Thrylos

There will be announcements in the press conference tomorrow. The only question mark is 1B/bench

Agreed. The writing was on the wall when the Twins brought Glynn into the organization. I suspect that he will be the 3B coach, since in addition to manager, he was Rochester's 3B coach. With Bruno the hitting coach and Cuellar the BP coach it will be interesting to see where Molitor fits (probably bench) and who will be the 1B coach. A couple of thoughts: - The Twins are set up to #FireGardyNAndy in May of 2013 if needed (i.e. if the team sucks again) and have a full succession plan in the bigs in place - That succession plan would be very interesting, i.e. who will have the upper hand, Molitor or Glynn. - On times that a team is not promoting players on the 40 man roster in September to save $, giving MLB paychecks to Scotty and Vavry as "IF and OF instructors", gives the wrong message. Maybe they will be interviewing for one of the many openings out there this off-season.

I like how thrylos somehow thinks that the Phillies knew less than he did and that he was available. I live in the area. He was available. As a matter of fact the Phillies did not protect him for the minor league portion of the rule 5 draft last off-season (highest level AA so he could have been picked at the AAA level). Lots of articles in the local press that he came as a surprise to the Phillies organization including this one. Not what I think, it is what is common knowledge in this neck of the woods...

I think that Pohlad will thank Terry Ryan, Jim Rantz and Ron Gardenhire & Co for their "tremendous" contributions to the Twins and say that this team needs a fresh start. All 3 will have statues made. Day and Place of display TBD.

Pinto might end up on the 40 man still. Too early to tell and there will be a lot of roster moves coming soon... Frankly at this point, he is more MLB-ready than Drew on both sides of the ball.

No it isn't more complicated. But there is some STRONG nay-saying going on around here. The Twins were a COMPLETE mess at the beginning 1/6+ of the season. 7-21 DUE to players who are not going to be around anymore (Pavano, Liriano, Blackburn, and Marquis) is a big deal. And the woes continues for some of them for 1-3 months later. The Twins are truly about 10 games under performance, but most of that is the result of the disaster at the beginning of the season. I think that there is part of the root cause of the problem... Other that Liriano, the current regime is the one who thought that Pavano should get a hefty extension for mediocre performance and Blackburn too (btw, he will be back, if Gardy and Andy and Terry are around, mark my words) and gave up the green light to sign Marquis who had be mediocre. So Pavano, Blackburn and Marquis are the symptoms in my book

Just way too early to tell whether anyone will break a ligament or will emerge by draft time. Manea has issues: One pitch pitcher (FB) and his mechanics are all over the place. That has been fooling hitters at that level. But (other than the Cape League where the Ps really have an advantage because it is the first time with wood for many of the hitters) he really has not faced any real competition at Indiana State. Seriously... watch some video this guy is all over the place

Hold it. a. By no means leading (as a GM) a team to 95+ losses could be even remotely thought as a "success" b. The Willingham and Doumit signings were great but the Marquis and Capps and Zumaya were not. c. About a quarter of the MiLB FAs stuck, the rest ranged from Horrible (pick a Thompson) to mediocre. Just the sheer volume was there. For every Jared Burton there was a Jeff Gray and for every Casey Fien a Brendan Wise. (and then more.) d. The Carroll signing was a luxury. A 99 loss team does not need an overpriced close to 40 utility infielder to be competitive. Carroll will end the season with around .660 OPS. Casilla's career OPS is around .640. I just do not see that as a "good singing" by any means. So Ryan was on and (mostly) off with the free agents and the proof is in the Twins' record.

Not quite. Boras is Manship's agent

+1 to put it in other words: Nishioka had more class than Cuddyer* *and thankfully both ways.

Some people think that ERA is not a good measurement of performance (along with things like W-L record, "quality" starts etc...)

I think that there is absolutely no reason for changes. Nothing is broken so why fix it? On the other hand... This team needs wholesale changes starting with Ryan and the front office. Getting rid of a coach or two will not do much for the team. They have to bring in some new blood. If a 99 loss season and a 93-96 loss season following it, is not a reason for change, they will be keeping their heads in the sand saying that "with better fundamentals" and a healthy Baker and Pavano and Capps, this mess of a team would had been a contender. It is not so. About time the tenured positions open up... Pathetic excuses about under performance are getting a tad old

Very close but: Price: 3.10 xFIP, 8.9 K/9, 1.10 WHIP (.286 BABIP - AL East) Verlander: 3.32 xFIP, 9 K/9, 1.06 WHIP (.273 BABIP - AL Central) IP and GS are manager's choice. The fact that Price has more wins, better ERA, while Verlander had a much below league average BABIP and plays in an easier league, tilt the scale.

Depends on: a. how the trio does on ST b. who the other 2 are. If they are like Pavano and Marquis, no go.... If they are legitimate number 1 and number 2 pitchers who would let Baker be a 3 and Diamond a 4, I would have no problem with who number 5 is.

Why stop at 115? I bet they lose at least 120 without him, maybe even 125. I suspect that you are not a friend of hyperbole...

I hate this logic. A team does not have to make the playoffs for a player to have been the most valuable to his team in the league. The Angels, Tigers, and Yankees could all miss the playoffs or could all make it going into the last four games of the season. So, each of them was the integral piece of a contender. That's what an MVP is. If they don't make the playoffs, that doesn't fall on any of those three players. Different strokes for different folks. If the Twins did not have Willingham for example they would have probably lost 115 games. Should he be the MVP? No. He is valuable, but not the MOST valuable (same thing with McCutchen and Wright in the NL.) It is not the "best" player, it is the most valuable player. And unless a team goes to the postseason any value any player gives to his team is bettered by another one. That's my opinion. Let's agree to disagree. And pitchers have won this award as well. I think that the game needs something analogous to the Cy Young award for the best hitter. Call it the "Babe Ruth". (in that case, my votes for the Babe Ruth award winners would have been Trout and David Wright.)

I cannot believe that he did not say the starting pitching was the most frustrating thing this season. 99% of the people who are following the Twins agree. He either is lying to protect his buddy Andy, or he is deluded. Regardless, he has to go. If he things that the biggest problem with this team and what made them lose 90+ after they lost 99 is "doing the little things right", I just don't believe he has what it takes to ID a root cause of the problem and try to fix it. Apparently he is part of the problem too.

MVP - too early to tell before final regular season standings AL: Trout (Angels)/ Cabrera (Tigers) / Cano (Yankees) in that order depending who makes the post-season. eg. if the Angels and the Tigers do not make it, it is Cano. If all 3 make it, it is Trout NL: Posey (Giants) Cy Young: AL: Price (Rays) NL: Strasburg (Nats) Rolaids: AL: Chapman (Rays) NL: Kimbrel (Braves) ROY: AL: Trout (Angels) NL: Harper (Nats) Manager of the Year: AL: Showalter (Orioles) NL: Johnson (Nats)

Brandon Inge as an option? I see you have Span traded. I suspect that they will get an SP for him. At this point, in order to compete, I think that they need 3 SPs better than Diamond, so they can place Diamond at the 4th spot and let the 5th go to one of the rest who started this season. Assuming that Span + something brings one of those SPs + something, they got to get 2 more. You have them at 73M with Duensing at 3, but he will be closer to 1.5 in his first arbitration.So they got about $20M to spend in a $90M budget. They got to be creative with that. I think that Baker's upside at #2 is too good not to offer a $3-4M plus incentives if he is progressing, so they got to look at one more. I'd have zero issue with getting the other one via trading Morneau because a. it will add $14M to the $15 or so leftover to make it a robust $29 and b. there are no Aces in the FA market and would have to get one via trade. Ryan (assuming he still is the GM) kinda did that with the Lawton-Reed trade back when. Someone like Lester who has pitched better than his W-L record and ERA indicate, might be an option (and the Red Sox need a first baseman) Or even Halladay from the Phillies (I would not touch Lee and that contract with a 50 mile pole) but they do not need a first baseman (but they need OFs). The Twins GM has to be creative in fixing this thing.

Yes we all missed it. I missed it, you missed it we all missed it. But unlike the 4 you mention by name, a. we are not paid to not-miss it and b. we are kinda powerless to make any difference; unlike those 4. That is the difference. And also look at the names of the immortals who the Twins signed as MiLB FA Ps that season: Brad Hennessey, Yoslan Herrerra, Mike Maroth, Charlie Zink. Dickey's 2009 numbers in the majors: 4.62 ERA, 1.617 WHIP, 5.9 K/BB, 1.4 K/9. Not exactly earth shaking by any means but better than the four mentioned. Plus he made to the majors for a division winning team (remember those years? ) unlike the aforementioned. Also, here are Samuel Deduno's numbers so far this season: 4.44 ERA, 1.544 WHIP, 6.5 K/9, 1.08 K/BB . Not that much different and pretty much equivalent if you look at their relative BABIPs: .267 for Deduno this season vs. ,319 for Dickey in 2009. I suspect that the Twins (pretty much the same people who let Dickie go) will not learn Deduno go. Frankly, if you look at the differences between the Twins' Dickie and the Mets' Dickie are: - He was one more season removed (and now 3) from injury - He has been used as a starter with the Mets vs. as a reliever with the Twins - National League vs. American League - Different manager, coaches, trainers and staff. I suspect all 4 contributed to his suggest; what contributed more and what less, I cannot tell. And, interestingly enough, if you look at Jason Marquis this season and his resurgence after he left the Twins, the last 2 factors are there for him as well. So when there is enough smoke, there must be some fire, don't you think? The Twins seem to be overtly coddling the players they drafted and tend to keep them over players who they got in a trade or via minor league free agency. I guess it has to do with what they have invested into them and hope if they keep them longer they might get some return (Blackburn, Manship Perkins come to mind.) Perkins worked pretty well, I am not sure about the other 2... But, again, look at Dickey's numbers in 2009 vs those of the mentioned 3. There is a lot of frustration with the way the Twins have been performing the last 2 seasons.

How come this is Nishoka's fault. It is the fault of people who made the decision: Gardy who wanted more speed to his lineup and Smith who gave it the green light and executed it. People like Nishioka and Butera are who they are. They cannot control that. Others control whether they are in the majors and whether they play. That is where the blame should reside.

A few notes: Robertson is second in the team in K/9 and only Fien and Burton are less hittable. So he belongs in Group A, and I think that we will see him next season. Look at those WHIPs Capps was ok for a 7th inning type guy but not for the IPs and as a closer. So he will go. Perkins, Burton, Fien, Robertson, Duensing, Swarzak, and one more will be it next season barring trades, injuries and ST phenom appearances

Cleveland has been stable. Constantsuckage stable for a while. Same way the Twins have been the past couple seasons. I guess they do not like that stability so they try to find someone who can change that. And they were in the contention path for a while both of the 2 last seasons.

Bruno is one thing but he has history with the Twins. Cuellar is not a spring chicken and I think might be close to retirement himself. That said I agree. I think if the only move after two 90+ loss season would be to replace Liddle, they better do nothing. They should clean house, but at least Anderson has to go. Cannot keep only the players accountable and call for no scholarships (and still hand one to the Drew) while you tenure your manager and your coaches. Glad to hear that the Pohlads do not like the product their staff (starting with the GM) put on the field. Time to see whether they will do the right thing...

Little inside dirt here (and this is kinda "common" knowledge: ) The same person who pushed for Dickie to come in is the same person who practically showed him the door.(and GardyNAndy gave the thumbs up.) Here goes the story: Since the early parts of last decade a certain General Manager was so obsessed to prove a point from his scouting days that a knuckleball is a formidable weapon indoors, which made him actually bid the sky for an average free agent knuckleballer and made his team match it in every opportunity he saw. Google "Twins" and "Wakefield" and you will find some interesting stuff about Terry Ryan's "love affair" with knuckleballs indoors. Wakefield re-signed with Boston (a couple of times), the opportunity arose. RA, Dickey was around... he can throw the knuckleball. So that happened. Then the new stadium happened. So the Twins did not play outdoors any more so a knuckleballer was not needed to prove the interim's theory. So bye bye RA, welcome Mr Marquis, (you know those outdoor stadiums have underground rodents so you need ground ball pitchers to kill them...) And, yes it bugs me, and I did lay out the math about knuckleballs 3-4 years ago, but I am still surprised how Mr Interim GM, the manager of the millennium and the pitching coach of the millennium can keep their tails clean of this