JB_Iowa

The Marlins have been in existence for 20 years and have 2 World Series championships in that time. How many do the Twins have in a similar period? And 1 of those championships was under present ownership (and both came after fire sales). I'm not defending Marlins ownership here but I really think that the Twins need to rethink the 50% policy. There are times for bringing up young players and rebuilding -- and spending less than 50%. Then there are times that the team is mature and the team should be spending significantly more than 50%. There's certainly no reason that the Twins couldn't spend more than 50% on a regular basis (larger revenues should allow you to assign a larger percentage to player personnel) but at a minimum, they need to rethink the overall policy.

My heartfelt gratitude as well.

Oh and congrats to Josh Willingham on a well-deserved award.

Mauer played less than 1/2 of the season's games at catcher (74 at C; 72 at DH & 1B). Based on that, its NOT hard at all for anyone living outside of Minnesota to justify leaving him off.

I'm pretty sure he has said that as well. The point of my post was to question whether -- in baseball (or other sports) -- that is the wisest course of action. I'm not talking about back-loading contracts or mortgaging the future to make more acquisitions now. I'm talking about taking the savings you should be able to generate when you are bringing in a young core of players and putting that money aside for the future -- either to retain them or to sign additional talent to go with them. What is so magical -- OR so fiscally sound -- about spending up to your "allocated payroll ceiling" now. Or is it just that they want to distribute it all as profits? Baseball is a business but ownership of baseball teams SHOULD have another goal besides making a profit -- that should be to win a championship. And maybe that requires being a little more creative with your financing than just saying we're going to allocate 52% of expected revenues to payroll.

I'm still wondering, BTW, why the Twins can only spend half of that money on payroll. Nobody seems to have an answer. I wonder about that as well -- although I'd leave out the "only" part. I don't want to get into an argument about revenues and the Twins operating costs at Target Field (it does seem to me that they may be somewhat higher than at the Dome). But my question is this: should the team always be locked into a relatively narrow margin on percentage spent on player salaries (e.g. 50% -52% as I think I've seen at times) or should the range be larger (e.g. 43%-60%)? It would seem to me that a rebuilding team would have lower salary costs than a "mature" team and that you'd want to allow for that -- so that when you have a truly competitive team and want/need to add some finishing touches, there wouldn't be financial constraints on doing so. Maybe with the larger revenue stream at TF, the Twins would be willing to forego some profit and do that anyway if they ever get a competitive team again. But maybe they should plan for that eventuality but harboring some funds when the team is less competitive. I've thought about this argment for several years as we've discussed the costs of "buying an ace" (and people repeatedly saying that the Twins can't afford it). Is the Twins business model (as they've explained it in public) too rigid? I know that no one wants to talk about lower payrolls but if, for example, the Twins bring up a number of minor league players over the next few years that save them money, should they be spending all the savings while the young core of players is still raw? Or should they be saving that money until those players are mature and the use of the $$$ might make a bigger impact? (oh, if they do that, they'd better make it clear that's what they are doing -- not just making a bigger profit for now).

The Devil Rays????? You're showing your age, John.

I'm not a big fan of Boras but I can't deny that he is good at what he does. I do disagree with what he says here: "Every team can afford to keep a franchise player now." Maybe, but maybe not. Market forces will still be at work. Maybe the extra "salary" allotment is better used on mid-level players rather than franchise players. Maybe mlb will raise the minimum. Or maybe Boras will be arguing for a lot bigger salaries for franchise players thus pricing them out of the reach of a segment of teams. ALL teams get the extra money so I'm not sure that it will impact how the market plays out.

Per mlb.com: The AFL Rising Stars Game will be aired live Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on MLB Network, MLB.com and Sirius/XM Radio. There's an article at: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121102&content_id=40150518&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb For those of us who already miss baseball, here's a chance to watch another game -- and get a glimpse of the future.

Thanks for the chart and work - very interesting. And a suggestion for a snow day when you have nothing better to do -- it would be really great if you could put that chart into a format where you could click on a number and have it bring up the trade that was made. (I'm too lazy to do this myself but it would be a great resource if somebody was willing to do that -- kind of like Jeremy Nygaard's salary chart). I'm going to be really interested in seeing what - and with whom - trade(s) Terry Ryan can pull off this winter.

Promotions can breathe new life but how likely are they to do so in this case? What bothers me the most is that we don't see people leaving the Twins organization, getting experience elsewhere and then coming back. (Krivsky would be an exception, I suppose). Instead, they stay mired in the "Twins way" -- but guess what? Maybe that "way" could use some updating with fresh energy and ideas. It looks to me like by the time anyone gets promoted to an influential position, they've been indoctrinated in the "Twins way" for so long they probably don't even remember that there are other approaches out there. Stability is good. Stagnancy is not. It's time to breathe some new life into this organization.

18 years, 15 years, 21 years experience on the Twins training/medical staffs Are we really supposed to believe that anything will be different? Apparently McWane was simply a sacrificial lamb like Stelly and Jerry White.

Happy for him. A bit sad for the Twins (although I still had the gut feeling it would have been too soon for him to be back as the manager of the Twins). Impressed to see that he has moved up to a MLB manager's job so quickly.

I agree - the deep thought commercials were really bad. My all time favorite commercial was the Pitchers Ode to Joy. I have to think about who was pitching for the club (including Bonser, Rincon, Liriano, Nathan, Neshek et. al.) but the words stick with me. 3-2 count, we love the slider

Well, this wasn't what I expected to read (or hoped to read) when I opened this thread. Just hoping that they demote Dave St. Peter back to marketing and get a new President.

I hope that they sign one pretty good FA pitcher early as Nick suggests and that they then sign another later who agrees to a one-year contract because he can't get a better offer elsewhere. (If they get 2 in the latter category, that's even better). As for salary, I still think it will be $91-$94 million but $100 million isn't unthinkable. I really want to see them make a successful trade or two this winter. I feel like all they have done in recent years is make a few (and I mean few) off-season trades or deadline deals to rid themselves of their self-perceived problems (whether that they didn't like the person or they didn't want to offer arbitration or whatever). I'd like to see a trade or two that is genuinely focused on improving the ballclub - a realization that you have to be willing to give something decent to get a decent return. I suspect that Span will be part of that but I'll take Terry Ryan at his word that ANYONE except Mauer could be part of that. I don't think that Span alone would bring back a ML-ready starting pitcher (at least not one that most of us hope for). So we need to see if the Twins brass still have the skills, contacts and guts to put together a meaningful package deal. More than the free agent signings, I want to see if the Twins still have the ability to make a successful trade (realizing that we may not know how successful it was for several years).

Thanks for the link. I, too, found that quote a little disturbing. Consistency is good. Stagnancy isn't. Obviously they've had to make adjustments and changes over the years just to keep functioning. But did they do it enough or would it have been better to bleed in a few more new perspectives" (philosophy, talent & ideas) over the years?

I haven't been yipping about the age although when Cody Christie posted his piece about Molitor the other day, I did mention that I was hoping for a bit more youth when they looked for a new manager (ironically both Gene Glynn and Paul Molitor are older than Gardenhire). It looks like Steinbach, at 50, is the baby of this group. But of more concern to me than age is that it appears that the Twins continue to look primarily within their own system or to their own "legacy" players without bringing in fresh perspectives. Glynn is really the only newcomer to the organization (at least he has experience outside the Twins system). I guess you could argue that Steinbach is a "newcomer" but he doesn't really bring anything new from the majors outside the Twins. I think that's what is most troublesome to me -- they don't seem to want to hire anyone who might challenge their belief system.

I'm disappointed that Mauer is considered off-limits (yes, I know that he has a no-trade clause) -- after the last 2 years, I'd hope that no one is off-limits. I appreciate the post and I hope that more news dribbles out of the organizational meetings. I'd be especially interested in learning what they are doing to improve things like the woeful defense and questionable base-running we've been seeing. That has to be starting in the minors. What are they doing to try to get back to the fundamentals?

Since Terry Ryan never tips his hand at anything, the contents of this excerpt aren't surprising .... but then, I wouldn't expect him to say anything meaningful in the entire interview. Great for the speculation game but everyone will just have to wait and see what he does before learning anything definitive.

This seems more likely given that they didn't bring Gene Glynn up to the major league club either. I had a problem with Cody's speculation (both being considered 11 years ago) but not bringing up any likely near-term managerial candidate makes some sense

I don't know. Your possible explanation would have seemed plausible to me 5 years or more ago but 11 years after Gardenhire was hired? That water should definitely be under the bridge by now. I don't see Molitor as any more of a threat to Gardenhire than Gene Glynn. I would hope that if things go badly for Gardenhire next season, the Twins would be looking for someone with experience outside their system. Glynn would fit that profile much better than Molitor. Personally, I would hope that the Twins might be considering a broader range of candidates. Gardenhire, Glynn and Molitor are all very similar in age (with Glynn and Molitor both a year older than Gardenhire). I'm not saying that they have to go younger but it may be something they should consider along with other factors -- especially some new perspectives from outside the Twins system.

I don't know if this analysis is correct: http://www.truebluela.com/2012/10/11/3491814/dodgers-shohei-otani-international-spending-limit There seems to be a lot of speculation among bloggers but hard to find anything really definitive or authoratative. If the Dodger blogger is correct, there are some pretty severe penalties for going over limit. Seems like Otani and his agent will have a lot to consider -- not just signing bonus but where he would best fit long term, who will best protect and develop his arm; monetary prospects over the long run; and maybe, what would be the "happiest" fit for him in terms of players and community.

Is amateur different than HIgh School? Isn't the whole point that he isn't playing pro ball in Japan so that there won't be a posting fee and Japanese rights? So how would that take him out of the signing bonus rules?

I disagree. I think something good can happen in the playoffs ONLY if you have good pitching. Not that good pitching guarantees playoff success (or even that you will get to the playoffs) but that you are pretty much doomed in the playoffs without it. And it isn't just good pitching ... I think Dombrowski is right that you need power pitching. Delmon has had a good post-season but I have absolutely no doubt that the Tigers are LED by Justin Verlander and Jose Miguel (Torres) Cabrera.