jokin

And probably back in AA, 'at least to start out" next year, just to be sure. And we've been told to "be fine with that" decision... "he's so young"...

Apparently, it's only allowed for AL East teams.

Did Lebron pull an MJ?

CC lifted for defensive sub late in Game 5 with the Jays up and going 2-4- finishes off the ALDS with a .375 BA and 1.100 OPS. He's been hitting the 5 spot in this series- with TULO behind him for plate protection. Only in baseball does a $21M Man provide plate protection for a Journey Man.

Not for me. The White Sox haven't just been overlooked, they've been largely avoided. And for good reason. With a couple of exceptions, a lifeless, listless, colorless, and at times, tasteless team. Comparing negatively the stewardship of Cubs' owners vs. Sox owners is laughable. Besides taking your life in your hands when visiting the park... let me recount some other reasons they deserve little else except loathing- Ever heard of the Black Sox? In particular, noting that there's nothing endearing about either the Cell or Comiskey (except Nancy Faust- who they de facto fired)- both are/were soul-crushing dumps. They chose to get rid of Harry Caray- and Steve Stone- for being too honest about the product on the field- the Cubs quickly picked them up- and the rest is history. Somehow, the Sox braintrust thought that Homer Hawk Harrelson was a better way to go. They had to forfeit a game from their ill-fated decision and mockery of the American Pasttime by hosting a Disco Demolition Night. This: http://sports.cbsimg.net/images/visual/whatshot/sox-shorts-2015.jpg Screwed by the City? They've had not one, but two Mayor Daleys- who were Southsiders with no vision, the owners meekly acquiesced to whatever they wanted them to do- escaping the hell that is the South Side for a better local location was never pushed by the Sox owners. They once did try to move out of town to Milwaukee, but the league powers ultimately wouldn't let them escape from the murder capital- resultantly leaving the fan faithful embittered towards the team for many years- much like the Twins' attempt to move to Charlotte under Calvin. Of course, it's a little known fact that Charles Comiskey single-handedly kept Minnesota from moving up to the major leagues for 60 years- by moving the original St Paul Saints from St Paul, MN to Chicago in 1901. And they then won the inaugural AL pennant. Tinkers to Evans to Chance- indeed- the Sox (Saints? Thanks, Chuck!) beat the Cubs for the World Series championship in 1906 Even the owners of the Chicago Bulls- who got United Center built- evidently didn't care enough or have enough cache' with the city leaders to get themselves a decent stadium close to downtown, or even get a stadium built similar to the Camden Yards experience- there are literally dozens of wonderfully picturesque locations in the City of Big Shoulders- the home of legendary architects, Louis Sullivan, Mies van der Rohe, Fazlur Khan (Sears Tower/John Hancock Building) and Freaking Frank Lloyd Wright. The Orioles rejected the architectural plans for the Cell, the Sox accepted- and the background view chosen? The blighted Robert Taylor Homes Public Housing Project. You just can't make this kind of dumb up.

True story. I once had a weekend where one son had a tournament in Chicago, while the other son had a tournament at Chisago Lakes High School. Guess which tournament I went to? And for which son it's still a sore spot?

I guess it depends on what the Twins want- they're the ones pushing him through- the bat doesn't appear to be too much of a concern to them. Interestingly, Turner's the one that skipped a level- and they've made a point of keeping the two separated since draft day. They obviously have shown that they will want him sooner at the MLB level than Garver (if ever, in the latter case). Based on this, I'm assuming that if Turner performs credibly enough in AZ (above the Mendoza line?), he'll start out in Rochester, and the same result for Garver would presumably mean he starts in Chattanooga. If you've watched Turner bat, it's been mostly Butera-sque slow-drip agony. Turner's full-year @ AA: Slash .223/.322/.306 wRC+ 83 Butera's full-year @ AA: Slash .219/.308/.354 wRC+ 80 Turner wins the comp, but only barely, yes, he's little younger, and Butera had a 1/2 year previous AA experience, but there's little thus far- other than his plate discipline- to suggest he can even expect to hit at close to MLB average at the position.

Definitely not now-or-never for Turner, I have a feeling that the Twins consider him the golden boy that they have big plans for- to gradually ascend into the position full-time. Sickels holds out some hope for Garver, as do I- I think there's a good chance he can get his numbers back up in the Southern League, especially if he gets some help in the rest of the lineup- but, back to Sickels, he was generally overall disappointed with his entire group of "sleepers", except for 2 guys and "the catchers with a glove." I hope he was referring to Garver with that closing comment. It's very encouraging to hear you confirm that his defense is upticking, and that he's developing into a pitcher's catcher. My bigger concern is that it seems like all of the scouting services have dropped Garver off of their Twins Top Prospects radar- which means that to them anyway, the Twins now have all of their near-future catching hopes in one basket. Obviously, the Twins, or the AFL, set themselves up with a rather unusual arrangement- if it's something the Twins pushed- that would be an indication that Garver is still in their long-term plans. It would be ideal if these two guys generate some friendly competition and push each other onto the Twins roster for good by 2017. If Garver has a hot first half, perhaps he can join Turner in Rochester to close out the season. Having Suzuki vest his contract over to 2017 would be sub-optimal, if not disastrous, for their post-season chances- his positive intangibles are going to become increasingly outweighed by his lack of contribution on both offense and defense. (Terry needs to sign AJ this year to ensure that vesting doesn't happen, with perhaps Turner getting a few call-ups/tryouts throughout the year).

Garver seems to be falling off of some Twins top prospect lists, but John Sickels just came out with a review of his top sleeper prospect list to start out the season, and he had this to say about Garver's season at Ft Myers: Garver did have a wRC+ of 121 (that would be close to Top 10 in the FSL) in the second half versus 111 in the first half, with added power (all his homers were in the 2nd half). Perhaps the combination of his season-ending concussion in 2014 and adjusting to the new Miracle hitting coach slowed down his offense a bit coming out of ST. Good to hear that his defense picked up in 2015. While it's getting closer to now-or-never for Garver, this will be a nice little head-to-head competition for both Garver and Turner, and maybe a little extra Fall drama while we search for some answers to the Twins' catching future. I have to think that Turner has the inside track with the superior defensive chops (athletically/physically, there's no question he's better than Suzuki- right now), but I've got to say, in the one game I saw him play- there was still just a bit too much of Butera in that swing of his.

What "talent" is left in the organization and developmentally ready for the challenge? I've been scratching my head on who they could/should have sent instead. Seriously, the pickings were either kind-of slim/redundant: SPs- Berrios, Gonsalves, Stewart, Batts (No Way- Too many IPs/other health concerns/not ready) Buxton (Again)? Kepler (Again)? Meyer (Again)? Chargois? I think he earned it, but he really falls in the category above for the SPs Melotakis? Was scheduled for the AFL in 2014, but coming back from TJ, see above. Peterson? Goodrum? Gordon? I'd have liked to see this aggressive move. Harrison? Darnell? You can see I'm really stretching at this point...

I'm sure the Blue Jays would vote for this option. That way, Arcia can showcase his talents for his future spot in Toronto, after the Twins waive him, and he then becomes Chris Colabello's platoon partner.

Quick update. Three Twins prospects got in the game. All did quite well. 1) ABW batted 7th, had 2 walks in 4 PAs and scored a run. 2) Sturart Turner batted 9th, went 1-2 with an RBI double plus 2 walks. 3) Trevor Hildenburger pitched 2 innings, battling through 2 Scottsdale errors behind him, 5 GB outs, 2 GB singles, 0 FBs hit, 2 strikeouts- including #45-ranked Rockies prospect, Raimel Tapia.

Sounds more like you have issues with the city's pro sports success, and maybe a few fans who took offense at your opinions while they were imbibed on their home turf? I get the feeling that your ".01% decent human beings" might be a wee bit hyperbolic... I like the Royals and the Blue Jays over the Cubs, but if it's anyone else, I'll take the Cubs... (similar to you, my Grandpa was one of those decent .01%, I guess... he first introduced me to the Cubs, Wrigley, and the qualities and rich history of both...)

You and I and Levi (among others) have been sounding the alert that this team was proving to be the model franchise for rebuilding through all means possible since Theo came on board around the same time that Terry made his comeback: If anyone doubts what has been accomplished, and exactly who is "doing it the right way", consider this visual from CBS Sports: ^ Average age of each typical 2015 starting lineup at season's end: 26.5-27.5 ^ Age at which an established major-league hitter typically begins to decline: 28.9 ^ Average age of hitters & team ranking currently among the 30 MLB starting lineups in September, 2015: #1 Youngest club starting lineup (by far): Chicago Cubs (24.75) [No DH factored in. One player over 30. And consider that the Cubs might actually be slightly YOUNGER in 2016 if they get rid of Castro (26) and Fowler (30) and Schwarber ends up catching more, should David Ross choose to retire after suffering his 3rd career concussion this year] #13 MN Twins average age of position players + DH (28.8) [ 3 players over 30 in the starting lineup. And Sano skews the Twins just below average age of 29! If the Twins do keep both Hunter and Plouffe, they will have 4 players over 30 in 2016. Here are the updated results for the dueling GMs, since my last posting on Saturday and the Cubs winning 3 in a row to clinch the NLDS against the mighty Cardinals.

I particularly like the Mets because of how refreshing and witty Terry Collins is. But I'll concur, as long as it's not the Yankees, it'll be a close call for me- but most likely the AL over the Nl.

We've had this discussion before, but "BOO!" IMO, you're painting with way too broad a brush on the Bartman affair- Really? A few crazies (what team or public figure doesn't have a percentage of irrational sychophants?) don't define a fan base. And there's no lower blow possible than to be compared to a Red Sox fan... (I'll take a wild guess and surmise that you haven't met too wide a range of Cubs fans, if your conclusion is that your Grandma is the only worthy human being who happens to like the Cubs). And Wrigley is a National Landmark for a reason. It's quite OK to have two ball parks left around to remind us of what once was in this country. I doubt that there will ever be a more intimate, non-corporatized MLB park, than Wrigley (even with the recent "improvements" made to the park).

Who's to say the Cubs didn't do things the right way in the way that they operate? Has any agent ever won on this type of grievance?

Not much foresight involved with Hughes, the deals aren't really that similar. His 2014 and 2015 seasons have pretty much followed his up and down career arc of effectiveness/mediocrity/health issues, Terry made the type of buy-low deal that he specializes in- and this was a deal that many of us endorsed- for a flawed, but talented pitcher playing in the wrong park and available on the cheap- months before he pulled the trigger. In stark contrast to Ryan's deal in taking a chance on a FA that has performed as expected, Theo pulled a midseason deal, and in exchange for a rental player, he got 4.5 years of cheap team control of a very talented, but consistently underperforming, arm in Arrieta (plus a very good RP in Pedro Strop- who also turned his career around with the Cubs). The Cubs coaching staff have definitely helped make him a better pitcher, while he's become a premier command/control pitcher, he's at the same time actually increased his historical velocity numbers for his FB and Slider by over 1 MPH each- that doesn't happen often (if ever) to guys pushing 30. He's become a "pitcher" under the Cubs tutelage, relying much less on his FB and mixing in more sinkers and sliders- to obviously great effect (re: his out-of-zone swing and contact rates became far better from the very first day he joined the Cubs). In parts of 4 seasons he had produced replacement level WAR with the Orioles, even if you throw out this season, he was still a 5.3 net bWAR SP for the Cubs in 2014 (his FIP was actually lower in 2014 than 2015). This was a well-conceived plan, faithfully executed, not some freak accident. Did lightning strike and Arrieta get an arm transplant the day he joined the Cubs? Don't think so. Were the Cubs a better team behind Arrieta than the Orioles? Don't think so. Was Wrigley a more favorable park than Camden for Arrieta, vis a vis Target-from-Yankee definitely was for Hughes? Don't think so. He's been a positive WAR pitcher ever since joining the Cubs on July 2, 2013, in direct contrast to years of struggle previously- identifying an improvable talent and then getting the desired improvements- that's more than just luck. While this year is lucky, beats expectations and is possibly a career year, it's important to note that the 2014 Arrieta, with an ERA+ of 150 is a darn fine pitcher (the sparkling ERA+ numbers with the Cubs all 3 seasons allows us to throw out the NL/AL disparity as a defining factor), and probably representative of his expected ceiling, making this a very prescient trade by Theo, ones that other teams demonstrably lacked the imagination to attempt.

The rest of your post made good points, but I hope your last sentence above is tongue in cheek, because if you're serious about the possibility of trading Sano, then this is the quote that is ridiculous. If what you meant to say was that Plouffe has to go, then yes, BUT only ONE of them has to go, not one or the other. Sano's rookie season transcends "amazing"... the rookie season Sano had was, by many measures, one of the best rookie seasons in the history of baseball. Of all of the great rookies in the 2015 class, Sano and Correa have an incredible chance to be the two players who define the next generation in baseball- no one trades that type of potential. The problem with trying to trade Plouffe this winter is diminished need around the league and with 29 GMs knowing that you're trying to dump him, the potential for a decent return is also diminished.

That's easy: 1) Solarte has a decent bat but he doesn't have Plouffe's power potential needed at the position. 2) Solarte's glove at 3rd makes Plouffe almost look like a gold glover (past 2 seasons- Plouffe 1.6 dWAR Solarte -0.5 dWAR). 3) Solarte is an accidental MLB/ 7-year minor league/AAAA journeyman originally signed internationally at age 20- meaning he's possibly 1-2 years older, Plouffe was a 1st round pick out of HS. 4) If there's any doubt about Solarte's lack of athletic pedigree- his nickname is "Slow-larte"

The Padres would like to think that they will be contenders in 2016, just like they did in 2015. Perfect fit for Plouffie- I think he can beat out Solarte and Middlebrooks.

Don't count out Doug Bernier, can't have enough veteran grit.

Well, that would accomplish most of the off-season objectives quite nicely: 1) Free up $35M next year and $94M total in payroll to go after the top FAs. 2) Open up 1B so that the Twins can upgrade the position from the #31 rank "achieved" by Mauer this year, to maybe Top Ten. (Refer back to Reason #1- perhaps sign this year's #4 guy- Chris Davis) 3) Free up 6 net roster spaces to retain prospects on the Rule 5 bubble and sign/trade for better players than the 7 being traded to LA. (refer back to Reason # 1- you could sign a bunch of quality FA arms or target Ace Price or SS Ian Desmond) 4) It's possible that you can then flip Puig to a Latin-heavy, Cuban emigre-specific interest area like Miami or Tampa Bay, both teams have lots of prospects and controllable pitchers. I hope you forwarded your idea to Terry!

Has anyone filed a protest yet?

I resemble that remark...