bird

Yeah, but Cuddyer was known for his stellar defense at shortstop, not for his power potential.

Exactly. To declare that the Twins "used" the media to criticize the guy is so nonsensical. They can't win with some fans. If they fail to say something, they get accused of a form of dishonesty. And when they quite matter-of-factly and with a measure of charity cite the reason for certain actions regarding Hicks as being a product of his failure to prepare like a professional, some accuse them of throwing him under a bus. This is about a player who is wasting his own talents, period.

We'll have to agree to disagree regarding Meyer and Gibson. Neither pitched well for any prolonged period prior to being called up, and May was in his first year of AAA after looking a bit shaky in AA the previous year. Using Perkins as an example is perplexing to me, especially considering his early performance in MLB. Slowey spent a year, and was great, in AAA. He wasn't stalled there. Baker, fine. there's my molehill of evidence. The two best pitching prospects, Meyer and May, were out-pitched for most of 2014 by other starters in 2014, but the more important thing that you and so many others choose to discount or ignore is that there were very very probably some legitimate reasons they remained in AAA, even beyond the injuries suffered by both of them. Why is it so hard to acknowledge this and refrain from the "laundry list of garbage" rhetoric that paints an unfair portrait of ineptitude regarding those decisions?

While I detested both decisions, my guess is that Ryan was concerned that Santana and Vargas would be best served by more development time during an inconsequential 2014 season and went cheap, as has been his MO, with Bartlett and Kubel. Gardy perhaps influenced his decision and yes, I believe they were slotted onto the roster before spring training ever got started. Did you see Santana and Vargas as better options going into 2014? So yes, maybe Ryan can be criticized for his roster construction. Nolasco kept his spot for two reasons. One, because the Twins have historically, and perhaps tp a fault, been VERY patient with starters who struggle. Secondly, and more importantly, Yohan Pino and one or two others were brought in to solve the rotation problems created by Pelfrey and Deduno. You're making a rather specious connection to Nolasco staying in the rotation and your theory that Milone and Pelfrey are kind of pre-slotted in the rotation. We agree, I think, that Gardy favored veterans over young players. We disagree, I think, that he did so when a young player was a clear-cut improvement. I think those notions tend to be a product of our own interests and tendency to over-hype the young guys until the flaws the Twins already see become evident to us as well. And where you see mountains of evidence, maybe I see a molehill. To convince me, especially concerning the rotation, that there is this overwhelming and obvious evidence of a history of good prospects being stalled out in AAA in favor of mediocre veterans, I'll need examples. OK, Correia was brought in. Let's ignore whether he was a good decision in a vacuum and discuss exactly who he unfairly beat out. A post- TJ Gibson?

Not at all. Gibson and Meyer are obvious examples of how INJURY can stall progress. Are you choosing to ignore this fact? And even were I to grant you those two "obvious" examples of the Twin's field staff blunderings, perhaps you'll give me a couple of other examples.

I predict your wish will be granted by about mid-July in the form of Buxton, sans the hitting problem.

Had Molitor been the manager, who would he have trotted out there? It wasn't so much the manager as it was the available options, which we all know sucked.

Levi, I'm asking this with an open mind to your argument: exactly which pitching prospects were stalled out by the Twins at AAA and not allowed to struggle and eventually thrive in MLB? I won't buy Gibson or Meyer as an example.

I'm in the camp that's guessing that Pelfrey and Milone had already pitched themselves out of favored status during 2014. If Meyer and May perform at or above expectations, I think Pelfrey and Milone will have to seriously turn some heads to win a rotation spot over either May OR Meyer absent a disappointing showing by them. Frankly, neither Nolasco or Gibson should be brimming with confidence that they will have a spot absent a solid showing, IMO. And I'd ask a second question: why would we fool ourselves into thinking that performances outside of spring training, for example, Milone's and Pelfrey's 2014 performances, won't factor in to the final decision. With Gardy and Andy gone, I'm not so sure we can hold to the theory that fringy incumbents will win out, or that it's strictly a spring training battle. After all, we haven't exactly been teeming with talented options out of our minor leagues for the last, um, decade.

We're in the minority, but I'd be inclined to leave Santana in CF until Buxton arrives and let Schaefer beat out Hicks for the 4th OF spot. If Rosario and Hicks light the world on fire in minor league play, great. Move Hunter aside.

I just can't get all worked up about this "outfield mess". It was only a couple years ago that comments were coming in fast and furious about the Twin's inherent and chronic ineptitude when it came to drafting and developing middle infielders, and here in 2015 we might discover we have a surplus. I expect that, by 2016, we might be talking about the outfield in those same terms, and it may start earlier than that with strong performances from Hicks, Rosario, and Buxton out of the gates. For 2015, I'm actually most worried about the catching position, as I'm not much of a fan of any of our guys behind the plate and wonder about Suzuki offensively going forward. Longer term, my hunch is that the two most important factors regarding sustainable excellence will be the development of our young starters (duh) and our success with international signings in the next couple of years.

It's the best system for the overall health of the game. In the long run, it's the best system for the financial benefit of a larger proportion of the players, and it is certainly in the best interest of the fans because of the greater parity. None of the elite prospects are exactly starving to death because the system fails to optimize their potential leverage. Let's face it, the greed is suffocating no matter how you cut it, and this system distributes the satiation of that greed better.

Can anyone point to a study that reveals the average number of starts that are lost due to injury and replacement from the rotation a team installs to begin a season? Any guesses? 40? 50? And how many starters on average does a MLB team use during a given season? 7? 8?

This. Wishful thinking aside, Meyer probably would have been eaten alive in the majors last year. May is far from a sure thing still. What's much more certain is injuries and/or meltdowns within the rotation. Remember Pavano, Liriano, Baker, Slowey with nothing in the AAA cupboard? Remember a backup plan of DeVries, Walters, Hernandez, and Albers? May and Meyer will not be blocked if they prove themselves, and our Berrios is not a 2015 guy.

The importance of an individual player's "makeup" is way underrated in my view. On the other hand, I really question the assumption that an individual's "leadership" often can have a large impact on the performance of those around him. My guess is that this notion is way overrated.

The right time in the cycle. I've been telling you this, young man.

Nice job, spy. I think you're right. And that would mean I'm mostly not, although I have always said they are horrible at disposing of surplus assets at the top of the market, which I've defined as a problem with overall execution. Now I'm rethinking this, because, although I don't think retaining veterans and avoiding selling high is a part of their strategy, Ryan leaves the impression that he has a phobia about getting fleeced.

And this from a guy who wouldn't get a single vote in most people's Top 25 Twins PITCHING prospects.

A number of franchises operate with an almost identical strategy as the Twins. The Cards are one. The primary differences are related to overall execution (the Cards have executed the strategy better), phase of the cycle (the closer an organization is to the top of the cycle, the less needs, and the greater likelihood of trading a top prospect for a "final" piece of the puzzle), and avoiding mistakes ( see Billy Smith's record). The Twins have been historically bad at selling high. Contrary to many opinions expressed here, the Twins are aggressive when it comes to moving the most elite prospects through the system. Ryan is actually a humble man.

A minor quibble about this: Sickles has seven pitching prospects rated B- and above. Thorpe and May got B- borderline B grades, so that would be five pitchers at a pretty elite grade. Find me another system with seven B- and higher pitching prospects and then see if they also have six others at C+. Also, four of these B- and better guys will likely see action with the Twins in 2015, so I still think, perhaps unintentionally by virtue of how you phrased it, you understated things by saying "mostly" in conjunction with the "lower minors" tag. So, in reality, we have thirteen pitchers with a grade of C+ or better, and a majority of them are on a timeline to see MLB action within the next two years. Shark is comparable to Hughes to me. So, what if Sale or Quintana gets hurt in the next year? Aside from Rodon, how many of their pitching prospects merit a grade of B- or better? I might be willing to bet the Whities have a better rotation in three/four years, but I ain't betting the difference between the Twins and CWS salaries on it.

Looks like quite a few teams are looking for LH relief. Hope Ryan is dangling our guys out there to see if he gets a crazy offer.

I get why Hahn is doing what he's doing. I said earlier that it makes sense to skin the cat the way he's doing it given their situation. But I need to correct your statement: May, Meyer, and Berrios are B+ prospects, not part of a compilation of "B-/C+ prospects from the low minors", and the others mentioned are all better than what that suggests, really. But talking about individual prospects misses the point about the advantages of having high-level talent at all levels. If you accept the benefits of this, talking about a five-year horizon doesn't sound odd, spycake. The Shark trade illustrates this well, as the Sox further decimated a weak system for a #2-3 starter who will cost a fortune in a year. Another example: Detroit just gave up two of their ten best prospects for a #4-5 starter. Purging those same like-quality prospects from the Twins system would barely impact their future. Again, I'm not criticizing Hahn's approach and acknowledge he could add to the $104M payroll as a means of sustaining things in the absence of an incredible prospect pipeline like the Cubs and Twins have (although he now has fewer prospect chips, right?). But I am defending the Twin's approach and will go a step further to say it's a more sustainable strategy, even without considering the economic side of it all beyond player value.

We dodged a bullet on Frankie, I'm guessing.

Recalling with fondness that the Twins in fact did NOT field a staff capable of winning a WS in 1987, and they won anyway, with fearsome Les Straker taking the hill as our third starter. Irrelevant fun fact here.

How many starters in a given rotation go down for a lengthy period in a season? Two? Most teams end up using what, 7-8 starters in a season? That's the luck I'm talking about. If Detroit loses two starters, they have Buck Farmer and a desperate trade to make. The Whities, I'll grant, have a little more depth. But I'll take our current veteran rotation plus May, Meyer, Berrios, Stewart, Thorpe, Gonsalves, Hu, Wheeler, and Rogers et al on a five-year plan over what the Whities have going at the moment. The Sox will be improved, but so will the Twins. Hahn is probably taking the right approach for them, all things considered, but that doesn't make me think the Twins are in the midst of a failed strategy or something. I think the Twins, if they execute reasonably well, will have a more sustainable foundation.