JB_Iowa

Thanks Glunn. Now, can someone tell me if this game is actually on somewhere? My Fox station has Pirates/Reds (good for the Pirates!) but of course, I'm actually watching the Hawkeyes & Goofers anyway.

Nathan asks Twins to help Rangers out | texasrangers.com: News Obviously Joe Nathan is better suited to the closer's role than to being a Twins cheerleader.

I can't be here tomorrow so I also want to tell everyone how much I enjoy reading through the game threads even though I don't post on them too often. And a BIG shout out to RB for the entertaining intros. Even when I don't skim the thread I almost always check out his intro -- pretty much assures a chuckle or two.

I'd like a fairy tale. "And they played happily ever after."

Jamey Carroll got his 1,000th hit. He'd have had more if he had gotten to hit against the Twins the last 2 years.

Wow, an inning where the Indians didn't score. Be still, my heart.

Does anybody think that 15 runs would actually win it for the Twins tonight?

Thank you sir, would like another? Or maybe 4 more here?

He's been with the Twins since 1990 (when he joined the organization as an intern) so he has 23 years of baseball with the team. According to his Linked in profile, before he was Twins Prez, he was: Sr. Vice President, Business Affairs at Minnesota Twins Vice President, Corporate Communications at Minnesota Twins Director, Corporate Communications at Minnesota Twins Manager, Corporate Communications at Minnesota Twins Manager, Twins Pro Shop at Minnesota Twins Given his marketing/communications background, nonsense statements and spin, spin, spin would be nothing new to him.

Just in case you missed it, here's an interesting interview with Mr. Dozier: One of the few bright spots, Brian Dozier sits down for a Q&A session - Minnesota Twins news | 1500 ESPN Twin Cities ? Minnesota Sports News & Opinion (Twins, Vikings, Wolves, Wild, Gophers) | Sportswire: Minnesota Twins

Lots of speculation on the SP front. Stumbled across an article on the PP about Swarzak being in the running. Minnesota Twins: Anthony Swarzak in running to become a starter - TwinCities.com Heaven knows how many names we'll hear between now and opening day.

Only once? Seems like the sequels are never-ending ... or maybe it is just the teasers in the previews.

But the award isn't for "Best player on the team", it is for "Most Valuable". They aren't necessarily the same thing. Mauer is going to be the best statistically on most teams in the league. Does that mean that he would necessarily be the most valuable? Statistically Mauer is the clear leader but Dozier's stats are second to his (except for perhaps a player or two with very limited ABs). But Dozier has played in about 25% more games than Joe Mauer (142 to 113). Mauer can't help that he was injured but there is value in simply being on the field. Dozier's improvement over the course of the season and over last year provides tremendous leadership value when you are talking about a team full of youngsters. And I admire someone who is still plugging along at a pretty high rate during the last month of a miserable season. On the defensive side, catcher is more valuable than 2B but Dozier's performance at 2B has definitely been an asset to this motley group of pitchers. I'm not disputing Joe Mauer's value to this team but I do question whether he should just be automatically awarded team MVP each season.

While I agree with much of this, I do think that ticket sales, food & beverage sales and merchandise sales play a part in the Twins thinking. I think they want to field a team that will have enough success to put & keep b*tts in the seats throughout most of the season. That doesn't mean they aspire to the World Series or even the playoffs but to some level of competitiveness that keeps fans interested through most of the summer. (I think we agree on that being their basic goal). They've failed miserably at that the last 3 years and I would speculate that is part of what is driving Jim Pohlad's comments. Not necessarily a return to the playoffs but at least a return to where they aren't an utter embarrassment so that after the 2014 season, season ticket holders renew (even without the lure of the AS game) and so that they keep people coming through the gates in reasonable numbers in August and September. Food, beverage, merchandise sales, ticket sales may not be the biggest part of baseball revenues but they surely have an impact -- isn't that why they wanted TF in the first place?

Great point. If Gardenhire is still around, that really solves the 3 catcher problem although since Sweet Drew went to LA, its been less of an issue anyway.

I believe that Gardenhire would be hired in a heartbeat by someone else. I also believe that his time in Minnesota needs to come to an end. Sometimes a new voice is just a necessity. It happens with ministers and school superintendents and governors and presidents and CEOs and all kinds of positions. It doesn't mean that they won't be effective elsewhere just that their effectiveness has diminished in their current job.

Probably 1st although I also saw something about one of the outfield spots. It just seems like the articles lately are still talking about his defensive problems more than his offensive. I don't know the answer. Maybe Sano sticks at 3rd but if not, I guess I'm asking if it is ludicrous to think of Mauer at 3B???

I haven't been advocating one way or the other. I get that Mauer's value is higher when behind the plate but we knew the amount of time there would always diminish. Question, though: there was always interest among some fans in Mauer going to 3rd instead of 1st. Do we now find that to be an impossibility? Has he aged out of playing 3B? Are we so sure that Sano will be at 3rd that we aren't even interested in trying Mauer there?

I don't think free agent acquisitions would make the Twins a contender in the near future (definitely not 2014 and I'm pretty skeptical on 2015) but I keep going back to Nick's statement in his "Dissension on Spending" article: "But there's a large difference between contending and what we've seen unfold here for a third straight year." In fact, I'd take it a step further: over the weekend Berardino made the following statement in one of his "Twins Now" blog posts on the PP: "[T]he A’s went five straight seasons without even sniffing the playoffs. From 2007-11, they averaged 85.6 losses per season as the big-spending Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers ruled the West.Oakland is back, however, even with a dump of a home ballpark and a sub-$70 million payroll that outranks only the Houston Astros among AL competitors. The Twins and their $80 million payroll can take solace from that example..." The Twins were 63-99 in 2011, 66-96 in 2012 and, barring a miraculous final spurt, are looking at about 68-94 in 2013. That's about a 96 game losing average over those 3 years. Even if we average in 2009 and 2010, 2 very good years for the Twins, the losing average is going to be about 86.6 losses per year over a 5 year period. Does anyone really think that the next 2 years will produce records as good as 2009 and 2010? I guess my point is that the depth of the futility to which the Twins have sunk is deeper than Oakland -- probably much deeper than Oakland so it is hard for me to take much "solace in that example." While no one expects miracles over the next year or two, I'd like to think that spending some money in the short run could produce something somewhat more palatable than where we are at right now. I don't want them to do something that will jeopardize a long term recovery but some recognition of the depth of this team's futility would be appreciated.

I just want to thank the Press for this series which gives a clear, simplified look at where the Twins stand, position-by-position, for 2014. For those of you who haven't been following along, here is a link to the latest one. The article then links to the earlier articles. Minnesota Twins Project 2014: Left field - TwinCities.com Nothing ground-breaking here but this is a nice early reminder of where the team stands going into the off-season.

They are astonishing but for me, part of being MVP is also being in the line-up. (I'm not faulting Mauer for his health issues here just stating that being on the field is important to me). In addition, those numbers have to be skewed by the horrendous numbers against Oakland. I just don't know how much of a difference Mauer would have made in those games.

Thank you. I take it that the quote in John's original post is accurate. (I thought I was losing my mind there for a minute -- although some would say it was gone long ago.)

We have a little "pick the stick" contest. In the past, people would pick Joe Mauer fairly routinely (when they could) because he would usually offer steady points without losing many. This season, people are picking Brian Dozier for the same reason. Especially since the All-Star break. I know that if I had some bad picks from other players (there was an unfortunate tendency to go backwards this year), I'd pick Mr. Dozier to turn around my losing streak. So this makes sense to me. I appreciate the season that Glen Perkins had and am glad that he received the All-Star recognition but day-in, day-out, Brian Dozier has been the most steady player on the team especially as the season wore on.

I also have questions about a pitching coach managing. Plus, so many of the concerns that many of us have discussed about pitching have been organization-wide not just a question at the major league level. Perhaps what is needed on that front is a new position -- one with more prestige than either manager or pitching coach -- to take on the entire pitching mess system-wide. As for the manager, I would prefer someone from outside the organization. I like what I know about Dave Martinez but I'm sure there are others out there who might also be forward-thinking and who offer a new perspective and style of leadership.

Is this an actual quote from the interview? I despise listening to podcasts (sorry) and interviews plus the sound on the computer drives my dog absolutely bananas. When i first read Chief's post, I thought he was being satirical. Did Terry Ryan actually make the statements quoted above? Thanks.