RodneyKline

Funny...so many of us have been complaining that Mauer should be #2 and not 3rd for this exact reason but we are slammed for being Mauer haters. I actually think he should be a lead off hitter because he normally gets on base, he can't hit into a double play in his first at bat as he likes to do a lot and he is not that slow to clog up the bases.

What Ryan has failed on is that he has let all the Twins good players leave to star on other teams and play in the All Star game with another teams hat on. Teams that are perennial contenders like the Braves make sure to have a great farm system and to keep their good players until they have a better player to take their place. They don't let their good players leave and hope that a prospect might take over like Ryan did with CF last year for example.

Replace the horrible GM and then let the new aggressive GM bring in his manager. It is not Gardenhires fault. This team has been horrible the last three years. Terry Ryan is too cheap to ever build a winner again in this modern game. He is old school and baseball has passed him up. Successful franchises do not let their entire team go to be all stars at other teams. He actually felt he had a competitive team this year. That alone should take his job away!

I would not trade Buxton because I think he is the real deal but I think Sano will not live up to his hype. He has a lot of raw power but will strike out a ton and not hit for average. The highest odds are that he will be more like Adam Dunn than Miguel Cabrera in my opinion. I think you could get a huge ransom for Sano.

In the land of blind men, the one eyed man is King. Dozier is not a good hitter. He is a .240 hitter with a little power. He is OK if we don't have another replacement but Rosario could be a great hitter that can play second just as well. The Twins have the least errors in baseball and one of the best defensive teams in MLB this year. They are also a last place team. Defense is a nice thing to have but if the players can't hit, the defense will not win.

It is not Gardenhire's fault because he was not given good players and he didn't decide to spend only $70m on payroll. Injuries were not that big of an issue this year like it was last year. The failure is 100% on the GM. The team that was sold to us as competitive was a 90 loss team all along and almost all of us knew that. Shame on the fans for buying so many tickets to see this fraud.

...and how about making him the teams full time third baseman. He is very athletic and I think he would be great at third. Very agile and an amazing arm. It would be such a waste to put him at 1B. Sign Morneau back and put Mauer at a more valuable position. 1B is for a big power hitter or an aging guy that can't contribute anywhere else on the field. Play him there regularly and by mid season he is a gold glover over there. Plus make him the starting Quarterback for the Vikes!

Rosario seems more ready than Sano but both are not ready for September call ups.

Sano is not ready yet. He can't hit .250 at AA but he is ready for the majors? I don't think so. Hicks hit .280 at AA last season. Prediction: Byron Buxton is the next Rookie of the Year for the Twins.

What people just do not understand when people like me complain about him making $23m is that it is not the $23m that is the issue. There is no question he is worth $23m to a team that has him the 3rd or 4th highest paid player on the team. The problem comes when 25% of your team's payroll is tied up on a singles hitter that cannot hit a 3 run homer even with 2 men on base! He is a great player like Rod Carew or Ichiro were to their teams but players like this can't lead a team to the World Series unless they are a supporting cast member and not the only attraction. Miguel Cabrera or Kirby Puckett type players can throw their team on their backs and lead them. Joe can't do it except for his MVP year at the Metrodome where he had 28 HRs after missing all of April. No one would ever complain if he kept those numbers going.

One of two guys that can hit on this team and people want to dump him. So crazy! Sign him to a three year deal and build around the M&M boys with the prospects in the wings. Normally, 2 or 3 of these prospects will end up being the real deal but everyone seems to forget this and they have everyone being MVPs in 2015. Plus none of the prospects are going to play 1B.

I said this was a bad trade even if it was only Bartlett for Young. When do you ever trade a proven Shortstop who can hit .300 for a corner outfielder. How tough is it to find a corner outfielder? Maybe Bonds fully juiced in his prime...maybe but not generally a smart move. Then you add in the loss of one of two pitchers that had the ability to be a #1 or #2 starter that the team still needs all these years later (Liriano is the other BTW). Besides if the team really needed an outfielder then sign Hunter to an extension. He would have signed for half of what he eventually signed for with the Angels. Another cheapskate move that we have become too familiar with in Minnesota. Also short sighted. Having Hunter finish out his career as a Twin would have eventually landed a statue of him climbing the wall to rob Bonds or someone else next to Herbie's! He would be at least as popular as every other player with a statue. OK maybe not Harmon...

OK, I'll say it then...We should have kept Liriano. He had more swing and misses than any other starter in MLB last year. Shame on our coaching staff (and the White Sox too) for not figuring how to have a guy with his stuff help the team somehow. I would rather see guys like Liriano and Deduno pitch that can miss bats than all of these hit to contact guys. Boring!

I said it when the didn't sign Liriano and I say it again. Any team that can not get a pitcher like Liriano, that missed more bats in 2012 than any other MLB pitcher, has a horrible coaching staff. I would love to see a rotation full of Liriano, Deduno and even Baker that don't pitch to contact. They make the games they are in exciting ay least.

We need to be realistic. No way is Duensing = Thornton. Actually 2X Duensing < Thornton

Trade anyone but sign Morneau. He is our number 2 hitter and #1 RBI guy plus a good defensive player. We cannot trade him!

Give Duensing away to anyone who will take him. He is horrible!

I can't believe how many people want to dump the second best hitter on the team and the top RBI guy. Morneau needs to be re-signed no matter what. He wants to stay so Terry Ryan needs to sign him at the best deal possible. You can't build a winner with a whole team of unproven prospects. You need to have veteran leadership. Mauer does not want to be a leader but Morneau does. There are two Twins on the All Star team and seven former Twins. That is 9 All stars that we could have on the team but we want to dump another one so all we have is Mauer and a bunch of prospects??? Eventually Terry Ryan needs to be held accountable for this along with the $40 million in potential payroll he is banking this year. The Twins could have been competitive this year had he not been so cheap year after year. He is a good GM except for this one major flaw. He is so cheap he squeaks! The fans need to demand more or he needs to be fired. Billy Smith with no credibility got the Twins to approach $120 million in 2010. It would be nice if we had an aggressive GM like that who was not a moron who would trade a top SS and a #1 starter for a corner outfielder and a utility fielder! Just trading a shortstop for a corner outfielder was stupid enough. I don't care if it was Manny Ramirez or Barry Bonds you just don't do that and Delmon was no Manny or Barry! The Twins have been trying to find a SS (and a 1 or 2 starter also when they had Garza) ever since then but they have had plenty of outfielders. Sorry I am digressing into my Billy Smith rant... ...back to Morneau. Sign him for two years at $10m per year or sign him longer term at a discount. Maybe 5 years $40 million, so you get the last three years for only $7m or so. He may or may not find his HR swing for all 5 years but he has proven that he can hit and he can also step up his game when runners are in scoring position. He will still have over 100 RBIs this year without many HRs. That is enough value to risk that his concussions do not come back. They could also write that into the contract. He loses the money if he can't play due to concussions. They also could buy an insurance policy...or they could cut payroll more and convince all of us that the prospects we have are all going to be as good as Morneau has been. Let's demand better!

Watch the replay closely...Doumit's footwork was just messed up. No one tried to trip him. He just missed the plate.

I am referring to your youtube videos BTW...

It would have been great if you would have had a video camera that was made this century. Boy am I spoiled with HD cameras being everywhere huh?

We have two fricken consistent hitters and you want to trade him! Sign him to an extension. Even young teams rebuilding desperately need veterans to watch and learn from. Don't underestimate how valuable his defense is also.

Really great list Lunchie!!!

The team currently has two players that can hit. Do not trade Morneau! I would trade anyone but Mauer and Morneau for the right deal. They should be working on an extension for Morneau. It is not easy to replace a guy like Morneau who not only is a .300 hitter but he is the one guy that elevates his play with runners in scoring position. If he starts hitting HRs again that is a bonus but even if he doesn't he is too valuable to trade unless we know we can sign him in free agency. If I were the Red Sox, I would do anything to sign him. He might hit .400 if he played half his games with the green monster but we need to stop that from happening. Don't underestimate his defense either!

Why not bring him up for a few starts to see if he is for real against MLB hitters?