neli21

I think you hit the nail on the head with the second paragraph. Moreover, this signing tells me that the Twins may finally be getting serious in injecting leadership and personality into the clubhouse, along with someone who can show the next wave of players what it means to be a professional. We are well aware that those are things that the current veteran leadership does not have. But as far as your first paragraph goes, I am more cynical. To me, Hunter choosing to come back boils down to pretty simple logic. Nobody really knows who the contenders will be in December, so he signed with the team most likely to trade him to once when the picture clears up in July. The Twins get an infusion of needed leadership in Spring Training and the first half of the season, and Hunter gets some say in where he ends up playing in September, and hopefully into October. It's a win-win, though a risk in that Hunter has to be banking on playing well enough for there to be an actual market for him at that time. If not, I guess its not all bad on a one-year deal and nearing retirement.

I would counter your point by noting that Polanco, Goodrum, and Levi (along with Aderlin Mejia) are all on the same team. That is quite an organizational logjam of projected, or once projected, shortstops at one level. Polanco is the best prospect of the bunch, so he's going to get the lion's share of the reps there. I have yet to read anything that says that all three of the guys, or even any of them, are definitively moved off of shortstop. By all means correct me if I am wrong there. Also, as a team that by all accounts builds itself via the draft, being too risk-averse in drafting premium talent at premium defensive positions will only serve to leave a gaping hole at the highest level of the organization at said positions.

I don't know if he ever released a Top 15 article, but the top 17 are all listed here. http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10369775/american-league-central-top-10-prospects-team-2014-mlb

With the bases loaded and no outs, getting two outs is a godsend. Its better to concede the run and be one out away from getting out of the inning than hope for one out and still have the bases loaded with one out. The odds are still there for a big inning, at least compared to one already in the bank and a runner on third with two outs. Anything but a double play is probably going to score that run anyway. Take away the run that was walked in and with the decision to go for two they just held them to one run in a bases loaded, no out situation. You can't ask for more than that. Thanks! I've watched the game for years but I never played it, and I'm just now picking up some of the finer points of game strategy. You're welcome. Another good way to think about it is that if you get the out at home, but the guy on deck homers or otherwise scores in the inning, four runs will come in. On the other hand, if you get the double play and the guy on deck ends up scoring he will only represent the third run. That is where the big inning point comes in. Getting the double play is not only getting a second valuable out, but it is eliminating one guy that is already on base from scoring contention (while also getting the batter out, so you are left with just one man on base as opposed to three).

With the bases loaded and no outs, getting two outs is a godsend. Its better to concede the run and be one out away from getting out of the inning than hope for one out and still have the bases loaded with one out. The odds are still there for a big inning, at least compared to one already in the bank and a runner on third with two outs. Anything but a double play is probably going to score that run anyway. Take away the run that was walked in and with the decision to go for two they just held them to one run in a bases loaded, no out situation. You can't ask for more than that.

Sorry, no link. The article was titled "The Minor League Pyramid", but all I've been able to find online is links referencing. It is essentially about how the major league teams have taken over minor league baseball and changed it in ways that benefits nobody. The title is derived from the pre-1950's model, a more ideal structure, where there are less teams in AAA than there are in AA, less teams in AA than there are in A ball, etc. There are more players that are realistically at a single A level than there are players at a AAA level, so why should each team have just one team at each level? It often causes teams to pigeon-hole certain players for certain levels based less on their abilities than on organizational depth. A pyramid model would allow the best players to naturally rise through the system. It is hard for me to disagree with that, but his proposals for changes go overboard. He suggested to expand minor leagues to the point where each team has 2 affiliates at the highest level, 4 at the next, 6 at the next, and then 8 at the bottom. I think 1, 2, 3, 4 would be more realistic. Among other things, he also suggests that MLB teams relinquish control of a large chunk of the players on their affiliates' roster, giving the minor league teams room for personnel management, and requiring players to stay in the minor leagues for at least three seasons. The book was worth the read and covered a lot of different topics, but too new to find for cheap on sites like AbeBooks.

http://northwoods.bbstats.pointstreak.com/attendance.html?leagueid=120&seasonid=12218 I have been around UMD for 8 years - long enough to know that thousands of students take summer classes each year. They also work jobs on and off-campus. Its not enough to fill the stadium even if each one were to go to every game, but the point stands that there is a strong existing fan base there year-round. The weather argument that some people will make most comes into play in April and September, but the academic year runs through May and resumes again in time for the playoffs. I am not well versed on the payroll situations for minor league players, but I had always assumed that they are all paid by the major league team. From what I've read, since the MLB has absorbed the minor leagues the affiliates haven't operated for the purposes of sustaining on their own. The MLB teams support them and the affiliates exist for the sole purpose of better developing prospects to benefit the major league cash cow. Bill James actually wrote an interesting article regarding MiLB reorganization on his website, and that article was published again in his book "Solid Fool's Gold". I thought he went way too far with his ideas, specifically on the rules he wanted to put in place to limit the oversight of MLB affiliates, but I trust his knowledge on the history of the minor leagues and their current purpose. If that wasn't the case you wouldn't have teams like the Snappers drawing under 900 a game even the teams top prospect and another top 3-5 organizational prospect starting the year there. They would be long gone. I think we are all in agreement that it shouldn't have to be that way. I'm simply arguing that Duluth, among other places, would be a better option in that respect that Beloit. Barring major league realignment throughout the minor leagues, the Midwest League is also the only current realistic option (geographically speaking) if a Twins affiliate were to come to this state.

I tend to think that a minor league team with the same fan base as its major league affiliate has more potential to develop interest and draw in fans than an independent league team. This is especially true with the leagues like the Northwoods League that have a revolving door of players from colleges across the country gaining experience with the wood bats. There's just no connection there, which fans would have if they were watching a team with two or three prospects every year that have a legitimate chance of playing in the bigs with their favorite team. Duluth has a huge Twins fan base (including thousands of UMD students from the Twin Cities), and the Huskies (Northwoods League) average around 1,000 fans per game - which is ~150 more than the Snappers. They play in a 100 year old stadium that is up for a renovation that would be guaranteed if they were to be granted a Twins affiliate. I think a low A team could thrive there. It would expand the Midwest League a bit geographically, but I have been thinking for a while that the Twins should explore it. If an independent league team can survive there, and Duluth has had independent league teams surviving in Wade Stadium for decades, a Twins should do very well. Minor league teams do not necessarily have to be a sunk cost.

Baxendale through 5 relief appearances in E-Town: 6.2 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 0 runs, 16 strikeouts.

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