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Any fan that thinks they "deserved" Berrios has a distorted sense of entitlement. Plain and simple. No one's going to change your mind about the Twin's motives here. But fans can be both supportive of the owner's rights and the idea of the organization spending more on payroll. They're not mutually exclusive.

Why are we so positive Berrios would have dominated, or even pitched well, if he had been called up? It's not much more unlikely that he struggles a great deal in his first dozen or so starts when he finally does get promoted despite his nice minor leagues stats, all the laudatory comments, the twitter campaign, and all the fan hype. Maybe he dominates from the start, but I think the optimism is off the charts here.

Yeah, it's simply amazing to me that this organization continues its long history of ineptitude when it comes to public relations.

I feel so sorry for the kid. If his prayers are answered, he'll make a couple hundred million over his career, working about as hard as your average taconite mine worker and living in conditions 99.9% of the people on this planet can't possibly imagine. How about a little bit of perspective?

I'm ambivalent about professional athletes once they step outside of the lines, good and bad. I respect an organization's right to make a call on a person's character, and view this as a good business practice in general. It would not have troubled me to see him in a Twins uniform, but I'd be happy if his realtor picked someone else's neighborhood for him. Abuse is not a "mistake". I'm personally intolerant about this, and hope his punishment is harsh.

I'd agree with this, and go a step further and limit how much "credit" he gets for changing his nature a whole lot. It's just that we're at the stage of the cycle where his major moves take on greater significance.

I'm not sure we have enough history with Molitor and his staff to predict this. The batboy got about as many AB's as Shane Robinson in the final two months. Deservedly mind you, but still.

You're right. Adam Brett Walker III is gonna flame out like a runaway planetoid. FIFY.

I'm sorry doc, but there is absolutely *no* room for debate here. You are hereby part of the Twins-Never-Make-A-Mistake crowd.

Oh yeah. And Terry Ryan and the Twins don't care.

This team is going to be far worse. Last place in the division. Ervin Santana will be in the rotation all year, but he'll flop. Hughes is in permanent decline. Duffey was a total fluke. Gibson is at best a #4/5 guy. Ryan will insist Molitor start Nolasco. Berrios will light up AAA and never get a plane ticket to Minneapolis. They'll have Sano for a full year, but he'll flop at the plate and flop around in right field until he injures himself. Rosario will regress. Murphy is a backup catcher. Suzuki won't rebound at all. Perkins will suck after the 4th of July. Jepsen had his one good run. Dozier will suck after the 4th of July. Mauer will suck. Fein is total garbage. We've seen the absolute best from Graham, Tonkin, and Pressley. None of the experiments will pan out: Burdi, Reed, Chargois, Melotakis-they'll all flunk out. They ruined Alex Meyer for life. They ruined Danny Santana and Kennys Vargas too. They'll never bounce back. Buxton will be mired in AAA. Kepler was a mirage. They gave up too soon on Pinto. Zack Jones is going to be a superstar. Like Aaron Hicks. Joe Benson is your starting CF. If not him, the guy from last year who they didn't re-sign. Someone told me that. May will be wasted in the bullpen. Tyler Jay was a horrible pick, and won't possibly be ready in 2016. Polanco will be traded for a backup DH. Park will pull a Nishioka. Plouffe will pull a Brian Buscher. Milone will sport a 6 ERA and be our best pitcher. They'll cut Arcia, who overnight will become the next David Ortiz. The only bright spot is we won't have Torii Hunter and all his dang leadership problems. Have a nice day.

Yeah, probably so mid-season. I was thinking more about between now and February, and about the following season when a rotation spot might open for him and some of the relief prospects are ready to contribute.

Ryan is as straight a shooter as you'll find in a GM. Could be a comprehension issue for the listener here.

Beautifully stated. How many times did we hear and believe that for KC, the game was in the bag if they forged a lead before the 7th inning? It also needn't be a permanent thing. St. Louis has transitioned guys as good or better than Mays from a relief role to the rotation when an opening presented itself. This "decision" is reversible at any time. And it doesn't let Ryan off the hook. Regardless, we need a stellar late-inning reliever from outside the organization.

In order to have the same conversation, we might have to agree about what we generally see in AAA versus in AA. With a few exceptions at a given moment AAA is filled with guys who are MLB ready but just not quite good enough talent-wise, whereas AA is filled with guys who are good enough talent-wise but just not quite ready. From a development standpoint, I doubt there's a huge discrepancy regarding which level is better for a guy who maybe has a thing or two left to work on or just needs a tad more experience. The placement decision probably has little to do with the level of play and more to do with which environment offers the better playing opportunity and teaching conditions.

Carl's boys are all different than he was. People who work in management at the various Pohlad Companies have mostly positive things to say about the culture within the organization. They say they are held to very high standards, are held accountable, are rewarded for excellence. Their businesses are generally well-run and successful. Loyalty is valued within the corporate "family". Despite appearances though, I believe Ryan and everyone else has to answer for their performance. I think they disagree with those who think Ryan's performance is change-worthy. I think Old Twins Cap described the organization's approach nicely. They want to win another WS or two, just not as badly as some of us do. But I also think spycake's criticisms have at least some merit.

It's difficult to look back and then put everything into proper perspective. We tend to elevate our level of optimism about our own prospects. I try to remind myself about how dismal the success rate is, and remember that the success rate starts to fall off a cliff even before the end of the first round. And by the second round, expect one in six to ultimately become a contributing MLB regular. If one gets a Google Machine and points it at The Interweb, one might see a study or two, perhaps from a site called BA, that supports this. Whether a team has a "strategy" of selecting high-velo pitchers (low-velo pitchers throw hard too) or athletic outfield prospects with their non-first round picks, the odds absolutely suck for those prospects, like 17% success for a 2nd rounder and that falls off to closer to 5% for a 5th round guy IIRC. Worse I'd guess for pitchers because of the injury toll. I'm not sold on an intense focus on drafting high-velo guys in those early rounds, although it might be that there aren't many left to pick from after the early rounds other than the types who grow into their bodies and increase their velo. So, if the odds of MLB success are roughly one in six for guys picked after the first round, we should probably feel fortunate if two or three of these guys pan out.

I've always discounted proclamations about what a great clubhouse guy a pro athlete is, especially if the source is the media. And I'm both skeptical (and mostly ambivalent) about a player's life outside of their sport. Occasionally though, the accolades are too frequent to ignore. Cuddyer is such a case for me. I also can't help recalling the venom spewed towards Cuddyer by a couple of frequent commenters here, some of it pretty hateful and vicious in nature, more than just gentle ribbing about his magic tricks. Too bad a little of Cuddyer's class won't brush off on his critics.

This point has been re-hashed for years, and it's certainly easy to see why we as fans yearn for a rotation anchored by a true ace. From a fan's perspective, we NEED a 1/2 starter. In my opinion, it's fair game to criticize the Twins for deciding they don't NEED a six-year $200M financial obligation. I'm not in that camp. In fact, my main bitch is that baseball has virtually severed ties with people of limited means by blending its own greed with that of the affluent segment of its audience. So, I understand the reluctance to play in the Greinke space, but I don't excuse it given today's ticket prices, etc. Frankly, I wish everyone would lower their expectations for "need".

You know what I meant, jimmer. You're quite bright.

Of course there are.

Who's applauding him for that? I'm merely pointing out that the Twins are in the midst of an active process, which is something you would never even begrudgingly offer, right?

C'mon Chief, you're reading the same stuff I am. You know they were't inactive.

If the Twins don't have a new LH reliever who meets or exceeds the Jepsen Standard in terms of talent before spring training starts, I'll be critical. I have a problem with some of my pals here who work pretty hard to characterize a lack of results automatically as a funs=ction of inactivity, or a lack of effort, or timidity, etc. The Twins were in on Tony Sipp. His agent said, " hey, some times things don't work out. First class organization." Clear as day, Some will rip Ryan a new one based on "results". You gotta get results. But there sure as hell is a try. Criticize him when the time comes if you don't like the results, but just be fair about the whole thing, that's all.

Who in a right or fair mind would ever say that, Chief?