IdahoPilgrim

It is a common saying that the only things sure in life are death and taxes. I guess a third thing to add to the list is that baseball fans will grumble about baseball owners. People have been critical of the Pohlads, sometimes for justifiable reasons and sometimes not. I remember when people were critical of the Griffiths - sometimes for justifiable reasons and sometimes not. The more the world changes, the more it stays the same.

I guess I'm not sure why this article is something to get so worked up about. As somebody who has just gone through an estate tax situation, which did involve some negotiation with taxing authorities about a couple of points (although not to the level we see here:)) this is just how the system works. Lawyers for the estate put forth one number, officials for the taxing authority put forth another, and usually (sometimes after a lawsuit is filed or a delinquent tax bill is sent) a number is negotiated that both sides can live with. This is not unique to the Pohlad's; this is how it works for every large estate. It also happens in annual income taxes, too. This is not greed - it is just how the system works. I guess I also don't see how the estate tax valuation has any relation to payroll, which seems to be where the thread has gone.

You speak as if from experience. Something we should know?

I'm not sure it has anything to do with stats at all. Most of it is probably name recognition. Morneau has been around quite a few years, so fans have heard his name numerous times. He's been an all-star selection for several years, has been MVP, and particularly before his injury troubles he hit big home runs. That tends to stick in fans minds over time. And I do think the same is true of Mauer, as well.

At least you have your priorities straight.

If Gardenhire was simply giving him time to adjust, then I have no problem with that. Now let's see what we have when it really does matter. I think the larger question here is, given his results to date, is he really the "12-13th reliever" or can he be more than that.

I think you do a nice job capturing both the head and the heart sides of the move - something that is often overlooked. For the head side, it was a clear win for the Twins - a prime of example of selling high. But that often carries a price on the heart side, as you capture well. It's a rare trade when both can be satisfied.

I can't remember - do we know why there wasn't an option clause? Was it because the Twins didn't offer it, or because Pelfrey wouldn't accept it?

Was perusing the Twins website and came across this article. Thielbar has solidified himself in Twins' bullpen | twinsbaseball.com: News I'm not a big anti-Gardy person, but I have been wondering a little about how Gardenhire has used Thielbar. Checking baseball-reference.com, I see that Thielbar has never been brought into a game when the Twins were tied or ahead, and only on 3 occasions has he been brought in with runners on base in the middle of an inning. Usually he has been used when the Twins were already down several runs, to handle the final innings and, presumably, save the arms of others in the pen. He has finished 12 of the 14 games he's entered, and with the exception of June 1st, the Twins were the losers in all those games. That tells me that Gardenhire doesn't use Thielbar in high-leverage situations, which indicates a potential lack of trust. In this article, Gardenhire seems to dispell that, saying, "But he's been really good up here, not just marginal, he's been throwing the ball really well. He's at that point where I'm not afraid to bring him in against big boys at any time of the game now." Ryan also has this quote in the article: "We talked about [Thielbar] this morning and whether or not he's going to get some more meaningful innings or whatever that means," Twins general manager Terry Ryan said. "I guess that means moving him back towards the back of that bullpen." It almost sounds like Ryan and Gardenhire don't see quite eye-to-eye on Thielbar, or that at least Ryan was also wondering about how Gardy was using him. Are we going to see Thielbar pitch in some higher leverage situations now? Thoughts?

I would be curious to know why some are willing to keep Diamond in the rotation. With the exception of one good start on June 2, he has been pretty awful since early May - 6.89 ERA since May 10th. I'm not saying jettison him - but give him some AAA time to work out whatever has gone wrong.

I haven't been to Target Field so I can't speak to this year, but it wouldn't surprise me if Morneau is getting a lot of love - although I'm guessing Mauer is still in the lead. He has been a close #2 as a fan favorite for years, and people know this is the last year of his contract and he might not be here next year. So he might be peaking in people's interest right now.

Hey guys! I'm back. Anything happen while I was gone?

Love to stay and play, fellas, but it looks like my gal pal just showed up. Heading out for the afternoon. Enjoy the game!

I thought you wanted to avoid controversial topics. You know the depth of feeling some people bring to the issue of chunky vs. creamy!

Do we know a reason? Are they making room for somebody coming back from injury? Or being promoted?

It wouldn't surprise me if he did quite well. His power seems to be for real. Even in AA where is average hasn't picked up yet, when he does connect, he hits it a ton.

I guess I wouldn't see that as disrespect. I could make the argument that placing a religious symbol in an area where one would not normally expect to find one, and in particular in someone's workplace, is also a form of disrespect. I have no problem sharing my faith, but that seems to me like forcing my faith on others. I am not in favor of that for my own faith tradition or any others.

I am a Christian pastor. I also believe in the separation of church and state. I am not going to say this should not be allowed, although I suspect MLB will have thoughts on that now that it has been brought to their attention. That said, this would not be the method I choose for sharing my faith. If I were an opposing pitcher and found a symbol of a faith to which I did not subscribe drawn into the dirt on the mound, I would just rub it out. Problem solved.

Not a fun article to read for the Twins, but I'm going to choose to be a touch skeptical until after July 12th. Hometown paper. Could be accurate. Could be a negotiating move. If next year is a deeper draft, hard to see these guys moving up, plus the risk of injury...

That depends on which Deduno shows up - he's kind of a split personality on the mound.

At some point, ticket prices will keep fans away. Since the Twins are still averaging above 30,000 per game this year, I'm going to say we aren't there yet. And as far as winning=attendance, Oakland is having a darn decent year, and they are only averaging 21,000+ per game. Pittsburgh is at 23,000. And the Dodgers are leading the league at 43,000 with a sub-.500 record. I'm guessing the correspondence isn't as great as is often thought.

Seth posted this about a week ago: "JT Chargois and Luke Bard are on throwing programs, but they're not close yet."

Plus, he hasn't been that bad this year. 3.72 ERA, 110 ERA+, 1.349 WHIP - somebody would pick him up.

Pitchers can be assigned to the minors for rehab for up to 30 days. That's on top of time spent on the DL before rehab starts. Plenty of time to audition someone else.

I agree he won't become a big-team regular again, but he may catch another start at some point. He made it last year when the rotation imploded, in part due to injury. That could happen again. Also, since he's on the 40-man, there's always the chance for a spot start, like Hernandez last weekend. That's often more a function of who is ready and hasn't pitched recently rather than who has been most effective.