Jocko87

Leaks are specifically prohibited by the same policy, I put the snippets in the post above. I would agree it's different but still the same violation. Just harder to police. If they want to enforce it, they would just have to sanction the team. It highlights how tight the Twins ship is, we don't hear much.

I would expect something from them on the Ricketts comments as well as that looks to be at least toes over the line. We get reports all the time about teams being out on free agents from Ohtani to Kiki. It doesn't effect negotiations all that much to know the A's are out on Ohtani. Now that the agent has put out the Kiki news, an apparent violation, do the Twins get to say anything? The way I read it, they can deny the interest which would really throw a wrench in negotiations-the whole reason for the policy. Its one of those things the PA should be careful with bringing too much attention to. They get more benefit from the loose enforcement than we probably know.

First, signing an extension to calm fans upset by having an affordable contender isn't really a thing. As for an Ober extension, or a Ryan deal for that matter, they are roughly the same age as Pablo. I had to double check because it wasn't front of mind, Paddack is the same age as well. I just don't see this team spending anything on pitchers in their 32-33's as they believe in their development abilities and they will be valuable assets for 4 years plus either trade or QO possibilities. 32/33 is probably around the general cut off age for position players as well. Its also an artifact of their general pitching philosophy and I wouldn't be surprised if it was a conscious decision to control costs. I believe they are set up to only extend a pitcher in the most, most, most ideal of circumstances. By focusing on college pitchers they can develop it also sets those careers up to hit the major league window at the optimum ages so they run out of control at an age they wouldn't be interested in signing them anyway. Taking Pablo to age 31 is about the most optimal situation. Ober, Ryan, Varland, Canterino, Prhilepp etc will likely never see an extension with the Twins, no matter how good they are. It just doesn't fit their model. A Raya or Soto might have a chance but everything would have to go perfectly to make sense. Any college pitcher has to move very quickly though the minors and have immediate success to work out but working in the middle rounds with moldable clay makes that unlikely as well. Cost control doesn't matter much in this model either. If a player is good enough to break the arbitration bank it will be worth it in on-field performance and trade/QO value. In the more likely scenario that they are just solid pitchers the money might be less than a contract signed.

It would be a violation as far as I can tell, the restrictions apply to both the player and team side. Never mind Tom Ricketts and Boras sparing in public last week and finally getting Bellinger done. Ricketts called him out on the need to talk to the owner crap and made him back down, so it seems. Almost negotiating in public, if you ask me. https://cubbiescrib.com/posts/tom-ricketts-speaks-on-cody-bellinger-why-he-wont-talk-to-scott-boras

Maybe they do know a few things. That's an incredibly ignorant post to assume someone doesn't now the rulebook for their business. I just read CBA attachment 49 Re: Use of media and re-listened to the interview. I found a report that referenced CBA pg 329 as the violation. No telling what the lawyers might get into but I don't really see the violation. The hard no answer was in response to a possible repeat of a Correa situation, not a specific free agent and the memo gives firm examples of what he can say, highlighted below. To me, all he did was deny that they were engaged in negotiations with any of an unmentioned group of players. I believe the memo is very specific that it is in reference to a single named player, not a general group. Really, if you read the memo it says we should never hear anything until an official team announcement and we all know that ain't how it works. Players association can pound sand on this one.

There was never a chance that Balfour and Blewitt would ever be a utility infielder or something. Born to be relief pitchers.

I just read CBA attachment 49 Re: Use of media and re-listened to the interview. I found a report that referenced CBA pg 329 as the violation. No telling what the lawyers might get into but I don't really see the violation. The hard no answer was in response to a possible repeat of a Correa situation, not a specific free agent and the memo gives firm examples of what he can say, highlighted below. To me, all he did was deny that they were engaged in negotiations with any of an unmentioned group of players. I believe the memo is very specific that it is in reference to a single named player, not a general group. Really, if you read the memo it says we should never hear anything until an official team announcement and we all know that ain't how it works. Players association can pound sand on this one.

I have to think any of the 3 guys mentioned could fill what best case Kiki could provide, with options to rotate the hot hand. Nice to see the lefties get at bat's against a awkward looking lefty. And RH Lee.

I can't hate this opening paragraph more. The chotzpah is stunning. Three hypotheticals expressed as pure fact in two sentences is impressive. Looking forward to seeing Festa get some action against major league hitters. Would be interested in some bullpen exposure with the big club but with no room there maybe the Kuechel role is an option.

That's true, no telling his motivations. It's also odd how Rosenthal presents this, like it's the Kiki sweepstakes. Like the Twins are breathlessly awaiting his decision so they can proceed with the rest of their offseason. Hope he goes back to Boston, MAT is a better fit. I'd be suspect of Kiki in center and we have enough infielders to cover everything else ahead of him.

I'd prefer Farmer several different ways. If it's not a minimum or minor league deal the cost difference won't be significant. I don't know why he would pick Minnesota anyway, he'd almost certainly want something that had cleaner routes to playing time.

He has to be healthy and hit for anything to matter. If he does, it won't matter where he plays. He'll be a cornerstone player. Or a very very valuable trade chip. If not, it won't matter either. Honestly, I thought when Santana signed it would be natural for AK to play some outfield again. Part of that thought process is that next year is Waller in right, AK in left and maybe Julien and Miranda at first. If AK is healthy, his defense will be just fine as a middle of the order bat in left field. I'm not sold on the Julien to first base deal either. I don't see anything that indicates he will be an better than AK there. Wrong handed, short and stone hands aren't a great combo over there. Most likely he settles in at DH which is why he would be my trade chip. It's just to easy to add a big bat at first base. They are expensive at all the other spots. Miranda and AK will settle the question with their play.

Love it. Love it. Love it! Happy to talk payroll after the season when we know how well their plan worked. I've been a staunch supporter of them this offseason and believe in the plan. Maybe the only contract I'd have liked to see would have been Soler but I can understand not doing it both from a financial and baseball standpoint. If all the kids crash, we are in for a long few years regardless of the money spent. It's the player development that's put them in a position to ride this wave and they deserve credit for that. Honestly, this is the one that caught my attention too. Nerd. 😂

If last year was down defensively it was still quite good. It was a ton of fun to watch. Realistically, with 8 WAR between him and Buxton this is a completely different team. I don't think that's a farfetched outcome either.

They probably had a rough idea of Andersons price which would have them looking for a premium shortstop prospect in trade. This market is wierd.

Satire, I presume. That infield defense won't be able to catch a cold. Also, only 5 million? Lots of guys without jobs are going to be willing to work cheap pretty soon.

Fascinating that expansion seems a basically a done deal with a billion dollars of free agents still hanging out with spring training starting. Seems like there are a few very significant financial factors that need solved before adding teams. They better solve the media distribution question in a very significant manner before expanding. Heck, they have to figure that out before they get a couple stadiums built.

The Rays, but with some targeted luxury purchases. It would be a new lane, really. It's also quite a bold strategy, Cotton.

I've been out on this big 4 for several months.

I'll grant that it's a tight needle to thread and not actually been pulled off by anyone buts the Rays in a meaningful way. (Orioles are a different method) I'll argue that they are pretending to compete. This roster is legit and their competitiveness is not based on the AL central. It takes quite a few years to turn over a team and we are at the point in this front office tenure where we should be seeing top to bottom results of their leadership. I would argue that we are, and the results are very good. The level of talent has risen dramatically at every level. Are we depending on some youngsters to turn into superstars? Certainly. But dammit, we have 11 youngsters with a chance to make it instead it of 2. If 3 of them make it, we will contend for championships every year. They do have a chance to emulate the Rays. They have a chance to eclipse them considering the spending they have already undertaken. It's a tough needle to thread, but until it goes wrong we should be cheering them emphatically.

Interesting that the chase rate is the main issue. It's quite encouraging as it's one of the things you would expect a young hitter to have to adjust as he faces better and better pitching as the levels increase. He had a similar slow start at AA. Did his chase rate spike and adjust as he started hitting? I don't quite know how to parse that data but my recollection is that he started slow at each level. I'd be very happy to see his chase rate declining at each stop. It would indicate a very high level of adaptation.

Always has. Always will.

I was going to say it's one of those self fulfilling prophecy things but chicken and egg works too. Unfortunately it really doesn't matter if the water is swirling the wrong direction. I haven't listened to the interview yet but am not surprised at anything I'm reading here. It's going to get worse before it gets better. Interesting though, how when the local barber is struggling in the community very often word spreads and lots of people get extra haircuts and get their local businesses through hard times. Maybe that's what Twins fans should do. Pack the stadium. Instead of being torn up about what they didn't do, celebrate what they did do. I'm actually not totally unsympathetic to @Beast statements, I just disagree with the timing. That there is a winning team on the field with all this going is actually impressive, surely lucky as well but still impressive. If they put an Oakland As product out, I'll be out as well. I kinda understand what DSP is trying to say about fans not showing but if the only hire they make this year is a PR person it might be the best money they could spend.

Way ahead of ya, chief. As I said in the complete sentence, it's a topic for next offseason.

There's a very good chance that money you want them to eat this year has already been eaten the last two years. We've discussed that as well. Is it the same ask if it's three years in a row? By the way, closing their doors is contraction. Remember that? The stadium made the business functional again but it's not like there's billions just laying around all of a sudden. You're going in circles, making my case for me, then ignoring what you are saying to come to your emotional conclusion. Go spend some time with the prospect lists and spring training reports, we can take this up again next offseason. There's a good chance it will be worse.