DaveW

Technically a half season Think of how different an all star team would look after the season (vs in the middle)

Nunez definitely deserved the spot, he has been solid at the dish and provided some nice flexibility for the roster. It's too bad he didn't get an at bat, hopefully he can get voted in again as a Twin? (hopefully along with Sano, Buxton and Berrios in the same year!)

The whole nose and robbery "suspect" BS is so ridiculous. In most big cities there is so much violent crime etc that "robbery suspects" are hardly the most wanted people. It's doubtful they had the force actively looking for this guy. If they legitimately thought he was a murder suspect or rape suspect, then perhaps randomly pulling him over would make a little sense. But "oh hey, he's a black guy, maybe he is a robbery suspect" is nothing but 100% racism. Both of those cops need to see jail time, the one who pulled the trigger needs at least 15 to life.

There is a zero percent chance Westbrook would agree to a contract extension. The cap is going up by a LOT next season, thus him signing a contract extension now would be highly counterproductive. Give up the first round pick as well then, if they put together a stud team then that will be a late first rounder anyways . They shouldn't need to pick add in Wiggins, that would just be silly and overkill,

$1 million a month makes it sound so ridiculous, they would be paying approx $2 million total the rest of the season. (Yes, one million a month) but adding $2 million in payroll isn't a huge deal for nearly every club. Additionally if it WERE an issue, the Twins could easily pick up 1-1.5 million of it as well. Just because the return wouldn't be huge isn't a reason to poo poo it. Keep in mind we were able to flip the "nobody" the Dodgers gave us for Butera into Nunez. Suzuki is the perfect guy that can net us a "change of scenery" type player. Whats the worst that happens? The player doesn't pan out? At least then the Twins got to try out Murphy and maybe some other options at C the rest of the season.

The Indians are in first place, they would be wise to play for 2016 at this stage (instead of worrying about getting a guy like Gomes reps moving forward) The guy has a .542 OPS, and wasn't exactly lights out last year. If he continues to struggle why on earth wouldn't they put someone hitting significantly better behind the dish? At least at a 50/50 split... baseball and sports are all about "what have you done for me lately" when it comes to teams going for a title. Suzuki is one of the better hitting catchers in baseball this year, and his numbers are very similar to 2014, so perhaps instead of this "Suzuki sucks meme" we all have grown to love, maybe it's that his sub par 2015 is the outlier at this stage? 2014 and 2016 good, 2015 mediocre. Suzuki simply is a better option then Gomes the rest of 2016 at the plate.

Drew Butera would like to have a word.

I sorta get the feeling that TR knows his days are numbered, thus I would be very very surprised if the Twins sign any in-season extensions at this stage. Though I would continue to try to lock in Sano for 2-3 of his first FA years.... But I get your sentiment, all things being considered, the Twins catching depth is pretty much just as poor as it was a couple years ago when Suzuki was brought it. He has his warts no doubt, but Zuk is clearly the best major league catcher in the Twins org...and it's not even close! However, as referenced above, feel free to bring him back on a one year deal as a plan B/backup, but the Twins absolutely need to figure out how to improve this position for the future. I like Suzuki as a person, and seems like a class act all the way, however I will be pretty upset if come August 1st he is still on this club! Plenty of contending teams need catching help, both at the starter level and backup level. The following contenders could use Suzuki: Dodgers: Grandal has fallen off a cliff and Ellis is pretty poor as well. Suzuki conceivably be the starting catcher or at least 50/50 catcher/play the hot hand. Baltimore: Joseph is a deadful backup Catcher. Suzuki would be a significant upgrade. Seattle: Ianetta is solid as the starter, but the ever revolving door at backup catcher for them could potentially move them to bring in Suzuki for the stretch run? Toronto: Martin hasn't been as good as last year, and their backup C situation is just pathetic, Thole in 94 AB has a 3!!!! OPS+ Cleveland: Terrible catching situation (at least hitting) all around. Those are just a few that come top of mind, there are probably 5-6 other targets as well, and Suzuki more than likely will be the best catcher available by far.

Suzuki has looked good at the plate, no doubt, but I am very skeptical that he can keep it up. His defense on the other hand isn't getting any better. This is the perfect time to trade Suzuki, and likely we could get a halfway decent package back in return. The Dodgers (Grandal has been awful this year, and Ellis is no better) come immediately to mind as a team in "win now" mode who could use him ASAP. I'm not a Murphy fan, but trade Suzuki, bring Murphy back up for the 2nd half of the year and see if he is a viable option for 2017 (starter, back up, etc) if he plays well, then you only need to go get one catcher via trade/FA heading into next year. If he flounders? You may need to get two. At that stage, feel free to bring Suzuki back on a ONE year deal as a backup catcher. But they need to trade him ASAP, there is no reason to hang onto him the rest of this season. Ditto with every other impending FA the Twins have or the Trevor Plouffes and Nolasco's of the world (guys who don't have a place on the 2017 roster), eat however much money you need and try to get something in return for them. Just trade them for whatver you can get and move on.

I think it's abundantly clear that the Twins would have been much better off extending Liriano then trading him for Escobar.

Actually, I take it back, I would give up Rubio+Lavine for Westbrook, then I would give up Dieng+Cap Room for Love. (I think the Cavs would value the cap room at this stage and would allow them to possibly bring in DWade and another player) So you basically have: Dunn Westbrook Wiggins Love KAT As your starting 5 next year. There would be a 90% chance you lose Westbrook at the end of the season, but man, what a fun season that would be!

Yes, Nunez making the all star team after being picked up off waivers by TR was a good move, no doubt. Unfortunately that good move (and a couple others) have been surrounded by a series of terrible moves that have lead to 5 out of 6 90+ loss seasons, and a 110+ loss season this year.

Westbrook has already said no to an extension. I wouldn't give up any future assets for him. The wolves have finally gotten a team together that looks like they could make a run in a couple years if things break right, giving up the farm for one year of Westbrook (who most certainly would go somewhere else after the season) is too risky. It is fun though to think about a potential Rubio, Westbrook, Wiggins, Towns type core though. Would Westbrook work as a 2 guard in that scenario?

Hard to say that at this stage, if he wins back to back titles with Golden State than it is pretty obvious he was the key to getting them those titles. Remember this is a team he is going to that DID NOT win the title this year. And as mentioned, he is still rather young, he has plenty of time to add onto his hall of fame "legacy" anyways.

If OKC is smart at all they will trade Westbrook ASAP. There is a zero percent chance he comes back to OKC after next year anyways. Might as well try to strike up a bidding war and get some young talent/picks in the meantime. He already has won an MVP and is a top 3-4 player in the NBA, he also has plenty of time left in his career to "lead" a team to a title and up his legacy that way (i.e. what Lebron just did with Cleveland) He just wants a title, nothing wrong with that, players these days don't want to become the next Stockton/Malones or Barkleys. Winning matters to them, I respect that, especially when he won't be the true #1 on a team, and will take a bit of a backseat to Curry. Make no mistake though, Durant will be the CLEAR #2, Thompson/Green are good and even great players, but Durant is one of the best 3 or 4 in this league.

Also, for those that don't like this move, don't hate the player, hate the game. If the NBA didn't want this happening they easily could eliminate it by two different ways: -Enact a hard cap like the NFL/NHL. -Have no cap, like the MLB.

I spent 4.5 years in Oklahoma for college. I know the OKC area and state as a whole quite well unfortunately. Additionally, my family lives in Seattle, and I lived there prior to moving south, so I have never liked the Thunder anyways I applaud Durant for this move, clearly the pundits/fans are gonna turn on him a bit, but if the guy wants to increase his brand/win some titles, this was absolutely his best move. People act like his reputation will never recover, and that is hogwash, people trashed Lebron as well for going to Miami, now people can't stop tripping over themselves with admiration for him. Durant can go win a title or two for the Warriors, then still be in his prime and go somewhere to build another title winner (back home to Washington? Up to the Knicks to deliver a long waited for title?) Plenty of "time" to restore his reputation from the people who have turned on him. Again, nobody in there right mind in his situation (financial, potential branding) would choose to live in Oklahoma over the the Bay area. Who cares that he didn't goto Boston? Boston is pretty much the most storied franchise in NBA history, last time I checked the Warriors only have one title anyways.

Couple things: 1. Durant did take his team to the finals before. In fact, had the idiot GM not traded away Harden, there is a very real chance that OKC would have gotten at least one championship ring. 2. OKC and Oklahoma as a state are a terrible place to spend time in. No "real" free agent in their right mind will choose to go there, and no big name drafted player will stick around. Oklahoma is an awful, awful place. My guess is after Westbrook leaves, the franchise will nose dive, attendance will fall off a cliff as well and the Thunder will either be back in Seattle or Las Vegas by the 2019-2020 season.

It's already over for them, the Wild signing Eric Staal was 1000x more news worthy and interesting than anything the Twins have done this year.

You hit the nail on the head. People don't goto the ball game to drink, they have several better options all over the place. They go to watch baseball OR catch up with friends once in a while. Making the "bars" the centerpiece of the new things going on at Target Field is just so stupid and lazy. It's pretty embarrassing actually that the best idea a company valued at 500+ million could come up with is "Let's put in some more bars that sell $8 beers!" This team, front office, and entire business honestly just needs new blood throughout.

Feel free to PM me and I will give you access to my account. Normally I would feel bad about "stealing" in cases like this, but I don't watch many of these dumpster fire games anyways these days, and IMO the Twins owe us all.

Much like the on field product/staff, the marketing/business side of the business clearly are behind the times as well and don't come up with any real good ideas to benefit the fan base as a whole (DSP I'm looking at you) I get putting in a bar to create a "gathering space" but why on earth did they need to open TWO huge new bars in Target Field this year anyways? (The one in CF, and the one in LF). Were their not enough bars already? Opening one, I can sort of understand, especially if the operator is paying big bucks, but two is just overkill as that space could be made significantly more family friendly. Put in a fun picnic area for families to hang out and enjoy the game (with plenty of overprice vendors nearby to sell $8 hot dogs and the like) Even in NYC, the money hungry capital of the world you don't see that many ridiculous bars, the Mets for instance realized that one major "bar" area was enough, and added in a bunch of things for your families and everything else. This is all also coming from the "prime" target of these new bars anyways: early 30's, no kids, love beer, disposable income. If I think it's a bad idea and overkill, I can't imagine what folks with actually families and non social drinkers think. Sure, you may get a few younger (20-35) people to come out for a game or two a year, but it's not like they are gonna pay the price of a ticket, and $10-$14 a beer to make the bar in Target field their "goto" hangout. They can goto any of the nearby 100+ bars with patios etc that have better prices, better product and a better atmosphere.

Only blaming MLB for the blackout rules is letting off the greedy/terrible networks and cable/satellite providers off the hook. They are the backwards thinking greedy idiots who are making MLB put in those blackout zones. The good news is, this will all work itself out soon enough.

I don't think I saw anyone cheering on the death of old people in this thread, it's just a reality that needs to be taken into consideration. People over the age of 65/70/75/80 (whatever number you want to use) die at a much higher rate than those younger than those ages. If they didn't then our economy would be in even worse shape than it is!

It will come with time, my generation and the one(s) after mine are all moving from the rural areas and "burbs" to the cities anyways. Apparently Minneapolis is expecting 500,000 new residents downtown within the next 15 years. As people move more and more into the cities they are instantly exposed to other cultures, people, ideas etc and the melting pot does it's thing. As much as we like to rail on some of the dummies in the far right who think all muslims are terrorists etc, it is important to note that a lot of those people in those rural areas probably haven't met a single muslim person their entire life, their exposure to any other races etc are well....very limited as well. Of course that never excuses someone for racism/narrow mindedness/ naiveness etc, but you see how it happens. Especially when you have a very vocal minority of the GOP (Cruz, Trump, Bachman, etc) spewing out how Muslims are the enemy, "radical Islam is the blame", we need to ban them all etc.