Kwak

If the OBP is .38 of what difference is it that he Ks 20% or 10%? How many of said Ks are "caught looking"? I would guess higher than most since said high walk rate means he takes many close pitches. The high K rate when combined with the hitting success, indicates resilency--he likely won't be sulking because he struck-out. I do believe Hicks will spend most of this season at Rochester--partially due to said "high K rate".

I guess some can be happy with mediocrity. One really useful FA signing rather than a bunch of "arms" would make far more sense to me. I wouldn't have been "happy" but would have pleased that management was going to try to address systemic problems while making some improvement for the 2013 team. I miss Span, but disagree about retaining him because he has "three years of value-service remaining". That feature was likely essential to obtain Meyer in the first place. It is time to see what the other CFers have rather than to continue with Span (and Revere). The "consensus opinion" (whatever) is that the franchise has better OF options than those two and can improve the team by replacing Span and Revere--so to me trading them made sense for both the long term and the short term. Trade Willingham this off-season? (Add Morneau to this discussion). I counter for what? I would continue that couldn't the same return (or even better) be obtained by waiting? Since I don't know what was offered (for either) I couldn't form an opinion--but I would hate to see Wllingham traded for 1 high-upside, Class A pitcher and then watch the Twins sign Kevein Correia-type OF to replace Willingham until the MiL affliates produced his replacement. The 2013 team will be bad enough with Willingham, replacing him with a placeholder (and a pitching prospect) would be disastrous.

Reading that article was like jumping in the frozen lake after a session in the sauna. I was looking for the 90+ wins category on the SN vote--but I couldn't find it.

Stay away from grampa's TRS 80!

The Twins may decide to go the Oakland route: develop a young pitcher, keep him for 3-4 years while his salary is low, then trade him for multiple young pitchers. That strategy accomplishes the following: builds a pipeline of quality young pitching, builds a rotation comprised of young, lower salaried, less injury-prone, and easy-to-trade pitchers. Result: lower payroll, fewer pitchers requiring surgery, and less disruption of the rotation from the major league team down through the top minor league teams. A reasonable explanation of how Oakland can win a division on a tiny payroll.

Recall the interview with St.Peter "...build this thing and do it the right way." Is Extending Morneau consistent with that statement? No, not in my opinion. The Twins are looking at multiple 1B candidates from within their franchise and one must include Mauer in that group (as distateful as that reads). If Parmalee is judged a failure--there are many other options for 1B (as well as RF). The Twins would simply shout "Next!"

It works this way--"We finished in last place with $80MM, we can finish last place with $60MM". Eventually, the team will be Joe Mauer and 24 guys who haven't reached their arbitration year--23MM + 24x 0.5MM + 15 x <0.1MM +benefits or nicely under $40MM--The Minnesota Marlins.

"...not just one or two players away from a world championship." "...build this thing and do it the right way." Logical conclusions from the above two statements: 1) recognition that the Twins are in complete rebuild mode. 2) We intend to do it the right way--through the draft and acquisition of inexpensive players (mostly minor leaguers). 3) no plans to acquire expensive free agents until we think we are close to winning the World Series. 4) this rebuild will take time--and we're not going to try to shortcut the process. Other answers state that Mauer and Morneau are not restricting the process. Omitted is that either are part of the solution.

These things happen. Twins should start Gibson and then shut him down late in the season. Diamond will take over when he's ready. I don't believe this is "on the training staff". Pitchers have problems, some just grit their teeth through them, others require agressive treatment. If you were one of the "winning season" posters, you maybe should revise your estimate for this season's win total.

Consider Ryan's position when questioned by the Executive Committee about why Baltimore and Oakland were playoff teams and that they had substantially lower budgets than the Twins. Answers are required. We know from public announcements that injury to key players was cited. The failure of starting pitching would also have cited a reliance on older players (with higher salaries) who basically "broke down". The use of younger pitching would definately have been mentioned for those two as a reason for their success. Clearly "health" would have to be stated as a directive. The transition to a younger (and better!) rotation would take time. The desired "inexpensive-quality-youth" would need to be developed because they can not be acquired by signing free agents (they aren't inexpensive). The plan would be to slash payroll, acquire some young pitchers by trading surplus OFers, and to lose in the short-term in order to select early in the Draft to obtain the best young pitchers. But they can't publicly say "we plan to lose and save money"--so they "spin" to deflect criticism and to bide time. If there truly was a change in draft philosophy for pitchers--it must be "downplayed", else they would be caught in a whirlpool of negativism for past decisions.

Take your comment about Corriera and 200 innings, add Ryan's response of "health" to the question of what is demanded of the new rotation and toss in the poster's conclusion (which I'm inclined to think is the Twins' as well) that Butera "is meeting expectations" and what do we have? Nothing about excellence. Health? Really is that it? "Innings-eater"--does that term imply anything more than long-term mediocrity? There is no further need to delve into Butera's performance--excellence doesn't apply. The conclusion? Despite all of the nice words about competing in 2013 the reality of the makeup of the roster and what has been "demanded" is actually: "Just get through this year, don't get hurt, and don't do anything stupid".

It seems to me that his scholarship was renewed very soon after that article was published and has been fully renewed this year with an even higher stipend.

Next year's draft? Don't worry folks--the Twins will be selecting early. The question is: will they be selecting the best player for the team?

"Consolidate in 2013" Exactly what was consolidated? Two new OFers with no assurance that any of them (including Willingham) will be there in 2015 (the "compete year"). Of the MLB-experienced pitchers acquired this off-season only one is anticipated to be in the rotation in 2015. This would increase the planned players to two. The entire INF could be changed for 2015. Flux would be a closer description for 2013 than consolidate. "Movement in 2014"--this statement is vague. In a Polyanna-ish view it means a repeat of the 2001 season. It could also mean when the FO expels the rest of the feces from the Active Roster, or anything in-betweenthe two statements. "Compete in 2015"--we all hope that this occurs, but the 2012 season and its' off-season make this more of a wish than an expectation. Not signing Saunders "clears a path" for the Twins to give Blackburn another shot--Nishioka got one last year--and Blackburn had demonstrated some success in years past, as opposed to you-know-who.

Pretty much the same as last year. Everybody else is improving too!--especially within the division. I would expect the opponents to pitch-around Willingham more than last year in game situations and that Morneau will see every LHP the opponents have by the 6th inning.

Valencia's name was on "the Miami List"--though there was no designation (left hand side of paper) like there was for the other names on said list. My point is: Do the Twins "know" something about their players, keep it quiet, and then dispose of said player for some other stated reason?

Mission accomplished! Three (new!?) pitchers and an $80MM budget to start the season.

Easy, the game is called from the dugout. Watch closely and you will see Mauer constantly turning to the dugout before giving the sign. The Twins are a strong disciple of systemic control, and this is just another feature.

Please don't make it sound as if this is an innovative and new strategy. The preference for power arms and power hitters is the norm for the rest of MLB.

Plouffe's defense at 3B isn't all that significant, his hitting--especially HRs is significant! Plouffe shouldn't be--and likely isn't considered by the Twins--as the future 3B fixture. Stay healthy, hit HRs, and trade him off for as much as possible. Just like the other thread states "a clear path" for the prospects. Plouffe's limitations are established and he is simply a placeholder in the lineup.

No offer. Anything the Twins offer amounts to an insult--either to Morneau or the fans who are forced to endure the lost seasons. Some stepped-up for '09 and '10 but the loss of the MVP Morneau from the lineup was part of the disaster. Many have posted, "What if...?" That question was sadly answered starting in late '09. The Twins are clearly in rebuild mode. I definately support having Morneau in the '13 lineup to provide some offense, for a team that will struggle to score, anything more than a 1-year contract of average MLB salary is way too risky. But that offer would be considered by Morneau as insulting, anything more is insulting to everyone else--Morneau's time has passed (sadly). Morneau can no longer be considered a cornerstone but rather only a complimentary cog in the machine. He needs to move on to his next team who will likely welcome him.

Wow, Rosario is moving up to Class A and there is little ahead of him? 2B should be a relatively easy position for the Twins to find talent--I wonder why the cupboard is barren between Ft. Myers and Minnapolis? Good Luck to Rosario the Twins are basically desparate to find a good 2B.

Can the problem with the comments from the threads in the main body of the site be corrected. It is frustrating to be only able to see some the posted comments. In some sites I've participated there is a feature that places you to the next unread comment automatically--can that feature be added?

I wish to clarify--I did not mention "power pitcher". "Command Pitchers" need an "out pitch" at least as much as a "power pitcher". Whether said "out pitch" is a change-up or a breaking ball doesn't matter--in fact if he has both as an "out pitch" this guy will be very successful. Trades were also not mentioned, I consider that issue a red-herring as far as pitcher development is concerned. Drafting 1-10 and the few times the Twins selected that early. There are plenty of "power pitchers selected after #1-10 to refute that point. I would suggest that teams would be more interested in a guys who project as great power hitters than those who project as a great power pitcher. But let me return to the subject of pitcher development. The acquisition of the "go-to out pitch" is paramount. Possession of "the out pitch" will be a big factor in the degree of success that pitcher will enjoy. Consider Blackburn and Slowey (both of whom moved through the minor leagues with considerable success) when they got to the majors they struggled because as though they often got Strikes 1 and 2, strike 3 was elusive. (Note: the "out pitch" is often misstruck and put into play for an out). The threat of strike 3 makes swinging at those well-placed fastballs on the corner much more inviting if the batter has fear the pitcher's "go-to out pitch". This often results in easyouts--as opposed to those "down-the-middle--darn-you-hit-this-one" fastballs. Hence, my desire that young Berrios is promoted to a high-enough level that he must develop this "go-to out pitch" such that he is prepared to succeed at the major league level as opposed to success at all of the minor league levels.

The sun is shining, the weather warming, with Spring and Baseball to soon follow. There is reason to be "on the bright side." We certainly can anticipate that things will improve--and with the favorite baseball team. There will be new players showcased, they might be future stars--maybe even this season! The worst that can happen is more of the same--but there will be a silver lining even if we get a dark cloud for the 2013 season. The Twins would select early (again) in the subsequent Amateur Draft and quite likely it will produce more of the promising players like those who have been mentioned in other threads of TD. Eventually there will be enough of them to build a consistent winner. Who knows another season (or two) of 90+ loss seasons might cause a change in philosophy that disdains the mediocre--"innings eater" or "plays-the-game-right" guys and prefers those who are hailed as "all-stars" or "Oh boy are we lucky to get him!" player-types. Let's all look forward to Spring, Baseball, better things--"The Bright Side".