twinslover

Having Dozier and Carrol as the options for second base feels as comforting as a colonoscopy.

I'm not sure if I agree that things would need to deteriorate quickly with the Marlins for that to happen. That franchise, for some reason, seems very adept at identifying talented young managers who do find success. The problem for the Marlins is that most them find success after being chewed up and spit out by the Marlins. Girardi's successor only lasted a little over three years before getting the boot too. I'm guessing Redmond lasts 2-3 years. Time will only tell, but I think he'll be a very good manager and eventually will come back and manage the Twins.

I wonder if Mike Redmond will ultimately follow the path of Joe Girardi. Both are former catchers who got their first MLB manager gigs with recently gutted and very young Marlin teams. Girardi bolted to the Yankees after only a year with the Marlins that saw his team exceed expectations with an incredibly young and inexperienced roster. Perhaps Redmond will find similar success in getting through to young players and last only a year or two in Miami before he takes over as manager of another team he once played for. SMELL 'EM

I wonder if Mike Redmond will ultimately follow the path of Joe Girardi. Both are former catchers who got their first MLB manager gigs with recently gutted and very young Marlin teams. Girardi bolted to the Yankees after only a year with the Marlins that saw his team exceed expectations with an incredibly young and inexperienced roster. Perhaps Redmond will find similar success in getting through to young players and last only a year or two in Miami before he takes over as manager of another team he once played for. SMELL 'EM

I personally don't care if he suffers from homophobia, hetero-phobia, agoraphobia, or arachnophobia. I think bringing him in has to be considered and if they can get him for a non-descript prospect there is very little risk.

A while ago I wrote a short blog about how when TR took over as again, one of the things he mentioned was evaluating every part of the organization, including the medical staff, and I questioned if they would also be awarded a "scholorship" looks like they have not. It also looks like everyone on the coaching staff has been put on notice with all the 1 year deals that expire after next year. I guess TR is trying to light a fire under someones ass?

Sign me up. I'm curious though, does the mlb site have Terry Ryan's email address as well?

Does anyone else remember Terry Ryan's press conference last offseason? I may be mistaken, but I recall him stating that the medical staff was going to be evaluated after a disappointing 2011 season in which injuries and diagnosis' were an issue. To my knowledge, no changes were made, but similar issues have occurred again this year, including the Scott Baker debacle, waiting to have Wimmers go through TJ surgery for some odd reason, etc. It makes me wonder if that evaluation is ongoing or if the medical staff is also on a "scholarship."

Does anyone else remember Terry Ryan's press conference last offseason? I may be mistaken, but I recall him stating that the medical staff was going to be evaluated after a disappointing 2011 season in which injuries and diagnosis' were an issue. To my knowledge, no changes were made, but similar issues have occurred again this year, including the Scott Baker debacle, waiting to have Wimmers go through TJ surgery for some odd reason, etc. It makes me wonder if that evaluation is ongoing or if the medical staff is also on a "scholarship."

I would take Crash Davis and Nuke Laloosh at this point, but even Durham wouldn't take a Blackie/Nishi combo platter.

That's pretty much my point, the complete lack of depth in this organization is pathetic and I get that the team is going nowhere this season, but like Herm Edwards once said, "Hello, you play to win the game." I just don't understand how promoting Nishioka or bringing back Plouffe before he might be ready helps the team win. Everybody keeps talking about the future and next year or 2014, but there are still games to be played this season and the purpose of every team in major league baseball is to win games. The rest of this season still matters to fans, players, coaches, and other employees of this franchise.

Is it just me or does it seem like Plouffe could have used a longer rehab stint. He's now 0 for 12 with 4 K's since coming back after going 0 for 8 with 2 K's at Rochester. It seems pretty obvious to me that he could have used more time in Rochester to get his timing back but was rushed as a result of Nishioka's "performance."

Is it just me or does it seem like Plouffe could have used a longer rehab stint. He's now 0 for 12 with 4 K's since coming back after going 0 for 8 with 2 K's at Rochester. It seems pretty obvious to me that he could have used more time in Rochester to get his timing back but was rushed as a result of Nishioka's "performance."

I agree wholeheartedly that the Twins medical staff is inadequate. They would take a month to diagnose a broken bone that has punctured the skin and is sticking out as a fracture after initially calling it a dislocation.

Neither trade is logical. Since when do the Yankees care about a player being expensive, or did you mean expendable? Either way, Phil Hughes for Span isn't equal value. I read someone mention that Span is overvalued, which is true to an extent. His overall value is higher than most players of a similar skillset and age because his contract runs for several more years at quite an affordable rate. Phil Hughes is under team control only until 2013 and after that he will likely command much more than the 3+ mil he's making this year. The Morneau for Andrus deal is a little more realistic but I still don't see it happening. The Twins would probably have to include more than one prospect unless they would be willing to eat some of Morneau's contract, which I can't see happening. Andrus has two years left at over 10 million and will likely be looking for a contract that is at least 4-6 years and 60-90 million. I would love to see this trade happen as long as Andrus was signed to an extension, but I don't see the point in trading prospects for a one year rental. One thing is for sure, the Rangers will listen to offers for Andrus at some point in the next year or two, but they would almost certainly get better offers than Morneau and a "B" prospect. As for some of the other moves, I think Colby Lewis would be the best fit out there for this team, provided he's healthy and I'd love to see him a Twin.

Dozier hasn't been particularly good and has made some fairly typical mistakes in the field. He has had a couple of stretches at the plate where he showed some productivity, but the most disappointing thing about him is that it doesn't seem like he has improved throughout this season.

Deduno is a conundrum. His fastball is especially effective because he gets so much movement on it, which is also the reason he walks so many batters. He doesn't know where its going to end up, but neither does the batter. His breaking pitches can also be pretty nasty, but to logically explain his success is nearly impossible. Everything he does goes against conventional baseball wisdom and the "Twins Way" when it comes to pitching. I don't know what will happen long term, but as Bill Parcells once said, "you are what your record says you are." The question is, what record do you apply, his record in this handful of starts, or his career minor league record. I'm curious as hell to see what he does the rest of the year because he's shut down some pretty descent lineups this year.

So who is going to be in the starting rotation for 2013? Seems like this question has been beat to death, but I honestlly haven't read many concrete suggestions. What I see after Diamond is a pile of hot Chicago garbage. DeVries has been a revelation and if he continues to pitch well he should get a shot next year, but I still don't trust him with his high home run rate. Blackburn should be cut, Deduno is not a long term starter, but has been fun to watch at times. Duensing belongs in the pen, especially if Perk is the closer next year. Henricks continues to dominate in the minors, but doesn't look any more prepared to get major league outs. Pavano should be allowed to walk. Baker's option should be declined and as everyone has said, an incentive laden contract offered but I wouldn't depend on him being a starter opening day. This brings us to Gibson, who should be healthy and in the rotation to start next year. At this point the rotation is Diamond, Gibson, and DeVries. The free agent market should have a multitude of viable options, but the likes of Greinke and Shields are not realistic for this franchise. The three guys I see as the best fits in terms of salary and ability are Colby Lewis, Shawn Marcum, and Edwin Jackson. All three should be in demand and command decent salaries, but they are affordable if the Twins keep their payroll at or close to $100 million. Of the three, I prefer Lewis and Jackson as they have proven pretty durable over their careers, despite Lewis' recent injury. What that gives you is a rotation of Lewis, Jackson, Diamond, Gibson, and DeVries, with Baker working his way back from Tommy John surgery. This is what I think the front office should do. In reality though, the front office will probably keep Blackburn and sign someone like Joe Blanton.

So who is going to be in the starting rotation for 2013? Seems like this question has been beat to death, but I honestlly haven't read many concrete suggestions. What I see after Diamond is a pile of hot Chicago garbage. DeVries has been a revelation and if he continues to pitch well he should get a shot next year, but I still don't trust him with his high home run rate. Blackburn should be cut, Deduno is not a long term starter, but has been fun to watch at times. Duensing belongs in the pen, especially if Perk is the closer next year. Henricks continues to dominate in the minors, but doesn't look any more prepared to get major league outs. Pavano should be allowed to walk. Baker's option should be declined and as everyone has said, an incentive laden contract offered but I wouldn't depend on him being a starter opening day. This brings us to Gibson, who should be healthy and in the rotation to start next year. At this point the rotation is Diamond, Gibson, and DeVries. The free agent market should have a multitude of viable options, but the likes of Greinke and Shields are not realistic for this franchise. The three guys I see as the best fits in terms of salary and ability are Colby Lewis, Shawn Marcum, and Edwin Jackson. All three should be in demand and command decent salaries, but they are affordable if the Twins keep their payroll at or close to $100 million. Of the three, I prefer Lewis and Jackson as they have proven pretty durable over their careers, despite Lewis' recent injury. What that gives you is a rotation of Lewis, Jackson, Diamond, Gibson, and DeVries, with Baker working his way back from Tommy John surgery. This is what I think the front office should do. In reality though, the front office will probably keep Blackburn and sign someone like Joe Blanton.

I think you'd have to take that for Liriano, but a better question is, would any GM out there offer that much? Wandy doesn't have the "stuff" that Liriano does, is also older and has a higher salary, but he is so much more consistent that I'm not sure you can compare the two. Liriano's value is almost more difficult to predict than the results of his next start.

I must be missing something because I'm not aware of any offers for Capps in May and as far as questioning Ryan's decisions, I'm inclined to trust his judgment much more than the author of this post. Ryan's focus is building an organization that is able to sustain success long term, as it should be.

I don't care who they trade as long as the return is young starting pitching. Where is the Brad Radke of this decade? Personally I would like the Twins to keep Perkins and Burton. I don't particularly care for NoNeck, so like Bonnes said, if they can get something for him, do it and do it now.

The payroll for '13 is to about 70 million if you assume 8 or so players not yet eligible for arbitration are on the team opening day and the twins don't offer arbitration to anyone or pick up any options. The non arb eligible players I would think make it are dozier, plouffe, revere, swarzak, burnett, gray, hendriks, parmelee and gibson probably will be if healthy. I'm really not sure about valencia, waldrop, butera, manship, or slama so I'll leave them off. The pre arbitration average used by baseball reference isn't accurate for the guys I've listed either, so with 8 - 10 pre arb players on the roster the team is around 70mil in payroll and would have 8 - 10 roster spots open. Of the 4 arbitration eligible players, I'd guess they offer to Duensing and Burton if they don't just sign them. I don't think they'll offer to casilla or burroughs. The only free agent I can see them maybe bringing back is doumit at the right price. I'm guessing they will pick up Capps option if he is still here. If you add in capps and the two arb players I think they'll bring back the payroll is going to be around 80 mil at that point and there will still be 5 -7 roster spots open. My guess is they fill most of those with cheap free agents and non arb eligible players and the payroll ends up around 85 - 90 mil.

Doumit has hardly played in RF, Parmelee is considerably worse than Plouffe, and Revere just came up. You forgot to mention the two week Clete Thomas debacle as well. Plouffe will not likely develop into a .300 hitter and won't be earning any gold gloves. He needs to improve his pitch recognition and plate discipline to cut down on strikeouts but he could end up similar to Willingham with a .260 - .275 average with 25 - 35 HR. What really irritates me is this organizations utter failure when it comes to developing power hitters. Who was the last legitimate right handed power hitter the Twins developed? A case could be made for Torii as he probably had 4 or 5 seasons with at least 25 HRs and he did hit 30 once, but really you'd have to go back to Gaetti, who made his MLB debut 30 years ago. I just don't understand why you would run Clete Thomas out for two weeks when a developmental player with power potential just sits on the bench and gets inconsistent at bats. Who knows what Plouffe will become, but am I really the only one who wanted to see him playing over Komatsu or Thomas or whoever?

He just homered twice last night off of YoGa, I don't think his power will be dissapating any time soon. As for where the power came from, "who gives a **** its gone"