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bird

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Everything posted by bird

  1. bird
    Right. And jokin, you of course would refrain from ripping on Ryan. Right.
  2. bird
    Well said, jack. What would you have the Twins do, guys? NOT go to see Webb work out?
  3. bird
    I'm talking about the criticism that the Twins are horrible at drafting and scouting and development, mike. I can't prove it, but I will submit to you that, if the Twins had the luxury of the favorable draft order of teams like Kansas City and Pittsburgh, they'd have an ace in the pipeline and fewer holes to fill. So, while I can't answer why you haven't seen a player at a given position that meets your standards, I believe that it's attributable to the draft order maybe even luck, much more than some skill deficiency in their drafting and development. Otherwise, how do you explain their many successes like Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, Kubel? My explanation for their "luck" with those players is simple. Good draft order, competent talent evaluation, and proper development. Just like most other major league franchise. This notion that they should be better at it is so incredibly unrealistic. What do you want them to do? Corner the market on capable scouting personnel? And your FA complaints are irrelevant to the discussion about the quality of the farm system, mike.
  4. bird
    I agree with you, gunarthur. The chinks in the armour are the paucity of truly elite prospects, the lack of more than one pitching prospect regarded as having ace potential, and an average (at best) pipeline of international signees. The first two flaws are a function of draft order and nothing else. Each draft produces fewer than ten future superstars, I'm guessing, and most of those are picked in the first ten picks or so. The criticism about the Twin's scouting and drafting skills are completely unfounded. The team has more recently beefed up its investment in international scouting, but it's too early to see big results. That said, it's to their credit that they have a top quartile pipeline despite having had only one top ten draft pick in the past half-dozen years or so.
  5. bird
    Wait, what? You're not turning in your binoculars and pith helmet yet, are you? Just being honest, jokin. You should try it sometime.
  6. bird
    Yes, this one is a bummer. Running out of appealing FA candidates, Mr. Ryan.
  7. bird
    As long as at least one of the FA signees (or additional trade returns) exceeds the "Diamond Standard", who cares how many #5-6 starters they sign to compete with Hendriks, Deduno, Hernandez, Walters, Blackburn, DeVries, Vasquez? The more the merrier. McCarthy, Marcum, Jackson, Dempster, maybe Saunders match or exceed the Diamond Standard. Let's see how it plays out before we do too much whining about it.
  8. bird
    If your definition of punting is not contending, then I agree, minn55441. My definition is trying to field a .500 team. If Ryan fails to add at least one more pitcher that meets or exceeds the "Diamond Standard", and maybe one more Liriano-type to compete with the 10 other fringy guys for the #5-6 spots, then I will say he punted.
  9. bird
    Most of these contracts-Blanton, Feldman, Haren- the ones that have set the market- are going to come back to haunt the teams. Especially the ones with multiple years. The future performance value of these guys will not match the market value. The Twins have been guilty of poor contract decisions, as Ryan has admitted repeatedly. Ryan appears to be determined to avoid these contract errors. It's not a matter of being cheap. This club has been spending money, mre than any other team last year on the draft and on international signings.
  10. bird
    mww, it's also realistic for me to buy a new Mercedes and enter it into a demolition derby. Not gonna do it. Guess I'm just cheap, right? You're not wrong for wanting Marcum, Sanchez, or whomever at their asking price. That doesn't make you greedy. But refusing to do that doesn't make the Twins cheap either.
  11. bird
    What makes you think that, Twerp?
  12. bird
    Not sure which TRADE will be better, but the Revere DECISION appears to be more impressive to me.
  13. bird
    I agree, wavedog. Ryan can maybe fortify the rotation and tweak the roster enough to give us a team with a 50/50 chance to win that night's game. Any expectation for 2013 beyond that isn't realistic. And Ryan has stated that we have to be realistic.
  14. bird
    Not surprisingly, you're a nest-half-full guy. What else would you expect Ryan to say in this situation? Read his actions, they speak far more clearly than his words. And of course, jokin, true to form, you are a half nest empty guy. Congratulations. Thanks for the advice, by the way, to rely on Ryan's actions and not his words. Perhaps you should take your own advice, jokin. Ryan's stiil going to take more action, but you judge him on his words and accuse him of various forms dishonesty, don't you? Isn't that hypocritical of you? Isn't that perhaps a form of dishonesty in and of itself?
  15. bird
    The Twins have zero intention to "punt" for 2013.. Ryan made that very clear again today in more than one interview. He said they intend to shore up the rotation. He may misfire, but he isn't punting. Now, it could certainly be that Ryan's expectation is to field a .500 ballclub at best for 2013. Isn't it unrealistic to expect a contending club for 2013 AND these great strides towards respectable future results? So, some of you might describe efforts to produce a .500 ballclub a "punt". I don't.
  16. bird
    The Twins have five dozen employees in scouting and development. Isn't it a little silly to credit or blame one guy?
  17. bird
    john manuel was asked this question in his b.a. twins chat about our system and i believe he said we're one of the most improved systems and that he'd guess we were somewhere in the 6-8 range. that was before the additions of meyer and may so we may be flirting with a top five ranking, especially considering that we're addressing our glaring weakness. Before the draft last year, I recall surveying various Top 100 lists. The worst ranking as I recall was 17, the best 7. Since then: a very solid 2012 draft (Buxton, Berrios, Melotakis, some injury disappointments (Wimmers, Benson, Salcedo, Stuifbergen), some nice improvements, surprises, and comebacks (Hendriks, Hicks, Gibson, Parmelee, Kepler, Vargas, Polanco), continued strong development of elite prospects (Arcia, Sano, Rosario, Herrmann, Harrison, Goodrum, and now two top 100 additions (Meyer, May). Time to see fewer laments about how lousy the Twins are at scouting and development.
  18. bird
    Just another step in that sneaky old Terry Ryan's salary dump.
  19. bird
    I buy Honeycrisp apples. They cost $2.39/lb. My second favorite species cost $1.69. Looking at your list, John, excluding Greinke and Sanibel, I only see about five Honeycrisp apples. Problem is, they're priced at $4.69/lb. I imagine Ryan goes with my second favorite species. That'll be dissappointing.
  20. bird
    Thank you, Mr. Hagen, much obliged.
  21. bird
    This adds some competition for Alex Burnett I guess. Wasn't expecting them to find the type of talent worthy of being stashed on the roster a la Johann.
  22. bird
    Is that all you have to add to the conversation, chagen?
  23. bird
    I still have a glimmer of hope that the Twins can compete in 2013. This division is pretty bad. With that said, Pseudo is 100% correct. You spend some money now and try to keep it within reason so you're not hamstrung in 2015 and beyond. If the Twins continue to be awful, then trade off some of those assets you bought in FA. I'm in agreement with this sentiment. What do you think Ryan and his team, in the privacy of their own conference room, are shooting for in 2013? I believe they view the worst case scenario as maybe 77 wins, and this means you have to pick up at least two starters that surpass the "Diamond Standard" (Edward Thoma's term). Now, if those two are Saunders and McCarthy as opposed to Sanibel and Jackson? Then I think they fall short of their best case scenario, which is competing for the division. I think it's very likely that they've given up hope of the best case because the trade and FA market are being uncooperative. But that doesn't preclude them from still signing, say, Marcum, Lannan, Liriano, etc. and expecting to win closer to half their games in 2013. We all know there are two things they will NOT do, which is to mortgage their future or to break the bank. Bottom line is I still think it's reasonable to hope they add two pitchers in that 2nd tier of Marcum/McCarthy, and maybe one or two Liriano/Lannan/ Jurgens types to vie for the #5-6 starter role with the 9 other guys we have of that ilk.
  24. bird
    mww, this "all about money" stuff is such hogwash. If Meyer was ready, he'd start the season with the big club, period. We've been given no indications that he's ready.
  25. bird
    If another team believes Revere "will undoubtedly improve" and makes us a preposterously good offer, cool.
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