Thrylos

Great stuff! Here are some actually potentially worse seasons (other than Rich Becker's 1995) Just Twins, no Senators. C Drew Butera 2011 .167/.210/.239 in 93 games 24 OPS+ (Walbeck's 43) 1B Dan Mientkiewicz 1999 .229/.324/.330 in 118 games 66 OPS + (Stahoviak's 82) 2B Al Newman 1990 .242/.304/.278 in 144 games 61 OPS + (Backman's 66) SS Jackie Hernandez 1968 .176/.218/.221 in 83 games 30 OPS+ (Guzman's 38) 3B Nick Punto 2007 .210/.291/.271 in 150 games 53 OPS+ (Valencia's 86) LF Rich Sofield 1980 .247/.287/.374 in 131 games 75 OPS+ (Willingham's 96) RF Hosken Powel 1980 .262/.312/.355 in 137 games 78 OPS+ (Arcia's 108!) RF Matt Lawton 1996 .258/.339/.365 in 79 games 78 OPS+ (Arcia's 108!) DH Glenn Adams 1981 .209/.273/.282 in 72 games 57 OPS+ (Doumit's 95) SP Brad Havens 1983 16 G 8.18 ERA, 1.842 WHIP 52 ERA+ (Blackburn's 56) SP Sean Bergman 2000 12 G 7.02 ERA, 2.118 WHIP 54 ERA+ (Blackburn's 56)

Another one of those, and Nolasco is on pace to break Bert's record from '86

Dozier needs some pine time.

Byung Ho That

Nice sac fly by Nunez there

I see you and raise you one

That hits the nail in the head, and is not only confusing, it is the problem definition, and goes to the way Terry Ryan has been building teams since day 1: With no plan, without riding the ebbs of bad times for true rebuilding like Griffith did in the 80s, which with a competent GM who could close holes with the right people and rebuild in a season, in Andy MacPhail, turned into 2 World Championships Ryan has no plan. Or his plan is schizophrenic. Even in the years preceding contraction he was not rebuilding. 1997. The team finishes with 94 losses. What does he do? He keeps 36 year old Steinbach, 41 year old Molitor, 31 year old Coomer, 29 year old Meares, 36 year old Aguilera, 37 year old Tewksbury, 33 year old Swindell and signs the following free agents: 38 year old Mike Morgan, 31 year old Orlando Merced, 39 year old Otis Nixon, after he trades Knoblauch for prospects. I am convinced that the moderate success of the early 2000s was because no old bargain bin free agent (even the Minnesota-born) dared sign with the Twins with the fear of contraction over their heads and Ryan was forced to use the people he had who were all minor leaguers (and even then he couldn't help himself and signed cut players like 30 year old Sean Bergman who sucked.)

a. By the title of this article I thought that this was about fish. More realistic. I think that they might get a couple cases of trout for Milone for sure. b. The Twins need Trout (and his 40% of the team's salary) like a poke in the eye that Mauer's contract did not poke. c. Can he pitch in a pinch?

Check the quote from the Reds' owner when he fired Krivsky (from here) "We've just come to a point where we're not going to lose anymore," Reds owner Bob Castellini said emphatically. Does it sound familiar? Also from there, about Krivsky's tendencies: Krivsky showed a fondness for signing older pitchers (etc) Does that sound like someone we know and "love"?

Francisco Cervelli and Wilson Ramos are free agents this off-season. I'd rather see them go after one of them, than draft a C and wait for Godot to develop.

This guy begs to disagree: http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Brian+Harper+Chicago+Cubs+Photo+Day+etOXVFa_N8Tl.jpg

He did not. He surrounded himself with Ryan's people...

FWIW the first AA catcher who got the callup was Carlos Paulino

Just in case: It has been way too cold and rainy in the Southeast all baseball season so far. Balls are dying. Give a full season and then let's talk about power. Regardless, contact is much more important than power for him at this point.

My count as far as Rochester goes: Meyer Wheeler Milone --- Baxendale (has been at AA for 2 seasons) Slegers (until Berrios or Duffey return from the majors when Gibson gets activated) That would pop all the Fort Myers rotation to Chattanooga (forgot to add the newest Ryan/Steil scrub, Nick Longball, to the get rid of list) Keeping Steele at Fort Myers, with Rosario going back when Slegers returns, adding LeBlanc, Clay (another guy who has nothing to prove at Cedar Rapids) and Stashak to Fort Myers. John Curtiss there can be the 5th starter until Slegers returns. Then get 3 arms from EST up to Cedar Rapids. No games to forfeit, just forfeiting the mind set of getting never have beens from the Independent Leagues instead of promoting within and finding out what they have. Simple.

Today's report shows well what is wrong in the Twins' World: Randy LeBlanc has nothing to prove in a league that he is 2 years older than the average player. He should be at Fort Myers. The problem is that the Twins' system is so congested in the upper levels with starters who belong in the Independent Leauges, like Andrew Albers (and David Martinez and Omar Bencomo) or the pen, like David Hurlbut (and Logan Darnell and Ryan Eades) to bring up the high A phenoms so players like LeBlanc will play at the levels they belong. This is LeBlanc's 3rd season with the Twins. He will need to be added to the 40-man roster after the next season. He better play in competitive levels for the Twins to assess whether he should be added. So far he has not. And he is just an example.

I think that if the Twins can get Garrett if he is available because a. he is the best LHSP on the board after Puk (and maybe including Puk) and b. Good LHSPs do not grow on trees. Their strategy to get relievers and turn them into starters maybe got a 12.5% success rate, and that if one believes that Duffey is a success, for which the jury is still out with 13 MLB starts only and still difficulties (albeit better than last season) the second time + he faces a lineup. Perkins was 9-5 with 3.something ERA in his first 14 MLB starts. So I would wait a couple more seasons before I call Duffey a success. I can see the Jay signing with the conversion intend, but he is a lefty. And that is a better risk to take (because good LHSPs do not grow on trees.) Just not so for Burdi, he might have more pitches than his brother, but his brother has unfortunately proven injury-prone, so I would not use a first round pick on a reliever. On the other hand, a second round pick might worth it if he is still around. I just hope that they are drafting from need this year. They are a couple of Prep Catchers I like for the later rounds Ben Rortvedt (who should be available in the second round and is from WI) and Michael Amditis for the later rounds (5th or so; he is from LA and the Twins have a good scouting presence there.) I really do not care much about the College Catchers this draft. Not sure that the ones that will stay at C have pretty high ceiling. Another name you will hear and has a lot of helium as far as catchers go is Herbert Iser (HS, Disneyworld) but has a Kennys Vargas body type... The draft is always cool because it is all about possibilities and dreams. Great break from the Twins' reality this season

Again, you are making my point. The 2000s were not McDonalds and Walmart, it was Chipotle and Kohls. As long as the causal fan defines excellence as that, the Twins will be making $.

I think that you just made my point, unless you are talking about 1991. The Twins were not competitive in the Ryan era. Winning bad divisions and going belly up in the post-season is not competitive. When the divisions got stronger, their belly up time got earlier The 2000's Twins were like a special McDonalds thing. McRib. There you go

Here is the thing (and part of the problem) : Their product has not turned into an utter disaster. I bet the Twins made record $ in 2015. Regardless of the quality of the product (which is an utter disaster.) The problem is that people are willing to and pay for this. McDonald's makes a profit, so does Walmart. If people are willing to pay for the stuff they sell, they will continue to make $. And as long as there are Twins' apologists around who are happy with mediocrity, and are vocal about it, people will pay to watch it. McDonalds and Walmart are not going out of business any time soon...

Sure. As the equipment manager.

Nah. These too are part of the problem: Mike Radcliff Bill Smith Wayne Krivsky Deron Johnson Ron Gardenhire

You have to bring someone who can really go though each one of them and figure out who is worthwhile to keep. And they better do it soon, so he sees them in action. Some people might be good, but they are in the wrong role. Some people might have great ideas but have been stifled by the higher ups. One needs to figure that stuff out, but anyone who has been in the organization in a senior position has to go...

Yeah. Buy one get 3 free...

Goin and Stiel are part of the problem. Briefly, if they were doing their jobs better: a. the Twins would not re-sign or extend players after seasons that even a teenager that looks at their career records can tell they are outliers b. the team with consistent top 10 in the prospect rankings, would have developed better players Plus: c. they are part of the 99+96+96+92+79+??? problem d. (related) they are tainted by the Twins' losing is ok and no accountability culture.