old nurse

No, there is no one person. The owner runs the team like a business. The scouting department had not found enough talent. Maybe they made bad choices, maybe the one who had the right talent pegged didn't argue hard enough. The development people did not develop the talent they had to something better than what the talent could be. The GM made poor trades, did not sign the right free agents, did not pick up even slightly better marginal talent when it was available. Even the fans are to blame. When the team was winning in the dome, it still had plenty of capacity for more fans. Plenty of blame to go around, just not one person to hang in effigy.

From the story Ryan figures to do some shopping, but he is unlikely to land a star. So the reporter is talking out of an orfice usually covered by underwear? "If we’re going to do anything here [to] succeed in the near and long-term, it’s probably not going to be in free agency.” Is a very accurate statement about most of the teams in baseball. You can add pieces to make your team better. Rarely does your team get the heart and soul through free agency.

Reality would stop Ryan from blowing away people with a one year offer with a promise to be playing for a contender. What free agent signed last winter is playing for a contender. Feldman briefly was. The year before Maholm. It is a promise he can't keep.

Before making predictions you should have all of the data. Jimenez has been impressive after a rough start to the season. If Cleveland makes the playoffs and Jimenez carries them to the championship series performing at a high level somebody is going to give him a qualifying offer and somebody probably will plunk down a 5/65.

That would be signing number 6 if I can count correctly

[TABLE=class: cms_table_datatable, align: center] [TR=bgcolor: #FF0000] [TD=class: cms_table_chead, align: center]Pos[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_chead, align: center]International Free Agency[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_chead, align: center]Service[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_chead, align: center]2013[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_chead, align: center]2012[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_chead, align: center]2011[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_chead, align: center]SLOT[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_chead, align: center]D.O.B.[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_chead, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_chead, align: center]RULE 5[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_chead, align: center]FA after[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_chead, align: center]ACQUIRED[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_chead, align: center]BONUS[/TD] [/TR] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]POOL TOTAL[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]->[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]$1,958,600[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]Slot 2[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]->[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]$450,400[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]Slot 3[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]->[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]$304,200[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]Slot 4[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]->[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]$203,300[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]1B/OF[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]Lewin Diaz[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]0.000[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]09/16/96[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]Dom. Rep.[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]2017[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]2020[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]I-FA (7/13)[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]$1,400,000[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]3B[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]Roni Tapia[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]0.000[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]04/03/97[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]Dom. Rep.[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]2017[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]2020[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]I-FA (7/13)[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]$550,000[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]3B[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]Ruar Verkerk[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]0.000[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]09/05/96[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]Netherlands[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]2017[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]2020[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]I-FA (7/13)[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]?[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]C[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]Robert Molina[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]0.000[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]Venezuela[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]2017[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]2020[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]I-FA (7/13)[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]?[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]P[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]Callan Pearce[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]0.000[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center][/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]South Africa[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]2017[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]2020[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]I-FA (7/13)[/TD] [TD=class: cms_table_cnorm, align: center]?[/TD] [/TABLE]

Morales has primarily been a DH since breaking his leg. It would appear that the Twins prefer to use the DH as a way of resting position players. Not a bad idea if you have enough good position players. Seattle has so little talent with any power they could make him a qualifying offer

A mentality on the Twins that needs to change is that you have just enough talent to fill out your roster. There is nothing wrong with having more than 9 strong position players.

Historically the league average WAR for an average full time 1B is over 2. That would make 10 million about right.

A left fielder averages less than 2 PO/game. Poorly hit balls tend to go to RF from a right handed bat. The liability of having a below average fielder in left isn't going to hurt the team if they are an above average bat. Leave him in left unless he develops a physique like Fielder.

Chargois will be 23 when he comes back from TJ. He had a good first year. There is plenty of time for him to develop. Recovery rate was 90%. The procedure itself is not likely career ending. Maybe Bard is brittle, don't know. Neither has a body of work that would say one way or another that they are misses. Ervin Santana will either sign with KC, or get a 4 year contract. Hughes, it depends on who is interested in him. The enticement to get him might require 3 years. Johan might retire rather than start over at the bottom with a minimal deal. If it is a competition/center stage kind of thing he would have to have howie's well documented belief in the prospects (and get to lead the parade) to sign here.

So now it becomes taken out of context? A one line sentence about an article on the Twins poor drafting with no further insight attached to it and I point out how it is wrong by a team that is surviving well with poor pitching. Taken out of context? LOL. LaBobo attacked saying that I just picked on one sentence. It is done all the time here. It is not a "proud of" thing. It is just ironic that someone would choose that way to attack someone when single sentences are attacked all the time when the rest of the concept is ignored. I guess I will have to PM you the next time you do it. The Twins had a sell high situation a few years ago. They were called Matt Garza, Johan Santana, and Michael Cuddyer. When they only pick up poor player from your sell highs, you have nothing.

Actually Berrios and Chargois for Cuddyer Luke Bard for Kubel only time will tell if it was a good choice

What percent of prospects need to learn to hit a major league slider? You chopped of the part that said the same scout would not be surprised to see 10 million a year.

The exchange was about pitching. I was not aware that Cespedes was pitching.

So he gets himself thrown out so he doesn't have to watch his team? I do believe he is eighth on the all time list. He throws players under the bus because he is happy they play poorly?

It shouldn't be luck. Problem is you can't find several teams that consistently get starting pitchers through the draft.

Yes I focused on a single very false sentence. Welcome to TD where it is done all the time. My only point was the statement of futility is false. Oakland went from 2002-2009 with finding only 2 starting pitchers in the draft. Seattle went from 1999 to 2005 without having a drafted pitcher make it as a starter. They spent most of that time winning 90 games or more a season. It happens to teams. It doesn't do them any good down the road. The cycle of luck shifts, you get a couple of decent pitchers, that is how it works. Cleveland traded Martinez as a sell high. They were not going to be winning before he became a free agent. Westbrook was going to be a free agent the fall after they traded him. Again, a sell high. Happens in baseball. Good for Cleveland. They went for prospects that were known. Oakland is praised for doing that type of thing.

The article was about drafting of pitchers and looked at the last 8 years. I went out to 10. Victor Martinez does not pitch. The comparison was about pitching. Westbrook was drafted 17 years ago by Colorado. The comment was for players drafted, not traded for. That they were traded for starting pitching is only important because of the futility of the Indian's drafting. Drew Pomeranz may have been a top 50 prospect but has not even shown himself to be an even mediocre mlb pitcher. The basis for the ranking would probably be due to his draft position.IIRC there was a thread last month on top 100 prospects washing out. Ranking beyond top 10 did not mean much. That he made it to the majors though means that in the last 10 years they drafted 3 pitchers that made it to the major leagues. Still less than what has made it up for the Twins. The earlier statement was no team could survive that sort of futility with their drafting. Despite the statistics you mentioned, the Indians are poised to make the playoffs. It would appear as though they are surviving their futile drafting. Do they get an asterisk if they make it because they were not in the AL East?

The Twin's shifting might not have been as dramatic, more shading. Somebody who watched more games in the glory days could confirm that. The Twins wanted GB type pitchers. That is why the Twins were drafting control type pitchers. Two small problems. If a two seam doesn't do what it is supposed to do it becomes a line drive going the other way. The other problem is a control pitcher can get injured, too. When both happen to your staff, the result is the Twins staff, not the Pirates. In the end it is still about having talent. There is only three ways to add talent. Develop it, which is hard to do when you draft poorly. Trade for it, which you need to have something to get something. Sign a free agent that has something left. Tampa, Oakland and Pittsburg are riding with the ability to get by on the first two methods while needing only to add a spare part inexpensively by FA. When you have a string of poor drafts and poor trades, you don't have much to trade nor play.

If they are not drafted by an NPB they can sign. If they are drafted, then they have to sit out a year. That is part of the deal with MLB and NPB. I would think under MLB rules, they would be subject to international amateur signing rules. So there isn't the big money for signing. If they are that talented they would probably rise up the payroll ranks quickly in Japan. Tanaka at 24 is making 4.5 million there. If he had sat out his year, went to the minors here, now as a 2 or third year player he would make no more than a million. When he comes here he can negotiate a higher payday with time enough left for a real good contract. I think they are money ahead because they will rise quicker in Japan and get paid more in the end during the development/pre free agent time.

Pitch to contact and defend is what they are doing. from the article • Position players had to change. They had to shift from areas of the field where they had been stationed their entire careers and trust the pitching staff's ability to locate pitches. The last 7 words are kind of key in how P2C works. Effectively for the Pirates, they have a league leading GB rate of 52.4%, and one of the lower LD% It is not shifting alone. It is the overall pitching with defense. When other clubs start to plan for that, hitters will need to adjust.

It is not shoot the messenger, it is called see both sides. "Sources" Where? MLB, agents? Of course MLB wants to get the posting fee down, it sort of saves money. If it encourages more players to come over it increases the talent pool. That might lower the cost of mid level players as there are more of them. Agents have figured out the pay is better here. It would raise the level of pay in Japan and elsewhere in the far east. On the other hand, why would the Japanese league change if they don't have to? Their free agency is at 9 years. They have control. What are they going to get to give up that control?

Longoria has a contract that runs 2023 and will pay him 130 million if the team does not exercise it's option. You really are only overpaying for a player when they are signed to a role they cannot perform. Gil Meche comes to mind. You also are overpaying when you sign players to contracts they will not be able to fulfill. Luis Castillo a 4 year contract at age 38 comes to mind. If a player signs a contract for a high level of pay and meets the standard, Torii Hunter with California, then you made a good deal. Cliff Lee would appear to have been a great sign. It is tough to come up with a 4+ year contract for a pitcher that worked out. Sabathia was until he lost weight.

NPB would never allow it. It would cut the posting fee dramatically as you would only have to try for top 3. It would also then encourage players to try to leave Japan as they could get mlb to bid for their services, make more money than in Japan, and drain Japan's talent pool. The players and agents would love it. The teams lose. The teams control the process.