twinsnorth49

I think what Shane said was, he has turned into Drew Butera, minus the defense. At 34 I'd pay a lot more attention to .241, .272 over the last two years than a career .363, that's over with, then there's the attitude. Not that I believe that Florimon or Dozier are the answer but I'd rather find out for sure, at least with Dozier, before I threw in the towel and went with Figgins is at this stage.

Love the DC designs, my Thome is my Homey shirt is almost worn out (http://www.websmileys.com/sm/sad/1381.gif). The Walks will Haunt is next, awesome! Everyone should grab a "Plouffe There it is" shirt for $10, just in case. Keep more Twins stuff coming, you'd think a Scott Diamond one would be a natural. In keeping with the "spectacular failure theme, how about some Gopher football and basketball designs? Jerry and Tubby are a treasure trove of material for slogans and the time is right to immortalize A.J. Barker with a limited run special. Good work!

That's about all the perspective that should be needed.

Evidence of Absence? You can't prove a negative.

So in order to maintain leverage, they sign him until he's 37, 3-4 years before they need to? I agree they are in the best position to evaluate his potential drop-off, but why not wait and evaluate it for a couple more years as opposed to deciding what it's going to be now?

http://www.websmileys.com/sm/fingers/fing05.gifhttp://www.websmileys.com/sm/fingers/fing05.gif http://www.websmileys.com/sm/fingers/fing05.gifhttp://www.websmileys.com/sm/fingers/fing05.gif

Nah, I'll remain enthusiastic about Parmelee.

Joe Mauer?

I'd be cool with taking a flyer on Hochevar or Stewart if the price tag was low, quite low.

Very insightful, allow me to elaborate on your post, http://www.websmileys.com/sm/obscene/eck15.gif

Oh, so now you're saying they're spending too much and really going out of their way for payroll? Everyone should be thrilled with what they spend and feel lucky we have such generous owners? So what teams beside the Marlins for the obvious choice keep their payroll under 50% of revenue? The 50% of revenue would be perfectly acceptable if the paid for their own stadium and didn't force taxpayers to help the pocket so much money every season. I just can't wait for the day when the Pohlads are no longer involved with the Twins. Tampa Bay, Oakland, most teams other than a handful peg payroll somewhere around 50%. Wish the Pohlads away if you like, I think you'll be disappointed if you expect more from somebody else.

Nick "Gopherball" Blackburn...........do I really need to elaborate?

I'm thankful every time I get the chance to go to Target Field and watch outdoor baseball, and no blackout restrictions for the Twins in Canada on MLB.TV.

I know, right? I mean, I'm tired of people forcing me to come to this site, read threads I don't agree with, and find excuses for ownership. Are you the Chief of the Department of Redundancy? That would be "read 15 threads about the same thing I don't agree with" to be exact. By the way, since when is agreeing with threads a prerequisite of this site? Or is it just agreeing with you that's a prerequisite? It's possible you missed the point. I'm confident it'll come to you, but just in case, here's a clue...reading or participating in threads you find redundant is optional. Happy Thanksgiving. Just trying to improve efficiency sir, Happy Thanksgiving to you. I'll have to accept your well wishes a little belatedly, ours was over a month ago.

Oh, so now you're saying they're spending too much and really going out of their way for payroll? Everyone should be thrilled with what they spend and feel lucky we have such generous owners? No, but thanks for playing.

I would love it of my company spent 50-52% of revenue on payroll....although I wouldn't have my job for very long under those circumstances.

D'oh, thanks, thanks.

The Twins signed Boleska right after the season. He was the closer of the FM Redhawks this past year where he put up some crazy numbers. And he's Canadian. I saw him play three times in Winnipeg last season, 3IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 7 K's, he got brutalized in his one playoff start against them though, 3 H, 3 ER in 2/3 of an inning. His fastball was touching 94-95, gotta love them Canadians!! http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/flags/flag-of-canada.gif

I know, right? I mean, I'm tired of people forcing me to come to this site, read threads I don't agree with, and find excuses for ownership. Are you the Chief of the Department of Redundancy? That would be "read 15 threads about the same thing I don't agree with" to be exact. By the way, since when is agreeing with threads a prerequisite of this site? Or is it just agreeing with you that's a prerequisite?

Joe Mauer's salary all by itself is the only reason the Twins hold such a lofty spot on the list of MLB payrolls (if 11th is to be considered lofty). But when he was signed, the company line was that it would not preclude the Twins from fielding a competitive team around him. How's that working out? And at the Pohlad's privately held company, clearly the only thing that matters is money in the form of profit, as well. The difference is that there are no shareholders to require accountability... only fans (most of whom apparently feel no inclination to do so).. So was that a mistake? Do you not believe they would spend that money if the contract wasn't there? They still spent the money, now you're just questioning the manner in which they spent it. 11th is still top half. Of course the Pohlads care about profit, most owners do and it's not as if the Twins revenue/payroll ratio is way below league average. My analogy to the Blue Jays is that the spending spree they're on right now will end quickly if profit is affected, they don't entirely control the process, at least the Pohlads do. I don't believe they are likely to change the ways they think anymore than you do, but at least the discretion is theirs.

Cripes, how many threads on payroll do we really need!?

The 2011 payroll was 37% higher than the highest payroll in the Dome, what good did that do? Last season was the lowest since Target opened and it's still 25% higher than the 2007 payroll, what good has it done? In 2011, 21 teams had lower payrolls than the Twins, Minnesota finished ahead of only one of them. In 2012 17 teams had lower payrolls than the Twins, Minnesota finished ahead of only 3 of them. Target has brought in higher revenue and payroll has risen accordingly, the only apparent issue is the Pohlads refusal to drop their margins and commit to a higher payroll ratio, ok then, whatever. I think what Ryan is really saying is that this team has made some horses**t decisions on talent and contracts for a number of years and unless that improves, money isn't necessarily going to be the cure all, it's just throwing good money after bad. And for all those using the Blue Jays as an example, it better work for them sooner than later, because if it doesn't yield the expected return and shareholders don't see a better dividend, kiss that plan goodbye. When you're part of a publically traded company, the only thing that matters is money, in the form of profit.

I don't think many realistic people are married to the idea that Diamond is an Ace. I think they're more fearful that the Twins are going to consider him one. I'm a Diamond fan but I'm under no illusion that he's likely to sustain last year's success, you're right in the fact that if he doesn't he's going to get unfairly castigated by the masses.

Shark metaphor where the shark is the trunk and the conquistador is the killer or the Shark is the killer and the conquistador is Laporte......or it means absolutely nothing, except that sharks eat a lot of junk and because they go through a tonne of teeth, it's very hard to tell how old they are. Not sure what that has to do with the FLQ. When the hell are those Winter meetings again? I read that... And I also read that Gordie was quoted as saying the song is a metaphor for a smothering relationship. However... It's Gord... He would certainly be a strong possibility for throwing out a red herring or two. So I go back to... I'm not sure... The thing about hip songs is that you can certainly pull your own interpretations from them and make it work. Brilliant Band!!! I got to hang around with them backstage during the Day for Night tour. Dan Aykroyd was back stage just hanging around as well. The band was very nice and personable. Gord was very dark on the other hand. He really didn't want to be there working the room. I just said Hi and told him that this backstage political stuff must be a pain. He nodded and said yes it is. I then left him alone. Back to Baseball... Hey North your South... I think the Twins should try and sign more Canadien players... What'd think about that? It would be great if more Canadians played for the Twins, I'm a huge homer, but they gotta be able to play. It's hard on the psyche though, in true Canadian fashion I tend to view it as a personal failure every time Diamond or Morneau put up a stinker, I'm not sure I could take anymore. I love it when they're playing well though, it's an added pleasure as a Twins fan, my personal highlight from last season was being right behind home plate when Morneau jacked two, including the walk off against the Tribe in September. Going to be sad to see him go soon.

The Blue Jays seem to think it did.