TR Is like asking for assurance that every restaurant you try knocks your socks off... Every tie for X mas is exactly your color and style. Demanding to walk through this life with no disappointments whatsoever. It doesn't happen to us... we aree not perfect so why would you expect that kind of perfection from others. Congrats on a great 2006 season. AL title... 3rd best record in baseball but I'm sorry you have to hang for that Tony Batista signing. Any last words? Do you have any kin to contact?

Talented Young SS's are not given up unless they have a problem. Plenty of reports about Escobar being an attitude mess and you can assume that is why he is not handling SS for Atlanta right now. Alex Gonzalez was older and a lesser talent. Pastornicky is a fairly decent prospect but to me the trade looked like ridding yourself of someone for a left hander. As for clubhouse cancers. They are fine if you are winning. They are a nightmare if you are losing. With this pitching staff... I believe Escobar would be a mistake for the Twins. Besides... Too many Escobars on the roster would confuse me.

Metrodome payroll changed to Target Field Payroll. This has nothing to do with payroll. The Twins had in house options superior to all of those players. Maybe... But the Twins musta felt differently about the in house options at the time. And the 4 players you mention were attempts at bargain value during a time when the Twins were quite serious about bargain shopping.

I'm not against using the whole team, not at all; however, it's my belief that a team is better defensively and offensively when they are allowed to gel by knowing where they'll play and where they'll hit in the lineup. The combo of Whitaker and Trammell was about as effective in the middle IF, and as a double play combo, there ever was. Part of that was because they played so much together for so long. They knew each other's feeds at the pivot, they knew where the other would be on tough plays up the middle (like who would go for the ball, who would cover the bag if a force was possible at 2B) because they knew each other's range. Just a small sampling of the things you pick up as second nature when you play across from each other for so long. Go on the other side, a shortstop gets used to the range of his 3B and positions himself accordingly, then he has another another 3B he has to gauge then another. Or you have one guy who plays one position one day, then another the next and another the next. How is he gonna settle in? Cause all positions have their little intricacies. Our manager seems to think anyone can play anywhere and be expected to excel. Play a guy at 2B one day, then 3B the next, then 2B and move them all around. If you pick they best guys at each spot and play them there as much as possible, they can gel defensively and be a more cohesive defensive unit... Everything you say makes perfect sense. I won't argue directly against any of it. A cohesive unit is something to strive for... However... Let's point out the obvious other side. The Rangers moved bodies around... Napoli would catch and play some 1b... Young was not only the DH but 3b, 1b and 2b. The Cards move em around... The Rays do as well... Prado moved around to suit the Braves along with multiple SS's in Atlanta. The Giants put out more lineups than anyone I'm guessing. Have the Tigers settled on a 2B. The A's lineup was pretty unpredictable throughout the year. The Angels are another example. For every Trammell, Whitaker combination you can come up with. You can come up with 5 other examples of moving bodies around succussfully throughout time. Granted... Injuries are the primary reason but a manager needs to be able to mix and match. If Chemistry doesn't develop... That's on the player. A SS needs to look around and see where the LF, CF and 3B is positioned. That's basic baseball. Nearly all double play partners like to recieve the ball in the same place for a smooth turn. If you have a guy who likes the ball at his feet when turning a double play. He's strange... Cut him. Trammell and Whitaker made a cohesive double play combo because they were good. As for knowing where you hit in the lineup. It only matters in the 1st inning. If you lead off the inning with your 7th hitter... Your #1 Hitter is now the cleanup guy. Each at bat is a situation in itself. Make solid contact when the situation calls for it. Go the other way when the situation calls for it. Moving someone from 3rd to 8th in the order is an ego blow and nothing more. The guys at the top of the lineup get up more often than the guys hitting 8th and 9th. Good hitters in front of Big Hitters. Then turn it over and do it again.

Yes. That something about you Chief that I appreciate... Ask a question and you get an answer. ROTFLMAO!!!

Metrodome payroll changed to Target Field Payroll.

I'd like to ask Terry Ryan what he thinks of Thrylos?

On the topic of the Tigers as a blueprint. If you mean aggressively go for it. Yeah... Good blueprint. If you mean... Overload on Power and don't worry about defense. Bad blueprint. This year is another example of... make the playoffs and anything can happen... Making the playoffs should be the primary goal every year. The talented Rangers, Angels, Dodgers and Red Sox never got in. They didn't achieve step one. Meanwhile the WS is about to be contested between an AL team with the worst record of all AL playoff participants winning a WEAK division led by Delmon "I don't care about baseball" Young and a Wildcard team that found a way to get the last spot in the door and is being led by the .220 hitting Descalso. Quick clarification. I'm not diminishing the accomplishments of the Tigers winning the weaker AL Central. I'm saying... Get into the playoffs. That's your goal. Once there... Anything can happen. Nothing happens if you don't get there.

Honestly, I've always felt that Gardy doesn't play backups enough. It was painful to watch Parmelee rot on the bench. Casilla could have played more in my opinion(It's ok Chief... Just a little more). I thnk Hughes and Burroughs were thrown away(maybe they should have been) with no playing time to prove themselves while Danny V. Meekly played 3B every day. I don't want the same lineup everyday. Even star players slump. Even .220 hitters get hot. You miss out on Descalso while you wait for Granderson to turn it around. Over the course of 162 games... You have a roster of 25. Use them all. if Revere is going through a tough stretch. It's Ok to play Mastro for a while. Competition is created in such ways. Its an eye of the beholder thing. I honestly feel that Gardy needs to use his bench more and in different ways but still think he's a good manager overall.

I don't boo Jeter. I boo Yankees. He happens to be one. Put Jeter in a Twins uniform and my booing would halt. Put Revere in a Yankee Uniform and I'll boo his ass!

I'm all for it... I'd like to see 20 million spent on New Pitching. I made a mistake saying one... We need Arms(plural) but if it takes a good chunk of the 20 million to bring in the top guy on your list. So be it... Do it... Roll them dice. We need arms(plural) but we also need a stopper... Someone as close as possible to a shut down guy as we can find. James Shields is the guy I want but any pitching will be an improvement and not signing a decent FA Pitcher(or two) would be a horrible mistake in my opinion. I understand that Terry Ryan has said somewhere that he won't make a big deal for FA pitching. I choose to ignore that and firmly believe that we have money coming off the books and it has to go somewhere. The rotation is in shambles so maybe not all of it but a decent chunk of the money off the books should go toward the rotation. Its the only sane decision in my eyes. I'm on board with you. I'd welcome both Marcum and Jackson. Jeez, I'd welcome Anibel Sanchez. Now if they would only call either you or me for input. lol.

STARTING PITCHING #1 Free Agent Signed. (20 Million a year if you have to) Terry Ryan needs to get aggressive with whoever he deems from the higher end of Free Agents. Overpay if he has to. Get in the Bidding and Bid. #2 Trade for a young prospect with talent. I have no idea what other teams would take for this prospect. We all know who the top guys are and I'm sure our scouts do. I don't know if it's possible. However, put a package together... Span plus another OF prospect if necessary but identify a top end prospect and overpay if you have to get him. Teams like the Braves are overloaded in Pitching prospects. Pick a team and make a deal. Easier said than done. #3 Scott Diamond Hope like hell... He continues. #4 Put the best arm out there that you can. Hope that Hendriks improves or Deduno improves his control. Work with them hard in the off season and spring training. If they don't improve... Tread water with them or DeVries or whoever until Gibson is ready or Baker is ready... IF Baker signs for an incentive deal... of course. That's a big IF in my mind. We still have DeVries and we can add some minor league deals to the mix. I have to believe that the Twins would be an attractive choice for the guy who was cut from an overweight staff. Finding a bargain is possible. #5 Rule 5 guy... Take a chance on someone and believe in your selection. Put him in the rotation in the 5 spot to start the season. If he can't handle it... Stash him in long relief for the remainder of the season with the occasional spot start. The same candidates for the 4 spot would be candidates for the 5 spot. As the season progresses. If we are out of it again in July. If healthy... trading Morneau is a possibility to acquire additional pitching. You gotta believe he is more attractive as that contract gets closer to expiring. If we are in it... and Morneau is healthy. OF Prospects for Pitching would be the way to go. BULLPEN The usual approach... Hang on to what you have unless trading them yields decent starting pitching. Sign some guys to improve like you do every year but nobody at a big dollar figure. OFFENSE Improve your bench. Specifically power off the bench. Give Parmelee a Major league uniform and put him in the lineup. Rotate him with Mauer, Doumit, Morneau and Willingham. These 5 players will hold down the DH, C, 1B and LF positions. An occasional day off for each of them will not kill the team of them. It will leave a bat on the bench that can be utilized at the end of games. Sitting Parmelee on the bench for the majority of games and trotting out Mauer, Doumit, Morneau and Willingham every day will just kill Parmelee. This is what a team with a strong bench does. It doesn't mean having a guy sitting on the bench waiting to hit in the 9th every day. Sign a power hitter to back up at 3b and C. Finding this guy is real hard. This will cause some people to throw up but someone like Jake Fox. It doesn't have to be Jake Fox... Someone like him or "him" and play him every once in awhile. Fox at 3B on occasion will allow you to spot start Plouffe at 2b every once in awhile to improve offense against certain pitching matchups. When he isn't playing he can be a candidate for a 3 run homer in the ninth if needed and he can provide that third catcher insurance that Gardy craves so Doumit and Mauer can lineup together. Outfield Let's assume that Arcia and Hicks arrive after the Arb clock thing. I've also traded Span for a pitcher. That leaves Revere and Mastroianni until Arcia and Hicks arrive. We need another one for immediate depth. We could use an outfielder who can play a little middle infield. This OF candidate should ideally be someone who plays a very good infield defense and has learned to track a fly ball. Good Speed and a big heart would be ideal. Someone who can play a little OF and IF until Arcia and Hicks arrive and move primarily to the Infield when they do arrive. Or Remain in the OF if either of them struggle and need more AAA time. Middle Infield There is no one worth a damn out there and any large FA signing needs to be spent on pitching. Focus on Defense. Who plays the best defense. That's your guy. Carroll will be with us. We assume Casilla won't be with us... Florimon, Dozier, Escobar will have to battle it out for the two spots left. May the best glove win. If we sign an IF/OF guy to hold down a spot until Arcia and Hicks arrive. One of these guys will be sent down to AAA when Hicks and Arcia arrive. If neither of those 3 guys are doing it defensively. Look for that defensive guy and sign him cheaply. I don't care if he hits .075 for the year. We need a SS who can pick it consistently. Range and Glove and Arm... The whole defensive package. There it is... Parmelee, Arcia and Hicks can improve depth... on paper at least... If Gardy can just get a playing time rotation right. None of these things are easy to do and it certainly doesn't put us on top of the baseball world. We gotta get some pitching... It'll be hard... This is the best I can do... Now I'll just wait for a call from Pohlad with a job offer.

Parker, I think you are great. You write some fabulous stuff but I can't support your thesis here. 1. 7 Million spent on Youkilis is 7 million not spent on pitching. 2. I didn't bother looking up runs scored per game in the AL but I did look up Runs scored in the AL and everyone played 162 games. 4 teams were below the Twins. They were the Rays, Royals, Indians and Mariners in that order. 3. The Twins were 10th overall and scored 701 runs over 162 games. The playoff bound Orioles were 9th with 712 over 162 games. The AL West Division winning A's were 8th with 713 runs over 162 games. 4. The A's scored 12 more runs over 162 games than the Twins. No doubt those 12 runs must have been large but it's one extra run every 13.5 games. 5. 4 of the top 5 run producing teams in 2012 did not make the playoffs. Rangers were #1, Angels #3, White Sox #4 and Red Sox #5. 6. Apart from watching that stupid ass batting stance every night. I'm not against signing Youkilis per se. The Twins need to improve it's depth overall but the Twins need balance more than anything. Improving the balance of this team by improving the pitching is the only way to go in my opinion. 7. Balance means you need Pitching, Hitting and Defense. It's a three legged stool and if you lose any of those legs. The other two legs better be amazingly strong. There is no facit of the Twins game that is strong enough to support the collapse of any facit. We may not have the best hitting in the league but it is clearly the strongest of those three legs. Balance it out. In 2013 we may have a short stool overall in comparison but if balanced it will give us a chance to win some more games. 7. On the pitching side the Twins allowed 832 Runs. The A's allowed 614. That's 1.3 runs per game and I think we can all agree that the bullpen did a pretty nice job so that puts it primarily on Starting pitching. 8. Starting Pitching in 2012 put the team in the hole early often. Not always... but... often. Once in a hole... It effects your psyche, It makes you press harder instead of just playing harder. That eventually leads to a "what's the point" mentality. The extra base just doesn't matter as much. This negates your running a game a little. The Twins may have led the league in Stolen Bases but stolen bases isn't the way back into a game and it never has been. Stolen bases are the way to pressure and keep your opponent down. You need to conserve your base runners when down. Being down early changes what you need your team to do to get back into it and the Twins are built differently. Defensive miscues are magnified when you are down. It just isn't a good way to start ballgames. 8. I'm not saying offense doesn't need to be improved but I don't think it can be done with a fairly large splash. If Money can be spent for 2013. It has to be spent almost entirely on Pitching. 9. Signing Youkilis is kinda like saying... The Pitching is going to suck so we need to produce more to compensate... So let's spend more money on offense. It makes more sense to spend money directly on pitching in my opinion. Straight to the source. 10. A MLB baseball player is no different than we are. Some of us think the Twins are toast in 2013. Some of us think that anything can happen. You have a percentage of half empty half full guys on this website and it's the probably the same percentage in the dugout. They are just like us... We can look at a roster or players and draw our conclusions on our chances in 2013 and so can the players. 11. No one can look at our staring rotation right now and feel that we gotta it made in 2013. No one on Twins Daily is comfortable with the starting pitching and you gotta believe that Mauer and Morneau have a similiar feeling about the starting pitching and that will walk with them into the 2013 season like a shadow hanging over them. 12. Make bold and I mean BOLD in bold font moves to address the starting pitching. Remove that Shadow. Give them a chance to believe. It will produce the extra base. Playing with a lead will augment teams strength's like the running game. Players like Plouffe won't press as much and he just might start hitting better pitches as a result.

My theories are as weak as any theory floated by any of us. Of course that doesn't stop me... If it was about the Manager... The Cards are tough to explain. Its also tough to explain how crappy the Orioles were last year compared to this year under the same manager. It's also hard to explain why the great Joe Maddon isn't winning it every year. Francona can go from the World Series to Cleveland. If it was about the Talent Level of the team... It's hard to explain the Orioles and A's this year and harder to explain the Rangers and Angels this year. The Cards have talent... Any team would love to have Craig, Beltran and Holliday in the lineup. Jay has performed nicely, Freese has done a decent job but can anyone say that the Cards talent level stacked up to the Nats... To the Rangers... To the Angels... On Paper I can't... On the Field... Obviously it does. Of all the statements... I agree with Chutzpah the most. Get some pitching that gives you a chance... And Compete!!! If you have a major league uniform to wear... You can play. Right now... It would take a special kind of Cardinals goofball to be concerned about Descalso hitting .227 during the 2012 season. My theory... I don't know... Baseball is a beautiful game... Intangibles and inches make physical and psychological differences... Bust your ass during the regualar season... Get into the playoffs... Once that is accomplished... Anything can happen. Dear Terry Ryan... Get us some pitching and lots of it... Whatever it takes... The other thing I ask for is... An Inspiration Transplant of sorts. If we are going to lose in 2013... Let's at least do it in an inspired manner. Descalso... Who could have thunk Descalso!

The Cards have done it again. Two different managers! Are the Cards exceptional at hiring managers or do the players get the job done and take the managers for a ride or is it the baseball gods. Need a middle infield to win? Exactly Who are Descalso and Kozma?

This is some creative thinking. Please keep us posted as to who we should root for going forward and why. Thats funny!!! Good one Glunn.

Well there it is... New coaches... New voices will be coming in... Lets add some new pitchers to the list and hopefully 2013 will be better. Don't know what to expect next year but I do hope... At the very least... To see some hard slides into 2nd base. Pitching inside on occasion... A catcher train tracked every once in awhile. I'd even like to see some head first Punto slides into 1st base. Diving catches and players going for the extra base. Maybe an occasional dugout clearing over reaction to a funny look given by the opposing team. Haven't seen a bunch of that kinda stuff the last few years. If we lose... Lets lose running into walls. If we win... Lets win running into walls. I'm not surprised but its still kinda strange. More firings today than the decade total.

The triple crown is an amazing achievement. We are talking about 4 decades since it was done last. It's too bad it will be done by a Tiger.

Seriously... It's driving me nuts... This Revere Pierre comp presented as a negative has shown up on these pages multiple times this year. Is Revere comparable to Pierre... Sure he is... Is that bad... Hell No... Anyone who posts Revere projecting to Pierre in an effort to Dog Ben's upside is gonna have to come up with something really smart on another topic quickly to make up for it. Give me a young Pierre every day of the week. On the subject of the potential of the outfield in this organization. It's exciting... but for now... A bird in hand is worth two in Randy Bush.

He hasn't shown me enough yet. I'd like to see him pitch more so he can.

The big stretch was an obvious fluke in comparison to what he has done prior and in comparison to almost very other hot streak by any other player. It makes no sense to discuss weather it was a fluke or not. Of course it was... He was way too hot. However... Power numbers like that... at the same time suggests Power period... We could use some of that. The guy chases and it hurts him. If he gets it under control. The power will still be there and we will all be smiling. He starts in 2013 and I won't bet against him being decent and i think he will be starting in 2016 as well. I also won't bet anything important that he's a lock. 5 bucks I'll do... Here's to Plouffe... Go get em.