DaveW

19/F/CA looking for a fun time here! Happy to help your survey

Killebrew, Carew, Mauer, Puckett, Olivia, Santana, Bleyleven, Hrbek Puckett is my all time favorite player ever, however IMO Mauer has already surpassed him. Mauer is already one of the best 3 or 4 catchers of all time, Puckett was/is a definite hall of famer, but not even close to one of the best CF of all time. Mauer plays a harder position, and significantly beats Puckett in Avg, OBP, OPS, OPS+. Mauer has 3 batting titles vs Puckett's 1. 1 MVP (should have been 2) vs 0. Puckett has the advantage in All Star games and home runs. At this point I think Mauer has proven to be a better player then Puckett in his 9(ish) years. Assuming Mauer has another 3-4 great years hitting wise followed by 2-3 good years, I think he surpasses Carew as well and becomes the 2nd greatest player in Franchise History.

I will have fun bumping this thread every time Florimon goes 0-4 with 7 LOB in a one run loss this year.

Yeah, unless its transportation or you literally have someone's life in your hands, drug testing is a waste of time and just another example of big brother. As long as you show up to work on time, do your job and earn an honest living, why would it matter if you partook in a little harmless pot?

But that isn't true..

I wouldn't give him 14 mil a year, I would give him 2/22 or 3/30 in a heartbeat though.

If you signed him to a 1-2 year deal, you would likely get another 2nd round pick (or 50% chance at a 1st round pick) back at the end of that contract. The Twins have the best farm system in baseball, and the worst major league product (sans Marlins, Cubs and Astros) in baseball. At some point you can sacrifice a single 2nd round pick in order to greatly improve your major league talent/roster. The Twins window is going to open very quickly with the arrival of Sano, Buxton, Meyer, Rosario, etc etc over the next couple years, get players that can help now and in the near future instead of 2nd round guy who likely will never make the majors, or won't make it for several years.

You do realize that we have a permanent (knock on wood) fix for CF that should be ready in the next 6-12 months, right? We don't have ANYONE right now in the system who looks to be a sure thing as anything more then a stop gap SS.

Have you seen our SS depth chart lately.

I don't think people realize just how awful Bartlett has been the last 3 years either... I like Bartlett a lot (Oklahoma player who made the Twins). However the odds of him sticking in the majors this year are a long shot, the odds of him sticking as a legit starting every day SS is even longer. I hope he succeeds, but let's be real. If he hadn't came up with the Twins org, he would be just another spring training invite.

I really will never understand the Escobar love, we all complain about Florimon's bat, but Escobars has been significantly worse in the majors. And in the minors other than a fluky 34 games in AAA last year, Escobar's bat has been the exact same as Florimon. Additionally, Florimon is a much better defender at SS then Escobar. In reality, neither guy should be a starter on a team that even pretends to contend. However when your options are Florimon, Escobar, and Bartlett (who hasn't done anything since 2010) I don't see how anyone but Florimon is your starter heading into 2014. Why would Bartlett be kind of livid? Is there some magical other team where he actually would be competing for a starting SS job? Last time Barlett played full time in the majors was 2011, and even then his bat was Florimon esque with worse defense. This is like getting upset that Correia is given the #5 job over Rich Harden and Pedro Hernandez.

Um, have you seen who else they have "ready"? I am not a huge Florimon guy by any means, but Bartlett is nothing more then insurance in AAA, and Escobar is maybe a Util guy at best. He was still a 1.3 fWAR and 2.1 bWAR guy. Still, give me Drew.

Santana isn't going to be ready IMO. I think they should sign Drew still... but its a pretty easy decision to give Florimon the spot over anyone else in house at this point. Barlett basically needs to light up in ST to have a chance at the opening day roster, or someone starts the season on the DL.

Correia is just fine, I'm pretty sure they could "shed" him at any point if they wanted too, however if he pitches like he did last year he is clearly an asset. One way or another I imagine Gibson gets his shot early, losing one of DeDuno or Diamond would hardly be the end of the world.

The Twins shouldn't be getting rid of any pitchers at this point. I'm not a huge fan of DeDuno/Diamond, but both could be cheap solid #5 guys if it breaks right. Parmelee isn't bad, but this team has a ton of bats coming up very quickly. I'd much rather lose a guy whose ceiling appears to be a back up corner OF/1b then a guy who could be a starting pitcher (worley, Diamond, DeDeuno)

Also, 6 hours or so after the interview (that evening) be sure to send a letter briefly thanking them for the interview, after that brief intro (thank you) be sure to ask them several questions, this will ensure that they will most likely reach back out to you, and shows that you are intelligent and eager to work for them. If you don't hear back in 3-4 days, follow up to that e-mail. 99% of the time they will respond positively.

Don't over think it, shoot from the hip. Always remember its THEM who needs YOU, never the other way around. Be straight and to the point, don't B.S. em. Be blunt if need be, if the person can appreciate that, then they will work great with you. Don't "mold" yourself to something you aren't during the interview. Also if you can do a little research into the person who is interviewing you prior it always helps. i.e. if they have written some pieces, been interviewed for a trade mag etc feel free to bring it up, it shows that you actually took time to learn about them. Also if you find out they are a football/baseball/sports fan, seriously try to bring that up at some point and keep them talking about whatever non job/work related as much as possible. This will create an instant bond and someone your boss will enjoy working with.

No kidding, it would at least get butts in the seats.

So this is going to be a bit "target field" and all baseball stadiums (and one all sports stadiums/arenas and fans) apologies if it goes a bit to off topic in advance. 1. Allow gay/lesbian couples to appear on the "kiss cam". This is 2014, deadspin had a nice little bit about it yesterday in an article about the kiss cam. It would be awesome if the Twins were one of the first teams to do this, especially in a state that recently overturned a discriminatory law. Anyone who argues it is "taboo" for kids is just covering up for their own bigotedness/closed mindness. 2. Allow fans to take ONE beer in from the outside concourse/tailgate into the stadium. Seriously, is it really that bad? The quicker you get folks into the stadium the more you make. 3. Get rid of the no beer after the 7th inning (or 3rd QTR, or 2nd period) rule. I get that it is supposed to prevent drunk driving, but let's be honest, it doesn't. If people want to get hammered they will get hammered before the game, during the game, and after the game at a surrounding bar. The rest of us who like to enjoy a few beers during a game while having a safe ride home shouldn't be punished. There is nothing worse then having a nice few beers you in during a baseball game through 7 innings, and then have to sit there for 2 more hours as it goes into extra innings without a single brew being able to be purchased. People are gonna be responsible or not responsible, stopping beer sales at 7th inning makes no sense. 4. More Troll music for away players. I think when A-Rod or some other "hated" player comes to the plate, Target Field should play a ridiculous Bieber or one direction song. (or some old classic piece of garbage) It would keep things a bit light hearted, and provide a laugh in the midst of a 95 loss season. 5. Better contests- Contests and cheesy in between innings things will NEVER go away because of ad revenue and sponsorships. However the team should make the prizes for fans more worthwhile then a $25 gift card to a sporting store or whatever (which won't even buy a hat these days) I remember back in the day when the Royals would hide a diamond ring in the outfield and make a contestant try to find it. Now that was fun to see! 6. If there are kids around, don't swear. 7. If theren't kids around you, and you hear someone drop an occasional S bomb, or GD bomb, (without shouting) just let it go. You are adults. 8. If you are a know it all baseball PLEASE don't start correcting people, or talking loud/arguing with everyone. That is what the internet is for, sometimes it's nice to be at a game with a family/friend and just use that 3-4 hours to catch up with them. 9. Don't loudly state: "I can't believe beers are $10" Over and over at a game, yes we all realize the price of beer and food is ridiculous, you aren't the first person to realize this. 10.Bring back troughs urinals. It's efficient, quicker and pretty sure it can be much more eco friendly. Plus you bond with your fellow fan. 11. Stadiums should get soft toliet paper in their bathrooms rather then the industrial sand paper. Seriously, everything else in the stadium is sponsored, shorely they could figure out a way to make money from using nothing but Charmin. 12. Don't take thing to seriously (unless its a playoff game), remember you are there to have fun (and spend a small fortune on food/beer/swag)

Except that isn't the case...

IMO you are over-rating him by saying that The Twins have definitely had more than 2-3. Killebrew, Carew, Tony O, Mauer and Puckett are all better than Jeter. Johan honestly might be better as well (tough to compare SP and position players though) Jeter wasn't even the best play on his own team the majority of those years (WAR his him the best only 3 years) Take Mauer for instance, he is significantly better than Jeter offensively (it's not even close) and defensively the only position harder than SS is Catcher, and Joe at the very least played a very good defensive catcher for a decade. You wanna talk about under-rated? Joe Mauer. Kid already easily goes down as one of the best 5 Catchers in the games history, even with the position switch, yet nobody mentions him. That is under-rated.

Craig Biggio, Edgar Martinez, Larry Walker for me.

Have you read the thread? The point is there will be a very large number of the media/fans who will claim he is the best SS of all time.

I agree with first ballot, but at the same time it points out the huge flaw that Biggio and Larkin (extremely similar players) didn't get first ballot.

Also one thought I have on his defense. Jeter's numbers already were anywhere from below average to bad when you look at UZR etc, I am thinking those numbers would be even worse if he wasn't surrounded by slick fielders around him (A-Rod at third during his prime, and Cano at 2nd) Yes, SS is the most important position, but he honestly shouldn't have been at SS the second A-Rod got to town.(And maybe even prior) Everyone talks about what team player and "gamer" Jeter is, but they always leave out the part where he refused to move from SS for A-Rod, even though it would have certainly been better "for the team" I'm not saying he didn't have the right to refuse, or even was wrong, but this idea of him being the "ultimate team player" is wrong IMO.