bulldogguy

Was in Vegas for the season opener vs. Baltimore and at the time, Berrios was a 30-1 bet for AL Cy Young...I thought it was crazy he was even listed within the top 10 guys in the AL and that rate...now I look like the crazy one.

I think you nailed it. This seems to be a logical way to make it look like you will run with Plouffe as well next year to ensure the trade value remains has high as it can be. Make it appear like you are ok with moving Sano to outfield and then trade Plouffe and put Sano back where you really want him to be. If this isn't part of the plan, man it seems like the outfield log-jam just got mucked up even more. Should be an interesting offseason...

Thanks...I use that since there is actually truth and merit to it.

I am with you on this deal Brock. I am not saying that the trade is great, I don't love giving up a SP prospect with some upside for a relief pitcher, but good god, this isn't the worst deal ever. We get a proven RP that makes us better, this year and next.

Seriously...you are quoting numbers for Class A level talent. How many guys have we had at that level that had similar numbers and never, ever really had productive careers. I will let the Stat Geeks, fill in the blanks, but let's look at totals for people like: Kevin Slowey, Boof Bonser, etc...there is a stadium full of Class A level talent with similar numbers that ended up being crap and couldn't produce at a higher level. You have to give up something to get something...there are not a lot of even trades in the business. Usually someone gets a slightly better end of the deal, but if it helps the club for a couple of years than it might be worth it. Let's talk in three years and see where our boy Hu is at. Even if he was the worst Relief Pitcher traded, that shouldn't factor into this trade, it can still be a good trade for the Twins because it makes your current roster better.

If Ryan doesn't make a trade - FIRE RYAN. Ryan makes a trade - FIRE RYAN! Pitchfork nation at its best. Seriously, HU is not looked at by almost ANYONE as more than a number 5 starting pitcher. He is in high A ball, and you got a proven MLB relief pitcher. He might not be the greatest in the entire league, but he is a surefire upgrade over what we are putting out there every night. We traded for a relief pitcher who will contribute the rest of this season and next and then who knows after that. Years that we think we can be competing potentially for a playoff spot. This is not about this year, this is about 2016, 2017. I don't think HU would be contributing to either of those teams and most likely we will see another pitcher in the farm system that is either there already or yet to be drafted replace his potential upside. It's not like we gave up an untouchable prospect for a relief pitcher or an already on the Roster MLB OF for a relief pitcher like some on this site wanted to do. Settle down. React, talk, but why is this such a travesty?

This might be the dumbest post of the year.

Spideyo - Be careful about giving up too much info on your role and ways of espinoge, I don't want you mysteriously disappearing one day via TC and his fungo bat because too much information was divulged on this site. You are a valued contributing member...stay out of the limelight and keep the info coming!

I was there this past Tuesday and saw a Goose Island stand right by the Surly stand...love the fact that they are looking to add more craft beers. Tthough Goose is no longer independent and owned by Anheiser -~sp? Busch I believe - don't drink their products, so I can't spell it;).

BTW...this is the worst thread I have read since the inception of this site...I can't believe I acutally spent the time going through this. There goes my lunch hour... Can we just agree to disagree...can't we all just get along...don't worry be happy... Sorry...its friday.

I love how people gravitate to the Rays and Pirates like they have some new secret sauce for identifying and developing players. NEWS FLASH...when you are as bad as they have been for the last 10+ years...you draft really high every year and eventually you are going to hit on some players. For the first 6/7 years they missed and missed badly. Now they are finally hitting on some things. I think this has more to do with the law of averages than being a master judge of talent.

He does not...not enough years. Twins just bought out his arbitration years with his current contract.

Let's not get too crazy on this...keep your expectations low on what we might get. He has been a solid reliever and would be a nice addition for Texas, but its not like he is going to be the primary set-up man or close games for the Rangers. I think C-C+ sounds about right to me.

The Twins got compensation picks for the loss of Kubel and Cuddyer, so keeping them last year at the deadline allowed them to at least acquire some potential talent for down the road. This year is different, with the new rules in place, unless you want to pay some the average of the top 125...and hope they don't sign that deal...you are better off trading them. Liriano is the only one that really applies in this situation...Stick a fork in Capps.

Agreed completely RocketPig...everyone needs a scapegoat...whether it is Anderson, Punto...you name it. No one is perfect, including Anderson, but he seems to have a lot more success under his belt getting what appears to be marginal pitching talent and getting them to achieve at usually an average level. The last two years have been a disaster, but can people really, really take that and blame Anderson??? Seriously???

Thanks John for writing this. I know we love to hypothesize or project for draft picks, but baseball drafting in many ways is a frickin crapshoot. Its the one sport that the equipment changes dramatically from highschool/college to the pros (bats). I am glad I am not a GM trying to sort this out. For anyone that is of the "jimmy Johnson" type opnion that you don't take guys in slots ahead of where other "experts" had them slotted...the big thing you are missing on is knowing what the other teams plans are. If you had a guy you loved that is slated as a fifth rounder, but you for some reason know that another team loves him and is going to draft him before then (they scouted him the same times you did, they told their coach that they planned to draft him in the fourth round) whatever it is that gives you inside information on when some other team might draft him, that will impact when you draft someone if you really value that player. I love the dialogue, I love being able to predict what guys might do, but for god sake...we don't get paid to do this even though we think we should. I have to lean on the experts and at least trust their initial judgement on things and in 3-7 years, we can analyze all of the teams drafts and how these kids panned out in the majors to that point and make a clear cut call on whether this draft was a success or uter failure. Terry Ryan has had more success than failure in his career so i am going to lean towards his 30+years of paid experience on this one and see what he says post draft about what their plan is for each of these players and we can revisit the results down the road.

Agreed...like every major league baseball draft...let's evaluate this 3 years from now to see where these guys are going. I would be more interested in hearing from the Twins what their initial plan for these pitchers are...are they going to be starters out of the gate or right to the bullpen. Again, week starting pitching crop...why try to fit a square peg in a round hole if it doesn't make sense. Pick the guys that you think you might be able to develop. There is not going to be any immediate help to the Major League roster this year, next year or maybe even the year after that from this years crop. That's how it works in baseball.

Agreed on all fronts my friend. Let's move on. Find something else that people can nitpick. Each of these has been beaten too death. If only Nicky Punto was around...we need that dog to kick around again.

Good comment Richter....way too early to get excited about Revere, Benson or Hicks. My god, don't people understand that there are only a handful of players that ever come up from the minors and stick for good. Its a development process that is not an exact science no matter how much statistical analysis and eye ball tests are done.

God that is a long time...here's hoping to a series win, but I can't get my hopes up or I will crash and burn AGAIN with this club. At least its not a playoff series...seen too many of those games where we fall apart to this team.

Agreed on all fronts, but you know Gardy, wouldn't want to adjsut that part of the order or mess with the M&M thing. I love Gardy, I really do, I think he is a good, but not great manager, but sometimes he gets so set in his ways. I

That is what I am hoping...i would love to see this on a consistent basis minus Doumit catching and having Parmalee play first and have Joe catching (understand though that this is probably their best hitting line-up against lefties).

I too am a season ticket holder and haven't eaten there, but have heard mixed reviews. It depends on what you are looking for...a lot of variety of good food or great food. If you are o.k. We mostly have gone up there during the mid innings to grab a drink at the bar and go out to the deck. The main deck was better the first year when they allowed you to go out to where the current Handicapped seats are (changed in year 2). The viewing angle now is not as good, plus half the time the handicapped seats are not in use. Not sure why they changed it...

Lots of "Spring Training" power in the line-up...let's see if they can back-up yesterday's hit parade with another performance. I would love to see Ploufee or Hughes put up some consistent numbers. We could use someone in that 8,9,1,2 spot be able to put the ball in the gap or over the fence and drive in some people.