Thrylos

I actually did a bit more research: He hit .323/.413/.442 in A+ in 2010 and was the Brewers MiLB player of the year. And that was FSL, so it projects. Last season he had a .294/.393/.416 line in AA Huntsville before traded to the Nats at the deadline. Projects as a CF and leadoff hitter. Revere and Mastro did not do anything that good at those levels (well, Mastro might this season but he is oldest). The fact that he is actually a prospect and CFer makes me think that a. the Twins do not think much about Revere and b. Span might be going sooner than later

Erik Komachu's twitter account is @KomoBeatz FYI

.211/.286/.211 with the Cardinals this season. LHB can play all 3 OF positions. Speed not much power. 24 years old. I really do not see what he has over someone like Revere or Mastroianni...

The Twins have a decent C pipeline. Herrmann (AA), Pinto (A+) and Koch (A) are all developing pretty nicely. Unfortunately the retirements of Phil Chapman and Matt Parker and the conversion of Tobias Streich to P, thined it a bit, but these three I mentioned all have starter potential in the majors. Herrmann can be ready as soon as 2013. The starting P in this organization is really lacking and there are not many SPs who are missing bats. Even Gibson and Wimmers are more like Hendriks-types. At this point, the organization does not have a strikeout starting pitcher above the rookie leagues (and not sure that they have one there; maybe Hudson Boyd, maybe Josh Burris if they convert him to a SP.) That's why I somewhat want them to take a flyer on Giolitto, if his arm checks out. He could be the most MLB-ready pitcher (even from the college pitches) and he is a strikeout pitcher. Another name for the supplementary round who might be a bargain is Matt Smoral (if he is going to last by then) who is a big 6'8" lefty HS P with mid 90s FB but is out of the season with a brocken foot... I think they got to go SPs and SPs with fast fastballs who miss bats. They need that really badly

It's actually even smaller if you have to consider that the Indians paid about 1/3 of Thome's contract ~$1M and the Tigers about 1/3 of Young's contract ~$1.6M. Cot's has 2011 Starting payroll at $113.2 M and the Starting 2012 Payroll at $100.4 M. The difference is 12.8 M; subtract Thome and Young and it is closer to $10 M. Another thing: Based on previous (2010) conversations, I am fairly certain that Morneau's contract is insured. Details for those things are not available and the Twins have not leaked any other than the fact that his contact is insured. So subtract a bit more from that $10 M and the difference between 2011 and 2012 is really within the standard deviation area. Again, even more importantly, is not the "how much" but the "how" money is being spent... Arguably, the 2013 team could spend $10-30 million less than the 2012 team and have a better product on the field (lots of contracts expire)

Yeah. Plus there were other issues with Steve Pearce last Spring. Let just say that he was not the nicest person to be around, and live it at that.

Good stuff. Every point there is valid. And it has not been just the last few seasons. The warning signs were there since they lost game 163 at the Cell. This organization and this team is just stuck in the 90s... Time for a wholesale change of the philosophy and the way things are done from top to the bottom and the bottom up. Cannot sustain winning this way (and at this point is not even sustaining, is more like regaining...)

The big deal is (and I am looking at it from a Twins' fan's perspective) that the management of the Twins' AAA affiliate decided to reschedule a game of the Twins' AAA club (which is paying a big part of the bills, btw) and inconvenienced that team to play a double header the day before (think messing with SPs) in order to accomodate the Yankees' wishes. And that game was scheduled already for another ballpark. Batavia. It holds about 2000 people. Yankees did not like it. Thing is that Pettite is starting so the Yankees wanted to move it to the bigger (Rochester) park and their lakeys who are supposedly looking for the Twins' interests decided to make the Red Wings play an unscheduled double header on Saturday and not play a game on Sunday. So the Rochester Management decided to inconvenience the Twins and their players (big time) to cater to the Yankees. F(orget) them

...here is another one Clearly the Rochester management has shown their priorities with this one. Welcome the Rochester Yankees for 2013... and any serious Twins' fan should f(orget about) Rochester...

Alrighty. [TABLE] [/TD][TD=colspan: 4]Accetto. Grazie per il chiarimento [/TABLE]

He should not be fired because he took those 4 days off. Of Course What I meant was that there are a lot of people who a. think that Gardy is irreplaceable and b. it is fine for him to take off for a while. a. and b. do not work together. So when those who really are big a. fans started talking about b., I am pointing it out. And this was just to get those people think about b. a bit...

Please read my comment here... The reason I wrote this here and posted this blog, was to make people think. And react. And, yes graduation is a huge deal and I am glad that Gardy is going to his daughter's and that will probably save him some pepsids or five. The point is that, a whole bunch of us agree that this team will not miss Gardenhire. But this confession could not come easy. Someone had to play the role of the Pujol (sic) and pin the role of Gardy as a leader of the Twins vs. that of him as a dad (and that was me being the Pujol.) So, my point is, and even the most stern Gardy apologists (when his dadhood was artificially apparently questioned) agreed that he brings no value to the team and he better be with his family than the Twins, when the Twins reached rock bottom... Just some food for thought folks...

Thanks for the comments so.... are we (and with "we" I mean the people who thankfully commented here, and the ones who have commented at this post, the ones who commented here, and the ones who did not comment, but read it and agree with the comments saying that it is ridiculous to think that Gardy should be there and are) basically in agreement that Gardy will not be missed for one series? And if he will not be missed for one series, can we extrapolate a bit and say that he will not be missed for 2, 5, 10, 20 series? Can we say that if it is ok for him to leave the Twins when they hit rock bottom (and the Twins will not miss him that much and I do agree with that notion, btw) it is ok for him to leave the Twins permenantly? I say yes, and I suspect you all probably agree, because you cannot have it both ways

From what it leaked out there, Smith got canned because he pushed back on the spending limits and wanted to spend more money than the Pohlads wanted him to spend. Opposite of rebuilding

^^^^^^^This

That figure listed for the ABE (Allentown Bethlehem Easton/ Lehigh Valley) area is way lower than the population of the Metro in the last census survey (close to 850K) and we are talking for a 20-25 mile radius, if you go to 30 miles and add the Reading area, we are talking for more than a million... For Scranton to be listed that high, you probably need to include everything south of Erie PA. Scranton and Wilkes-Barre are close to 100K people combined and there is not much metro around there, just small towns of 2-10K people here and there... That 250K figure I put there was on a good day I suspect radio signals can travel 100 miles or more, but not many people do this on weekdays to watch a ballgame...

Just a question for the folks in the Cities who are following the Gophers. It seems that the Twins usually draft a few Gophers. Derek McCallum was a disaster as a high round draft pick. I heard a lot of good things about Oakes. The Twins drafted him in the 41st round last season but did not sign. He will definitely go higher this season; is he worth the pick you think in the 3-5 rounds?

Need to look at Metro area population not only City Population and I'd say Scranton/Wilkes Barre metro is the smallest with about quarter million (on a good day) and they are hurting bad to keep a team I don't think that the IL is an option for MN, since even the western-most team is on Eastern Time Zone. PCL on the other hand is an option, but their is not much infrastructure (and large enough population, Rochester is pretty much in the middle of nowhere and the metro is the city.) Not sure if something in SD makes sense. Got to consider the weather in April as well...

FYI, Casilla has been hitting better than Carroll and Parmelee (both names you left out) and has been excellent on the field. I don't think that he is part of the problem, really... Also Swarzak has been one of the most reliable pitchers out there this season.

When Francesco Schettino, the captain of Costa Concordia abandoned his sinking ship lastJanuary, it made international news. But he was not alone, to quote a very interesting Discovery channel article: "Considered one of the most infamous crimes in maritime law, [this] act of cowardice has many precedents in history.", and goes on to list several of the previous captains who have abandoned ship. Today, another name needs to be added to the list: Ronald Clyde Gardenhire. With the excuse that he needs to attend his daughter's college graduation, he left his team (with the worse record in baseball) hours after a sweep was completed with a no-hitter against the Twins, to go home to Minnesota for a 4-day weekend. The Twins will join him after they finish their 3 game series at Seattle against the Mariners. He was so ready to get out of town that he caught a red-eye flight the night of the sweep and rushed reporters out off his office to make the flight. Before the blood even dried. Before he could have a single team meeting. College graduation is an important personal event and the father should be there, but, looking at the details a little closer, it is obvious that it is just an excuse for Ron Gardenhire to take a break and leave the team he led to the worse record in the majors, on the very night of arguably their lowest point in the season. Let's look at the facts: Ron Gardenhire's daughter is attending the Southwest Minnesota State University at Marshall, MN. According to the University's web site, commencement takes place at 10 AM this Saturday. Commencement exercises of schools that size, usually take about 1.5-2 hours. The Twins are playing the Mariners at Seattle this Friday at 7:10 PM, this Saturday at 6:10 PM and this Sunday at 1:10 PM (all local,PDT times.) The drive to Marshall, MN home of the Southwest Minnesota State University, where his daughter is graduating at 10 AM is 2 hrs and 46 minutes according to Bing Maps. The ride from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Safeco Park, where the Twins are playing this weekend, according the same source, takes 18 minutes. Also Marshall is the home of the Southwest Minnesota Regional Airport. It takes about 3 hrs to fly from the Twin Cities area to Seattle and vice versa Given those facts, Ron Gardenhire had 3 options: Option 1: Stay with the sinking ship, making the flight to Seattle, managing the team Friday night and taking a private plane (I assume that the Pohlads or the team would allow the use of their private planes, esp if Gardenhire pitched in for gas; or he could have arranged for one) that night or early morning to Marshall arriving in plenty of time for the graduation. Also a 2 PM Marshall departure which would allow plenty of time for pictures and a lunch, would have had him back in Seattle by 3 PM local time, plenty of time to go to the ballpark and manage the 6:10 Saturday game. This way, he would have done his duty to his family and his team. There was no conflict, just inconvenience and cost. Option 2: Stay with the sinking ship, making the flight to Seattle, managing the team Friday night and taking the red eye commercial flight Friday night. I want to think that someone who makes millions a year can afford a private plane and he has access to the team's plane, but let's say that he does not. Delta Airlines flight 1014 leaves Seattle at 12:30 AM local time Saturday morning and arrives in Minneapolis at 5:46 AM local time. Plenty of time to arrive at Marshall at about 8:30 for the 10:00 commencement. The ceremony ends around 11:30 AM. The ride to the airport might make the 2:20 PM flight arriving Seattle at 3:35 PM (in time to manage the whole game) a bit tight (and I assume that he is poor enough not to get private air transport from Marshall to Minneapolis), but the next flight leaving at 5:35 PM and arriving at Seattle at 7:13 PM is doable and allows him to spend an hour or two for lunch and pictures before he joins the Twins. Arriving at Seattle at 7:13 will get him at the ballpark and in uniform before 8:00 PM (the ride is only 18 minutes according to Bing Maps). That is about half way into the game. So he would have missed only half a game and do his paternal duty, but be a bit inconvenienced also. Option 3: Abandon the sinking ship, taking the next flight out in the middle of the night, arriving in his Minnesota home more than 2 days before he needed to be there, stay longer than he needs to be there, miss Sunday's game. Let his team come to him in Minnesota and play alone, headless, three games at Seattle right after they were swept by the Angels, right after a no-hitter against them, while he is having a nice and comfy 4-day weekend. That was the option chosen. Maritime Law is stern and specific. The Twins' front office has (vaguely) been talking about "accountability" last off-season. The captain abandoned his ship. And he did not have to. The facts are there. It is more than time that the ship finds a new captain who respects his position and follows his duty, trying to right it when it is ready to break, instead of abandoning it and let it sink even further. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8146/6993287178_3b8e20786d_z.jpg

When Francesco Schettino, the captain of Costa Concordia abandoned his sinking ship lastJanuary, it made international news. But he was not alone, to quote a very interesting Discovery channel article: "Considered one of the most infamous crimes in maritime law, [this] act of cowardice has many precedents in history.", and goes on to list several of the previous captains who have abandoned ship. Today, another name needs to be added to the list: Ronald Clyde Gardenhire. With the excuse that he needs to attend his daughter's college graduation, he left his team (with the worse record in baseball) hours after a sweep was completed with a no-hitter against the Twins, to go home to Minnesota for a 4-day weekend. The Twins will join him after they finish their 3 game series at Seattle against the Mariners. He was so ready to get out of town that he caught a red-eye flight the night of the sweep and rushed reporters out off his office to make the flight. Before the blood even dried. Before he could have a single team meeting. College graduation is an important personal event and the father should be there, but, looking at the details a little closer, it is obvious that it is just an excuse for Ron Gardenhire to take a break and leave the team he led to the worse record in the majors, on the very night of arguably their lowest point in the season. Let's look at the facts: Ron Gardenhire's daughter is attending the Southwest Minnesota State University at Marshall, MN. According to the University's web site, commencement takes place at 10 AM this Saturday. Commencement exercises of schools that size, usually take about 1.5-2 hours. The Twins are playing the Mariners at Seattle this Friday at 7:10 PM, this Saturday at 6:10 PM and this Sunday at 1:10 PM (all local,PDT times.) The drive to Marshall, MN home of the Southwest Minnesota State University, where his daughter is graduating at 10 AM is 2 hrs and 46 minutes according to Bing Maps. The ride from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Safeco Park, where the Twins are playing this weekend, according the same source, takes 18 minutes. Also Marshall is the home of the Southwest Minnesota Regional Airport. It takes about 3 hrs to fly from the Twin Cities area to Seattle and vice versa Given those facts, Ron Gardenhire had 3 options: Option 1: Stay with the sinking ship, making the flight to Seattle, managing the team Friday night and taking a private plane (I assume that the Pohlads or the team would allow the use of their private planes, esp if Gardenhire pitched in for gas; or he could have arranged for one) that night or early morning to Marshall arriving in plenty of time for the graduation. Also a 2 PM Marshall departure which would allow plenty of time for pictures and a lunch, would have had him back in Seattle by 3 PM local time, plenty of time to go to the ballpark and manage the 6:10 Saturday game. This way, he would have done his duty to his family and his team. There was no conflict, just inconvenience and cost. Option 2: Stay with the sinking ship, making the flight to Seattle, managing the team Friday night and taking the red eye commercial flight Friday night. I want to think that someone who makes millions a year can afford a private plane and he has access to the team's plane, but let's say that he does not. Delta Airlines flight 1014 leaves Seattle at 12:30 AM local time Saturday morning and arrives in Minneapolis at 5:46 AM local time. Plenty of time to arrive at Marshall at about 8:30 for the 10:00 commencement. The ceremony ends around 11:30 AM. The ride to the airport might make the 2:20 PM flight arriving Seattle at 3:35 PM (in time to manage the whole game) a bit tight (and I assume that he is poor enough not to get private air transport from Marshall to Minneapolis), but the next flight leaving at 5:35 PM and arriving at Seattle at 7:13 PM is doable and allows him to spend an hour or two for lunch and pictures before he joins the Twins. Arriving at Seattle at 7:13 will get him at the ballpark and in uniform before 8:00 PM (the ride is only 18 minutes according to Bing Maps). That is about half way into the game. So he would have missed only half a game and do his paternal duty, but be a bit inconvenienced also. Option 3: Abandon the sinking ship, taking the next flight out in the middle of the night, arriving in his Minnesota home more than 2 days before he needed to be there, stay longer than he needs to be there, miss Sunday's game. Let his team come to him in Minnesota and play alone, headless, three games at Seattle right after they were swept by the Angels, right after a no-hitter against them, while he is having a nice and comfy 4-day weekend. That was the option chosen. Maritime Law is stern and specific. The Twins' front office has (vaguely) been talking about "accountability" last off-season. The captain abandoned his ship. And he did not have to. The facts are there. It is more than time that the ship finds a new captain who respects his position and follows his duty, trying to right it when it is ready to break, instead of abandoning it and let it sink even further. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8146/6993287178_3b8e20786d_z.jpg

That Gardy quotation makes me laugh, and cry. Laugh because no matter if they held runners or did a few little things different here and there, that was a no-hit whopping. Those things would have no effect at the outcome of the game. Ok. maybe they would lose 4-0. Cry because he said that the team had all day Thursday to regroup on the same breath he was shoving reporters out of his office so he can make the next flight out of town, 2 days before he needed to make it. And the sad thing is that no-one of those reporters dare to question him why he left last night, instead of, let's say Friday night...

Hard to argue with this, but I think that Chris Colabello, other than the fact that he is playing 2 levels below his age, should probably be included. Cooled off a bit lately, but his OPS is still higher than both Santana and Hicks

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- This is the fourth installment in this series. You can find all of them here in reverse chronological order. I will be doing these approximately weekly or at the end of every 2 series. In the last 2 series against the Royals (abbreviated 2-game series because of a rain out) and at the Angels the Twins as a team hit an underpowered .214/.276/.321 with 1 HR and scored 16 runs. This helped them finish only 1-4 in these series. The Twins Hitter of the Week was: Danny Valencia http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7108/6992918654_9932b1062a_z.jpg .400/.400/.600 6 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 2 R in 15 plate appearances As with the hitting, the Twins' pitching in the last 2 series was equally responsible for their 1-4 record against the Royals and the Angels. As a team, the Twins pitched to a 5.79 ERA, allowing 49 hits (including 9 home runs, 8 doubles and a triple,) 28 Runs (all but 1 earned) in 42 innings, facing 183 batters. They threw 636 total pitches and 392 of them were strikes. The walked 11 and struck out 13. This results in a 1.43 WHIP, 2.8 K/9 and 1.2 K/BB. The Twins' Pitcher of the Week was: Jared Burton http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5346/7096786667_37f511b18d_z.jpg 2 Games, 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- This is the fourth installment in this series. You can find all of them here in reverse chronological order. I will be doing these approximately weekly or at the end of every 2 series. In the last 2 series against the Royals (abbreviated 2-game series because of a rain out) and at the Angels the Twins as a team hit an underpowered .214/.276/.321 with 1 HR and scored 16 runs. This helped them finish only 1-4 in these series. The Twins Hitter of the Week was: Danny Valencia http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7108/6992918654_9932b1062a_z.jpg .400/.400/.600 6 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 2 R in 15 plate appearances As with the hitting, the Twins' pitching in the last 2 series was equally responsible for their 1-4 record against the Royals and the Angels. As a team, the Twins pitched to a 5.79 ERA, allowing 49 hits (including 9 home runs, 8 doubles and a triple,) 28 Runs (all but 1 earned) in 42 innings, facing 183 batters. They threw 636 total pitches and 392 of them were strikes. The walked 11 and struck out 13. This results in a 1.43 WHIP, 2.8 K/9 and 1.2 K/BB. The Twins' Pitcher of the Week was: Jared Burton http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5346/7096786667_37f511b18d_z.jpg 2 Games, 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K