drjim

At what point does the board stop making this point? Trades in mlb do not work like this for a variety of reasons. Let's be happy with the depth and give it the appropriate time to shake out.

Fixed that for you or fixed it for you. Really not a fan of people doing that.

I'm not sure I follow and I usually love historical analogies.

This would be an interesting article to re-run in late November/early December.

Better pitchers throughout the organization? Otherwise I fail to see how the Twins can be criticized for how they handled this situation.

Bill Smith signed Morneau. Ryan signed Santana, Hunter and Mauer to four year deals.

I would do it for Bogarts, but the Red Sox won't. I misread and didn't realize that you had said a pitcher AND the other SS - I was thinking you were proposing a trade centered on the lower level SS. Your proposal would be conceivable for the Twins, might be a little steep for the Red Sox, but is perhaps the type of overpay I could support because they would get a starter that could pitch the rest of this year and be ready by opening day next year.

I like Ryan as much as anyone but these two critiques are extremely valid. A good response is not to remind people that the Twins drafted the right player last year.

I understand your thinking but I don't like this trade at all. The majority of the value received has to be in a player(s) that will be on the roster by pretty much opening day next year. I know the team is stuggling right now but the window will start to open quicker than we might think, this is not a long rebuild job anymore.

All I'll add to this thread is that struggling team or not, it is a damn fine day to go to a baseball game.

I would agree with this. Reusse and Mackey get a pretty good lineup of guests as well. They generally will check in with the opposing beat writer at the start of the series and they alternate Olney/Kurkijian each week and also some other good national guys. They also provide a pretty good mix of old school analysis and story telling (Reusse) with a more sabrmetric bent (Mackey).

They are both homers in the sense that baseball is the favorite sport by far for both of them, they want to see the Twins do well, and they are relatively defensive of the operation. But they are generally realistic in their analysis. If baseball is your top sport and you listen to sports talk radio, I don't know why you wouldn't listen to this show in this time slot. Probably second only to John's spots on the Power Trip, right?

I agree it would be rosy for both. A Buxton callup at that point would be quicker than Trout (from time drafted to time debuted), but man Buxton has pretty much hit the ground running in Ft. Myers.

I'm not making excuses for the fiasco that was Bill Smith. But the franchise was not in the best of shape in the winter of 2007.

I agree with this. Ryan made a muddle of the deadline and left a mess for Bill Smith. Tthe current situation is much different. Outside of Perkins there just isn't much of value. There might be a trade or two but it will be to clear roster space as much as anything.

That was his biggest mistake. Made a bad muddle of the deadline and left a mess for Bill Smith.

I don't agree with this. Young talent can emerge and guys like Plouffe or Dozier can break out. Obviously they need a pitcher or three but they don't have to concede 2014 right now. I'm with Brock, only if blown away legit, ready pitching.

But your link show higher revenues for St. Louis compared to the Twins. I can't imagine that is stadium driven. And you are going to suggest that the Metrodome years have anything to do with thia discussion?

I missed this thread until now. Is there a reason it doesn't go directly to the minors section? I often don't see the front page articles, and feel like I was wasting my time posting links on the majors page.

I would imagine your conclusions would look different if you took a four year average for payroll as opposed to only this year. This debate can go in circles but four years is probably not enough of a sample of data either way. I don't think the Metrodome is a fair comparison and I also think market size is of less importance than TV contracts, which is a bigger driver of revenue than even stadiums.

I can support all of this.

The Pohlads make money off the Twins. It is a small percentage of their yearly income (profit), that is why I called it a rounding error. I think this article/story shows a much bigger situation than anything having to do with payroll, which is often the crux of many debates. Now it is time for my personal conjecture: The Pohlads run the team in a fiscally conservative manner, meaning they aren't going to take significant losses, but rather prefer a decent profit each year. I don't think they are trying to make every single dollar they possibly can off of the Twins. I do believe they try to maximize revenue (like any business would), but I think they will support a reasonable payroll and other expenses (such as park upgrades). I think a variety of factors contributed to payroll being down this year and below the target of percentage of revenue they generally support, but I don't think it has anything to do with a change in philosophy of the Pohlad family. I also believe, and evidence generally supports me, that they run the team in a manner that is consistent with other teams in their revenue bracket. The Pohlad's are filthy rich and like most filthy rich people take advantage of the tax code to minimize their tax burdens. This does not make me happy but it also doesn't surprise me. It strikes me as representative of many of the treads of our society. Because they are filthy rich, they do have the opportunity to pump their own cash into the Twins and operate at a loss. They choose not to do this. It would be nice as a fan if they did so, but I don't think it is a reasonable expectation. Nothing in this article changed any of these thoughts.

Here is BA's list: Where The Top 30 International Prospects Have Signed - BaseballAmerica.com Mostly sucked up, but the Twins really weren't connected to any of the top guys. And "SS" can be a little deceiving on that list. Both Sano and Polanco were listed as SSs when they signed and obviously Sano has moved and Polanco is probably a 2B at this point.

I assume you are familiar with the term "figure of speech" and how it was applied with that quote.

Also announced was Roni Tapia Twins Agree To Deal With Roni Tapia - BaseballAmerica.com