PseudoSABR

I wonder what the big deal was with the third year; health concerns, production concerns.

What the heck else could the word Redskin refer to? They have an American Indian on the side of helmet, for ****'s sake. You can't really believe that people don't make the association between the name and the logo and the actually people. How many people does it take to be offended by the nickname and how many people does it take to associate the nickname to American Indians for you to change your mind? Because there's plenty of people in both categories.

Rickieie

Darren Wolfson ‏@DarrenWolfson 4m The #MNTwins have made preliminary contact w/ now FA catcher J.P. Arencibia, per a source. Talks haven't gone anywhere. Focus is Salty.

Ask about whether the Twins found good value in Nolasco and Hughes becasue they underperformed their sabermetric numbers, and if the scouts believed they could out preform their previous performances?

What the fight songs have in common is that they are fight songs, what they don't have in common is relying on racially charged phrases and images to rally that fight. The second and fourth lines of the Redskins depicts the very savagery that people find demeaning. If the Vikings fight song had a line about force-feeding someone with lutefisk or raping and pillaging the villages of Greenland, you might actually have a point.

If we put stock in BA's report, Ray doesn't throw hard enough or have good enough secondary offerings (an above average change, and an ineffective slurve) to warrant being the primary piece in a deal for Fister. May throws as hard or harder and has better secondary offerings, like Ray, he struggles with command. Ray had better results over less innings in AA, however. The big strike against May is his age--which some might attribute to his lack of "feel" for pitching.

I don't know how you can admit to the problem with the iconography of the logo and not see the problem with the name. The symbolic weight of each is the same. Again, it's not like Redskin is some nonsense word, that only acts as a slur, the name is offensive because it refers to a person literally by the color of their pelt.

The team is being celebrated through the vessel of the mascot, which is a slur. The reason Native American figures are commodified into mascots is because of the racist assumptions people make about those figures' savagery and fierceness. There's no point in calling a team the Redskins if it doesn't celebrate that sense of savagery. Redskin will always be made up of two words that have immutable meanings--the notion that you can simply wipe away the historical roots of the word is just silly.

This.

No one's hiding from the term. But to use it as mascot for a team as nationally prominent as Washington and the NFL are spotlights and celebrates the slur.

I thought of this as well, but then I remembered how much AJ was on TV during the playoffs; I think he's already trying to line up his next career as a talking head. Though he could be trying to hedge his bets.

In short, you can't use yourself as a template for what other people should find offensive. That the term was at any time a slur that dehumanized a group of people should compel our better selves to make a change. It's only the senseless, yet traditional, fear of change that motivates those who rally against it.

It's an 8 million dollar deal for next year with a 12 million option. He'd be a good buy-low candidate, who had top of the rotation potential and is still young (25). He might not cost much in terms of prospects, because of his injury history and his contract. The Twins need to explore every opportunity to find frontline starters; on a one year 8 mil contract, costing a non-top ten prospect, Anderson might be worth the risk.

J.P. Arencibia is going to be non-tendered or traded, and could be a interesting buy low candidate. He's just 27 years old, and has major league power.

Because he was awful at the ML-level, and many of the other guys are out of options. If healthy, he'll end up making 25 starts next year, don't worry.

I think RP's take is pretty accurate. Though the Twins could add a reclamation like Santana or Floyd as well. The Twins are stubborn to give up on players, so I suspect Diamond, Worley, Deduno all to make the club even if not in the rotation. That Diamond lacks options makes Duensing expendable, imo.

Surprised a bit by the AAV, but a relative low risk for the As. Wonder if this makes Anderson more cheaply available.

I'm going to dodge this question, and answer another. Do I think Nolasco and Hughes can make up the top part of playoff rotation? Sure. Hopefully with some combination of Meyer, Gibson and our very young arms. It may end up being a rotation of 2s, 3s, and 4s, but our offense may be special enough to offset any lack of dominance in the rotation. Is that wishful thinking? Sure. But no more so than believing that the Twins can readily acquire ace pitching from outside the organization.

To answer your question: I'd holdfast on the pitching front, continue to evaluate in house options, and put eyes on next years' FA market and/or in-season trade market. I'd take advantage of the near-future trade market, shopping emerging players like Kepler, Polanco, and Rosario. I'd focus on getting a longterm defensively minded short stop with a non-negative value bat (really, just non-negative value). I'd look hard at Gardy and Molitor, and make a choice. I'd talk to a lot of medical people. Doctors, researchers, athletes, trainers. I'd talk and pay people to talk and o research for me. I'd hire people, even as redundancy to assess and facilitate the health of my players. I'd do everything I can to make sure the young minor league arms have enough reps, take the right precautions, and receive the best off-field advice. I'd hope for the best, and practice getting lucky.

I appreciate the effort, thoughtfulness, and formatting, but you're totally discounting the notion that the Twins might have scouted the market for value and Hughes and Nolasco are worth more than the 4 and 5 starters you give them credit for. It's like asking, "Now, that Obamacare has failed, how do you think the government should proceed in allowing people to choose their own health insurance?" Your analysis seems that predisposed to its preferred conclusion.

Interesting exchange between to statistical analytic types (note: Law thinks the deal is excessive): keithlaw ‏@keithlaw 1h New post for Insiders - thoughts on Phil Hughes' reported 3-year deal with the Twins: http://klaw.me/1bzByxh Reply Retweet Favorite Expand [*] David Cameron ‏@DCameronFG 1h @keithlaw Don't disagree that FIP/xFIP can miss on guys, but Hughes has career .294 BABIP and 10.2% HR/FB. Reply Retweet Favorite Expand [*] keithlaw ‏@keithlaw 1h @DCameronFG higher last few years which is the version the Twins signed Reply Retweet Favorite Expand [*] David Cameron ‏@DCameronFG 1h @keithlaw Last 3 years, .303 BABIP and 11.1% HR/FB. Still pretty much average by both.

All three are out of option? I had no idea. My bad. If that's the case, I imagine all three make the opening day roster, with Gibson in AAA. And LEN3 is reporting the Twins still are trying to bring Pelfrey back. They must really be sour on Worley and Diamond.

That's only true this past season. I'm not sure that your slotting analysis bears out over history, nor does it necessarily serve as leading prognosticator. That the playoff teams are so pitching rich may not be the norm in the near future with new TV revenue and the many markets with which teams can accrue talent. Where Nolasco slots hardly matters when compared with the material worth he gives the Twins over the length of his contract. If you're suggesting, that the Twins need a lot of things to break right in order to regain competitiveness, I can hardly argue. But the Twins need to start some where. Having 180 above average innings from any starter is real boon to our current situation. That kind of benefit cost what Nolasco costs. These are the kind of steps that need to be taken if the Twins hope to sniff at the playoffs. There is no guaranteed formula to make a championship run before 2017, beyond signing the best of every free agent class until then, which is just silly. Should the Twins have spent their 75 million on Tanaka or Garza and rolled the dice with the rest or the rotation? Should they have gone Yankees and signed both? Again, I don't see a viable alternative recipe on how the Twins regain that playoff form. As an exercise where would Nolasco rank on the former Twin playoff teams? I imagine he'd be right behind Santana and Radke as the most reliable pitchers the Twins offered in a playoff series, unless you're discluding health.

Well, I'm not arguing against that. Thanks. There's other methods of resolving roster problems. My point is this and only this: having Diamond, Worley and Deduno as your 6,7,8 guys is smart and will pay dividends in an arduous season.