jokin

Do we really have 40 indispensable players on the 40-man that requires additional punting? TR already punted once on the 2013 season when he essentially stopped signing and trading for MLB players last December. Parting ways from the 40-man with the likes of (one or two of the spare OF corps): Thomas/Ramirez/Mastroianni, Bernier, Hermsen, De Vries, Roenicke should hardly be the cause of teeth-gnashing. Plus Morneau's spot eventually opens up and perhaps more veterans, as well, in the offseason. Buxton can play for 15-20 games in September and still start out in AA next April. I sincerely doubt that such a special, driven talent would let those 15-20 games crush his confidence should he fail to meet his own expectations and nothing is going to crush Sano's confidence. And I'm definitely not advocating for the placating of fans, I'm offering an easy way to folllow up on the Free National Pub from sensational articles like the one from Sports Illustrated and raking in some additional revenue during the dog days of the lost 2013 season on the way to the third straight 90+ loss year- while offering glimmers of very legitimate hope on the way, and furthermore, generating additional season ticket sales for 2014 (generating this type of feel-good optimism about the near-future is not placating, it's marketing). Playing Sano and Buxton is not placating fans or potentially digging Terry Ryan's grave. And playing Buxton and Sano wouldn't represent impatience, a Septemer call-up shouldn't guarantee anyone's spot on the 2014 roster- heck, even Mike Trout bounced back and forth from the minors and majors before he finally stuck for good. Now on the other hand, Ryan is pretty fire-resistant if not completely fire-proof (as he apparently answers to no one except the guy who fired his predecessor, not for his demonstrated incompetence, but on the chance that he might be inclined to go a few bucks over "budget", whatever that might be).....but...having said that.... if Ryan were to go and do something really Moore-level stupid and trade either of these two for a 2-year rental of an "ace", even Jim Pohlad might sit up and take notice of the pitchforks and torches in front of One Twins Way. Terry Ryan is a lot of things, but he isn't stupid. Look, I know they won't do it, but they should at least consider it as a potential win-win arrangement. As I said, Ryan isn't stupid, but I'm afraid that his past comments like "I'm 53 but look 70 for a reason" and about how modern GMs have to bring more dynamism to the job than he can still offer, suggests that making these moves is just not worth the small risk taken by him in doing so, nor the time and effort spent.

Not only "not concerned" in the least, I'm incredibly excited about a kid who has only just started to scratch his full potential; barring injury, Sano's career will profoundly impact, and possibly forever change, the Twins landscape- for far, far longer than a single cup of coffee. I still can't believe that there are some out there that don't recognize this.

How many compiled their stats in a single season, and at age 20?

That sums it quite nicely. Hey Terry Ryan! Want to know a great way to get a Sellout for a Noon, Thursday afternoon game on September 12 against Oakland? Call up Miguel Sano. Want to know how to get back-to-back Sellouts, for a Friday night on September 13 game at 7:10PM against Tampa Bay? Call up Byron Buxton.

We can certainly hope so on both counts. New Britain looked a little dysfunctional on FSN last Monday (ie, Smith sending slow-motoring Knudson home, only to be thrown out by about 30 feet was pretty strange) and Rochester could certainly use a shot in the arm to get them over the hump, out of their short-term funk and into the IL playoffs. Pedro Hernandez should tag along, as well.

Loney, Morales, Morse, Reynolds, Hart are all available. some will be cheaper than others, someb will be one-year bargain bin types, but none of these would break the bank. Ryan won't trade Doumit, he and Gardy are enamored with him, and they wouldn't get nearly enough in return to pull the trigger, anyway (unless the Dodgers are feeling charitable again?). I'm not anxious for the 4 catcher alignment any time soon, I get enough acid-reflux from the 3-catcher scheme.

Needless to say, Gene Glynn (MN's first Mr Basketball), came in to a horrible situation and has gotten the utmost production and results from very little to work with (and he lost 2 very capable and experienced coaches from last year- Cuellar and Bruno).

And days like this further force the issue on promoting them to the next level. I'd really like to see an AFL option for Buxton and AAA promotions and/or Sep. call-ups for Sano and Rosario.

I hope the Twins start using MORE of their brain-power and thinking out more thoroughly the potential scenarios for Mauer, starting in 2014, through to maximizing the return on his contract to 2018. The 1B option is the easy way out, and he may very well end up there, sooner or later. But.... Mauer can get those same extra games and health-preserving plate appearances at Third, and he is more than athletic enough to become a very good, if not elite defender at the position. An elite defender at 1st is far less important at that position than having someone there that can consistently give you a shot at 35 HRs coupled with a high ISO (think Encarnacion). And playing 1B is often the only defensive option for sluggers. I'm definitely not a fan of another slightly higher-for-average Mark Grace at 1B if there are decent high-slugging options instead. Vandy's proposal is what I've advocated for, for quite some time now and exactly what he proposes needs strong consideration by the Twins for 2014, at least as an interim move until the arrival of Sano. Has it fully sunk in how really good Plouffe is against lefties? This year, through tonight's game, his slash is All Star-like: .308/.389/.500/.889. Yes, it's a small sample, but those numbers are reflective of his career numbers, here is his career slash against lefties: .277/.349/.512/.861. Plouffe's value as a lefty-hitting specialist could be more properly exploited by more deeply talented or more creative teams than the Twins Abreu would be the dream signing for First, but there are other cheap, short-term FA options at 1B for 2014, or it could be manned in-house.

lol......No one in Twins history will have banged the doors down to force the issue for a promotion by sometime in 2014- except for Joe Mauer. The next wave can't come soon enough.

Wait a minute, I thought Terry Ryan's strength was identifying and making judgements on undiscovered and underappreciated prospects and also buy-low major league turn-arounds? He certainly must have compiled the list of "acceptable" players in a Santana trade for Bill Smith to chew on shortly before he took his 4-year sabbatical leave. Without looking it up, I would wager that the minor league stats for the Yankees and Red Sox prospects were more intriguing that the one's from the Mets, including Carlos Gomez. It certainly wasn't for a still-vigorous and energetic Terry Ryan negotiating acumen. Here's his own epitaphic assessment and rationale explaining his 2007 departure: “I look like I’m 75 but I’m 53, and I’d probably be better served out in the field and out there on the diamond instead of behind that desk,” (Terry Ryan) said at his retirement news conference. He added: “The game has changed since I’ve entered. It’s for bright, energetic negotiators, more so than anything I possess.” Terry Ryan was directly involved in choosing his own successor, can anyone argue that he got that one wrong in a big, big way? Kind of ironic that Bill Smith gets credit in his tenure only for some successful draft picks and a complete FAIL when it came to "bright and energetic negotiating ability."

You can measure a GMs performance by the year-end balance sheet. And this year, it seems that cutting payroll for 2 consecutive years is going to result in 2013 being one of the Twins most profitable years, ever.

The switch hit thing was one of the alarming things we all first noticed in April. Hence, one of the reasons that led in part to my surprise at how RAW he looks as a major leaguer. Hicks turns 24 in about 5 weeks. I have high hopes that he will be much better next year. He clearly has all the tools to eclipse the career of Span, and maybe even Hunter. His debut season has certainly raised questions about his major league readninexx that hopefully can and will be addressed in the offsesason. He does seem like a nice guy and will be easy to rally around with some sustained success. Buxton hasn't talked about himself publicly, either, maybe there's a good chance that their personalities will really click playing alongside each other next summer and they could push each other by doing the same workout routines together. Until then, I'd love and welcome for Aaron to publicly call himself out and challenge himself to making the improvements in his game requisite to becoming the leader that he is capable of becoming in turning this franchise around in the right direction. And you're right on the Twins management and coaching staff and their role in this. Has he spent 5 years focusing a good chunk of his time and energy feebly trying to bat left-handed with this result? More help and hard work focusing and polishing up the elements of his game and letting Hicks do what Hicks does best would be time well spent.

Buck's numbers are advanced and his CS% is rapidly improving. Suggests he's worked hard to improve this perceived area of weakness that all the scouts had noted in his game.

Still qualifies as an attack and unnecessarily uncivil language in addressing someone- all merely because we disagree about baseball players who we both want to see reach their full potential. So yes, together with your opening bit of sarcasm this time around concerning "line-crossing", you've been unnecessarily disrespectful and crossed the line on what we all wish to be a friendly forum to exchange viewpoints, not score attack points.

I'd happily settle for either, and we may see a little of both as his career evolves.

Except the speculation on my part isn't wild and it isn't a "smear" as you characterized it. Time to lighten up a bit, don't you think?

Haven't commented on his character specifically in any way, shape, manner or form. Only that Buxton is more prepared and focused on becoming a major leaguer at 19 than Hicks is at 24. This is pretty indisputable.

I agree that Hicks doesn't have Buxton's skills, which was why I stated in my OP that Buxton was 3X the talent as Hicks. But Hicks is still a First Round pick, a truly elite athlete. He has had a good enough eye at the plate to maintain a high OBP throughout his minor league career with a pretty reasonable K%. That should still project him as a major league leadoff hitter. Further, his exciting adventures and misadventures in CF and some of his substandard defensive metrics show he wasn't Major League Ready. And that was the overall impression I got from Hicks' first year- that he physically was very, very impressive, but also, especially, that he looked, way, way, too RAW to be in his 6th year of professional ball- more like some 19 year old, utterly lost at times at the plate, and kind-of making it up as he went along in the field. Hard work involves better preparation and attention to detail- I would mark both of those down as Areas for Improvement on his year-end performance review.

Now my admitted speculation on Hicks relative to Buxton is "quite the smear"? If I had called him "lazy"- that would be a smear. Why is everything taken to absurd extremes on the internet? Just to make it official: "Hicks is not lazy".

I do know that whatever work he's put in hasn't been nearly enough for his given natural talent level. Baseball is hard. But it is easier for those with enormous athletic gifts like Hicks. And my questioning and speculating is not personal. I don't even know tha man, how can it be personal? I do know what I see, and I see an exceptional athlete who needs to keep working just a little bit harder to maximize his full potential. It's not uncharitable at all, I have no doubt that he's receiving just such a "tough medicine" type of message in Rochester and from the Twins FO.

Speculating about my own admitted speculation, and then wildly speculating on how and why the Twins came about starting Hicks in CF is what's specious. I never said that Hicks had "work ethic problems". I did say we've never heard about Hicks and how hard he worked, except in terms that he frequently had underperformed in the minors and had dropped out of the Top 100 rankings and possibly as a legit prospect. His performance in 2013 has shown that there are significant areas of his game that need a lot more work, work that many assured had already been completed in his 5 year minor league sojourn- in Spring Training, he was deemed "Major League Ready". Does anyone still hold that opinion? I said that Buxton's work ethic is off the charts, that he is adapting and adjusting quickly to new challenges, and by contrast, that whatever work Hicks has put in over the last 5 years has obviously not been enough- somehow you find those facts "specious and speculative"? Hicks no doubt has worked hard to catch up after continued initial struggles at each successive level. Perhaps he'll work harder and smarter in the upcoming offseason now that he knows how far behind he is in becoming a permanent full-time major leaguer. And what's with the "dude" and "specious" attack characterizations? Clearly a personal attack in violation of the TD policies. Please take a chill pill.

Good post. The really good ones make quick adjustments. Buck's proven he's a quick study, as he has made multiple quick adjustments at 2 levels with his in-season promotion. Kids this age, with this ability, but especially this aptitude, can simply explode in their performance level from one year to the next, which is why I hope they keep the developmental pedal to the medal (provided he's really 100% healthy). And you're spot-on about the FSL- it's not a place for faint-of-heart baseball-hitting egos. Sano laid some nice statistical groundwork to prove it isn't impossible, even at a tender age, to put up big numbers in this pitcher's league. I'm pretty skeptical in general on prospects. Mauer was the one guy I saw locally in high school who we all knew was special. Buxton is in the same category- not hype for Mauer, not hype for Buck, they're both the real deal.

Couldn't disagree more, and I usually agree with you. The team isn't hyping Buxton much at all. The hype he's getting is largely coming from the national media outlets, and mostly because Buxton appears to deserve the hype he's receiving. This has been an ongoing and well-documented story line about the kid's make-up and Georgia small school country-boy ways back from at least a year before the 2012 draft And I'm not just reading every positive thing about him, it's just that so much of what he's about is positive in nature. Certainly, he has weak spots in his game and maturity issues that he will have to overcome. You are just wrong about elite athletes (in general). I have been around, played with and coached them my entire life. It is by nature very difficult to instill the need to work harder in someone for whom something already comes easy. The ones who overcome the natural urges to coast (and head to Delmon Young-type careers) are the ones who become truly great. There are so many, many great athletes you never hear of because they flame out, are afraid of success, or afraid or too lazy to make the commitment to becoming, or staying, successful. (I've documented previously about a guy I knew in college who ended up pitching for the Giants for a couple years, he simply screwed around on his college team and had a very mediocre college career. He always had the talent and athleticism to be a big league pitcher, but he never once put in the extra time to maximize his full potential- had he worked harder during his developing years he certainly might have pitched in the big leagues for a lot longer than just 2 seasons). Certainly there are a lack of articles about Hicks, and we've never read that he isn't a hard worker. But, he was a 1st round draft pick, anointed early on and California-cool and laid back. He has demonstrably been slow to adjust to each successive level of play, and this season, simultaneously exposed for all to see his incredible God-given natural athleticism and the holes in his game that 5 years of hard work (or the lack thereof) in the minor leagues still need refinement and even more work to fix. I still have high hopes that Hicks can stick permanently next time around and I'm most certainly not hating on him. If you are a fan of his, I understand where you're coming from, and I think we all want to see him succeed to the utmost level of his ceiling. I am hoping to read an article this winter on how hard Hicks is working and has learned a most valuable lesson on preparedness from his first go-round in the big time.

+1!