JB_Iowa

Well, now I understand why so many of you are enamored with Joe Mauer and why I find him dull and boring. Regardless of the difference in price, I never buy honeycrisps. They are okay to eat but I'd rather have a nice tart Haralson any day although I usually have to settle for a Braeburn cuz Haralsons have limited availability. And honeycrisps are far too sweet to use IN anything. And one apple doesn't a dessert make.

Interesting to see the lists laid out and I think you are right. The Twins have often seemed to sit back and let the market come to them but other teams seem to be making preemptive strikes. I don't see pitchers in the top group "falling" in years or dollars into what the Twins would want to pay. There seems to be a lot of teams out there with a lot of money. It's pretty hard to ignore what some of the new TV deals are doing to the market. I never saw the Twins as being able to acquire enough pitching to be really competitive in 2013. The question for me is how they should play this to be really competitive down the road. Do they put their money into short term pitching deals that may only marginally improve the team for 2013 or should they be looking to use some of that money to upgrade positions with the idea of possibly flipping those players for pitching depth at the trade deadline or next offseason? Can they mine a few undervalued postion player prospects (like Willingham) and then capitalize on them as time goes on?

I also haven't posted much lately -- mostly obeying the old adage, "if you can't say anything good, don't say anything at all." That has more to do with the state of the Twins than the state of this site but as the general frustration level seems to rise, people seem to get into weird and somewhat nasty arguments over trivial matters. For the most part, I read through comments and hit the mental "ignore" button. Spring training (no matter how unpromising) can't come soon enough.

Span and Willingham for sure. Doumit probably less so. But as I mentioned above, that does suggest that rather than "overspending" for free agent pitchers, maybe the Twins would be better off to use some of their money to acquire "bargains" at certain positions that they then may be able to flip for a high ceiling pitching prospect at the trade deadline or next offseason -- a la what they might (or might have) been able to do with Willingham. Of course, you have to be willing to part with those players too. I have somewhat more faith in the Twins' ability to spot a position player who is due for a breakout season than I do in their ability to spot a pitcher who is undervalued. I don't want to see them sign bargain bin pitchers and then pocket any savings ... but if all they want to sign is bargain bin pitchers, I'd be happy to see them put their "savings" into position players that they might later flip for pitching depth.

It has been my opinion since October 2010 that the Twins needed to tear down and rebuild -- mostly that meant the pitching staff but they needed other changes as well. Apparently this is now the "going rate " for pitching that is somewhat better than average. If you don't feel like you can find any "good buys" in the pitching aisle then you need to spend your money in other aisles seeing if you can come up with some good deals. THEN if those deals pay off, you need to be willing to spin it (and $$$) into pitching. The Twins' need for pitching is not a problem that can be cured in one off-season. They need to be doing everything they can to build enough depth that they might have some decent pitching down the road. That may mean diving in the bargain bin for pitching while spending other money to acquire assets that might be useful in trading for pitching. It isn't -- and won't -- be pretty but they didn't get themselves into this position in one year and one year isn't going to get them out of it.

First, I have no problem with this trade. I really hope that the Twins are rebuilding. Second, it is FAR too early in TR2 to reach any conclusions about TR's performance - good or bad. As for trusting him... Trust him for what? trust that he is being honest? I don't think he lies but I do think he is pretty closed lipped (I'm not saying that's bad) and he also knows how to bluff (at least with the public). Trust that he will turn this team around? The jury is still out on that one. Third, there is not one iota of doubt in my mind that the primary reason why Terry Ryan replaced BS as the Twins' GM is because Terry Ryan is fiscally conservative (a/k/a cheap). THAT is probably the one thing about Terry Ryan that I TRUST absolutely.

Is fruitful = frugal? I guess we can just hope that Ryan's frugal spending bears fruit .... and that its not lemons.

Well, half the stuff on this site is absurd so I wouldn't worry too much about that. But I do thank the OP for the post -- at least it is thought provoking. And while the impact may not be as significant as jorgenswest would suggest, it certainly appears that there is enough "smoke" to merit further examination. I also found the "head bobbing" part of the original article very interesting. It took me back to discussions we had earlier this year about mechanized ball/strike counts and umpire bias. As I recall, that discussion had to do with the strike count and how it affected the umpires zone. And now it looks like its not just the strike count but the stability of the catcher. Funny to think about how many little factors can affect the call -- and how much an "automated" system would change that. (And possibly change the game as we know it.)

Isn't his forthcoming marriage going to put a dent in this anyway?? Eye candy is easy to find. Drew Butera is great eye candy but I don't think anyone is suggesting that the Twins keep him around for that reason.

I swallowed hard when they signed him to a 2 year deal for 2011 & 2012 and was greatly relieved that there wasn't a 3rd year. Now we're being asked to be sanguine about Pavano for another year (or God Forbid, 2)? Even at presumably significantly less money than his last contract, -- No, thanks.

I am thankful that baseball has seasons so that no matter how bad last year was, it doesn't count when you start the new season.

Thanks for posting here. And your wife has to practice by knowing everything you do -- that way she'll know everything your kids do (often before they do it!).

I don't think this is just a case of ownership being penurious. I honestly believe that Terry Ryan is more comfortable with a lower payroll. It prevents him from having to deal with the angst of free agent signings that don't work out. My guess is that what happened with Jason Marquis and his contract kept his gut churning .... imagine if the contract had been for $12 million instead of $4 million (or $3 million, cant remember exactly). And then imagine if it had been for more than 1 year. My guess is that Ryan isn't going to touch his current spending ceiling let alone press for additional authority. I expect to see the Twins enter the 2013 season at about $91-$94 million.

It seems to me that there is a common consensus that the Twins need to acquire significantly better starting pitching than they have had for a number of years. I think there is also a general consensus that, although the Twins farm system has generally improved, the starting pitching prospects in the minors aren't optimal even allowing several years for development. What should make every Twins fan concerned (if not hopping mad) is that we have yet to see a willingness by this team to spend ANY ASSETS to acquire the pitching they need. Assets are assets. Whether they are existing players, prospects or cash. Some are more valuable than others and some have more potential than others but they are all assets (basically with an assignable dollar value if you are all astute enough to do that). We're getting caught up in how many cash assets should be spent for next year. The real question, for me, is whether the Twins are willing to spend ANY assets to acquire better starting pitching or whether they are just going to keep looking in the bargain bins.

Three things: 1. It is NOT "overspending" for free agent pitching if you pay the going rate for acquisition of a free agent pitcher. It is paying "market value". 2. I'm less hepped up on spending more and more hepped up on rebuilding. That being said, I am still looking for Terry Ryan to prove to me that he has the relationships with other GMs, the skills, and the guts to make successful and meaningful trades. 3. Regardless of whether it is "opening up the checkbook" and trying to buy a better team for 2013 OR whether it is making trades to acquire starting additional starting pitching prospects to go along with a pretty nice core of upcoming Twins prospects, I just want the front office to pick a course and stick with it. I want to see them make a commitment to excellence (whether that is in 2013 or because they build for 2015) -- not more of this mediocre middling and being content to have just enough gas in the tank to win the Central. And commitment to excellence means starting pitching that is at least "very good".

Silly me. I thought that the TD use rules were simply that people were never supposed to attack other individuals. Attack ideas? yes. Individuals? No. That's basically what I see how I see any "direction" or "support" provided by TD leadership.

It's gratifying to see Hicks move back up to #3 since he now has some maturity as well. He is also a reminder that players bounce around in these ratings and are, as they are called, prospects. A lot can happen before they reach the major league level. But reading this list still makes me more optimistic today than I was a couple of years ago.

I don't know what to think about the Marlins -- primarily because of their ownership. But I do wonder if constructing a winning franchise is like constructing a building. The foundation has to be solid or all the embellishments and frou-frou you add later doesn't matter. What if the Marlins saw that their core group of players was never going to be the basis for a championship? Weren't they then correct in tearing out that foundation and starting over? I've wondered the same about the Twins since the 2010 post-season. Was the foundation solid enough that all they needed to add was embellishments? Was it fairly solid but just needed some shoring up? Or was it so shaky that it needed to be ripped out and rebuilt? I've been depressed about this team since October 2010 because I feel like they need to be doing something fundamentally (or foundationally) different in constructing this team if they were ever again to have post-season success. Instead, in 2011 all I saw them try to do was add a few (not many) embellishments. And this year I felt like all they were doing was putting on some braces. I wonder if the Twins can ever construct a winning edifice unless they rip out the foundation and start over? By that, I mean less about the actual players they have and more about some of the philosophical underpinnings of the organization (e.g. their approach to pitching, their use of statistical analysis, their adherence to the 50% policy on salary, etc.) Is it possible to remake those policies to strengthen the foundation while still adding frou-frou to the top of the structure? Or do you have to be prepared to topple the structure and rebuild that foundation from the ground up? In a way, I've thought that was a bit what Terry Ryan and TK did in the early 2000's -- my understanding is that they came up with a plan wherein they instituted and coordinated a plan across the layers of the organization. But maybe that plan is now shaky and they need to rip it up and create a new one from the ground up?

I think scouting must be very important. But I also wonder if the nature of scouting hasn't changed? Do scouts (or should scouts) do their job the same way they did it 20 years ago? Or should the scout be blending in the wealth of available statistical information to make a decision? Where do the 2 approaches (old school scouting and sabrmetrics) come together? Is it at the scouting level or is it higher up? Where should they come together for the best result? Should scouting be untainted by what the statistics may tell them or should the organization be trying to "blend in" statistical analysis at the scouting level?

Phil Mackey had a pretty good column on local TV revenues: http://m.1500espn.com/pages/sportswire.php?sID=3956 Its not just market size but also number of households with cable/satellite, etc. I've yet to see an article about how the market area outside the TC metro plays into the whole equation. I would guess satellite/cable subscriptions are higher in outlying areas (I know they are where I live) but the number of households is much sparser. And then you have the whole question of the state of Iowa being included in the TV "market" of 6 different teams -- seems to me that Iowa probably doesn't add to any teams market base.

My big problem with the Twins is that they are "neither ... nor". They are neither willing to tear it down and really do a rebuild in anticipation of the talent they have in the system (but with adding even more depth especially pitching prospects) NOR are they willing to do as Howard (and JC himself) has suggested and spend more than their 50% rule of thumb (if they even spend that) to field a team that is above mediocre next year. While my personal preference is for a rebuild, I don't really have a problem with the latter. I just wish they'd pick a course and pursue it wholeheartedly. Instead, I feel like they are just idling along in same old, same old. Management has a lot to prove this off-season.

LOL, thank you Mrs. Riverbrian for the insight!

I don't know if Escobar is the right fit but I do think that the Twins seem a bit too homogenized. It's nice to have people around you that you get along with (and with whom the manager gets along) but sometimes it is the people who rub you the wrong way who push you to be your best. The whole approach of ditching (or avoiding) players with attitude seems lazy to me. (Not to mention that most of the players on this team lull (or should I say, "dull") me into a bored stupor).

I don't know that anybody is loaning or gifting money in the case of the Tigers. It may simply be a willingness to forego a certain amount of profit. I haven't seen any figures that would indicate that the Tigers are running a deficit. I do think that Ilitch wants to leave a legacy of a WS championship to Detroit -- and from his appearance this post-season, the window of opportunity to do so may not be that long. (He looks a lot more frail than some 83-year-olds that I know.)

To expect them to do that, one would have to assume their goal is to win a W Series championship...as opposed to creating a team to be competitive within the division Well, I don't expect them to do so. I would have no problem with suffering through miserable seasons if I saw it as part of a rebuilding mode. But I don't see that with the Twins. I honestly believe that their primary goal is to be "just good enough" to keep b*tts in the seats for most of the season. I wish they'd do SOMETHING that would convince me that they are genuinely interested in winning a championship not just making a profit. (That something wouldn't have to be a major free agent signing -- it could just be making some genuine trades to improve the ballclub in the long-run rather than just last-minute dumps of players they don't want to re-sign.)