jokin

Wait a minute, I thought the "Correia Standard for Acceptable Suckitude" was firmly established this spring on this very site: "4-5 runs over 5-6 innings at least gives us a chance..."

Gibson went 9 innings again, the last time he did that they gave him an extra day's rest. Plus you have DeVries now back, and a Red Wings off-day on Wednesday. That would put him back until Saturday or even Sunday, unless the Twins call him up for Friday night. DeVries pitches tonight, Deduno tomorrow, Walters pitched Saturday night. How about your AA rostered starters? Guess who pitched on Sunday? The odds are probably 50-50 that it sounds like it will be BJ Hermsen Coming Out Party this coming Friday.....

Lots of selective memory by the Twin-spinners lately, at least the ones still posting, anyway.

There is a regular and ongoing overboard concern on how the Twins can somehow...some way.... come up with a 40-man spot. Entirely non-consequential Alex Burnett was the latest Twins "casualty". I agree with your premise, creating extra roster spots on a team coming off of 195 losses, seems to be something that the FO could do while: standing on their head... while half-asleep... underwater. Just look at all the detritus that Fracona swept aside in one offseason on the Tribe. And no one was saying make an immediate move to the 40-man, I simply just made a request that the local media push the Twins harder on obviously looming developments. They don't even need a direct quote, just an unattributed background comment for us Twins junkies to get a feel for which direction they might be headed.

And Ryan conveniently ignored the easy-to-examine Hicks learning curve, as apparently did the sports press. His history had demonstrated that he has struggled the first year at each successive level jump, and now he/they seriously expected that Hicks could seamlessly jump two levels without significant adjustment difficulty? Shame on him and shame on the local media who shamelessly went along with the Ryan ruse by annointing Hicksie as fully in the process of making the unencumbered and nearly unprecedented jump to the Twins, as their very own "Next Big Thing".

The Twins disasters with pitching draftees is rampant since 2008. 2008: 30 First rounders have reached the major leagues, most in 4 years or less. 43 more through Round 5. The Twins had 3 first round picks, the Twins were 1/3, as Aaron Hicks finally made it in year 6. To repeat, there are 43 additional players in MLB that have made the majors through Round 5 of the draft, that makes 73 in total- no Twins- can't blame the draft position here too much. Hicks is basically the only Twins draftee that looks like a Twins impact player, although there are still about 4 left that have a small shot to make the MLB roster at some point. 2009: 18 First rounders have reached the major leagues in 4 years or less. 20 more have reached through Round 5. (6th rounder Hermann had his emergency call-up last Sep). Gibson (1st) and Dozier (8th) are also in this class. 2010: 8 first rounders have reached the major leagues in 3 years or less. 11 more have reached through Round 5. Tonight's Twins' opponent, the NL East 1st place Atlanta Braves have 2 from this class in their starting lineup- Simmons (2nd Round) and Gattis (23rd Round). Eddie Rosario (4th Round) looks like the only Twin prospect from this class that's a lock to make any major impact at the major league level. 2011: 5 First rounders have reached the major leagues. 3 more from the 3rd Round. 4 of the 5 first rounders were in the top 14 picks, but the Twins missed on Jackie Bradley by drafting Levi Michael. Michael was just one of 11 college players that the Twins drafted in the first 13 rounds. None are advancing very rapidly in the organization, although at quick glance, diminutive Adam Pettersen (25th round) is doing well at AA, not sure if he's regarded as a legit prospect, though. Harrison (1st) is still in Low-A, but may be due a promotion to A+ when Sano is moved up. The Twins took Hudson Boyd (1st) and Madison Boer (2nd) over the Reds Tony Cingrani (3rd) and Corey Williams (3rd) over the Mariner's late 3rd round pick, Carter Capps.

So, let's see if this makes sense....some player movement that leaves gaping holes in the lineup is going to somehow improve the team regarding position players and replacing the current "New (and Improved?) Look" SP corps with last year's anonymous AAA filler SP corps plus a rookie on innings limitation (with over one-third to 40% of his innings already used up in AAA) is going to result in a "pretty decent second half... finish"? Where do I go to get in line to lay down some dough on the over/under on 90 losses? I'll take the "over", thankyou.

The rich get richer. Isn't it about time that KLaw and Sickels and the rest of the crowd cry "uncle". The Braves and Cards are model organizations for staying repeatedly successful, and in the process staying away from zany to make it happen. Correct me if I'm wrong, the Upton acquisitions are about the most daring thing they've done in recent times.

So the minimum wage SPs have to come to the rescue yet again? What was all that offseason movement and acquisition flurry all about again? I think it's reasonable to project that Arcia and Hicks will have decent 2nd halfs, Plouffe might also have a dominating stretch or two that the Twins can climb on his back with. But- you also have to offset the likelihood of big holes in the lineup once the salary-dumping begins in earnest, as a result of that likelihood, I think you'll be lucky with a net-net wash on the position side of things. So it will all come back to pitching- a shuddering prospect to contemplate yet again- you may as well call up Gibson at his Arb-Free date, let him get his remaining available innings, as well as the cast of suspect SPs for their various curtain calls and pitch-to-uncertainties, and finally, Meyer and May for 10 or so starts in August and September.

Thanks for lightening our heavy load with a levity-break, Nick!

There is no evidence that the club has ever done this in the recent past to sufficiently insure a decent shot at a World Series win.

I concur with the first half of your analysis about painful times just ahead. However, on what basis are you seeing the bright side for the 2nd half?

The Tribe turned over a majority of their roster. And they, not surprisingly, also went out and acquired high-dollar free agents and a whole pack of mid-tier FAs and prospect and established player trades for a team that lost 94 games last year, exactly 2 less than the Twins. Reynolds is only playing slightly better than his career numbers and Masterson is pitching exactly as he pitched 2 years ago. There are 2 ways to reset, Boston and the Dodgers is one way, Cleveland is the other.

Ben- what's the word in Atlanta on McCann and pending free agency? The Braves seem to be in position depth-wise to "move on" or trade him before the deadline. Talk about a team that knows its way around the amateur draft!

I documented in another thread the Giants personnel moves since 2006. They were continual players in the FA market, making some good and bad moves, but always having a Plan B, when A wasn't working out. They were, in fact, attempting to win it every year, not play for the top draft pick, that's what organizations with a winning emphasis and culture do. "Could" should not be an acceptable description of a team.

Nobody said anything about a $140M payroll, in fact I explicitly said they would/should do it on the cheap compared to the Bosox. Oh, the Tribe did a major makeover and their payroll is $73M, lower than the Twins.

Excellent points gg. I've been railing on the Machado thing for some time. The Birds just look at things differently than the Twins- even with ex-Twins! Just look at the examples of how many Twins castoffs are in the organization, contributing (Casilla, Burnett), starting (Hardy), resurrecting (Ford), others patiently waiting for another chance (Valencia and Pridie were/are both tearing up the IL).

Would that conference that "He" is in be the Big East or the ACC?

TT and Jokin practically on the same page? What phase is the moon in again?

Of course the Twins have been known to frequently draft the guys they know they can sign below slot over TBA. Buxton was a nice departure, let's see what happens in June. Saying that it's better to tank games, for the third year in a row is unacceptable. This is a team that built a new ballpark for the express purpose of gaining permanent financial wherewithal to afford never having to endure the long cold years of purgatory, like the 90s and the 70s and early 80s. Teams like Boston, who rebooted themselves after last year's rockbottom finish, or the Indians, who brought in a fresh voice and a proven winner coupled with a new-found financial commitment are who they should be emulating, on a smaller financial scale, of course. If not, then every veteran should have been moved off the team after 2011 for a real rebuild.

Call me an optimist if you must, but I give them to holding off on calling it a season 'til Flag Day (June 14).

The trouble with your analysis is that the Twins have already hit rock bottom- TWICE- so all we have to root for is yet another THUD?.... and to top it off, you are incorrect in your assumptions, they haven't made the requisite and painful moves required of a team in "rebuilding mode"- which only extends the misery. You named 5 teams that are now successful. I can name many more that have hit rock bottom and are still hitting that bottom rock year after year- some right in the AL Central. That's the danger of falling into the "lose on purpose to effectuate a higher pick" mode, it becomes habit-forming. And turns off a fan-base for the long-term. Do you really want to go in a 20+ year purgatory like the Orioles endured? By the time they turned it around, there were very few fans left that cared about a once-proud organization, with a glorious ballpark that sold out every night- the Orioles are still forced to operate on the cheap, even though this year should have been the year they made the offseason deals to put them over the top. Sound familiar? The point is, despite some very good-looking prospects in the lower minor league levels and a couple of SPs knocking at the door, the manner in which this franchise is operated, both at the financial level and by which talent is developed and taught to play the "Twins Way" is going to be an ongoing roadblock and impediment.

...and just before the road trip pummeling begins? 3 with Atlanta, then 4 with Detroit, then Carlos Gomez gets 2 shots at the Twins. After this 2-7 homestand debacle..... and now even the last line of defense, namely the bullpen, imploding, I'm not getting a good feeling about this trip.

Seth, you are usually pretty cautious about making definitive statements on promotions. The above 3 statements are pretty firmly stated. With Hicks especially, you said "when", not if. Any inside indications that you are receiving, and if so, how soon do you see them coming to fruition?

Maybe a little glove and a lot of wrist, but hey! at least it wasn't off his head like Conseco. Still think he and Hicksie are prime contenders for top plays on "Not The Top Ten".