Thrylos

That sounds like Nick Blackburn's second coming.

Just out of curiosity, have you checked who is in the World Series and what is their payroll and attendance? The position that the current system hurts "mid and small market" teams is a fallacy. Have the Twins been non-competitive because they were mid market? Or because incompetence leads to non competitiveness? Data: Here are the pairings in the WS the last 10 years plus this one: Indians Cubs/LA Royals Mets Giants Royals Red Sox Cardinals Giants Tigers Cardinals Rangers Giants Rangers Yankees Phillies Phillies Rays Red Sox Rockies Cardinals Tigers About the same mid/small market teams got there as big market teams It is not about the market, it is about: a. knowing how to build a competitive team b. have the right people to manage this team c. be willing to be opportunistic and make sacrifices when you see a window of opportunity d. have a fanbase that demands winning. The Twins have failed in all of those 4 for a long long time.

Mercy. There is not much lower to go for the Twins. Are you sure that they will be down (compared to 2016?)

Not really. Hopefully they will get rid of aging AAAA players and bring up most of the 2016 Chattanooga team that finished 10 games over .500. Pitching could be Rochester's strength.

Few names missing on the adds to protect, and more importantly Nico Goodrum's who can a break through season last year hitting .275/.352/.464 and can provide flexibility in 3B, SS, OF. Kinda like the Escobar and Santana roles, but with more potential. And solves the "Keep Plouffe to back up Sano, just in case" issue) Someone will snag him, if the Twins do not add. I thought about the catching situation in 2017 (and wrote about it in my 40 man roster spot...) For me Garver and Murphy, unless the Twins target a young MLB-ready C in a Dozier and/or Santana trade, should be the next MLB-level catchers. One of Centeno and Turner should be on the 40-man. And you have a catcher with pretty horrible blocking skills (the rest of his D is ok) and a catcher who is worse hitting than Butera. Who wins? I'd say Centeno because of his LH bat that hit .265/.326/.424 against RHPs and would be more useful in situational plays at the MLB-level than Turner. You hardly make substitutions for defense at catcher. However with 2 outs and bases loaded with a RHP and Murphy with his career .226/.268/.295 against RHPs (he is actually hitting fairly reasonably against LHPs) up, Centeno might win you a game... Plouffe has to go. Who would I rather have? Grossman or Palka? No-brainer, Palka. Grossman's got to go. Granite can be a decent OF backup if needed. The only other name missing is one who I am afraid that a team might pull a Johan Santana on the Twins: Amaurys Minier. I have been going back and forth on this because of the level he has been playing, but the guy has so much potential that I'd hate to see him gone. And I would gladly give up Plouffe's (or Escobar's that Vielma and Goodrum cover) spot to protect him.

I thought that only current Twins people could get the awards. Giving one to their former GM who was fired because of incompetence, is borderline pathetic. Couldn't they find a deserving candidate currently in the team?

There is no baseball reason to keep him. As far as baseball considerations go, he should be DFA'd. However that way the Twins will be responsible for $7.2 M ($6.5 for 2017 & $0.7 buyout of 2018 option.) If they keep him on the 40-man and move him to the 60-day DL next season, insurance will pay part. Plus it is the perceived PR potential issue that fans would like to have a Minnesotan in the team despite his horrible play and that the Twins should be Minnesota nice to Minnesotan players regardless their capabilities, Hope the new regime puts an end to this nonsense...

Wonder how many writers the Twin Cities chapter of BBWAA has... I think that C is about accurate, take away his games with Cleveland and drops really fast. On the other hand I'd grade Taylor Rogers a solid B and give him the award

Pay wall.

Has to be taken off the DL as soon as the WS ends... So either 40-man or DFA

My thoughts on Twins' 40 man additions are here. As far as pitchers go, for a rebuilding team keeping Kintzler makes no sense. It is the opportunity cost. The Twins can find a replacement level pitcher like him, and likely they have him already (albeit 5-6 years younger in their minors.) So I would give AJ Baxendale & Zach Jones a chance over Kintzler for sure. I think that the Twins should look hard at Perkins. Does it look like he is going to return to his 2013 level this season? If not, they should cut the cord right now and DFA him. A rebuilding team does not need him to block other players that need to have a look, and a contending team cannot afford the 2015 Perkins (who single-handedly trashed the post-season hopes of the team.) If Perkins were from Oklahoma, instead of Minnesota, he would have been Blackburned. Pressly and Light are in the bubble for me. As are the non-mentioned Slegers (as a reliever) and Brandon Peterson. I do like to see what Jason Wheeler would do (and the fact that Antony preferred and promoted Albers over him last season, should be the final nail in his coffin.) No way I would protect Thorpe: He has not pitched for 2 years, last pitched at Cedar Rapids and was mediocre (4.24 FIP, 1.37 WHIP). Nobody will take a chance on him. Boshers, O'Rourke, Wimmers, Tonkin should not even be mentioned. Lucky that they did not go with the other cuts, but I guess they did not need the room yet. Gibson, Santana, Santiago are tradeable and should be traded esp. since this years FA class is so bad, someone will spend a ton of $ to pick up a pitcher who put Milone-like numbers in Korea. edit: Another name that is worth mentioning is Alan Busenitz. Antony traded Alex Meyer for him, so they might add him for political reasons, if Antony has a job in the organization when the World Series is over.

Quick: Pick one: Brandon Kintzler, Yorman Landa, or Michael Tonkin

Nope. Only a fool would give him enough PAs to even come close to that...

He was. Just for a day. The excuse reason I heard for him not staying longer and replace, let's say, Albers, was that he threw a career high 132 innings which was 25% more than last season, so they were taking it easy.

No but the Twins will have 2 first round picks next season. "Big Market Teams" were "favored" on paper by the previous CBA that did not have any caps. How many of them really built through the draft? They are in a win-now mentality and build through free agency and trades that deplete their farms. Also another assumption: Biggest draft bonus = "better players". Not true. Might be "higher ranked prospects", but that's about it. It will reward teams that go out and find gems who everyone else passed on, rather than "Big Market" teams.

It is an individual and not a country situation. And most countries (other than Cuba or S. Korea) have no say in not allowing their citizens to be drafted and go play baseball in the States. Now players under contract in their own leagues in Japan & Korea would have to fulfill those contracts or be under their legal ramifications. Japanese and Korean kids might have to chose US MiLB ball vs Japanese or Korean ball. Drafting someone just gives a team the right to sign this person for a year. He/she can refuse to sign.

Cannot disagree with that A-. He made himself just a tad more $ than when he used to server ice cream. Good for him. Can the Twins trade him for a decent prospect? If yes, they should do it. If no team values him that much, the Twins should neither, and let one of the kids (some of them will be 26 next season) take his spot, and non-tender him. Bottom feeding should be no more.

Putouts and assists per inning played analogous to WHIP, should probably be called PAIP to reduce the confusion

Re: the freedom of players: Players are free not to sign. I do like the idea of a draft instead of the current IFA system for many reasons but there are things I would change. Reasons I prefer a draft: - The current proposal to get the age up to 18 is huge, because it will cut the middlemen and all kids will get the same exposure to all teams via MLB-led academies and the kids will learn the language as well, so they will get an education, drafted or not. - The goal has been so far to "hide" players from other teams and limit exposure, so you can sign them for small bonuses. Some middlemen did that wholesale with certain teams. Middlemen and not players get benefits from that situation. - Puts every team on the same page, plus 2 more years of players to determine whether they are good enough or not What I would change: - One single draft (40 rounds are enough) for all amateur players like the NFL and NBA. This way everyone will compete for the same money. - Get rid of caps (got to give something to players) - All picks are tradeable, including during the draft, like the NFL (fun to see teams hoarding 20+ round picks and try to rebuild that way.) Just some quick thoughts.

The Twins' shortstop of the future will be the opening day shortstop, Jorge Polanco.

They do not have to add any before April. Perkins might actually remain there (and the Twins will collect insurance $)

Here is the thing: It is not about 2016 and it is not about 2011-2016. It is about the last 25 years of "good enoughness". Nah. This is not good enough. They need to target excellence. If any of the above names mentioned does not say "excellence" or "great potential for excellence", they need to go sooner than later. About time minds change.

Kinda surprised that O'Rourke made the cut, to tell you the truth... Good beginning, now they really need to clean house.

100% agree. However. This is not what Allen did. He started a guy for 26 games who was exactly the opposite of his pitching philosophy supposedly outlined in that article. Point is that either: a. he is either talking about stuff he does not believes (because he did not do it) or b. Molitor or Antony or someone else trumped him. That's the problem I have with those articles. The hard questions are not asked. Simple question to ask him: "So why you did not do that already?"

Here is the problem I have with Allen's blah blah: inconsistency. He does not walk his own talk. For example, this piece from the article: Words: Actions: 26 games started by Tyler Duffey (including 16 after Ryan was fired.) And Duffey is the poster boy of a pitcher who cannot command and control his fastball. I just don't buy his words and/or see any reason that he could not do what he said he was going to do this year last year. Maybe the Twins offered him a position in their minor league/instructional stuff and he is preparing for that. Who knows. But he did not walk his talk...