Riverbrian

Good post... Very well could be... I'm under the impression that Terry Ryan relies on his staff quite a bit. I have no way of knowing for sure but I gather that impression from nearly everytime he talks about his final decisions. He always seems to say "our scouts like him... Have seen him"... Stuff like that. I've even heard him say something like this about an acquisition... "I haven't seen him but our guys were really high on him". There are a lot of people on the payroll and they do stuff and I assume they are advocates of something at sometime and I think Terry trusts them and the process. It's probably like anywhere else in business. Someone liked Torii Hunter and someone convinced the boss and the boss put a number on it with help from someone who helps put a number on it. The same process happened in Kansas City and Texas... Someone advocated for Hunter for those teams as well.

1st Question: I don't know 2nd Question: Erin Burnett

Just a thought... What if Jack Goin is telling Terry that the defensive stats are half cooked. I have no idea what Jack is telling Terry... But I'm willing to bet that he's in the room. Following half cooked data also led to "New Coke" and the "McLean".

Its quite possible... However... It all comes down to percentages and weighting of. If You misplay a ball that is coverted at 95% in a certain zone...The punishment is large. The majority of balls hit are handled in these high percentage zones. You only have a few chances to make a low percentage play when you get high Percentage plays by the boatload.and those low percentage plays converted are less and less uncommon. You simply can't catch up and when you consider how little low percentage data is available from week to week... Even month to month or year to year... It produces unstable swings in the result and therefore unreliable data. Yeah... I'm not a UZR fan. With that said... Torii may be what is being claimed. I don't know... I'm just not trusting of UZR at all.

LOL.. I'm not overlooking any facts... I'm just not digging for all of them. Torii may very well be what is being presented... I'm not equipped to argue. I just can't resist the chance to rail on UZR since the stat is thrown around frequently. Good work as always Parker. Ill be curious to watch Torii daily in 2015.

Yeah... Torii!!! That isn't even close to how you coach it. BTW... My iPad struggles to load video now and webpages constantly reload after the latest update. I'm pretty pissed at Apple right now.

Ok... That GIF is awfully damning. If I saw Hunter do that in a Twins uniform... I'd be pissed at him for a week... At least. Regardless... It's one play... He'd have to Delmon Young a few like that before I gave up and say he's a butcher. On the defensive metrics... Outfield metrics are dominated by the routine ball. Make one mistake on one routine ball and you are immediately put into a UZR hole that is impossible to climb out of. It's like ERA for a RP that's throws three or five innings a week. One bad day where you give up 8 runs in a third of an inning... it's going to take a bunch of scoreless innings to correct it and that will take a while if you only throw a couple of innings in a week. UZR is the same... One bad play... One botched ball in a high percentage zone is like giving up 8 runs in a third of an inning for a pitcher and your chances to correct it are overwhelmingly routine leaving you only a couple of non routine plays a week to make a dent in the bad UZR number, Shift to the wrong spot at the behest of coaches and have the shift cause a ball to land in a zone where the ball is normally caught and you are in a big UZR hole. Everybody is catching routine balls... catching the routine ball fixes nothing in the UZR world once one routine ball is misplayed. I've never consider Torii to be a range guy but I will not use UZR data to support my hypothesis. It's flawed... Half cooked uselessness at this point. The fluctuations from year to year is an obvious indicator of its flaws. To me... Defense is all about moments. Can you make the play when the pitcher and team needs it? Torii used to be pretty good at that... Let's see if he still is at age 57 or whatever.

I've never seen Torii Hunter deal with puppies or old people... I don't know if he's a jerk or not. I won't judge him based on media quotes... Just like I try not to judge any of you based on your quotes on TD. What you post on TD has very little to do with what kind of Accountant... Teacher... Mailman... you are. My judgement will be based on how he plays the game. If I see him layup on a catchable ball... Jog to first on a grounder... Go through the motions... I'll judge him on that and that alone.

I agree with this and this is the kind of leadership that I'm looking for. We haven't had this type of player since Torii left us. I have no idea what is happening in the clubhouse... So there is no way I know who leads what and who doesn't. On the field... I haven't seen a "I'm gonna plow you over... Bust a pitch inside... Spit nails" type player since he left. When it comes to defense.. I never thought Hunter was that rangy even when they used to call him Spider-Man in his youth. But... But... There is no way that I will pay an ounce of attention to the yearly pinball that is defensive metrics. The ball will come his way and Torii will catch it. Everyone should be praying for bat speed and continued possession of it. When that goes... That's when it gets ugly. I'm fine with Hunter for a year... Now get some pitching please!!!

There is no question that Donaldson has been the better player. But... I absolutely love Brett Lawrie. He's still awfully young with Potential in every facet. As for defense... Donaldson is good but Lawrie and Arenado with the Rockies are in a different room. Everybody else pales. If I'm Beane... I roll the dice and make this trade and sleep fine afterwards. Lawrie's biggest problem has been health. He's very Maueresque in that sense.

If a team wants to overpay for him... Yes!!! I doubt a team will overpay for him... So No!!! If the Marlins offer Heaney... You Gotta do it.

Moderator Note: Jay and Jokin... I have edited your posts... Not very well... But I did it. Let's not spiral downward or warnings will be handed out. Keep it civil... Less defensive and less offensive please.

I'm also surprised by the negativity. I'm also surprised by the level of knowledge of Korean Baseball and the confidence in such knowledge. I'm also surprised by the power of those fiber one bars.

I'm gonna wait to see how he does... Before getting worked up. I'm hoping he does well... We could sure use arms that do well!!!

Based on 2014... The Twins have some talented offensive players... If everything goes right... We have very little to worry about. However... When was the last time everything went right? 1965? I agree with Levi... I will add... That I understand the desire to bring up our young stars. I can't wait to see them myself. The anticipation is killing me. What I don't understand is the desire to bring them up with no safety net... I don't understand... The wish of some... To not sign talent over fear of blocking them. You can't BLOCK them... Players get hurt all the time... Someone is gonna suck... If Rosario is performing in Rochester... Or Buxton or Sano... You can't block them... Unless we are winning and everything goes right. Which hasn't happened since? 1947? And if everything goes right. Well... Block away... Who cares... We are playoff bound!!! Sano... Buxton... Rosario are safety nets... Some want to cut our safety nets to play the safety nets with no safety net. I can't support that.

If Miller reaches his potential... The Braves will be happy... But... But... I think Heyward will become one of the best players in Baseball... He has every single tool and a batting eye to boot. He's an Atlanta Kid so I'd guess He'd try to remain with the team after 2015. And the rest of the OF is an Upton mess. It unstabalizes the offense trying to fix the pitching. I wouldn't make this deal. To me it's like Cleaning the Garage by Sweeping the blown in leaves... Dust... Into the kitchen. The Garage looks potentially better... But now your kitchen looks like hell.

Well... It's official... Hart is crazy.

I know for a FACT!!! That I'm not sure at all. I haven't seen Tomas at all. I've seen Rosario maybe twice. I lack comparable data to compare the two and I don't know if the people writing articles on any of them are idiots or not idiots. All I know is this... Having Rosario in hand would not prevent me from acquiring Tomas in the bush if I thought he could make a difference.

I won't tilt at this particular windmill... It's a major purchase. If it happens... Awesome... But it better work!!! You don't want to screw this one up. The Twins have to determine if he is what they say he is. With Bonofacio... It was a minor purchase. Jokin... You and I... Our opinion... Bonofacio required similiar thought as buying a Variety Pack of Kuerig Cups when you are completely out of coffee and everybody in the house has different coffee tastes. Even if the variety pack doesn't make everybody happy. A. The Price won't kill anyone. B. There is surely a flavor in there somewhere that somebody will like so it won't be a total waste. With Tomas... If he is what they say he is... That's a big question...The price could hurt you. I just don't think you stay away from him because the team needs a better defensive whatever or has a different hole. If Abreu became available... Do you say no because you have Mauer and Vargas... I wouldn't. As Shakespeare said: "Gather your assets where you may".

I have no idea if this guy is any good but when you consider what Abreu... Puig... Chapman... Cespedes have done and he's mentioned in the same type of breath. I'd like one of those guys too. I wouldn't worry about if he is defensive enough for our OF... Don't worry about the hole the Twins have to fill. If he is anything like the above mentioned 4... He will fill some hole up... Somewhere.

Rios is my choice. If you can disinfect all the White Sox germs off of him.

Pitchers spend time on the DL. We used be constantly searching for arms. Would love to see the Twins grab a Scherzer or Lester...I just don't think they will. Therefore Masterson makes sense to me. Anderson doesn't stay healthy but he pitches pretty left handed good when he is. I'd sign them both and hope for the best. Let the pile of them compete for spots. Hughes should be the only lock in my mind. The other guys have stuff to prove and should be pushed to prove it. Nolasco simply has to pitch better or be sunk cost. Gibson needs to be more consistent. Pelfrey has to show something. Milone has to keep the team in games. May needs to put it together. Meyer needs to throw a MLB pitch. I understand the logjam... I won't predict a starting 5... Just gather them and compete for jobs!!! Let's not mess around.. The offense has pieces that could do something in 2015. Get some pitching and let's make 2015 better!!!

The Psychedilcs jersey.. For Sure!!!

I'd need a visual... Maybe one of our talented TD members could create a rainbow jersey for an example?

It's alright... I'm hopeful that the gold becomes more prominent over time. The gold is a color the Twins could own. In the end... I'd like a color the Twins could own. Blue and Red are already out there.