TheLeviathan

Watch out for Deadpool - everything about this movie, the promotions, and Reynolds' 100% commitment to the character scream that they're going to get this right. It'll be juvenile, but it may also be righteously hilarious.

So they want everyone to hate him and think he's an idiot? To the best that I can see, that's what he's accomplished. But please, let me know what he's done.

I'm hoping for Arcia as well. Plouffe lead the league in GIDP so I'd really prefer he be closer to 7 than 5 at this point.

He can't even get his side to agree to what he wants. Also, going in expecting the other side to totally cave to you is a flawed approach from the start. Either Cruz and the TP are too dumb or naive to recognize that, I guess you can choose which. But it's precisely why he has accomplished nothing.

I have high hopes this skill is going to allow him to adjust to whatever the league tries to throw at him in the future. Hell, my biggest concern for him is protection in the lineup so people don't just pitch around him.

Isn't part of your job as a Senator to pass bills? Has he accomplished blocking Obamacare? Did he reduce the federal government in any meaningful way? Yes, he's accomplished being a pain in the ass. Is that the extent of the Tea Party's aims? Just to be a gnat or a fly in the ointment? I would hope, at some point, you'd want some legislation on the books to actually accomplish something.

It's not that they are stupid people, it's that they are totally oblivious about how to be effective at making their positions a reality. They loudly shout about what they want to accomplish with no clue about how to actually accomplish it. What has Ted Cruz accomplished as a Senator? The answer is virtually nothing. Go look it up yourself if you don't believe me.

The problem is that extremists who don't compromise make even the mundane, necessary political action impossible. Ted Cruz is basically hated by everyone in part because he won't let anything get accomplished. I get that the Tea Party wants to reduce the power of the Fed. government, but you don't do that by stopping every spending bill from happening. You do it by proposing smart programs and changes to the existing structure to reduce government but still provide for the citizens. What the Tea Party has become in practice is nothing more than loud idiots who merely have to stump for whatever their base clamors for to stay elected. Once again, sort of how I view Sanders in many respects. Just an idiot of a different order.

I agree with you on taxes. On unions I'm less inclined to agree, they come with a host of their own problems, largely because of the way unions operate politically. I'd be 100% for a resurgence in unions if we reform campaigns and contributions so that they (among many groups on the right) can buy less political influence.

The left has plenty to be accountable for as well. Any of us that went to college since the mid-90s have the left to thank for crippling student loan debt, for example. Amid a variety of other issues it caused with the value of a college education.

I should've been clearer on the point I was comparing. Both Sanders and most Tea Partyers are very tunnel vision. They have one objective and are hyper focused on it. Sanders doesn't debate, he just recites his position. Like it or not, Sanders is mostly bluster as a candidate. He has good ideas, but articulating them is only possible by reading them in a formalized fashion. Like a lot of tea party people he attaches himself to one issue and just rides that ferociously into office. Maybe another way to say that s that he lacks multiple dimensions as a candidate.

True, there is a chance it was a ploy, I just find it unlikely given the totality of the evidence.

I guess I just doubt that timeline. If you were still open to moving Plouffe I think moving Sano to the OF was premature. I mean, they moved him in the first week of November. Lawrie wasn't traded until December. I believe they mean what they said - Plouffe was never on the market. It's not like Ryan to be this adamant and then working behind the scenes to do the opposite.

Yeah, I was trying to be kind. I don't feel like I need to hear or see Bernie speak again. I've heard him in two debates and in about 4 interview settings and I think the vast majority of what he said was verbatim every time. He really is more like a left-wing Tea Party guy than most people want to admit. And I don't want any of the right wing Tea Party nutjobs anywhere near a diplomatic summit either.

I don't disagree Bernie has less platitudes, but he is constantly shouting the same dozen or so platforms in response to basically everything he gets asked. (I think at the last debate he turned a gun question into both campaign and health care reform. It feels like all of his responses end up there). I'm really unclear how this is even a point of contention. Hell, I know some Bernie people that like exactly his cantankerous persona.

They decided not to shop him at all. You should always at least entertain offers, especially for guys like Plouffe. As I said, I'm fine not dealing him if the returns don't justify it. Not even exploring the market first is negligent.

We are talking about the offseason, not the future. This entire conversation has been about the choices made up to now. Others have contended the Twins shopped Plouffe and found nothing. Bernadine's questions are about what the Twins did during the offseason. Both past tense. My contention, and the comments back me up, is that Plouffe was never shopped. Past tense. I'm not sure why you think the discussion was about some future potential of trading Plouffe, but no one is making that argument. We are talking about the last three months.

Those opposing positions may have more to do with what people want to believe than what was actually said. He made it clear they wanted Plouffe to be a Twin in 2016 in about as concise and direct a way as humanly possible. And when Ryan is that direct on things, at least this is what I've gleaned the last 20 years, he's telling the truth. Lying or spinning things really isn't in his repertoire because he's just a good natured, old school guy. I guess if you want to believe he lied to Bernadino you can, just seems very out of character for Ryan. It also doesn't mesh with how quickly they announced that Sano was moving to the outfield. Something they wouldn't have done in the first week of November if they were really shopping Plouffe all offseason only to swerve the media later.

First, what you did there was read into his statements. You may be right, GMs do that sort of thing, but understand that while you've been accusing others of reading into the comments, it's really your take on it that's inferring something. I'm taking him at his word. I'm not hashing his comments out or reading between the lines, I'm taking Ryan at his word. It's also worthwhile to note the actual questions and not just his responses. He was asked "how much interest was there", which is not to ask if the interest was "strong" or if there were strong suitors. It's asking, essentially, did you get a lot of calls? It's a backdoor way of asking if they were shopping him. And the response was "we didn't entertain", which says to me that they weren't picking up the phone on those. And we know why from the other comment - "he wasn't going anywhere" - meaning the team made the decision that Plouffe was part of the 2016 plans and they weren't interested in shopping his value. Look, you can agree with Ryan and his decision to not even consider options to trade Plouffe. There are valid reasons (from concerns about Sano's defense to Plouffe's own contributions) for wanting him to stay. I disagree because of the roster's long term outlook, but I can understand wanting to keep him. What I don't understand is why we wouldn't even consider the market for him given Sano's presence. I understand even less why it's necessary to spin his comments to justify that. I guess it's possible Ryan went out of his way to deceive Bernadino's questions with a very manipulative answer to hide their offseason actions....I just find it highly unlikely.

I'm not sure you'll find a more definitive response by any GM than those responses to Bernadino. You can be of the opinion that it's a smoke screen to protect Plouffe, but those words are concise and declarative. Not much to parse there but unwavering support of a Plouffe.

Um, no, it's a perfectly reasonable understanding when you see something like "he wasn't going anywhere". I don't know how much more plainly Terry Ryan could have said it short of: "No, terrydactyls1947, I really didn't have any intention, nor did I entertain offers" I mean, at some point let's stop pretending Terry Ryan is someone he isn't: the guy is pretty forward and honest. It's one of his best qualities in fact and one of the reasons I always tune in on Sundays to hear his segment on the radio. So c'mon, let's stop trying to pretend Ryan said something he didn't and take the man at his very upfront word about it. And it's ok to be ok with the fact that they made the decision to keep Plouffe regardless. It's also ok to think that's a mistake and they should've at least explored the market rather than immediately deciding to keep him and move Sano to the OF.

You should reread my comment.

Those quotes make it obvious: trading him was never an option on the table. Not trading him I can understand because of the trade market.....not even fielding calls? Stupid.

After next year I hope to god he is, an extension would be beyond ridiculous. You "think" he'll be good, but you don't know. How about until we do we hold off on praising our new found versatility? Haven't we failed at enough infielders in the outfield to kill that assumption?

Danny Santana: defensive OF replacement. This team doesn't learn.....