DaveW

Pittsburgh and Houston are two of the biggest dumpster fires of franchises over the last 25 years, I really don't care how they view "success" See this is where the TR apologists and the rest of us disagree, many would argue that prior to 2014, or 2015 or 2016 (or before TR ever came back) would have been time to take a good long look on how he has ran the franchise for the better part of two decades.

Again going 83-79 should be the absolute bare minimum expectations. Sorry if I am not going to finance a 30 for 30 special on that magical season where the Twins (along with every other team but two) had a shot at the 2nd wild card heading into the last 2 weeks of the season! His lack of success overall (1 in 17) has absolutely everything to do with the conversation, Ryan has zero track record of building a team that can compete for a World Series, why do you give him the benefit of the doubt now? When in his almost two decades at the helm only produced one team that even sniffed the World Series. The Twins we a 75-76 win team last year, luck pushed them over the top, it's fool hardy to expect that extreme luck to continue. Ryan clearly is banking on that since he failed to address: 1. The front end of the rotation. 2. The OF 3. The Bullpen In any meaningful way. Instead we got another DH and a backup catcher.

Yes the May trade was good, just think how much better it would be though if they actually let May develop into a nice #2/#3 starter instead of sticking him in the pen! Instead of trading Liriano, the Twins should have never messed with Liriano's approach to begin with (i.e. let him throw the slider) they should have kept Liriano around as well. Getting Escobar wasn't bad, but I would much rather have the last 3 years of Liriano on this team then the last 3 of Escobar. Also, let's not pretend that the Twins couldn't have just gotten Escobar at anytime from the White Sox anyways... Milone trade was good, but Milone is just a #5 type and like clockwork TR has fallen in love with him, instead of trading him off now to open up a spot for a young high upside pitcher he has already penciled him into the rotation. The Hughes original signing was very good as well, of course all of that went out the window the minute TR decided to negotiate against himself and gave Hughes a big contract extension coming off a career year. Ditto with Suzuki, handing out an extension after a career half year. Since TR has been the Twins GM, even the Timberwolves have had more playoff success then the Twins. Let that sink in for a moment. If you have to resort to "well he traded Liriano for Escobar" as some sort of proof that Ryan has done "good" at the helm, then it is clear that the stone cold reality is that Terry Ryan frankly is one of the worst ten GM's in baseball and has been for quite some time.

Sorry, getting extremely lucky one year (2015) out of 4 years and getting a couple games over .500 is not "success" That barely quantifies as the bare minimum of expectations one should have for a GM (most sports franchises would fire a GM who had only one playoff series victory in 17+ years FWIW, and most sports franchises would be correct in doing so)

That is some impressive spin for "our teams sucked". How was Target Field a handcuff at all btw? Did it somehow prevent them from going out and signing quality players?

And that worked out so well that we had to trade our promising CF for another catcher just a short 1.5 years later!!

Two big differences: 1. The Cubs are much further along then the Twins, Vegas has them as one of the top 3 teams to win it all this year, care to guess where the Twins fall? 2. Theo inherited someone else's dumpster fire. TR basically inherited his own. A rebuild isn't complete until you are a world series contender.

Obviously he wouldn't get 100% of the 50+ vote. but you have to look at the country (and more importantly the swing states as a whole) Pretty much everyone I know would prefer Hilary over Bernie, double that on every liberal person I know over the age of 50. Could Bernie win the GE? Sure, I think he could beat Cruz or Trump, but I think it would be a lot closer than people would think, and Cruz or Trump would have a punchers chance. IMO we can't play with fire in that case.

Very well said, I also think part of the issue is that Hillary doesn't come off as charismatic as the last two Dem presidents, however I think part of that is a gender bias people have towards women in high positions (whether in politics or in business) When a male superior chews someone's ass int he business world he is a "leader" when a women does it people say "she is a bitch", things have been getting better in this regard, but this country and society still have quite a ways to go IMO. Your last line is 100% spot on, Hilary would make a great POTUS and we would all be lucky to have her.

When it comes to the GE, Bernie is only going to win the "young" vote, I have a hard time seeing how anyone over the age of 35, and even more so anyone over the age of 50 would vote for him. If Rubio is the nom on the GOP side then you can probably kiss a decent chunk of the Latino vote away as well.

Aren't you a Cruz fan though? They are pretty close (for different reasons) on the "terrible politician scale"

First of all, thanks for everyone on the suggestions, came in handy for sure! The game (stadium series) was utterly fantastic all the way. The alumni game was fun, not the most intense hockey ever seen but still a good time, we left midway through the 3rd period to go see the Wolves got get their ass kicked by the Knicks unfortunately, wow, the Wolves are such a frustrating team in dire need of a new coach. The Wild vs Blackhawks game was perfect, we were on the 50 yard line about 9 rows up, could see 90% of the ice including both goals, good tix, but maybe 10 rows higher up may have been the best in the house. Good to see the Wild kick some Chicago tail, the crowd was wild, the atmosphere was great and the weather was perfect, not too cold, not too warm, 31 degrees and some light snow...oh and 6 goals by the Wild! Ate at both Butcher and the Boar and Murrays. Murrays was a solid steak, definitely old school feel, very good but not "top 5 best steaks I have ever had" not sure it was worth every penny, BUT it was fun to goto. Butcher and the Boar: Wow, just, wow. Had the "Long Rib" and that is going to go down as one of the best 5 meals I will have in 2016 without a doubt, if you haven't been there, check it out. Great beer menu and solid cocktail menu as well. Went to Hell's Kitchen for brunch, didn't realize that had that completely insanely awesome bloody mary bar. Not sure I would go every weekend, but its definitely worth going to hit up once in a while IMO. Huberts has the ultimate deepfried jucy lucy IMO, also a fun crowd. Plus, Golden Tee. Masons was a good spot for a few good brews as well. Stayed at an airbnb at the Nic on 5th http://www.theniconfifth.com/ very impressed with the building/amenities/ease to literally get anywhere via light rail. I travel a ton for work and everything else and this is the first trip in a long time where I haven't had to take a cab once. Also, talked to the owner of the place I stayed in and the rent seemed reasonable per month all in. All in all, may have to move to Minnie some day when the future Mrs. DaveW and I have a few young Twins fans of our own. Very impressed with how easy, simple and awesome the light rail is and how fun downtown Minneapolis has become overall. Thanks again for the suggestions guys! Have to come back in town in a month for work so will work on checking out the rest of your recommendations.

Wow, didn't realize it was that low TBH

No, I think San Diego would be a good fit, their current GM is slightly insane, but they have enough money to compete. The media is fine etc The Rangers or Astros seem like good fits as well, but I doubt those jobs come available soon.

I could see him waiting for the right job, or going into broadcasting. I can't see him taking some dump franchise with no hope. Seattle actually seems like a perfect fit for him.

Hitting up Wolves game on Sat, never been to target center, any suggestions on where to sit/avoid?

Oh wow, that would be a heck of a thread!

Hey guys, Just wanted to say thanks for making this a very tolerable, informative and overall great thread! Pretty rare these days to discuss politics and see such respect for one another and nobody seems to be getting offended too often.

I don't have a lot of great things to say about trump, but I love the fact that he is calling out W for his bull**** and the Iraq war.

Yeah, by all accounts he was a great clubhouse guy as well. I still think the Twins should have tried to bring him back sometime in the past few years...

fair enough, but they never should have gone into a season with Punto as "plan A" for third base. He was a great util guy, but like a lot of great Util guys they get exposed pretty quickly when you put them at an offense heavy position.

As someone who wavers weekly on whether I am still a Catholic or not, I agree with you 100% the church has a lot of issues IMO but Francis is not one of them and is not only a great ambassador for the church, but mankind as a whole.

Smartest thing said in this thread.

You should trust Vegas odds....Vegas is rarely wrong. Twins over/under is 77.5 fwiw. That seems right.

Love the Keselowski pick! He is my fav driver by far. Yeah Dale is the hands down favorite to win Daytona, he is awesome at the track