joeboo_22

that makes even less sense, they just called up Parmelee, so they have 5 OF's. They can't wait 3 days to call up a guy who will prolly won't play a ton anyways?

It gets old, and yes Span deserves some of the blame, but at the same time if the medical staff is giving him the green light to play then its more their fault. Something needs to get fixed, I don't know if its the medical staff, Gardy or the front office, but it needs to stop. The Twins are risking players future with these decisions and its not just 1 or 2 outliers its been numerous players of all levels from prospects, journey men and veterans. That says something, and not anything good.

The young dodgers didn't clear waivers, they are officially submitted as players to be named later and will be later on. Another confusing part of trades. But everyone knows who they are.

I wonder how much of this injury was there during the season. I've followed Benson through the minors and if you look for the most part when 100% healthy he had solid years, when not 100% healthy he really struggled.

The only thing I can think of is that since they were in a race the AAA manager wanted the best lineup on the field which included him at 1B. But I agree with you 100%, and again its not the first time something like this has happened either.

Gibson and Tonkin are no surprise to me. Thielbar a little bit but not a ton. Herrmann is no surprise to me. Others I don't know enough about. The only guy that is not on the list that was surprising was Hermsen but I'm going to guess that innings are are reason he isn't going.

I don't think the Twins should just go out and sell Morneau, pay him, hope he hits next year well. Would get more value next year at the deadline anyways. I'm not opposed to incentive deals for a Pavano or a Baker, but if they sign them for too much, are not 100% and struggle I don't want Ryan to pull his I made the moves bs that I've heard before. The Twins need to make some coaching changes, I don't care. but somethings need to go. The Twins need to re-evaluate someone or thing within their medical staff. This Span situation is a joke, they handled Plouffe poorly and Pavano pretty bad as well. And they made many similar moves in similar situations last year. I do think the Twins need to trade Span and I'd look at trading Willingham if the right offer came around. I was opposed to it, but if you look at the Twins farm system the one area where there is talent is in the OF. IF and its a big IF Parmellee can go out and play RF respectively you can move Revere over to center. Mastronni can play out there, but Hicks looks to be ready or at least close, Arcia, is in AA, Benson who did struggle this year but if you look at his minor league history when healthy he played well, and when not he didn't, so it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for him to have a solid year next year and be ready for the majors. 2 other top 10 prospects are minor leaguers as well in Rosario and Morales. So you could trade those two for pitchers, and I don't think too much would drop off.

Can minor leaguers that are injured be transferred to the 60 day DL? there are 3-4 on the 7-day milb DL Maybe its cuz I'm a South Dakota kid, but I don't get why Thielbar wouldn't be called up. He is a lefty, and if the Twins are going to keep Duensing in the rotation and Perkins as the closer I think another lefty would actually be used if called upon. Add in that the last 2 Sunday pre-game radio shows he has gotten high praise by whoever the Twins FO had on that day.

This has just been 1 of the worst kept secrets. It seemed like since it was announced Target Field wouldn't get the 2013 that sources and people have reported they would get 2014. Seemed like it would have been a bigger surprised (bigger news) if they would not have been awarded the 2014 game.

I was never big on Levi Michael, and thought the Twins over drafted him due to need rather then talent. But at the same time, though he has struggled at Ft. Myers his numbers really have improved as of late, and Ft. Myers is a pretty bad team with not a ton of talent there. I'd send him to New Britain and try to get a read on him.

I think you have to start saying who do you want in the rotation next year. Right now I say Diamond is in, Hendricks probably deserves to be, but after that there isn't a ton out there. Walters was a so-so starter but has struggled pretty bad with his rehab starts in AAA. Gibson even if 100% I don't see the Twins pitching him more then 100 innings (prolly closer to 60 innings). So I wouldn't be surprised if he is put in the pen. DeVries is similar to Deduno are guys that I just don't see being effective in the majors long term. They may be able to hold the #5 spot but I just don't see long term MLB starter stuff in them. Deduno too many walks, DeVries just doesn't have major league stuff. It can last for awhile with them but it will catch up. Other then that Bromberg could make the roster, maybe they push Hermsen who has as much upside as any starter in the organization right now. But other then that I don't see much internally. So you start with Diamond Hendricks and then you have to wonder. I'm guessing 1 of the guys you mentions makes the team as the 5th starter but that means 2 have to be found for relatively cheap price. Could be a problem.

I don't know about the financials but I think St. Paul would work. Am I wrong that they have the same ownership as Ft. Myers? I think there is benefits to having a minor league affiliate close to the big club. I don't know if you would want it that close though. The twins send quite a few of there prospects to low-A. Mauer went there, Kubel went there, Sano is there now, as well as others. I think it would be good to have them close enough so some of the medical staff, coaching staff, and other front office guys. At the same time I think it would be more beneficial if they had a close AAA team. Whether that is (new stadium would be needed in most cases) Sioux Falls, Rochester (MN), Sioux City, Fargo/Moorehead, St. Paul, Green Bay, Madison. Somewhere where if you need a guy quick they can get there, somewhere in driving distance to go scout. Somewhere were they can go on rehab starts, be evaluated by the parent club, and so on. I just think a somewhat closer AAA team would be beneficial.

The new collective bargain has changed the game quite a bit I think, we didn't see a ton of prospects change hands this year, even with a bunch of teams contending. Liriano was one of the better pitchers on the market and brought two B or lower level prospects. Second of all, you have to have a direction if you are going to trade your face of the franchise, and it helps if there is someone ready to replace. There isn't a catcher in the organization right now that is close. As far as Morneau, he has turned it on as of late. If he has a good start of the year next year he would bring quite a bit more next year at the deadline I believe.

Say what you want about Carroll, but he has been by far the most consistent and best option the Twins have had at MI this season. You can certainly live with a .331 OBP out of your #9 hitter. He isn't blocking anyone, Dozier was able to get plenty of starts and proved he wasn't ready yet. And I get that, and he is doing his job. But he is the type of signing you make to take a close to winning the division to winning the division. Not the type of guy to anchor second or short on a last place team. He is costing what 6-7 million for 2 years of doing what he does on a last place team. I looked at Burroughs (less money) as the same type, I know there isn't much in the terms of the system but why not just put Casilla there and have him do that for the 1 million he makes a year, and see if he is worth 1 million next year. Save that money and get a bullpen arm, or put it towards a starter. Its not that Carroll is good, or doing his job. Its that I'm going to go out on a limb and say his WAR isn't that great and there are others for less that could do the same job. At some point the Twins need to figure out who is going to be in the middle infield. Whether that is moving Mastronni or trying to convert Revere (will never happen though it should be looked at), or just putting Dozier, Florimon there and seeing what happens or whatever. Its the point that Carroll isn't in the future while at the same point there isn't a prospect at that position even remotely close in the system so its not like he is holding down the fort until someone arrives in 2 years.

I don't have a problem with some pitching 1 year, incentive loaded contracts because they are little risk. But I hate making little impact signings that don't really help much and are just blocking others in the organization that may (or may not) have a future. Look at Jamey Carroll, why did the Twins sign him? He is a .240 hitter with decent defense (little range), and no power. Why not take that money and go spend it on a pticher somewhere.

He has said his thumb isn't 100%, its clearly not 100%. I don't think he was ever considered a Valencia type of player. He is more of a .250 ba with 30 HR's then a guy who was going to hit .290 with 15 HR's. Plus he had more of a minor league track record then Valencia and has had highs and lows to some point before between AAA and the majors, both things that Valencia never really had. Now thats not to say he is going to be an All-Star plug him in at 3B for the next decade type of player. But I just don't see him as a Valencia type of player.

I guess looking at it, I see 2 problem areas with how the Twins use the system. 1 is rookie ball, my opinion on rookie ball should be- that years draft class (with the new deal, they will sign in time to play as well), plus the international signings and tose that are dealing with an injury. No one else should repeat rookie ball, being a 22 year old college draftee dominating Elizabethton does no good. The E-Twins are great every year, yet it hasn't really translated up the latter much. The other is how they handle AAA, now some of this no doubt has to do with the Twins. But having numerous guys (Clete Thomas, Ray Chang, and numerous pitchers), while others are at AA.

Burnett had around an 8 k/9 ratio in AAA with a WHIP of 1.7. Slama has around a 10.8 k/9 ratio in AAA and a WHIP of 1.15, including a ridiculous 15.1 k/9 this season. They're very different pitchers. I'm not saying Slama is the answer but Burnett is not a good comp. And I understand that, its just my opinion that they will be similar type of numbers in the majors. I just remember when everyone thought Slama would make the roster a few years ago and Burnett surprised everyone by getting the nod over him. I just don't know if he has the upside some think he does, but I agree why not give him a shot.

The deal Boston got was a good deal for Boston, they dumped a ton of salary, had to send little money with and got prospects in return. I don't know if they would want Morneau for Lester, my guess is they would be more interested in 2-3 top prospects instead. I think they want salary relief and some prospects so they can spend money in the off-season on who they want and have prospects to trade for the next big thing on the market next summer.

I'd love to see it, but at the same time I think to have this type of event you need someone who can do it, few can. I would like to see Butera throw a few more innings though, honestly he plays once every 12 games, bats .210 while doing it. At the same time the pen is a joke, so why not have him throw an inning here or there in those 6-0 games.

There are few examples, Garza, Slowey, Duensing. But at the same time I feel like the Twins hold some guys back to the point that they want them to struggle. Example would be Tyler Robertson, now Tyler Robertson was a guy who it seemed like every year he regressed. He was drafted out of high school, and finally made the majors this year. In Low A, Tyler Robertson had the second lowest ERA the Midwest (low A) league, the lowest was another 19 year old, Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw was expediated through the minors, where Robertson was held back. Now I'm not saying if Robertson would have been pushed he would have become Kershaw, but its a comparison. The Twins also push rookie-ball and the 1 full year at low A followed by a sting at high A before they'd ever consider sending you to AA. Now at the same point, I think some of this is just how bad some of the drafts have been the past 4 years. 2007 draft- Ben Revere- only one to make the majors, and as far as I can tell no one is knocking on the door and few are even still in the system. 2008 draft- no one is in the majors, a few "'prospects"= Hicks, Hermsen, and others. But looking at the list Hicks, Hermsen and Guitierrez (if healthy) are the only ones that I can see making, and contributing next year for the Twins 2009 draft- these were the top picks- Gibson (TJ Surgery), Bashore- (numerous arm problems, now in the Yankees system), Billy Bullock-(traded for Scott Diamond), Ben Tootle-(arm blewout), Derek McCallum- (never amounted to anything), a few others then Brian Dozier who was "rushed". You look at the draft class and its Gibson, Dozier, Herrmann and Watts as the ones who I can see as possibly making the roster next year. 2010- Alex Wimmers- TJ surgery, as far as I can tell no single player from this class in AA or higher. 2011-Levi Michael is in Ft. Myers, no one higher as far as I can tell either So at the same time, the drafts have been pretty bad, which quite a bit of it was bad luck, but no one has been able to be "rushed"

I get the part where athletes have to be honest with their injuries, but from my personal history with a few injuries that is hard to say. If someone ask you can you go tomorrow? IDK, I cracked a rib (or 2 or more) this past fall. 2 days later I could barely move, and couldn't laugh, or do anything. 5 days later I felt fine. But 5 days after that they really started bother me when I re-injured them stretching. So I understand the whole thing can be hard. But when a guy can't participate in batting practice on his 5th day, he should be DL'd. The Twins aren't in a race, they are in the bottom 5 of all of baseball. If you take a guy, DL him, get him 100% that is fine. What if he came back too early and screwed something up in his shoulder and had no trade value over the winter and had to miss time next year? Now I do understand the part of who to call up, but the Twins send down Carson's when Span came back so they could have called up a pitcher. they could have called up an infielder, they could have called up Parmellee and seen if how he handles RF. This is the time of the year, in this type of year where you see what you have. Having a guy be day-to-day for 11 days doesn't help you in that path.

The thing with Waldrop is you know what you got, a guy who is going to throw strikes, induce groundballs and all that. Which if the Twins were in contention and needed a guy to eat up some innings for a 2 week stretch I'd be fine with, but the Twins are not. They need to figure somethings out, so I'm more in the line of giving some looks at what you have. Caleb Thielbar- a lefty, drafted in the 18th round out of South Daktoa St. to the Brewers, who had strugged and ended up pitching for thte Saints last year, who has in his own words fixed some mechanical issues and risen quite fast in the Twins system this year. He throws a sneaky fast, fastball, a slow curve and a cutter. Is he going to get outs in the majors? IDK, but why not find out. Plus he is a home state kid, and would be the first South Dakota St. baseball player to play in the major leagues. Deolis Guerra- this is a guy who was suppose to be the guy of the Johan trade, well no one else worked out, Guerra has been hit and miss while in the minors for the Twins, having good stretches and very bad stretches. Will he get outs? again I don't have a clue, but why not give him a chance. Anthony Slama- Now I'm not as big on Slama as others, I don't think his game will transfer to the majors like some do and I think he will be a comparable major leaguer to Burnett in the bullpen. However do I know? heck no, so why not give him a chance. I guess the biggest problem I have with the Twins system is they allow guys that are not very good and have little upside sit in their bullpen but won't even look outside the box at AAA to see what is available.

Span says he plans on playing in Texas. My resonse- well I hope so. Its only been 10 days

If your argument is there isn't anyone worth calling up and playing with 24 is just as good as playing with 25 even thought I should say 23 is just as good as 24 because Butera is 1 of the 25, and he plays about as much as he deserves to (not much), you have a losing argument. It's a bad trend. Look at it over the year. It started with Baker in the off season/spring training. And then its been Mourneau, Walters, Pavano, Plouffe, as well as others.