PseudoSABR

I guess it's not if you have so little invested in your rotation. Priorities matter.

Ugh, if the Twins spent 68 million on a bat before they spent that money on front-end starter, everyone would be up-in-arms, as they should be.

Six years $68 million

I think Blame and Responsibility in of themselves are philosophical problems. If we table the notion about whom to blame, we still have two parties who completed a transaction, and one of the party's ends up injured as a result of that transaction. The question then becomes who should bear the cost of remedying the injury. If we can rule out negligence by either party (probably not the case in Hot Coffee), the questions becomes more difficult. But there is some justice in asking the party who either most benefits from the transaction or can best bear the cost pay whatever reparations are necessary. That said, even if we can set aside both blame and negligence, the idea that some one suing can get reparations for psychological harm or some such is totally asinine.

Well, he wasn't very productive in Pittsburgh. Winning clubs will expect far better production than what Morneau produced. So he'll have to accept a reduced role, where likely, he won't have a chance to reestablish a better market value OR he'll have to accept a starting role on a team whose talent/payroll may be prohibitive to winning.

Right, but you need real depth at AAA. Whether it's Deduno or this guy or Albers; those guys are going to end up pitching major league innings, given how often starting pitchers get hurt. I just don't see how our interest in this guy reconfirms your disbelief in the Front Office's competence.

Here's the full Pelfry and Correia quote, for those who care about context: First, it appears that TR squarely admits the failure to build a rotation, which was cut from the excised quote in the OP. Secondly, Correia and Pelfry (at least beyond mid May) were not the reason the Twins rotation failed horribly yet again--they were supposed to fill out the rotation, not be the only reliable starters; the problem was believing that Diamond, Worley, and Gibson could make a front-half of a rotation. There was clearly some mismanagement with Pelfry's recovery/rehab too, which should have taken place in the minors, but injuries to Diamond and Deduno may have pushed the Twins to rush him. More, a quote like "We certainly need to address the pitching staff" is not hemming and hawing. I'm not sure what TR could say more definitively that would assuage a cynic's concern. Look, we'll see what the Twins do, but, really, these quotes don't illuminate any new criticism--and it seems unproductive to relive the same old arguments about starting pitching and free agency from the season.

I emphatically disagree with the approach you suggest. To become a winning club you try to find value where ever you can. Including, but not foolishly limited to, going big. Signing a guy like Yoon has nothing to do with whether we go big or not. Sheesh.

Was it worth while for Ted Cruz and the House Republicans? http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RHpZHDYQD7U/T8r6AtHQCtI/AAAAAAAAEHc/1j-CBpO4Y2I/s400/willy-wonka-you-get-nothing.gif

BA released its preliminary top 50 list today.

Mike (SD): Is Trevor May going to be more valuable as a starter down the road, or will his best value be in the back end of the bullpen? Josh Norris: Down the road, I expect Mr. May will find himself in the bullpen, though maybe not as a back-end guy. Command is a problem, as is his concentration on the hill. --- Well, concentration is probably a fixable trait...

Brandon Phillips was part of the package that landed Colon. But that was at a time when teams overpaid in prospects for veteran stars.

Religiousity and moralism need not go hand and hand; in fact, some might argue they serve opposed purposes (as ironic as it might be that one is clothed in the other).

It's not our morality per se that has driven us astray in terms of student and housing loans, and even healthcare, rather it's that certain private institutions have advocated and successfully implemented policy that benefits them far more than it benefits the actual public good. Even worse, we too eagerly let those who profiteer from a public morality write the damn policy itself. Our cynicism should not be located in trying to ensure some moral good or equitable opportunity, but rather our methods of guaranteeing such outcomes. I'm always widely cynical of these public/private hybrids that can address a public good or a systemic inequality--if there was any real profit to be gained from such transactions the market would have supplied us with such. It's that things like public good must be taken at short term profitable loss (and maybe even long term, though things like healthcare and education you could argue are investments), hence the need for a government and a body of tax paying citizens to organize and provide such non-profitable services.

FTR, I agree with you both. This was Justin's worth, and that the Twins found value in another teams surplus is probably a boon. Still (for me), the metaphorical loss outweighs whatever marginal on-field gain we can claim.

Sometimes the rumors are right. The Twins have acquired Duke Welker to finish the Morneau deal. At twenty-seven years young, Welker struck out 9.3 per nine innings for a questionably meaningful ERA of 3.57 over sixty three AAA innings. Welp. He seems like a good find in a deep Pirates bullpen, but it seems like a guy who should be scooped up on a waiver wire and not in a trade for a former MVP.

This article by Russel Korobkin is rather illuminating.

Well if it's up to "the people" to do it, they've done a really, really poor job. No one would be talking about the government helping the poor and taking care of the infirm if churches, charities and other private institutions were getting the job done.

Right. We need a system that enlists everyone into health insurance, even the healthy and the poor, and even at a short term cost. Imagine how expensive car insurance would be if it was not mandated. That good drivers pay for insurance, makes the cost palatable. I'm sure as car insurance became mandated, there were those that suggested it would kill the auto industry, and thereby the economy...

Mayhaps. But shutting down the government certainly does not prioritize the health of a shaky economy.

Great stuff, glunn. I think it's important to see that the Affordable Healthcare Act isn't a threat in and of itself (that is by it's policy or its aims) to the Republican rightwing, but rather they see it as an extension of a government and a society that wishes to enfranchise more and more people. They see their piece of the proverbial pie shrinking (even if the whole pie grows), and by god they've given up enough already. The emergence of a radical rightwing, who hold uber-liberatarian principles, has lead to election of officials who are more than cynical of government--they are against any public bureaucracy. Right wing Republicans are electing people who are against the very job they are enlisted to serve. The shutdown is a victory onto itself for the likes of Ted Cruz, no matter who it harms. While we can all agree that handing over any complex system to public beaucrats is not very palatable; there are instrinsic inefficiency in public systems; however, when the industry in question is healthcare, I seriously doubt that a for-profit beaucracy is really the better steward. There's a reason that Americans pay more for healthcare than any other developed nation--there's simply infinite demand for good health, creating a market that can never benefit consumers. There's real issues with the AHA in terms of how it effects businesses that employ over 50 people, especially in service and retail sectors. Companies will face difficult choices in terms of expensively insuring their employees or cutting hours to less than fulltime or paying fines for not insuring. The profit model of companies will need to change, and likely will be reflected in more expensive goods and services. I don't know the letter of the law, but I hope there are means of grandfathering this policy in over time and subsidies for businesses as well as citizens. In the short term, health care will be more expensive for everyone. But over the long term, with higher access to preventive health care, and an actual marketplace to shop for insurance (rather than taking your employers option or nothing) should drive healthcare prices down. Let's not forget the AHA was a conservative idea born out of the Heritage foundation; this plan actually keeps the governments hands out of the actual industry. Though of course, I'd prefer a public option and universal healthcare.

I wonder if it has something to do with the unfavorable hitting conditions in the FSL; moving up a league to face stiffer competition and unfavorable parks might be a bit much for non-Buxton players.

Pretty sure the chats are free to view (I know this for sure) and participate (it at least lets me ask questions), though posting Twins related content is always welcome!

http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/relieved.gif

Having a plan doesn't mean it automatically works out. Part of the plan (it seems) was to buy time (with semi-affordable vets) until the prospects get here and play competitive baseball; the latter of course, totally failed. But that had far more to with the failures of Worley, Diamond, Morneau, Willingham, Doumit, Parmelee, Plouffe etc. (players we thought would be at least league average if not better) than it does with not signing enough free agents or some such. (Indeed, one wonders, if they players I mentioned had played to anticipation, how that might have shaped the upcoming offseason). 27 year olds can certainly be part of the rebuilding plan, especially if they establish some value whether that be a veteran along with our core or a tradeable asset. Pressely looks better than anyone else we've thrown in center this year. And really, it's not TR's fault that Morneau's value was craptastic. There's simply no reason to cut bait with Doumit; he's going to get paid either way, and there's still a chance he can establish some trade value. I'm just not sure what plan would have satisfied you, and if such a plan was realistic. Any path through last year's free agency class was mired with duds, and even the successes would have not made this club competitive. (And is signing one big name free agent, that much more of indication of a plan?) It stinks--whatever the Twins hopes were to be competitive in 2013 totally failed--but they didn't at all mortgage the future for the myth that was 2013.