Dantes929

Facing three is tough. I imagine the more pitches seen the more contact made. This is the kind of machine I would love to have practiced on cuz it would make the real thing look much easier.

Of course if we think Escobar is the answer at short then the answer in the outfield is Buxton and Santana.

"If you throw the catcher spot out, when the ball is put in play, it would seem like a very good infield defense. Wouldn't that at least partly offset the outfield? Maybe our overall team defense is not absolute worst in the league?" I believe our team defense is ranked very low so think what it would be without the good infield D. I went to watch the Twins in two games against Tampa several years ago. I think it was 2010. We lost both games and it was more clear live than on TV that the Rays outfield was getting to balls I thought they had no right getting to and the Twins were not getting to balls they should have been expected to get to. There was no doubt in my mind that if the two teams just switched outfield defense with each other the Twins would have won both games instead of losing both. Probably just a coincidence but I have to believe there are a lot of games decided by the difference between good outfield defense and bad outfield defense. I have no stats but it seems pretty often that when the Twins give up large innings you could probably go back and point to a play in the outfield that could have been made that would have changed everything. It may seem self evident but it is not just the run that scores with a double that a faster or better guy could have caught. It is also the extra base runner and the extra out that snowballs into more. I cannot wait for an outfield that has Buxton and Hicks or better yet, Buxton, Hicks and Rosario. I am sure the pitchers are anxious for that as well.

Any time you put anyone too high on a pedestal you are setting yourself up for disappointment. No one is perfect and people generally have many layers and facets that make up who they are. Its actually easier for me as a parent in these extreme cases. OJ, AP and Kirby could all be admired and used as an example for their focus, dedication, hard work and being good teammates. Because of the extreme backlash to their bad behavior I am not too concerned about my son emulating them by committing murder, abusing women or hitting young kids. The only real result is disappointment. Its actually the role models (whoever they are in whatever profession) that are less seriously flawed that cause concern for me. Gambling, drunk driving, drug use, trash talk, greed, disrespect of women (as opposed to abuse) etc are more insidious in that there is not as much backlash and are more likely to be considered cool and emulated.

Mauer will not go back to catcher. I think this year he realized he shouldn't try to be someone he is not. .320 will be fine with me. Aaron Hicks is batting .214 but has a .337 OBP. I expect he can do better but his OBP is better than Ben Revere's because Hicks has walked 2.5 times as much in one third the at bats. That really doesn't play so badly in the #9 spot.

"If they haven't already, the Twins' decision-makers need to conclude that there is literally nothing that can happen that would be any worse than continuing to fight it out with the status quo" You mean like making Billy Smith a General Manager? Again, I am for change but Murphy's Law would tell you it can always be worse.

"Many professional sports organizations change their on-field management at least as often as they change accounting firms. It's just part of the way they do business. When you lose more games than you win for a couple years in a row, you change managers/head coaches and even front office leadership. It just becomes second nature" And yet there are just as many games lost as won each year. There are plusses to stability and staying the course and there are plusses to change. I also am looking for change but acknowledge the possibility that the staff and talent in place (meaning current Twins and prospect talent) could win a championship in the next 5 or 6 years that the staff that takes their place would not. And vice versa of course.

It would have been less of a crapshoot if our all star closer pitched like an all star closer.

Increasing strength is always a good thing. I have no problem with saying Mauer should train harder than he ever has before and if he does while also putting more distance from his concussion I think his numbers will rebound but don't expect or necessarily want him to change how he hits. .320 with a .870 OPS would be ok with me but it should be from the #2 spot.

"They need to decide if they are willing to live with terrible defense (and, therefore, a higher ERA than they should have) or not" Pitchers have some effect on fielding with number of strikes they throw and pace at which they pitch. Twins fielders should have been better prepared knowing more pitches are put in play and aside from Pelfrey I didn't think the Twins pitchers were so bad for pace. I guess this might be offset by Twins pitchers being hit harder when they are hit so lets just call it a wash. In summary, pitching has marginal effect on defensive efficiency. Defensive efficiency has a tremendous effect on pitching.

"In Defensive Efficiency (a measure of how many balls in play are converted into outs), the Twins rank 29th" This statistic has nothing to do with strikeouts. Its a measure of balls put into play being caught. IMO, the infield is adequate and the outfield is horrendous. Its not like the Twins had a great outfield in the past either with Young out there as well. I remember a series against the Rays where the Twins got swept when it could have been the other way around simply because the Rays outfield got to balls most outfielders wouldn't have and the Twins didn't get to balls they should have. As stated above you can hide one poor outfielder but not two. Most of the year we had Arcia and Willingham out there. Replace centerfield with Buxton and left field with Hicks or Rosario or even Schaefer and I am thinking we move up on the list.

Hate to be a broken record and the offense does seem to be lacking and yet #5 in all baseball in runs scored with Mauer and Willingham's down years. Not a hopeless offense at all and to that you add Buxton, Sano and maybe a matured Hicks and it looks downright cheery.

Considering that would give him 35 points better OBP than Ben Revere who has no power, then yeah, I would bank that in a minute. Sorry. Can't get off my soapbox that our #9 hitter batting .215 has a much higher OBP than the leadoff hitter Revere who is hitting .308. Walks count!

I agree that Anderson should be gone. I won't mind if Gardy is gone and PM or DM take his place. Mostly I think managers are overrated. Am a little surprised Steinbach hasn't been mentioned more.

Other Septembers were more depressing to me. May, Santana, Vargas Hicks and Arcia are more interesting that what we have been left with in the past. I know a lot of fans are impatient with the rebuild but I am intrigued by it. In 2011 we were promoting guys that were failing in the minors. Now we are promoting guys who are earning it and that will eventually result in a competitive team.

What is your criteria for this list since Pino certainly had a good minor league year. Why would Wei Hu not be on your list of potential #1's? What is he missing?

Funny I am indifferent to what they do with Gardy if they keep Anderson. Biggest rip on Gardy appear to be he doesn't know when to pull pitchers which is a criticism of every manager in the history of the game. If the reliever doesn't do the job then the starter was puled too soon. If the starter doesn't do he job then he was left in too long. Not enough pitchers have had career years under Anderson. Too many have pitched worse than their career suggests they should. Not convinced he is the problem but I don't think he is the solution.

Kwak "Berrios is definitely ahead of Meyer--and likely several others. Meyer has been moved from "prospect" to "PRAYER" in the player rankings. If he can turn it around--great! But, pinning hopes on a shoulder-injured player who rarely pitches six innings? No, folks this guy is a prospect (at 24!) he is a PRAYER. I hope he makes it-- No, I'm not advocating to "shoot this horse", but I'm not going to bet on him--nor should the Twins. Simply play him and hope (and PRAY)."but the probability as a dependible rotation guy is too long of a shot. I admit I used a little hyperbole to make my point.

It is amazing how quickly some posters can turn on a player. What exactly was Meyer's crime here? Did he suddenly throw less than 90 mph on his fastball? Was he in charge of his innings limits? Did his ERA climb over 5? If all the angst was due to his possible shoulder injury it would make sense but that really doesn't seem to be the case for people suddenly thinking he has no future. The way I recall it was is that Meyer did not go deep into games because the Twins limited his pitches per game. Going 5 or 6 innings on 80 pitches is not so ridiculous especially when you are a strike out pitcher. I defended Pino and May being promoted ahead of him but also believe Meyer earned a spot before Darnell and Johnson. Is that his fault that he pitched well enough for promotion but wasn't promoted? He could easily have been brought up for a couple starts which along with his minor league numbers would have made a decent progression. The only negatives at all is his walks ( I don't discount that since command is what has sunk May so far) and a little shoulder stiffness during his last start. I don't usually credit the term expert since I don't really believe there are any but are there any scouting reports that have said "Whoops, instead of projecting Meyer as a #1 or #2, we think it is now just a prayer that he can even attain the heights of mop up reliever"?

Hitting is always unpredictable. Average or better pitching will often stymie anyone's hitting. If anyone was average for us this year it was Gibson but look how awesome he was half the time and poor the other half. You can't discount the Twins at #5 because of who they beat up on. Not only do other teams beat up on those pitchers as well our offense never got to face the worst rotation in baseball. Our offense showed marked improvement in better at bats but they are young so I am hoping for more improvement, particularly from Arcia. It may not be all pitching but it is mostly about that.

Milone really shouldn't be discounted so much since he does have a pretty good AL history so far. One big contract for a guy like Lester or Shields would go a long way. Its not an easy fix since you aren't comfortable that the talent is ready but don't want to block them either. This year we went with more youth on offense and I would be fine with doing the same on the pitching side even if it means taking a few more lumps but I understand that I have more patience than most.

Basically, if you do not accept Hicks as an outfielder and don't think Buxton should be counted on then there are two spots to fill. Plouffe was 10th in war this season so while it is fair to not be satisfied it I also obvious he is not the problem. If you think Escbar is a good shortstop then you still put Santana in the outfield for his arm and speed and then you are left with one position to fill. Again, fans that think more changes need to be made don't seem to accept or believe the part about the Twins scoring the 6th most in baseball. Actually, I guess if the don't believe it, technically they would be correct because the Twins are now 5TH!!! The Twins have the worst rotation so really the problems start and end with the pitching and any ideas of blowing up the rest of the team are not founded in logic at all. I have never been a proponent of going big in free agency but this year I do like the idea of going big on one starter for all the reasons stated by Sarasota. If they don't, I do believe May has the stuff to be good and so does Gibson and Nolasco should rebound to at least keep his ERA under 5. The future really isn't bleak unless by future you mean the rest of September. Some guys simply need to step up.

I had also concluded that they must not be getting the same replays that we see. Either that or the guys in New York need to be replaced. There have just been too many calls they have gotten wrong. This is nowhere near the first one blown.

First of all I don't know if Sano, Meyer or Buxton will make an impact next year but I am certainly willing to roll the dice on it. Certainly I don't put prospects ranked that highly in the "There's almost no chance Sano or Buxton are productive major leaguers next year, and not a whole lot more hope foe Meyer, IMO" category. That is not to devalue anyone's opinion but Santana probably would have been legitimately in that category at the beginning of the year and his prospect status did not rate with those guys. One thing that is overlooked in all of this is that the Twins have scored the 6th most runs in all of baseball. Hard to believe but I think it underscores my belief that the fans think every team that is any good has 9 established hitters who all hit at least .270 and average about 20 homers a game and that is just not true. Those same fans repeatedly have said no contending team would ever have guys like Pnt or Butera on their rosters. Keep in mind that the Twins hitters don't even get to face Twins pitching. Now I don't expect such great production from Suzuki, Santana or Vargas next year but factor in a better year from Mauer and the fact that we will have Santana and Vargas all year along with possible contributions from Hicks, Polanco, Buxton and Sano makes me think the offense will be ok. I have not minded the lineup the Twins have put out there the last month and let me say again the Twins have scored the 6th most runs out of 30 teams. That leaves us with pitching and I can make the case that they should expect better with Gibson, Hughes, Meyer, May and Nolasco than with Hughes, Gibson, Nolasco, Pelfrey and Correia but as has been pointed out one can make the case that they will not be much better. I have never advocated spending big on free agency with the one exception of Thome in his prime. In this case though I think going after a guy like Shields makes a lot of sense. Hard to deny that Shields, Hughes, Gibson, Meyer and May or Nolasco wouldn't be better than what we put out there this year.

I used to really dislike Plouffe but he has grown on me His hitting approach has been better and his defense has been better but honestly, I don't know how. I was at a game recently and watched him as the pitch was thrown. He was basically standing upright with just a little step forward. I could not believe his posture. I looked at the other infielders and saw what I expected, a crouch with glove held fairly low. Maybe this is how third basemen are taught now but I don't recall Robinson, Nettles or Castino standing upright as the ball was pitched.