JB_Iowa

http://twinsdaily.com/topic/11910-game-thread-twins-v-pale-hose-726-610pm-ct/ under Minnesota Twins Talk. Unless you haven't caught up in the forums lately, I do recommend going in and just marking the whole forum as "read". It'll make it so much easier to stay current from here on.

Get that virtual "red ink" ready, ChiTown.

Thank you. I did make one sarcastic comment in the last month or so that I was called on but otherwise I think I've been pretty well-behaved.

Wow, if 3 points will get you a delay, I'm a little confused about how I got 3 points when I can only remember one warning about a month ago and (maybe) one in September 2011 (or thereabouts) (I'm not even sure that was an official warning).

Thanks ChiTown and yes, Brock ... ChiTown did answer my question about getting to the last post in a thread .... just click on the star at left. The trick is that when you first get on the revamped site, the star will always take you to the first post so readers either need to mark the thread as read so that the star will then take you only to the first new post or just mark the whole forum as read and get a fresh start.

One more thing, is there something happening that old articles are just appearing all of a sudden. I'm going in and reading thinking that the Twins are claiming people off waivers and its really old news. Ah, growing pains ... such fun. Basically I've just marked all my forums as read so I'll know when comments are really new but the Articles section is just humming.

Brock, First, congratulations on the revamped site and thanks for all of your hard work. I'm sure we'll all find a lot to like as we explore. Also, thanks to those of you who devoted time and effort to helping Brock with the testing. And a big thanks to Jeremy -- just took a brief look at the organization chart and roster & payroll -- they are amazing. And thanks to all of the owners and contributors at TD for giving us a place to talk about our favorite team that is both open for discussion and relatively sane (with the exception of the occasional game thread on the sanity question). A couple of questions and suggestions: 1. I'd suggest that you lock the thread on TD being down this a.m. so that any comments on the new site get put here instead. 2. Will you continue to add Articles to the appropriate forum so that they get comments? As nice as the right sidebar is, I still believe that it is the forums that will help drive the comments. And it just seems easier to keep track of new posts there. 3. On the forums, can you tell us the easiest way to navigate to the last unread post in a thread? Love the color scheme and the REALLY CLEAN fonts and I'm sure I'll get used ot some of the things that may seem strange to me at first. Congrats again on completing the "make-over". JB

Hopefully, Gibson can improve on these results as he continues to learn and grow. He’ll need to learn how to pitch when his best stuff just isn’t with him – even Kevin Correia and Ricky Nolasco can turn in quality outings when their command is evading them. I wonder if last night wasn't part of that learning process. Len 3 tweeted: LaVelle E. Neal III @LaVelleNeal · 20h Gibson was solid but not spectacular. Failure to throw strike one kept him from pitching deeper in game. So even though he apparently didn't have his best stuff, he perservered. Thanks for all the analysis. It'll be interesting to follow this the rest of the season.

Seems like I've heard this song before. I'll believe it when I see it.

Great column, JC. I was really glad to see that he played well fo the Miracle last night. While it doesn't seem like he needs it, I'm sure that "cup of coffee" was just a little more incentive.

Rooting for Hughes and Dozier although I suspect Perkins will be it. If its Mauer, I'll throw up. Absolutely not deserved THIS year.

Great article, JC. To some extent, I view this as typical St. Peter spin. He's on a panel with the Saints. What's he going to say? But there have been enough past rumblings to make it a legitimate concern. And 2 years into the agreement, I'd view this as a slap in the face if I were CR. Also, I can see the real advantage of having your AAA or even AA team right next door. I see less advantage in having the A club there. Especially when it is currently a reasonably easy drive away.

I've always been of the opinion that the stupid stuff you do before you are 25 should be easily forgiven. Rosario won't be 25 until late in 2016 so I'm prepared to give him more chances. I hope he gets it together for his sake and for the sake of his family. From the Twins' standpoint, I'd be concerned but it does seem like the organization has been handling this well.

Thanks and Congrats!

Really like this column, JC. Read it first on Knuckleballs but didn't get a chance to comment. I love the image of all those 20 somethings in suits scurrying around. I especially appreciate your analysis of the possibilities of adding a significant position player. It just doesn't seem like there's many improvements available in ways that make sense for the Twins. I haven't seen any Stephen Drew rumors lately so do we have a feel for whether Ryan would be willing to give up the draft pick to sign him?

Thanks for the analysis. For me this all comes down to the Twins signing 3 pitchers with potentially higher up-sides than they've signed in the past. Will all 3 work out? I have no idea. Would it be a disaster if one of the three didn't? No. Obviously it will hurt more financially if Nolasco or Hughes fails than if Pelfrey fails but the failure of any one of them wouldn't kill this team financially (they are still at 2013 levels and haven't spent any of the new TV money OR moved back to what we believe was 50%-52% of revenues even without the TV money). In the long run, this is part of what I was hoping for from the Twins. That Terry Ryan would show that he was willing to risk a little more to get some guys who might have a higher payoff rather than always just dumpster divining. I see this as a step -- not a leap but a nice step in moving to being a successful mid-market team. And someday I hope that success with these smaller steps may pay off in a willingness to take a leap in the free agent market or in buying out arbitration years, etc. I'd also like to see some additional action on position players either through FA or trade. I hope TR's phone is working hard.

It does suck. And it WILL be a blot on Selig's legacy. He is working to remove that dark mark but his term as baseball commissioner will always be judged by the PEDs mess. The only way to change the entire PEDs situation is with a culture change and I hope it is happening. I hope that the union failing to defend players in the Biogenesis mess is a reflection of player attitudes. I hope when we see players deriding Braun, they represent a majority of players (even if a silent majority). I hope that he (and others) are not immediately welcomed warmly after their suspensions. For me, they have to show that they have reformed -- and that means frequent tests that all come out clean. As for A-Rod, he has been irrelevant to my baseball watching for a long time. I just don't waste any energy on him.

#1 The Twins need to admit they are in rebuilding mode not just "trade mode"

Thanks for the analysis. I hope others will continue to build on this in explaining the change in Mauer's numbers. And I'm glad to read that his K rate has normalized in June. I suspect that being healthy may play somewhat into his numbers this year but while that may play into his power boost, it doesn't explain the changes in his swing and contact rates.

First, I want to thank you for a well-written first blog post. And, I agree with much of what you've written. I want to point out what has been another "conundrum" for me that ties into your 2nd to the last paragraph. I'm am absolutely convinced that Gardenhire's long-term approach ("Keep playing hard boys, we'll get 'em tomorrow), is a significant part of the success that the Twins enjoyed during the 2000's. He generally did not allow them to get too high or too low -- keeping them on an "even keel" with an appreciation for the length of the season. I do believe that it helped them down the stretch. But I also believe that it puts them in middle gear and that they were unable to shift out of it when it came to the playoffs -- when time is NOT on your side and there isn't always a game tomorrow. Don't get me wrong, the lack of power pitching and the gaps in the line-up were also a big part of those losses. But sometimes "little engines" do win, even in the playoffs, but they have to have the right mindset. And I just don't think that Gardenhire and the other leaders on this team (whoever they may be cuz I'm not sure I've ever been able to identify them well) were able to shift from a long-season view to the urgency of the playoffs. And in a sense, I wonder if the organization's current stance isn't somewhat like that. They were used to sustained long-term success in the 2000's (albeit no playoff wins) and now that they have had a disastrous two seasons, I think they are still stuck in 2nd gear. I hope that they can shift to 1st as some of the prospects develop so that the Twins may eventually be competitive in the post-season but I'm not sure that it'll happen especially if 2nd gear (no substantial changes in the organization) eventually produces regular season competitiveness.

Merry Christmas! And please don't drink all 10 beers at one game.

And people wondered why more and more posters moved to the "dark side" even before the off-season? Some of us would simply rather be "pleasantly surprised" than to get kicked in the teeth again. Yes, there is still time and a few limited opportunities for Terry Ryan to salvage this off-season but as of right now, things don't look good. And, ironically, that's true whether -- before the offseason -- you hoped for a complete rebuild OR you thought they could be competitive in 2013.

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.

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.

My thoughts were almost entirely the opposite. I am incredibly happy for the Tigers and for Delmon Young. And I really hope that they play -- and beat -- the Cardinals. I don't understand this hatred of rivals. I love the Twins but that doesn't mean that I hate any of the other Central Division teams. They are still the ones that I root for in the post-season -- and it doesn't matter if it is the Tigers or the White Sox (or Indians or Royals if they could manage to get in). My other big passion in sports is the Iowa Hawkeyes. Similarly, I root for every B1G team in the bowls and tournaments (even the Goo-fers). As I posted elsewhere when he was traded, DY was the big winner in the Twins-Tigers trade. He didn't take advantage of it the way I hoped he would this season but at least he came on strong at the end. Relative strength/weakness of the Central: Dombroski has been talking a lot recently about building this rotation for the post-season. The Tigers also have an owner who is willing to gamble on picking up the additional pieces they need. For all those who argue that the Pohlads did that for 2010 going into 2011 -- c'mon don't kid yourself. We all saw that the team wasn't good enough to compete in the post-season in 2010. What did they add for 2011 that changed that scenario? It comes down to a matter of philosophy. The Tigers seem to be willing to suffer some losing seasons for the possibility of a short surge (1-3 years) once a decade. The Twins don't seem to be willing to take that risk, instead preferring to idle along near the top but never reaching for that "star". Interestingly, neither team has won the World Series for more than 20 years. But the Tigers have advanced in the post-season. I can only hope that the misery of the last two years causes the Twins to re-evaluate their approach.