bird

Two things we badly need to see: 1. Trades from areas of strength, where clearly we have a higher-ceiling option in the wings. Perkins would not be the candidate, not now. Guys like Fien and Stauffer would be, if Burdi and others are ready. 2. Trading valuable assets towards the top of their value for respectable returns. We haven't seen the former lately because we haven't had excess talent (until now). We haven't seen the latter because to-date Terry Ryan has basically sucked at this.

The verdict's in. Billy Beane is an idiot. Terry Ryan is a genius. Cut and dried.

Brilliant for sure, getting the fearsome Sam Fuld as a return.

Man, did this thread ever careen off the road! It would have been just fine if the question remained whether or not Hunter, aside from his baseball skills, might provide other benefits to the club and specifically to certain players like Hicks, with a discussion of any history in support of or in contradiction of that question. The last thing I want from our discussions here is anyone's opinion about moral or political stances. Not that your points of view aren't worthy, my friends. And I certainly couldn't care less what Hunter or any of these guys thinks about gay rights, or any subject that doesn't involve a spinning baseball. Frankly, I don't care to know very much about what goes on in any of their lives off the diamond, although I'd be okay with having them all equipped with GPS devices to help me keep my daughter safe. I've met a lot of professional athletes in my long lifetime, and I can count on about one hand those that weren't completely empty-headed narcissists. So Torii, go do your thing, and stay outta my yard.

I disagree with the consensus here. I think Milone will have to be ultra-impressive this spring, to earn one of the two open slots. I think he gets outshined by May, Pelfrey, Nolasco, and Meyer and goes to Rochester, disgruntled. Wouldn't be all that surprised to see both Nolasco and Milone gone by the trade deadline or before.

Geez, thrylos, I thought it was Cuddyer you liked to pick on.

Where's this year's #6 overall pick? Never mind. The Twins don't promote that fast.

BA just published an article about a dozen prospects who stood out this winter in DR, VL, and PR. Two of the twelve were Twins, Polanco and Vargas. I'm pretty sure the boys are working, nick.

There are a ton of things going on in the DR right now. The Twins have a year-round scouting presence there.

The Twins would not have signed Hunter if they didn't think he was an upgrade in the lineup for the first half of 2015 at least. My opinion here. And of course they weighed the other likely benefits, like clubhouse atmosphere, Hicks, a future non-playing role, etc.. We'll never know how much weight they assigned to each though. And in the end, we'll never know how much of what goes on is attributable to all his "mentoring".

No, I don't think his "good teammate" reputation is simply "taken as if it's a fact." It may be exaggerated by some in the media and elsewhere, but It's supported by a great deal of anecdotal evidence. Unlike your own assertion that the Twins signed him mainly as a PR stunt. Now THAT statement should not be taken as a fact, right? It's fair to cite a couple of instances, like you have, that bring into question his good guy reputation. I actually share your skepticism about what an all-around great guy he is, and what a selfless, inspirational leader he is. And I'm happy to see that our friends here on TD are less than effusive about it for the most part.

Complete conjecture on my part, but I'm guessing the conversations have already taken place about Hunter's future path within the organization. Hunter is no fool. I think he's grooming his own replacements and preparing himself for a future permanent role on the field staff. No commitments yet, but they're taking things a year at a time....

I think it's fair to wonder if Hunter will force unwanted or unneeded advice on some guys, but these things have a way of working themselves out. Players will push back or coaches will step in IF he oversteps. The question got asked, how would one know if he's a good teammate. Turn the question around and ask, is there any evidence of him being anything else? Why the skepticism?

I've thought the same thing, but wonder if the value for elite RP's might be even richer at the trade deadline. We may have some players to dangle out there. Wish it was an historical strength to do this rather than a weakness.

The Twins finishing somewhere from 5th to as high as 3rd, with the much greater likelihood being 5th, is right in line with the consensus, which is based on solid analysis. We see very very few signs of any false hope for a better result. Based on the Twin's strategy of primarily re-building from within, and given the likelihood of a still-strong Detroit and KC and improved Cleveland and Chicago teams, most of us look for a young Twins team, at the very best, to be scrambling all year to get to around .500. The improvements made by Cleveland and especially Chicago have been widely acknowledged, here and elsewhere.

You're mistaken, at least when it comes to my own "wisdom". If you had asked me if they had the goods to land a top tier ace again last year, I would've said "yes". I would have followed that up by saying their strategy is one way to skin the cat, but in the long run results in unsustainability. Sooner or later, even the Ilitch's of the world hit the wall. Scherzer signed elsewhere, did he not? They traded off 6 of their 10 top prospects just last year, for God's sake. Their own rabid fans are worried sick that they lack future capacity to overcome the eventual decline. Now, if they land another ace this year using "the goods" from their farm system? Yeah, then they'd be bucking the "wisdom of my post" for the first time.

OK, I'll grant you, jimmer, that you're on solid ground, but it's mushy under your feet. 1. Describing Hunter and Arcia as statues is unfair. I'll bet both are better defenders in 2015 than they were in 2014. Yes, I'm aware of last year's statistics. Also, Hunter is likely to see reduced playing time as the year progresses, and Arcia will be spelled more frequently. 2. Pinto, May, Vargas, Santana, Tonkin, Hicks, and maybe even others to lesser extents, are possibly going to get better. A couple of them are likely to get much better, don't you think? Maybe two or three of them have shown us their best stuff. So a couple will help us by being at least a tad better. 3. And the ones who don't do much will be looking over their shoulders. Rosario, Meyer, Graham, and Burdi are all more likely that not to be part of the re-constructed team in 2015. Sano and Buxton may emerge yet in 2015. I believe the naysayers like to undersell how extraordinary these two players are likely to be. Polanco and Berrios are two other candidates for arrival in 2015, and both could eventually be impactful. All this is to say that, while we may not love the team construction when we break camp, we may like it a whole lot better later in the year. And complaining about that, when we know what the plan is for the future, is pretty futile and short-sighted. 4. Plouffe and Dozier, Hughes and Gibson, Perkins and Fien. And Mauer. Solid blocks in the building. Suzuki isn't a pile of garbage. He was an All-Star. 5. Horrible OF defense, infielders playing outfield, unproven shortstop, bad pitch-framing behind the plate, Nolasco, a thin bench. These are all correctable problems. Some will be corrected before the season starts, others may linger, but the construction plans are right in front of us. With the exception IMO of catching, the plan is addressing all of them, and addressing them very well. 6. There are easily ten teams that could finish with worse records. I predict the Twins end up closer to 20th than 25th.

"We are a bad team as currently constructed." No. This is a well-constructed team, not yet completely re-constructed, that will probably be at best mediocre in 2014. It may be "bad". But not poorly constructed. I think there are some who for some reason don't like re-directing their thinking from the past to the present, with its hopeful signs for the future. One would agree with this guy if one were predisposed to believing that most, not just some, of the candidates for peaking, or for negative regression, are going to fulfill the lesser expectation. Hey, Schoenfield. It's winter, OK? Get over it. Spring is around the corner. You're mostly describing January, which has come and gone.

Bah. Schoenfield Schmoenfield. There's a reason they play the games.

Thielbar and Suzuki. Because those peripheral thingies and framing pitchers and stuff.

"And yet despite having a consistently bottom tier farm they keep finding ways to make big trades. People make WAY too much of their bad farm." Maybe we need to re-phrase this: Despite having a bottom tier farm system, they kept finding ways to make big trades. But alas, after trading 6 of last year's top 10 prospects, their system has now hit rock bottom, and it's not even close. Their best prospect, Derek Hill, was ranked #98 by Baseball Prospectus ( a slot ahead of our 8th best prospect Burdi) on the strength of his athleticism, despite very serious questions about his hit tool. He might not fetch more than a #4-5 starter at this point in time. So, now with an aging roster and almost no trade chips, free agency is Dombrowski's only source for a "quick fix". If they get "unlucky" again in 2015 and have a few of their key aging vets performing below expectations, Dombrowski's options are down to about...none, really. Their best prospects are now Buck Farmer, Steve Moya, and Hill, not Jacob Turner, Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller. They have to stay healthy to win the division, IMO.

Yeah, if Stauffer gives us a better chance to win than all of those four guys and Nolasco, I'm moving to Chicago.

I wonder, were the exact same draft to take place now, if the Twins wouldn't be more inclined to your way of thinking. One, due to some re-thinking that we're seeing evidence of in recent drafts: two, because unlike then, the farm system is loaded and chances can more readily be taken; and three, their financial wherewithal has improved rather dramatically.

I agree, but the rest of the division would beg to differ with us: 1. Polanco and Rosario are absent for us, but Meadows is absent for Cleveland, Moya for Detroit, Zimmer for KC. 2. We have 8 listed, the rest of the division combined has 11. 3. We have 5 in the top 50, the rest of the division cumulatively has 4. 4. Detroit has one prospect on it, and he's one slot ahead of our 8th guy, Burdi at #99. 5. Stewart is #28. Rodon is #41.

Wimmer, so far, is just another example of the difference between a good draft selection and a bad draft result.