Thrylos

It's tricky in baseball... Arguably they overspent in 2011 and the result was the second worst record in the Majors. I think spending smart money and building a great pipeline in the minors is the key to long sustained success, unless you are talking Yankee level or Florida Marlins level at their WS championship seasons overspending... But I do not see the Twins spending $250 million in any way possible I think they are better off investing well and building a pipeline (which will probably mean trading some folks with higher contracts for some younger talent next season)

he hit .133/.240/.193 in a month for the Padres this season, after hitting .245/.308/.307 last season, and has been on the DL since mid May... not much of a solution at this point. He is 32, been hurt multiple times and past his prime

Let's look at the numbers of Gray and the 4 most recent bullpen call-ups from Rochester: Manship : 9.16 ERA, 1.875 WHIP, 4.8 K/9, 1.43 K/BB Perdomo : 1.50 ERA, 2.000 WHIP, 4.5 K/9, 0.43 K/BB Gray: 5.05 ERA, 1.489 WHIP, 4.5 K/9, 1.1 K/BB Fien: 1.59 ERA, 1.118 WHIP, 7.4 K/9, 2.8 K/BB Robertson: 6.59 ERA, 1.390 WHIP, 11.9 K/9, 3.6 K/BB I hope the last 2 stay. Fien pitched very well (pleasant surprise) and Robertson leads the team in K/9. As far as who goes from the other 3, I suspect that this decision is more about 2013. In other words, if the Twins are not sure that someone could be on the 2013 team he will go. Perdomo like Gray are out of options and need to be DFA'd. Manship will be out of options in 2013 so he will need to be added to the roster. The one of the 3 who the Twins feel fits their plans less in 2013 will be the one that should go. At this point, because Manship, Like Swarzak, is the long man and he has options, unlike the other 2 is more likely to go (and start for the AAA Twins' team) Edit: Looks like Perdomo has 2 option years left, so if that is true he is game as well...

Not really. If you look at the Tampa Bay model (of pretty much continuous rebuilding) you do not need a high budget (or a high revenue - their revenue is awful) to compete. But it means making some unpopular decisions in trading and letting go "star players" and getting young stars in trades and the draft. Part of their success was built on the previous free agent compensation model. It will be interesting to see how this will go ahead with the CBA changes.

This is called revenue forecasting and I suspect that they are doing it, as do most of the large businesses.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- By now the latest transaction of the Minnesota Twins is about half a day old. SS Brian Dozier was optioned to the Twins AAA club and SS Pedro Florimon was recalled. Dozier was benched for 2 games after a critical error on Sunday and he has been at about replacement level with the bat and been strugging on the field on occasion. Typical rookie season. Even here, yesterday morning the possibility the the Twins might have given up on Dozier temporarily, was mentioned. Also, it looks like this was not a unanimous decision by the Twins' management. In this article Joe Christensen suggests that the move has been debated for "weeks" among Twins' officials and reported that Ron Gardenhire didn't seem thrilled when it happened and he would not speak on the move. Rob Anthony answered all questions about the move. Clearly Gardhenhire has been of the loud Dozier supporters the past 2 seasons and it seems that he was against this decision. MLB.com Rhett Bollinger's piece does not have the Gardenhire information. Phil Mackey's ESPN 1500 story also suggests that there was a long discussion on the subject among the Twins brass and Mackey also adds that the particular play on Sunday and Dozier's reactions afterwards. could have been the decisive point in the demotion (the proverbial last piece of straw). Pioneer Press' Ben Goessling's article is also devoid of mentions of internal discussions and disagreements. Terry Ryan was at Rochester on Tuesday to watch the team and Pedro Florimon played SS; so the timing of his trip might be more than co-incidental. It will be interesting to see the cohesiveness of the Twins' management in what has been a clearly trying and frustrating season for the Minnesota Twins. Pedro Florimon will wear uniform number 25. The last player who wore it was Erik Komatsu earlier this season and Jim Thome before him. Interesting enough, this was Alexi Casilla's number and Jim Thome had to buy it from him. So maybe this is passing of the batton in a way from one Dominican to another in the Twins' middle infield. The most notable Twin associated with number 25 is Randy Bush, member of both Twins' World Championship teams, who wore if from 1982 to 1993. Pedro Florimon was born on December 10, 1986 in La Romana Dominican Rebublic and signed an amature free agent contract with the Baltimore Orioles organization in 2004 as a 17 year old. He came to the states as a 19 year old and played in Baltimore Appalachian League (Rookie) affiliate Bluefield Orioles and their Short Season A New York Penn League affiliate Aberdeen IronBirds. He ended the season hitting .293/.403/.369 with one HR, 13 RBI, 7 SB in 269 PAs. That was probably his best professional season in the Orioles system. His last season there was 2011, when he repeated AA Eastern League Bowie Baysox and hit .267/.344/.396 with 8 HR, 6 RBI and 15 SB. He was selected off Waivers by the Twins on December 5, 2011 at last off-season's winter meetings. Was invited at the MLB Spring Training camp last spring where he was one of the last cuts, and started his Twins' career with AA Eastern League New Britain Rock Cats and played 30 games before was promoted to Rochester. At New Britain he hit .283/.347/.372 2 HRs, 7 SB (improving his previous season performance in the same league) and for Rochester .251/.308/.344 in his first taste of AAA as a 25 year old. When I gave a mini scouting report when he was claimed by the Twins last September, I mentioned: Defensively, he has exceptional range and instincts, but he (more than occasionally) botches easy plays. In 602 games at SS, he has 174 errors but also turned 363 double plays. He has a strong arm and has some occasional gap power with the bat. All in all, he is very similar to a younger Alexi Casilla and would need some work with his concentration on the field. I think that the Twins signed him as organizational depth at this point, since there are no pure short stops in the higher levels of the organization. If he improves his error rate, he could possibly win a bench position with the Twins. That was before he played a single inning in a Twins' uniform. Based on his Spring Training performance and his steadiness with the Rock Cats and Red Wings this season, I think that he did turn the corner on the field and could even potentially challenge for a starting job next season, depending who is still with the team. On a good competing team, unless he progresses further with the bat (he is still 25,) he could be a bench player. A note: I am calling him a bench vs. a utility player. All his career, Florimon has played only at short stop exept of a single game at center field (2011, Bowie BaySox) and 2 at second base (2011, Bowie Baysox and 2009, Delmarva Shorebirds) in the Baltimore Orioles' organization. So, unless he receives additional instruction and playing time at second and third next off-season and spring training, his utility future might be uncertain. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7107/7789132104_71d61b6ac6_o.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- By now the latest transaction of the Minnesota Twins is about half a day old. SS Brian Dozier was optioned to the Twins AAA club and SS Pedro Florimon was recalled. Dozier was benched for 2 games after a critical error on Sunday and he has been at about replacement level with the bat and been strugging on the field on occasion. Typical rookie season. Even here, yesterday morning the possibility the the Twins might have given up on Dozier temporarily, was mentioned. Also, it looks like this was not a unanimous decision by the Twins' management. In this article Joe Christensen suggests that the move has been debated for "weeks" among Twins' officials and reported that Ron Gardenhire didn't seem thrilled when it happened and he would not speak on the move. Rob Anthony answered all questions about the move. Clearly Gardhenhire has been of the loud Dozier supporters the past 2 seasons and it seems that he was against this decision. MLB.com Rhett Bollinger's piece does not have the Gardenhire information. Phil Mackey's ESPN 1500 story also suggests that there was a long discussion on the subject among the Twins brass and Mackey also adds that the particular play on Sunday and Dozier's reactions afterwards. could have been the decisive point in the demotion (the proverbial last piece of straw). Pioneer Press' Ben Goessling's article is also devoid of mentions of internal discussions and disagreements. Terry Ryan was at Rochester on Tuesday to watch the team and Pedro Florimon played SS; so the timing of his trip might be more than co-incidental. It will be interesting to see the cohesiveness of the Twins' management in what has been a clearly trying and frustrating season for the Minnesota Twins. Pedro Florimon will wear uniform number 25. The last player who wore it was Erik Komatsu earlier this season and Jim Thome before him. Interesting enough, this was Alexi Casilla's number and Jim Thome had to buy it from him. So maybe this is passing of the batton in a way from one Dominican to another in the Twins' middle infield. The most notable Twin associated with number 25 is Randy Bush, member of both Twins' World Championship teams, who wore if from 1982 to 1993. Pedro Florimon was born on December 10, 1986 in La Romana Dominican Rebublic and signed an amature free agent contract with the Baltimore Orioles organization in 2004 as a 17 year old. He came to the states as a 19 year old and played in Baltimore Appalachian League (Rookie) affiliate Bluefield Orioles and their Short Season A New York Penn League affiliate Aberdeen IronBirds. He ended the season hitting .293/.403/.369 with one HR, 13 RBI, 7 SB in 269 PAs. That was probably his best professional season in the Orioles system. His last season there was 2011, when he repeated AA Eastern League Bowie Baysox and hit .267/.344/.396 with 8 HR, 6 RBI and 15 SB. He was selected off Waivers by the Twins on December 5, 2011 at last off-season's winter meetings. Was invited at the MLB Spring Training camp last spring where he was one of the last cuts, and started his Twins' career with AA Eastern League New Britain Rock Cats and played 30 games before was promoted to Rochester. At New Britain he hit .283/.347/.372 2 HRs, 7 SB (improving his previous season performance in the same league) and for Rochester .251/.308/.344 in his first taste of AAA as a 25 year old. When I gave a mini scouting report when he was claimed by the Twins last September, I mentioned: Defensively, he has exceptional range and instincts, but he (more than occasionally) botches easy plays. In 602 games at SS, he has 174 errors but also turned 363 double plays. He has a strong arm and has some occasional gap power with the bat. All in all, he is very similar to a younger Alexi Casilla and would need some work with his concentration on the field. I think that the Twins signed him as organizational depth at this point, since there are no pure short stops in the higher levels of the organization. If he improves his error rate, he could possibly win a bench position with the Twins. That was before he played a single inning in a Twins' uniform. Based on his Spring Training performance and his steadiness with the Rock Cats and Red Wings this season, I think that he did turn the corner on the field and could even potentially challenge for a starting job next season, depending who is still with the team. On a good competing team, unless he progresses further with the bat (he is still 25,) he could be a bench player. A note: I am calling him a bench vs. a utility player. All his career, Florimon has played only at short stop exept of a single game at center field (2011, Bowie BaySox) and 2 at second base (2011, Bowie Baysox and 2009, Delmarva Shorebirds) in the Baltimore Orioles' organization. So, unless he receives additional instruction and playing time at second and third next off-season and spring training, his utility future might be uncertain. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7107/7789132104_71d61b6ac6_o.jpg

Agree. That's why I see no reason that the best defensive middle IF in this team (Casilla) should not be playing every day. I think the Dozier demotion might be to help him get down there, work with Brunanksy and build his confidence up. Also, auditioning Florimon makes sense because they would need to make some decisions for next season. Pretty excited to see a Florimon/Casilla DP combination, but I am not sure that is happening. Carroll was pretty atrocious at SS last night

The goal of the whole organization and for having a minor league system should be to help the MLB team win. When a MLB team is competing the best 25 players of the system should be in the majors and the best manager and coaches should be in the majors. Full effort ahead. If a MLB team is not competing, I understand keeping talent in the minors to play every day and develop further and keep some of the best teachers in the minors.

well... NBC charged about $3.5 million for 30 seconds of ads during the last Superbowl. Citi Field has the highest naming rights contact as far as ballparks go and that is for $20 million annually for 20 years (If Citi bank is going to be around that long). If you do the math, quickly, this makes it a bargain compared to buying a 30 second superbowl ad.

They got to move one of Span/Morneau to get some pitching this off-season. Span's and Morneau's value (barring any additional injuries or bad news from Span's current one) will never be higher than this off-season. They do have ready replacements for both of them and that money they save along with the pitchers they will get, might go long way for this team. And with Morneau, you can potentially trade him for a similar P contact and call is a wash, which really opens the door for a whole other number of players to come over to the Twins. Like can you get someone like Carlos Villanueva from the Blue Jays straight up for Morneau? He is a guy who is a better starter than reliever and the Jays really do not have room for. Also he is stated to make around $4M in his second arbitration. Or would the Dodgers give you someone like Aaron Harang or Chris Capuano straight up (or with an added Twins B type prospect; they are both signed for 2013 for $7 and $6 and have an option for the same amount in 2014 so money is a wash.). This is unique flexibility for them and should try to take advantage of it. This team needs 2 starters better than Diamond, minimum, to have a chance next season and you cannot find them in free agency for cheap (unless you are the Dodgers and signed the aforementioned 2 last off-season)

The thing that ticked me off last night was that he describe a black guy as "property of" and a white guy as "member of" in the same sentence. Is he a "racist"? I don't want to think so, but I still believe that these terms are unfortunate and his word choice to describe the 2 former Twins also unfortunate. Yes I might be sensitive on the subject. As far as whether someone is a "property" of a team (metaphorically), I think that actually a player has more power than the team as far as a working relationship goes. Yes his contract can be sold to another team but he will be making the same money. The team cannot fire him without paying him the rest of the what he is owed, but he can quit anytime (retire...) Just an unfortunate wording. About the property of... shirts (and scrubs in hospitals btw.) It is the shirt that it property of, not the wearer In the Old days practice shirts were property of athletic departments and they had to stay there after games etc. Nobody could have then (thus a forbidden fruit that started that craze in the 70s and 80s...) and then colleges sold them at their bookstores. I might have over reacted but it was the use of different word for teammates of different race that did it. I don't even think that the guy meant it... but he needs to know that was he said is about as Kosher as what Delmon did in NYC... As far as the tone of the commentary on the other thread, if someone decides to not argue on the topic but on the poster, I tune them out

Originally Published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Here is this week's installment: Unfortunately Matt Capps' MRI did not show any improvement and he is not close to a rehab assingment yet. Probably threw his last pitch as a member of the Twins. And there might be some sugar coating but re-signing him and losing the 2 draft picks was one of the worst mistakes that Terry Ryan made. And there is no sugar coating for that. Congratulations to Oswaldo Arcia for named Eastern League player of the month for July and the Eastern League player of the week for the past week. Twins' RHP Scott Baker, who underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this season, is already playing catch. And he has been saying that he feels better than he felt for the last 2 years, which is really positive. Here are the most recent organization Transactions. Please notice the Carl Pavano shuttle. He is in the GCL and not in the FSL right now. Catcher Michael Quesada was suspended. He last played for the Elizabethton Twins (Rookie, Appalachian League.) He was suspended for 50 days because he tested positive for methylhexaneamine, a banned and dangerous diet supplement similar to ephedra Here is a great article on Cole De Vries. Lots of awards coming up, but Baseball America, named Twins' middle infielder Pedro Florimon, the "strongest infield arm" in the AAA International League. Former Twins' starting pitcher Jason Marquis took a no-hitter into the 7th and ended up with a two-hitter. Happy to see that Gardy and Andy helped him realize his full potential while with the Twins. In 13 starts with the Padres he has 3.66 ERA, 1.195 WHIP, 7.5 K/9 and 3.33 K/BB. Another success story for Andy and Gardy and Terry... The New Britain Rock Cats are celebrating their 30th year of existence in New Britain (after they moved from Bristol, CT) this season. Here is a great write up about the history of the Twins AA affiliate. Here is a great post by the Snappers' Director of Media relations, where she gets the Twins' A level players to give her the number one reason why they play baseball. Great stuff. Apparently the Minnesota Twins' ball cap, is preferred gear of a certrain hip hop artist Interim Twins' GM Terry Ryan, is related to the Republican Vice Presidential candidate In 5 games after his trade to the Twins, GCL Twins' Jeremias Pineda is hitting .273/.304/.273. He hit .421/.447/.534 before traded. Meanwhile, Danny Valencia, the other part of this trade was called up for Boston and has been hitless in 2 games. If you wonder what the Elizabethton Twins' players do in their days off, check this out. And the ones who are not doing that, are doing this Will a particular Twins' player have something going on that explains his offensive surge this season? Twins' product of the week is Minnesota Twins Throwback Gnomehttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=B0048CXQ6Q. The Twins need luck in any way possible, and this guy looks a bit like their manager as well... The parting shot today is of Brian Dozier who has been lagging both on the field and with the stick lately. I hope that the Twins do not give up on him, but this has been a long season for him. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8444/7776474708_54949e2879_z.jpg

Originally Published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Here is this week's installment: Unfortunately Matt Capps' MRI did not show any improvement and he is not close to a rehab assingment yet. Probably threw his last pitch as a member of the Twins. And there might be some sugar coating but re-signing him and losing the 2 draft picks was one of the worst mistakes that Terry Ryan made. And there is no sugar coating for that. Congratulations to Oswaldo Arcia for named Eastern League player of the month for July and the Eastern League player of the week for the past week. Twins' RHP Scott Baker, who underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this season, is already playing catch. And he has been saying that he feels better than he felt for the last 2 years, which is really positive. Here are the most recent organization Transactions. Please notice the Carl Pavano shuttle. He is in the GCL and not in the FSL right now. Catcher Michael Quesada was suspended. He last played for the Elizabethton Twins (Rookie, Appalachian League.) He was suspended for 50 days because he tested positive for methylhexaneamine, a banned and dangerous diet supplement similar to ephedra Here is a great article on Cole De Vries. Lots of awards coming up, but Baseball America, named Twins' middle infielder Pedro Florimon, the "strongest infield arm" in the AAA International League. Former Twins' starting pitcher Jason Marquis took a no-hitter into the 7th and ended up with a two-hitter. Happy to see that Gardy and Andy helped him realize his full potential while with the Twins. In 13 starts with the Padres he has 3.66 ERA, 1.195 WHIP, 7.5 K/9 and 3.33 K/BB. Another success story for Andy and Gardy and Terry... The New Britain Rock Cats are celebrating their 30th year of existence in New Britain (after they moved from Bristol, CT) this season. Here is a great write up about the history of the Twins AA affiliate. Here is a great post by the Snappers' Director of Media relations, where she gets the Twins' A level players to give her the number one reason why they play baseball. Great stuff. Apparently the Minnesota Twins' ball cap, is preferred gear of a certrain hip hop artist Interim Twins' GM Terry Ryan, is related to the Republican Vice Presidential candidate In 5 games after his trade to the Twins, GCL Twins' Jeremias Pineda is hitting .273/.304/.273. He hit .421/.447/.534 before traded. Meanwhile, Danny Valencia, the other part of this trade was called up for Boston and has been hitless in 2 games. If you wonder what the Elizabethton Twins' players do in their days off, check this out. And the ones who are not doing that, are doing this Will a particular Twins' player have something going on that explains his offensive surge this season? Twins' product of the week is Minnesota Twins Throwback Gnomehttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=B0048CXQ6Q. The Twins need luck in any way possible, and this guy looks a bit like their manager as well... The parting shot today is of Brian Dozier who has been lagging both on the field and with the stick lately. I hope that the Twins do not give up on him, but this has been a long season for him. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8444/7776474708_54949e2879_z.jpg

Or was it just me? Dick Bremer said this (oh so innocently) : "At this point last season Delmon Young was still property of the Minnesota Twins... And even Jim Thome was a member of the Twins" I've seen people fired for less. This was an awful thing for Bremer to say and I don't know whether the guy is a true bigot or not, but Delmon Young deserves at least an apology for that. Just sayin...

well... they might need another OF next season. Unfortunately the interim GM missed the chance to trade Span before he was hurt again. Hopefully he will be gone this off-season. The manager of the Millennium on the radio has talked about Parmelee being his RF next season. That scares me (but he has started Doumit at LF as well so...). They will need another OF and not sure if Hicks and Arcia will be ready yet.

Shouldn't the Twins be allowed to play two full seasons before we start declaring this two season stretch the worst in history and declaring it as "fact"? Generally, I believe "facts" are reserved for things that have actually happened, not based on future speculation. Alright. We will be here at the end of the season and I am amending my statement above to be exact... But the point is that this sucks really badly right now and small little changes here and there do not cut it...

Repeat: FACT: The last 2 seasons are the worst 2 consecutive seasons EVER since the franchise moved to Minnesota. That bad No way a downgrade is possible

Bottom line: No World Championships since 1991 when (other) young people ran the front office and the field. If you like mediocrity and worse and no titles for 21 years, keep them. Some of us don't like that

5/5 5 GS HRs 5 R 20 RBI. Ryan signs him to a lifetime contract.

Thanks I didn't catch that... Actually it is worse than the 80s... The did finish last for 2 seasons in a row then, but one was the strike shortened '81 season. The worst was 99-00 with 97 and 93 wins (and that was the contraction time). This one is one upping it. Worst ever since they moved to MN

If you think that there is anything overall positive about a team that has the worst record in the league for 2 seasons in a row, and major changes are not needed to right the ship, you are deluded, thus the shuttered glass analogy... Yes, there are some hopeful signs, but the facts that Diamond could be a decent #3 starter and that Willingham and Doumit have been great sings and that Mauer is being playing everyday and performing and Revere potentially broke through, etc... do not make for the facta that this team is awful as a team and that it never had 2 years in a row like this even during the darkest times, since it moved to Minnesota. The only other times that this team ended in the bottom for 2 years in a row was in 1999 and 2000 (yes, the contraction seasons) and they lost 97 and 93 those seasons. FACT: Historically the last 2 seasons is the proverbial Rock Bottom. As bad as it ever got for the Twins. If that does not mean that the glass is shuttered and the team is a mess, I don't know what would make some people realize it or they rather do not see the truth. Yes there are hopeful signs. But right now the team historically sucks in a way it never sucked before... And it is about time people realize it and quite thinking about the glory years or whatever that might be. This suckage is historic and it really is sad that people have blinders on.

I'd agree 100% with the above, until I looked at Marquis' numbers in 13 starts with the Padres since he was cut loose: 3.66 ERA, 1.195 WHIP, 7.5 K/9 and 3.33 K/BB; including taking a no-hitter into the 7th in Pittsburgh last night and ended up with a 2-hitter. For some reason Marquis (like other pitchers before him - Dickey being a recent example) did not perform up to his potential with the Twins. Unless the Twins look for answers to things like this, they will not improve. (and, yeah, they should quit signing veterans who pitch to contact and eat innings.)

Cleveland fired their pitching coach. Stability in a team is a good thing when they are winning titles. And the Twins have not won since '91. And that is a whole different group than the '91 group (other than Rantz.) They need to change Childress had a better record of winning with the Vikings (he took them deeper in the post season and was cheated out of the Super Bowl) than Gardenhire ever did for the Twins (including a season when he led the team that included both the MVP and the Cy Young winner to a postseason sweep). Gardy and Andy have been the masters of 3 and outs in the post-season. They need to follow Childress' path. Interesting that the same fan base thinks so differently about their Football and Baseball leaders.

Garnett's time here is widely looked back on with disappointment. Best player in franchise history, and only once in 12 years here was he surrounded with enough talent to get past the first round of the playoffs. People blamed it on his huge salary and its impact on the rest of the roster, as they do now with Mauer, but at the end of the day it was McHale's failure to make good moves and identify good complementary pieces that held Garnett back. Mauer is headed down a similar path, but his story isn't done being written yet. This is an interesting comparison because one year Mauer was surrounded by both the Cy Young and the MVP winner (which is a rare occurrence) and with enough talent to have the second best record in the league (and one win away from the best) and still were a series and out. I think that the Twins have had way more talent than the Timberwolves did, but they never won in the post-season. I'd probably argue that the 2006 Twins had better talent that the Vikings team that got cheated by the Saints and the refs and did not make the super bowl recently... They just seem to not execute in the post-season (and the last couple seasons during the season as well...)