Riverbrian

I don't like the term or even the thought of "Blocking Someone". If a player plays himself into a job... It's his. If someone isn't playing themselves into the job. We shouldn't be putting them in the lineup every day anyway. Joe Mauer and Brian Dozier were the only players who earned everyday status in my mind in 2013. And Dozier may be bad in 2014... We just don't know yet. I want... honest to god... actual... down to earth... dogfights... for positions with this club. If we bring in a couple of players to help that happen I'm really OK with that. Just don't bring in players expecting them to have the job and keep the job because we paid them money and let them keep the job after sub-par play. With that said... I'm very unimpressed with the free agents available at the top end of the scale. Just bring in competition for positions and competition comes at different salary levels. The way I see it... Twins players in 2013 were "Blocking themselves and themselves only". Josh Willingham in 2012 OPS .890 Josh Willingham in 2013 OPS .709 Ryan Doumit... Trevor Plouffe... Justin Morneau... Did they deserve to play every day? I don't think so. We just didn't have any decent options to replace them with. Which Willingham will we see in 2014? If it's the 2012 Willingham... Suit him up... If it's the 2013 Willingham... Bench him, cut him and eat the 7 million. But we got to have someone ready to fight him for that LF Spot. Clete Thomas ain't that guy. If for some reason... We actually end up with two guys who can play LF and are doing the job. That's a good problem to have but we are a ways away from that good problem to have. I continue to not care about the payroll number... I care about players stepping up to the plate and earning a job period. I will worry about payroll when we actually have players worth retaining.

I will take AJ for his role as clubhouse pain in the ass. I don't care if he hits .190 or if he even steps on the field. I didn't like the bland play of the Twins last year and I didn't like reading or hearing reports of a bland locker room. A pain the butt guy just might make other players better. A pain in the butt guy... Might show our precious young players how to start spitting on the opponent instead of getting spit on by the opponent. The 2014 season needs some toughness displayed for all to see to build for 2015 and beyond.

Where is the "like" button.

Me 2... I do hope that the day will come that the Twins will have to exceed that 52% figure for a year or two to retain top talent. I hope they have to and they do. My Problem right now...is that I don't see many players on the roster currently worth spending big money on and I don't see many Free Agents this year worth spending big money on. It's why... Payroll just isn't an issue with me... At this moment in time.

I have a question and I don't know the answer. I'm not saying collusion... So... Let's phrase it this way... Does anyone believe there is a professional responsibility to not overpay rediculous amounts on players. Is it possible that if the Twins or any team... Out of desperation... offers Hughes for example... 7 years 150 million... If they hypothetically did that. Would that cause a problem with the rest of the league owners because of what it would do to the salary scale overall. The prices for the rest of the free agent class... Arb cases... All of it. Yes... I understand this is collusion at its core... But... Is it possible that... This is a factor in all, most or a few teams negotiations? It would certainly be in ownership for all teams best interest to not have a loose cannon out there.

I really wish that 50-52 percent figure wouldn't have been put out to the public. I like the thought of fluid payroll. Meaning higher payroll when we have players worth retaining and lower payroll when we don't. I want payroll to reflect the context of the team and not some 50-52 percent thing. With that said... I continue to not care much about the actual payroll number. I only care about players who play to win and do. Those players come at a wide range of salaries and we don't have enough of them right now... obviously.

I'm in full support of Robot Umpires. I think the Home Plate Umpire should be replaced entirely by a Robot System. The Reason I fully support this... is not for accuracy. I fully support it because I want to see Gardy argue with one. I'm all for the entertainment.

Joe Mauer should play every single day... Except those days when he's not in the lineup. I feel strongly about this!!!

Who is this "Concur"? Do you mean the Angels Catcher?

I won't argue that choice at all. His defense knocked me out.

I bookmarked it... Thanks Snepp... Tip of the cap to you sir.

Shortstops are expensive. We just need to look at the price paid for Gregarious last year... Or even the price paid for Iglasias mid season. Shortstops are expensive. The Cards would have to give up Miller and maybe more. In my opinion... The Twins would have to give up Sano or Buxton just to get a sniff at a top ranked SS that could be flipped for a SP. Reportedly... The Rangers wouldn't part with Andrus for Upton. The Indians reportedly turned down Upton for A. Cabrera. SS's are expensive... The Twins would have an easier time acquiring a SP for something else in a trade if they didn't go through the SS Middle Man to get it done... in my opinion.

Seth... I also want to say I appreciate these reports a bunch. I tend to not personally opine on the young prospects because I haven't seen them personally. I'm much more opinionated on MLB players that I've seen. When it comes to the farm... You are my eyes... I've learned to trust you even when a prospect doesn't pan out like you thought. I know you make every effort to see them... Learn about them... Vet them... And I want to say thanks.

I love speed... I'll take him

You know how it is... You have to type 149 sentences just to find one that works.

Decisions are often made by those who show up. The Politics of this issue are mind boggling. Let's see... You have the NCAA making a declaration announcing punitive sanctions. The only out they gave was to secure support from the tribes themselves. You have a Standing Rock Council who refused to support the name and a Spirit Lake Council who refused to support retiring the name. Without Support from Standing Rock... UND can't meet the NCAA demands and the State Board of Higher Education supports UND in the decision to retire the name. Which causes Spirit Lake to issue a lawsuit against the NCAA to keep the name. On top of that... it causes state lawmakers to create a state law to force UND to keep the name based on vocal minority support. A State law that had to be repealed by Majority Vote. In it's place is a 3 year cooling off period that expires in 2015. During this time... The University can't choose a new nickname. The hope is that during this 3 year period... The University will be able to reach an agreement with Standing Rock for support which will only keep the discussion front and center because the vocal minority will still be there. All the While... The Majority of North Dakotans 66% want the name changed because they are tired of the argument. So what do you have... You have a minority of people against the name squared off against a minority who fiercely wanted to keep the name. The Majority of the actual Minority... The Tribes themselves... are apathetic to the tune of 8% actually voted... felt strongly enough to register an opinion and it the result was pretty close to 50-50. As for what UND has done for Native Americans... They've done a lot and it's the right thing to do. However... the politics of that... I can only imagine. It's quite possible that the Tribes could use the nickname issue and hold it over UND to increase what has already been given. That's just a guess on my part. It's only my opinion... However... Things like that go on behind closed doors all the time. This is what we got last year... What do we get this year. It's easy to see why UND wants to move on. It's much harder to see why they are not allowed to.

I used to wish that those who objected to the Fighting Sioux nickname would simply understand what was in MY heart (since I can't speak for everyone). I wished they understood that in MY heart I was miles from an offensive thought. It was a name that I thought had a cool ring to it. It was a reference to my team. Fighting Sioux didn't make me think of Native Americans at all... Just like the Twins don't make me think of Mary Kate and Ashley. I never thought about the origin of the name and I was never hypocritical enough to make the claim that we were honoring anybody. It was just a name that I liked for the team that I liked and supported. I just wished the debate would go away because it became painful. My wishes were impossible. The debate kept on... And on and on and on... And on and on some more. No ground was ever gained... No mind was ever changed. It wasn't going to stop. It would get so ugly that it broke my heart. I watched people who were supporters of the team cleave and cleave hard over it. I watched normally reasonable friends of mine act like changing the name would lead to the end of the world. I watched reasonable friends of mine act like their would be blood in the streets if the name remained. I watched a beautiful multi-million dollar hockey arena be presented as a location of bigotry by increasingly louder voices. I watched it twist and manifest into attacks on the the administration, coaches, players and professors. I watched the legislature get involved and produce specific North Dakota law over the issue and that was perhaps the stupidest thing of all!!! I have learned plenty from the experience. My advice to Washington, Cleveland, Atlanta, Kansas City or any team with a nickname in question. Just change it!!! It isn't worth it... Trust me... You feel so much better when the argument goes away. It's been very peaceful up here since the name was dropped and I love it.

Since I'm from Grand Forks and a staunch supporter of the University of North Dakota... This discussion is a familiar one. I've heard the passionate side of both arguments and I don't disagree with the points made by both sides. My response to both sides is simple. Remove the headache... Change the name and move on. The bottom line... A name change is only an issue for today and it will only hurt today... Once you change the name and move on... 70 years from now... No one will care. 70 years from now... No one will care anymore. That's a real important point... Any change of anything should be considered for its future worth primarily. It only hurts and keeps hurting when you stubbornly cling to some notion that the nickname matters more than the team and you keep the discussion alive... Front and center. I love the Fighting Sioux nickname... I'm a PA announcer for the University... I yelled it out into the microphone with pride. I never had a derogatory thought while doing so... It's gone now and I still have my University Pride intact. Change it... Be done with it and time will make it alright. It is so much better than sustaining the discussion for year after year. 70 years from now... No one will care. Just change the name and watch it all get better as time goes on.

The Washington Redskins need to change their name to something less offensive. The Maryland Redskins would do the trick. Disclaimer: This was a joke... It was only a joke.

I think its awesome that Jack stopped by and shed some light. Thanks For those much needed posts. I would love to see you stop by and keep us inline from time to time.

I am strongly in favor of positional flexibility for our Joe Mauer. I don't want to think of Joe Mauer as a catcher only anymore. I also don't want to think of him as our new everyday 1B. Positional Flexibility for Joe Mauer creates options for Terry Ryan and Ron Gardenhire. Ryan can shop at 1B or C or both if he needs to and that opens all doors for improvement. Gardenhire can play matchups better during the season with Joe being flexible. Joe should play wherever the context of the team needs him to play. Positional Flexibility will allow us to get Joe on the field more often and where we need him. The only thing I don't want to hear... Is Joe saying that he wants to catch and catch only and then lock him into the position or any position.

Just using my eyeball... I've never been a Hughes Fan. I've seen him pitch a handful of times and he has never impressed me and this includes starts away from Yankees Stadium in pitchers parks. He Wilts... from what I've seen. Some pitchers will dig in when they need to dig. Hughes doesn't in my opinion. With that said... No matter what my eyeball says... I'll take him... He would still be an improvement over some of our current guys. I'll take improvement no matter how marginal.

I didn't see 60 Minutes but nothing surprises me when it comes to Politicians. The sad part is that I can hardly blame them. They need money to get elected. The Vacations and Nepotism that you mention is just a small part of it all. Money Influences... Money Corrupts... If you happen to throw one of them out for being dirty... The New guy comes in dirty. Meet the New Boss... Same as the Old Boss. I Won't Get Fooled Again.

Anger at Ted Cruz? To me that's like getting angry at Charlie McCarthy or Bubba J for his actions. It's political contributors like the Koch Brothers who are controlling the strings and that is the sad state of our political machine. It's going to get worse until we can get the money out of politics with some comprehensive campaign finance reform. Until then... The Koch Brothers and the like are calling the play. Ted Cruz is just a face who needs money to get re-elected. We the people have the strength in numbers but there is no strength in numbers when the numbers are distracted and informed by 10 word answers and catch phrases. Statesmanship is gone and it will not return. The executive and legislative branch is a cesspool and I'm pretty sure the judicial branch is probably infested as well. Nearly 7 Billion dollars was spent on federal elections. The Majority of the 7 billion dollars was for the purpose of influence. 7 billion dollars that they could have been spent or invested elsewhere. I don't care if people have a conservative view on things or if people have a liberal view on things. I think things are supposed to be that way. The only thing I care about is the answer to this question: 1. Why are corporations or wealthy individuals contributing large sums of money to political campaigns. Why Indeed? These guys are not in the habit of giving away money and getting nothing in return. They invested nearly 7 Billion dollars for something. The answer to that question leads to the answer of how you fix this. I don't have the strength to be passionate about any party or anything political until Campaign Finance is truly reformed and that includes the closing of all loopholes and the new loopholes that spring up. Until that happens... I'm on the sideline and a boat floating on the tide... It's up to me to become wealthy enough to influence things for myself. Until then... There ain't much I can do but cast a vote for the person who has the best chance of getting elected and is also closest to supporting what is important to me. I just can't find one that wants to cut off their funding and give the other guy a chance at beating them. Hang on... It's only gonna get worse!!! Shutdowns... Political Games of Chicken... Oh Yeah... There are more to come.