Forever34

I'm honestly torn on this one. On the one hand I like that it is only a one year deal for a guy that could be borderline great and that it means the FO is serious about putting a good team together this season. On the other it is a lot of money for a rental on a guy that hasn't been the same since the injury for a team that is a year or two away from being legitimate contenders and who will be taking valuable playing time away from guys who we need to be developed by that time.

My list: 1. Puckett's HR 2. Gene Larkin drives in Dan Gladden Big gap 3. Game 163 walk-off (gets bonus points because I saw it in person) 4. Hrbek's salami. 5. ALCS party 6. Hrbek/Gant (the controversy is the only reason anyone remembers it) 7/8. Killebrew HR/Allison's catch (these were before my time) Honorable mention: That game where we turned two triple plays. Winning in the wild card round a year after contraction. Thome's walk-off HR against the Chisox Kubel's monster straightaway cf upper deck home run in game 163. (Again, I was there ) Kubel's upper deck grand slam to complete cycle/huge comeback. That Morneau HR that broke the scoreboard in Milwaukee. Something Mauer related. (Sad that the second greatest Twin of my lifetime doesn't have a signature moment.

Call me a homer but I think we should have more on this list. Rosario should be on this list but with the PED suspension I could understand if he was blackballed. Wonder where/if Hicks or Arcia would be on here if the weren't rushed to the big leagues and disappoint. I saw Jackie Bradley was still on here even though he was comparable to Hicks: tore up spring training and earned himself a spot on the opening day roster but then stunk up the joint. Also, not sure what Sano did to drop from 3 to 4. Taveras was hurt most of the year but did well in AAA. Bogaerts put up similar overall stats in the same league but is a year older and you could argue that he could have graduated from this list.

I've been thinking a lot about the years 2002-2010 when the Twins were one of the best teams in baseball and trying to figure out what made them so much better than the current team. In the beginning they were a scrappy bunch of overachievers who defied the odds. In the middle they had two MVPs in their primes, the best pitcher in baseball, the occasional amazing season from Liriano, the always solid Radke, a good bullpen, Torii Hunter, and plenty of role players who did the dirty work well. In hindsight, I'm baffled that we could never do anything in the playoffs. Towards the end the pitching was mostly the same "pitch to contact" staff we curse today, Morneau was always hurt, but Thome was there to bring the power in his absence. We had a lot of squandered talent too. (Take a look at the recent All-Star teams and count the ex-Twins). But one thing I keep coming back to is the schedule. During that time most games were played against the weak AL Central, and the Twins dominated the AL Central during that time. They also dominated the National League in part because they always played two series against the then weak Brewers and most of the NL in general was weaker then too. (The Sports Guy often joking call it AAAA). I'm too lazy to look up the actual numbers but if memory serves we were .500 or better against the AL West and terribad against the AL East (Damn Yankees!). So here's the deal: if we weren't playing the weighted schedule during that time and instead played the even schedule of the old days or the every team in the league schedule of today would the days we long for have even existed? I could see a couple pennants with a few years of contending as far as August in there, but the decade long stretch of expecting the playoffs seems unlikely.

Wasn't Pavano a waiver claim? Couldn't tell you his WAR for the life of me, but he had a couple solid seasons.

I'm not totally convinced Diamond's struggles this year didn't have something to do with his surgery or him not being fully recovered yet. In 2012 he had great control and a good curveball plus other pitches that could help induce ground balls. He is by no means an ace, but should be a guy who could/should become a serviceable back-end type.

Great write up! I'm in the same boat as you Seth. Late to the party but furiously trying to catch up on Netflix and have all of this season eating up space on my DVR. Unfortunately I recently found out that Netflix doesn't have the second half of season 5 yet so I'm not sure what to do.

We all know this season is a lost cause. All we have to keep our spirits up is the promise of the future with our loaded farm system. Obviously I want to see guys like Arcia and others that we expect to be part of the turnaround to do well, but is it okay to hope that we keep losing games in order to get better draft picks? This isn't like the NFL where a good draft can immediately help a team and obviously the baseball draft is a completely different animal, but still...

I'm not a big sabermetrics guy but there should be a stat that measures productivity in RBI type situations. Obviously there is BA with RiSP, but is there something more comprehensive?

Just wondering if the cash could be international signing pool money. Even if it was something like $5,000 that would be more valuable than some guy that probably never see Rochester.

In hindsight we actually did okay with the deals we made or didn't make. I still don't like the Ramos/Capps deal, but if he can't stay on the field he isn't helping anyone. The comp picks and players drafted from them probably have more potential value than anything we could have gotten in trade for Kubel or Cuddy. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth on this site (I remember an article called 10 things I hate about the Liriano trade that eventually became about 50 things long) but it turns out we actually won that one. The guys we got in return might not be anything more than AAAA type guys but it was still better than what the White Sox got: a rental on a mediocre pitcher that contributed to them missing the playoffs. As much as we wanted to believe he was back to his ace caliber self, Francisco was still a maddeningly inconsistent pitcher whose bad seasons outnumbered the good. Even his starts where he was striking guys out left and right weren't quality ones. Sure he has returned to borderline elite this year, but we still overestimated his fair market value by a ton this time last year.

I hope the FO dangles Perkins but only at a king's ransom. Given his age, ability, and great contract there is no reason he shouldn't be part of the rebuilding process and still there when it is done. Wonder if packaging players together would net better prospects. For instance sending Morneau, Doumit, plus a reliever or someone to the Yankees in exchange for one of their better prospects.

I'm not an expert on advanced metrics, but I'm trying to start a new stat called Total Batting Productivity. It is calculated similar to slugging in that it assigns 1 point for a single, 2 for a double etc., but also subtracts 1 point for a strikeout, 2 for a GiDP, and 3 for those rare GiTP. All of that is divided by total number of at bats. A similar more advanced stat would be Total Offensive Productivity which not only includes 1 point for walks and HBP but also 1 for stolen bases. It also subtracts 1 for a caught stealing and is divided by total plate appearances.

Amaurys Minier is obviously a name to remember, but how the heck do pronounce it?

When the Twins selected Ryan Pressly in the Rule 5 draft they dis so because they thought he had starter potential. So far he has earned his roster spot and more than proven he is not just taking up space with his 1.74 ERA 24/12 K/BB and 1.16 WHIP in 31 IP. So while we debate and await the arrival of Gibson, Albers, etc. to inject some life into the starting rotation, does anyone know why this wildcard hasn't been played yet?

I've suspected all along Morneau along with Willingham were the most likely trade chip this season given his age, contract situation, and the fact that there is a ready made replacement waiting in the wings. But the problems with that look more worrisome than they did at the beginning of the season. 1. Parmalee has done little to inspire confidence that he is the guy to take over. I suppose you could have Mauer and Doumit rotate between 1st and C but doubt the FO wants to go that route. 2. How many potential "buyers" are in the market for a guy like him? Sure he has remained healthy, played good defense and has a strong BA, but most contenders are set at 1B. Would he really be an upgrade for a good team especially considering his lack of power this season? Even if he was slugging like in his pre-concussion days how many teams would be willing to give up a top prospect for a rental type player? 3. The PR situation. Next to Mauer he is the most recognizable name on the roster and probably the second most popular player as well. Fans aren't flocking to Target Field anymore. Would the organization be willing to give up one of the remaining marquee names and jersey sellers? We all realize that Justin probably won't be wearing a Twins uniform in 2014 but the casual fan doesn't know or care. They would only see this as the team being cheap or resigning themselves to being losers. 3a. The Twins are a lot better this year than just about everyone anticipated. Given that the Central is very weak and the Tigers have inexplicably not taken control yet it might be possible for fans and possibly even the FO to think we have a shot at the playoffs. Foolish as it would be thinking we have a shot at the playoffs could affect the moves made at the deadline. Fortunately, I doubt the org really thinks we have a shot at this point and they know trying to hang in or contend until Detroit inevitably asserts itself as the alpha is the worst thing they could do this season. But never underestimate what the Pohlads want if they think they can squeeze some more money out of the rubes.

Great news that the big fish has been landed! Guess $4,544,400 is a lot more than SEC football programs are paying these days.

Doubt Gibson will get the call. On the broadcast yesterday they said that they will call Gibson up when they are 100% sure he is fully back and that once he is in the big leagues he will stay in the big leagues.

Isn't Appel a senior this year? If Bor******* can't threaten to make him sit out again what leverage does he have? What's he going to do? Play in the Northern League until someone gives him the money he wants? This is the perfect year to take him.

I have no problem waiting a few months to see them in the bigs and not just for the reasons listed above. 2013 is all but designated as a lost cause and we will probably be trading some of our marqee talent in July. No reason to rush any of our top talent. I'd rather have the team 20 games out of first by then and have the kids show up and give us hope for next year than be 10 games out at that point and have to watch them go through growing pains or in Gibson's case risk injury.

As far as I can tell there is only one thing not to like about this guy- hs agent Scott Boras.

Bummer about losing Gutierrez. Didn't see Delois Guierra (spl?) on the list. Does that mean the crown jewel is safe and they no longer need to waste a roster spot for him? I thought there was some rule about how long a guy can stay on the 40-man without making the major league roster. I'm not an expert on all these roster rules. Doubt Slama will be put on the roster. The only good thing about that is that if that happens we will know once and for all whether he is the prospect we all think he is. If no one bites, clearly the Twins FO is right to think of him as a non-major league caliber pitcher. My gut tells me at least one team will since he is as finished a prospect as you can get and some bad team will be able to keep him on their 25-man all year.

I don't know what to think going forward. Last year it was easy to write off the terrible season as an abiration caused by the ungodly amount of key injuries. This season it is harder to be optomistic since the flaws are obvious and there is no clear fix. Hopefully Baker will be fully recovered and we can resign him because that would fill at least one spot in the rotation. The bullpen looks strong and the lineup apart from the middle infield is solid. The farm system seems stronger although most of the talent is at the lower ranks. I wouldn't advocate blowing up the team but trading a key block like Morneau or cog like Span wouldn't be a bad idea.

Great news about Buxton. For all the problems this franchise has, "too many awesome OF prospects" is one ones I'm okay with. The real question though is "Why isn't J.O. Berrios on either of those lists?" His numbers were ridiculous and everything I've read indicates that he has the "stuff" for him to not be a statistical anomaly.

I just want to see anything that can give me hope for 2013. Also, I didn't see Revolution but was wanting to. Looked like one of the few new shows with promise.