Kwak

It seems that reality is appearing. All those "promises" in October were simply empty as the "Kool-Aid" was being poured for the eager fanbase to lap up. The real plan was a significant payroll reduction with a small number of [relatively] inexpensive place-holders acquired to erase the image of a failed pitching staff. Substantial improvement wasn't part of the plan, just different faces that had experience at the major league level to replace the previous rotation. I project that 2014 will be much the same--but with an emergence of some of the "prospects" at the major league level. The 2013 season will be as much of a throw-away as 2012--but with a lower payroll and a slightly different flavor of "Kool-Aid".

Now we know why there is so much optimism in the 2012 Rule 4 draft.

I'd like to jump-in to the discussion of the apparent disconnect of drafting "power-arms" but signing the KC and the leper colony--availibility and cost. There didn't appear to be many "strikeout kings"/power arms in the free-agent market, but there were many "potentials" available in the draft. After the first ten selections in the Rule 4 draft, the slot price drops precipitiously. Berrios, who is likely the first Twins selection that resembled a power pitcher was signed for a paltry sum (I forget what) compared to what a ML FA salary. There appeared to be many other "power arms" available later, and at an even lower price. The FA market had a dearth of "power arms"/strikeout guys with Liriano (?!) being about the least expensive of all of them. I am convinced that besides signing three new pitchers the other part of Ryan's plan was to significantly reduce payroll. These two "goals" clash with each other in the marketplace, so Ryan placed "payroll reduction" at a higher priority than "quality/power-arm/strikeout pitcher" acquisition. Thus, the Twins signed KC.

Considering the people added for 2010 season and the looming impact of Mauer's contract [to be], they should have realized the need.

How much do the Twins pay you? It seems to me the whole purpose of your point is to screw players out of pay raises. Will we the fans see any of this--NO! keeping deserving playes in AAA for an extra month serves to degrade the team's April performance, thus making it more difficult to recover lost ground for the rest of the season. Ever since Gardenhire took over I have watched him f-around with the line-up in April digging a hole that the team has to recover. This policy you advocate is fan hating as much as player hating.

None of the 11 on the list would rank in the upper half of pitchers in MLB--a glaring example of the error of Twins pitching philosophy. Including the "injured"--still none.

A filthy comment--you as much accused Hardy of using PEDs because he hit 30HRs and didn't get injured. Ortiz?, Fenway has The Wall in LF to turn routine flies into hits, and Manny Ramirez batting behind him that makes it really undesirable for a team to walk Ortiz. reading Hardy's comment in Feb '12 states the the Twins "point-out" when a player "rolls over" a pitch into a ground out. Somehow I suspect that Boston was more "restrained" in their comments. Recall that Ortiz was basically fired despite hitting 20 HRs.

They can put Blackburn on the60-day DL and open a spot on the roster.

Did he injure himself the same way as Liriano?

Put the Corriera contract in perspective--because there is no way that Marcum would sign with the Twins for a lesser deal than him. If it's only one year it needs to be at least double that contract. Likely a 2-year deal is required for a 50% premium per year above Correria or it will be no sale.

December 2010,

After 2010 it was well known that Mauer would be a free agent and that the Twins had to be truly aggressive in their offer so as to re-sign Mauer. It was also known that much of the bullpen's contracts would also have to be renegotiated--but that Nathan's injury prevented any trade. The Pohlads weren't going to expand the payroll to "make everybody happy"--so some "had to go". Hardy was one of them. I think the rest of BB realized the Twins were in "salary dump mode" and took advantage. Why Hardy? I think he was in Gardenhire's doghouse because trading him for such a dubious return and then spending so much to acquire Nishioka (whose photograph is next to 'dubious' in the dictionary) confirms it wasn't just for salary reduction--there was "something else" going on.

In '91 it was Morris, in '92 a pitcher from Pittsburgh named Smiley (he took Morris's place when Morris jumped to Toronto). After '92 the Twins' record headed South. I am not aware of any others that signed or were even offered a contract to play for the Twins. The philosophy of "lots of arm s" to fix the rotation is diametrically opposed to aquiring one star to accomplish the same goal. It appears that the "quantity" over "quality" preference has been in force for some time.

This sounds like the people who tout stock-picker systems based on last year's chart.

I must disagree with the comment about wins, they are important--especially on a bad team like the Twins. If anyone wins 10 games next year, that guy will have accomplished--and K's, BBs, or any of the other stats aren't going to be all that significant. The 2013 Twins will not be scoring a plethora of runs so that someone "gets lucky" because the hitters (hitters?! Yikes) bailed him out regularily.

This is consistent with the past two seasons and likely 2013. The pitching was not only ineffective, but Twins-developed pitchers were typically below par (in MLB) with respect to: pickoffs, holding baserunners, and fielding their position. It seems as if the franchise treated pitchers as a lower priority than the other positions.

"Twins done making significant moves". It seems so to me. I think that both Willingham and Morneau were shopped but that the response was tepid. Many have posted about Morneau's issues--I'm confident that the other teams think along the same lines. Trade Willingham? I believe the Twins faithful place a much higher value on Willinghame than the rest of MLB. Please consider that he signed a three year deal for ~$21MM total. I conclude the rest of baseball didn't think he was worth more than that and his 2012 season is likely viewed as his "career year" so why pay for lesser (perceived) production. I also think that Ryan was expecting a big return--the rest of MLB likely think they have the leverage on the Twins and that Ryan's asking price will come way down if they wait. Then, there is also the promise that the Twins would provide a competitive team (OK it's about 99.9% certain this team won't be competitive in 2013) but trading Willingham and Morneau for "prospects" won't improve the 2013 team! I agree with the posters who claim that the Twins would need to pay most of Morneau's salary to obtain a desireable return--but the Twins aren't the type of team to pay for someone to play against them (for Rochester Red Wings--Yes, but not a ML team). The gamble on a "resurgence" in order to make a deal--hey I bought a lottery ticket so why not the Twins? Personally, I think the Twins should have made a winning offer for Baker and either Jackson or Sanchez even if said offer was "way above market". But, that isn't "The Twins Way". So, it's off to the dumpster and the leper colony to find "arms"--and hope they are attached to a pitcher.

Worse. Opponents will "pitch around" him more frequently in key situations.

It seems like a poorly conceived idea. The Twins lack quality in the starting pitcher category, therefore it make more sense to reduce the number of SPs. Use a 4-man rotation, limit to 5 innings and have 4 designated middle/long relief (one for each) to pitch 2-3 innings. Add 3 setup/extra innings guys and one closer for a total of 12 pitchers.

Still with the bile?

Ryan is staying even if the Twins lose 100+. Any new GM will have demands that will cause ownership to tremble--control, budget, his own staff and manager, etc. Ryan is the old shoe that conforms to your foot.

I think the decision on Garden hire is at least 99% made--but it could be either! Extending him after last year would have caused an uproar--but Ryan could have fired him too, but didn't. Thus, this could go either way--he's gone unless a miracle happens, or he stays if even a bit of progress was shown--it's just not clear.

You refuted your own arguement. "SPs won't sigh here unless..." Therefore make them an offer they can't refuse. It's much better to sign one quality FA pitcher that will be around for 3-5 years than Ryan's method of "lots of arms". He had plenty of arms last year--some of them weren't all that bad--and appear to be about the same as some that were signed. Let those in the system compete for a job--someone might actually be worthy. Diamond won a job last year--but his 2011 with the team did not indicate he would ever be a fixture in the rotation. Next year, pay up, and sign another FA pitcher and maybe trade for one like was done this offseason. Failing to pay up simply means that the Twins will be in the same situation next offseason--crying that they can't give their money away--while the few available quality pitchers sign with a different team.

Methinks he wants a sizeable bonus, a very early selection in the 2014 Rule 4 Draft--and still be the Twins' GM!