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Is this a bit? Terry Ryan has been the GM of the Twins since 1995. Gardenhire has been the Manager since 2002 with Rick Anderson his pitching coach. Lets see how they have done. Ryan: 9 losing seasons as a GM (and counting), 6 winning seasons, 4 playoff berths, 1 playoff series win. After an 8 year stretch of competitive baseball (which he was only the GM for 5) the Twins have been a bottom dweller for 3 straight years with no indication of this changing for next year. Tried and true? Maybe 5 years ago you could say that, not today. Gardenhire: 8 winning seasons, 4 losing seasons. 6 playoff births, 1 series win. Lost last 6 playoff series, with the last 3 series being swept. You can argue Gardy has been a pretty good manager during the regular season. He has done pretty well with what he has been given, but has bombed in the playoffs... even when he had pretty talented teams. I'm not a huge fan of Gardy, but I also don't think all this losing is on him (the playoffs, however, are). Anderson: Looking at combined stats for the pitching staff for his entire career and the Twins are pretty much average in everything. I'm not sure how else to evaluate him as a coach otherwise. His notable trait is not pitching for strikeouts and avoiding walks. Guys with good movement can excel with this approach (like Santana), guys that don't have much stuff can struggle (like Hendriks).

Whatever reason: Having to dish out a decent contract.

Why is it that any Twins player which receives a concussion doesn't just receive any, but it is a catastrophic concussion that lingers? Are these more severe than football concussions where guys come back in a week? I just don't get it. Maybe he is feeling "symptoms" still, its obviously not worth pushing it in this season but that shouldn't alter the entire future plans for him. I don't really know how bad it is, none of us do. Concussions changed Morneau's and Koskie's career so it isn't something you can just play through without any effect. I hope this is not something we have to continue to talk about. Moving Mauer from catcher permanently is not in the best interest of the Twins.

Good grief. He has got to go. His aversion to FA is so far out of line that unless the stars align and prospects turn into stars, he will never have a legit contending team. Maybe the international thing is a hint toward Tanaka, but I can't believe it until it happens given his history. He is depressing to listen to when he talks about baseball. I was excited to see football start. Now the Vikings suck and will be lucky to win a game all season and now I'm looking forward to spring training again.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. At this point these guys just like to stir the pot rather than regurgitate the same names they've been hyping all season. The prospect lists at the end of the year or beginning of next year will have guys where they actually feel they belong.

Much to the contrary. They deserve plenty of credit for what they have done. My point is rather their model for success hasn't been so successful that I want to emulate them. The A's have made some good decisions and continue to stick to their model. Some things they do really well, like identify talented SP and sign FA that have a lot of value for cheap. I'm just not a guy that wants to do things like someone else. I'd prefer the Twins steal someone away with knowledge of their process and integrate it.

I agree with you, but Gardy has gone on record saying Acria is a better RF than LF.

They are allowed to be good every 7 years I guess.

I disagree completely. The A's made the playoffs 4 times from 2000 to 2003, then in 2006. They lost in the first round all of the first 4 times and got swept in the ALCS in 2006. Sure they won more playoff games than the Twins, but that is a small victory IMO. The Twins made the post-season 6 times and also advanced only once. Most of the while the Twins were on similar budget constraints as the A's. The A's were innovative and new in the early 2000's, the rest of the league caught up.

Longoria signed that deal in 2008 that consumed all his team control and arb years. He just signed a 10 year deal last fall.

Which A's pitcher are you referring to? If it is Colon, they have gotten very lucky with him this year and I doubt he'll replicate this performance again. The A's have been good at identifying pitchers, but they have yet to even make it to a world series. I don't think they are a golden franchise by any stretch. The later rounds fill out a roster with who exactly? The first round and INTL FA is where most of the talent in the MLB comes from. You can always hit on a guy like Rosario or even Pujols, but it is the exception not the rule.

What kind of budget are we operating on? The Rays signed Longoria to a 6 year 17.5 million dollar contract... or, 3m per year. The Twins have a 100m payroll potential, they could sign 33 players for that type of contract. The Twins don't need to even think about FA for Sano, Rosario etc. for another 4 years. You want to just wait around in mediocrity (or less) until the perfect opportunity comes? You have to add talent to win games, one way is by over-paying for a FA pitcher. There is no getting around it. Proven players cost money. Sooner or later the Twins will have to bit the bullet and pay up.

I think we can conclude he isn't consistent enough to be a regular, but I still think he has value. He is cheap, has a ton of positional flexibility and has pop in his bat. He had 2 really really bad months at the plate, but had a .770 OPS after the first half and has hit pretty well in September. I'm not ready to just give up on that. Obviously 3b is not his long-term future, but that doesn't mean he should be traded or released. Guys like him are valuable to good teams. I hope everyone agrees with that.

Where they screwed up is starting him in the MLB. At this point, it is pretty clear he wasn't ready. I can't fathom how the excuse about batting lead-off is being agreed upon so readily. It is slightly more pressure, but the guy has been hitting leadoff his whole life, that is what is comfortable. His struggles were due to his poor contact rate (which the Twins already know about) and his terrible inability to switch hit. I'm not ready to say he'll be a great player. I hope he will. If he was hitting RH every AB I might say that, but at this point I'm not convinced he can switch hit well enough to even be an MLB starter, nonetheless a great player. As shown by his .650 OPS in AAA (albeit in 72 AB's), he isn't killing it there either. Patience is going to be a key with Hicks. He might take a few years of bouncing between Twins and AAA to finally get it. He should start learning LF or RF, as Buxton will start in AA next year and might push his way to the Twins by August.

I have a hard time believing that would fly with the MLB. They have taken some pretty drastic measures to try and level the playing field with respect to competitiveness. A system like that would make it completely unfair as the Japanese teams know which teams have more money.

I don't think either have much trade value right now. I like both a lot and am excited about them, but to have value other GM's have to feel the same way. Right now I'm doubtful that is the case. Would you trade a guy like Meyer for Rosario or Dozier? I probably wouldn't, and I'm not even super high on Meyer. I would hope the Twins would try to exhaust all options before trading one of them.... unless a deal is good of course. If a deal arose similar to the Span-Meyer trade you have to seriously consider it. I don't think anyone outside of Buxton, Sano, Meyer (trading pitching would be dumb) are untouchable.

A lot of us have been calling the local media the "Twins media machine" for years. They put out what the Twins want them do. The Twins intentionally leak stories so the fanbase takes their side and hid others that don't favor them so much. There are plenty of examples to draw from, so your assumption is pretty spot on. Local sports coverage has been pretty stale for a long time. Berardino has done a better job than I've seen in a long time though. He's the first that I can actually read without throwing up in my mouth.

I'm right there with you Lev. The Vikings, and Peterson, wont succeed with Ponder at QB. Teams have no reason to not play run every single play. Ponder doesn't find open guys, doesn't audible into good plays, can't make throws into tight spots, gets hurried easily, can't beat the blitz... I think I could go on for a while. He is, and always has been, a terrible QB. I can probably only count a handful of times in 2 seasons where I said "Hey, that was a good play by Ponder." Last year was an anomaly for Peterson. Teams wont let him beat them anymore, they are going to play single coverage and stack the box. There is absolutely no reason to fear the passing game. Ponder might get a few big completions, but that is better than Peterson busting an 80 yard run.

I wonder if Buxton has filed a restraining order against Verve yet....

I wouldn't feel comfortable spending more than 15 on him since he is such an unknown quantity. From the surface, he looks like he could pretty easily be a #2, not sure if Ace potential is there (p.s. I like to capitalize the "a" in Ace for a dramatic effect). It is purely speculation, but I feel that would be a good limit to set based on possible return. I could be way off. I didn't read anything about offers on the table. Just purely from reading scouting reports and watching youtube clips, completely arbitrary.

I think he deserves a thread of his own. First, all of the posters clamoring for him, have you even watched him pitch? Youtube might not be perfect, but you can get a good idea of what a guy has. From you can see a few things. What first stands out in this clip is he has a sweet split finger (I think that is what it is anyway). Second, I don't like the command of his FB. MLB hitters are patient and will force hitter's counts making him unable to cut teeth with that split finger or slider. I found this article with some scouting information on him. After going through it, it really didn't completely convince me Tanaka is worth 100m (assuming that is the price-tag). An interesting comp they threw out was Dan Haren. I wouldn't mind risking 10-15m a year on this guys since he does look like he will be a pretty good pitcher, but I wouldn't go over 15. It is easy to get excited considering the success Darvish has had recently. However, we shouldn't put too much into the comparison between because the only similarity they have is being born in the same country. Darvish is taller, has a better delivery (IMO), throws harder, and have a different mix of pitches that are effective. Darvish is a guy I would have put 100m into, unfortunately, he isn't on the market, Tanaka is. The link provided shows a comparison with how each did in the Japan league. I am not putting too much weight into other than they both did really well. If we've been shown anything, is that the two leagues are not directly correlated with success. If the Twins do bite the bullet and go after him I will not lavish if it is a failure, rather applaud their willingness to compete. I hope someone signs him and gives us another story to follow next season.

This is a make or break offseason for Terry Ryan. He has the ability to spend money and improve the club and there is talent available to do it. If he fails, he has to be fired. There is no other option. I'm hopeful, but at the same time have pretty low expectations. I'm ok if he fails and is fired, I'm not a fan of his one bit (I actually think he is a pretty terrible GM). Looking at youtube of Tanaka, he looks alright. I have to wonder if his control of the FB is good enough to succeed in the MLB. Darvish was a different type of pitcher, which why he has succeeded so much. I'd much rather get guys like Lincecum that have shown success and might just need a little change to return to form.

I thought Cuddy was the clubhouse guy? He's my vote.

The Twins could probably just use minor league and rule V guys from here on out. That would save some money in payroll. Heck, why do we even care how talented this team is, lets just try to be the most frugal team in baseball! Once that albatross Mauer contract is over we can really strip the fat. Had to do it. In order to acquire talent sometimes you have to take risks. A couple million is a risk the Twins are completely able to take and should be taking. That isn't going to sink the ship. Especially with the amount of very good cheap talent coming up. They money needs to be put somewhere to help this team. Not spending it is simply just ignoring a major part of this game.

Aren't shoulder problems pretty difficult to diagnose even with MRI's? I wont become too overly optimistic about his future going forward until he throws at least 50 effective innings next season. Part of the reason is his pitch to contact game (and his almost half career norm HR/FB rate). He is due for regression to begin with, a shoulder problem isn't going to help.