B Richard

This is exactly why I take issue with the Twins investing so many high draft picks in college relievers during the 2012 draft. It's not uncommon for failed starters to experience success in the bullpen with velo improvements etc.-- why do we need to draft guys whose ceiling is inherently limited?

I brought this account back from a multi-year hiatus to make this comment-- Not every culture clash is racism. Different people have different traditions and ways of doing the same thing-- in this case, playing a sport. Diversity is worth celebrating, and if we truly celebrate it, then we must appreciate the flamboyant tradition of Latin American baseball *as well as* the more stoic "American" way. Ironically, almost everyone in this thread (including me) is stereotyping by painting this stark contrast-- there are counter-examples (see Bryce Harper, as mentioned earlier). Be aware of this. Clearly we are all generally aware of differences that exist among baseball cultures. Pointing out differences, like Kinsler did, is not inherently wrong or bad. Oftentimes people making these criticisms do so with racist language. I don't think Kinsler did this-- I see nothing that would make me infer that Kinsler believes players from Latin American are inferior humans. They're just (in his words) different baseball players. We can argue about intent all day, but that will get us nowhere. I personally think it's silly to try to exclude emotion from a *game*, but Kinsler is certainly allowed to point out a widely-perceived difference among cultures and hope that kids appreciate his own personal style. That is not racist.

I for one am bearish on Walker's future. I've read multiple scouts from BP say that he has some pretty serious issues picking up spin and tracking breaking balls. Of course, the man can hit a fastball a country mile, but that alone will not guarantee MLB success. From everything I've gathered, it's difficult to improve pitch recognition skills significantly as you climb the ladder-- it's really more of a neurological thing. I'm not a professional, of course, but here's what Baseball Prospectus' Jeff Moore has to say about Walker after scouting him: "Jeff Moore: Saw a ton of Adam Brett Walker this year and he was one of my favorite players to watch. That's not an endorsement of him as a prospect. It's just because he gives exactly zero craps about trying to do anything other than hit a fastball as far as is humanly possible. He has great raw power, and I saw him square a few up and man were they fun to watch. I also saw him take the same aggressive swing and miss breaking balls by about 10 feet. Ultimately, I'm not sure the power ends up playing enough at higher levels because of the swing and miss and issues identifying breaking balls, but 25 home runs in the FSL is a major accomplishment. At the very least, he's fun to watch, and he has enough power that he could end up being a nice platoon bat." For what it's worth, Moore rated Walker's defense as league average in the future, 50/80 on the scouting scale. That's probably a little more insightful than what most of the posters here will tell you.

Sano is an amazing talent with a bright future, but he is also a genuinely good guy. Last summer I sat next to the home dugout with a buddy in New Britain and got a chance to exchange some friendly words with Miguel in the on deck circle. Throughout the game he was very involved with the other players, always talking and smiling. Make no mistake about it though, he takes the game very seriously. He was kind enough to stay after and sign some autographs. I can't think of anyone I want to see succeed more than Bocaton

...that would probably make him a bad LOOGY... (Oliveros, that is). No idea why I always thought he was a lefty. Darnell does seem like a solid candidate

Of note re: Duensing is the presence of Lester Oliveros. As I recall his MLB debut (7 games I think) was less than spectacular, but he has shown good progression coming back from TJ and could be a LOOGY

You lost me when you said that there is nothing truly distinctive about Lester when compared to Scherzer. Scherzer has better stuff, but is not a complete pitcher. As he starts to lose more velo, I worry about him, especially because his command is average *at best*. Lester has much better command and has already shown that he can adjust as he loses his stuff. In terms of present value they are roughly equal, but Lester is clearly the better long-term asset in my not-so-humble-and-well-researched opinion. I wouldn't be opposed to the Twins signing Lester to a 6-year high AAV pact, but I won't be heartbroken if they don't. The organization can afford to bide its time for another year or so before it really has to make big decisions on how to handle the payroll as the window for contention opens.

This is a pretty crude way of looking at it, far too many variables in play to sum it like this.

Interesting. I don't think there's a good chance Gallardo or Iwakuma hits the market. Santana is an intriguing choice because his contact rates are actually trending in a positive direction. He's getting more swings and misses at an age where most pitchers are beginning to decline. It looks like his two seamer has come along and he knows how to pitch. I don't think his production will totally fall off the table anytime soon. Anway, you'd probably have to go 4/75 to land him. Would you do it? I'd think about it. After Santana I think the next most intriguing choice has got to be Masterson. He is only one season removed from a pretty dominant 2013. This year he got burned by a horrendous strand rate and a somewhat inflated BABIP. Nonetheless, he certainly wasn't as skilled as the guy we saw in '13. Do you take a shot at him? He's younger than most of the other options and might be a small tweak away from another great campaign. I'd be very tempted to throw three years at him.. with the going rate of starting pitching you might have to go 3/40 to ink him.

Re-read the benefits of the Yankees' side... this is an absolute landslide in their favor.

Ah, do I? It seems as though heavily investing in data science and sabermetrics has saved the A's quite a bit of money. Would you rather overpay on the FA market or pick and choose market inefficiencies to exploit?

If the Pohlads really wanted to treat this team like a business, they would invest more heavily in data science and catch up with the sabermetric curve

Tremendous shame. I live in New York and was cherishing the the thought of having perhaps 5 top 100 prospects within a short driving distance. For those of you near Chattanooga... well at least you have something now

AA is the only twins affiliate remotely close to me... Say what you will about the facilities, but I'll be deeply saddened if the twins decide to leave

Kantrovitz seems like a great pick to me. It bothers me to no end that the Twins have purportedly been well behind the sabermetric curve. I like TR quite a bit and believe that he has done a very good job, but going forward I really do believe the Twins would benefit from embracing a more data-driven, analytic approach throughout the player valuation process.