bird

Speaking of inflammatory, how are you this morning, DPJ?

I'm in 100% agreement with your assessment of Ryan, LaBombo. What gives me some extra hope is thatTarget Field ushers in a new economic situation, and I expect to see more aggressive investments. International signings; finally getting their act together in the Dominican Republic, participation in free agency, player payroll, etc. I'll look for signs, good and bad. Signing Amaurys Minier, for example, is a good sign. Ryan saying he doesn't expect to be a big player in the FA market? I'll wait to see what happens before concluding anything, but it's a worrisome signal. It ought to be interesting.

LaBombo, you make a compelling case regarding the "pitch to contact" philosophy and the failings of the FO to find bat-missing pitchers for the rotation. I subscribe, I'm sure, to the same theory you do on that subject, I'm guessing. Sorry I fell flat with my sarcasm, and thanks for your sophisticated rhetorical criticism. The point you missed as you critiqued my work was that conclusions are often exaggerated for effect. Example: I don't think the FO needs to be repolaced. Therefore, thrylos has concluded that I "like mediocrity and worse". The FO likes pitch to contact guys, so therefore they hate strikeout pitchers. A couple of Ryan's moves haven't panned out, so therefore he doesn't have a plan. Gardy has certain biases, so therefore he has sexual relations with players who fit his mold. Frankly, LaBombo, I'm less enamored with Ryan as a roster tweaker than you are I guess. But I'm also more confident that Ryan is surrounded with smart, competent people, top to bottom, and that they have a post-Target Field strategy regarding the future direction of the franchise. It will take time, but some of us are seeing many signs of improvement, the W-L record notwithstanding.

The Twins have made some really bad decisions, no doubt about it. Nishioka, re-signing Capps, signing Blackburn, the Wilson Ramos trade. Those are all really bad moves, but hardly "irreversible setbacks". It's entirely reasonable, jokin, for you and others to conclude that this FO should go. The Twins have made some really good decisions, no doubt about it (or is there, jokin?). Drafting Mauer instead of Prior, trading for Santana and Nathan, signing Sano, trading Pino for Pavano, signing Arcia, Burton, Diamond, Revere....the list of good decisions goes on and on and on...right? Now, it's entirely reasonable, jokin, for me and others to conclude that changing the FO is not necessary.

That's your response, jokin? A cute, empty answer? Where's the smiley face?

Deron Johnson, Mike Radcliff and forty scouts piled into a room at Super 8 (Pohlad's orders, you see) to go over the draft. Deron: "Are you serious? No way we take that guy. He throws way too many strikes." Mike: "Let me remind everyone that we will only consider pitchers who project as back of the rotation guys or worse."

thrylos, RA Dickey and Blackburn are very good examples of moves that didn't pan out. And for every example like that, we can find you an example that someone, if they wanted to, could use to make the opposite point you ALWAYS make, which is that everybody employed by the Twins is old, uses an abacus, and sucks at their job. It's great to be critical. It's perfectly fine to be pessimistic about this team. This is not in the cards for you, thrylos, but being fairminded about criticism and praise, (even faint praise, jokin) is a form of honesty that most of us appreciate. Being intentionally unfair is a form of dishonesty. Are you being honest? I guess that's possible, thrylos, who recently informed all of us that the situation is so sad that "the glass is not half empty or half full. The glass is shuttered on the floor in a million pieces." Wow. Have a nice day. Marquis? Yes, I'm telling you I believe the "coach is clean". You see, for every example you or jokin or others want to cite as evidence of incompetence, we can cite an example to show demonstrate their prowess. For every poor trade, jokin, like everyone's favorite, Santana, there is a good trade, like Pavano. For every "bad release" like Breslow, there is a Burton. Try to be balanced and fair. It will help your credibility.

To blame the Twin's pitching problems on any one person (Deron Johnson? C'mon.) or label it all as bad bad bad bad (thrylos of course) is incredibly simplistic. This year's rotation problems specifically? The buck stops clearly with Ryan. Some of people think they made a good call and had bad luck. Some people, myself included, think they made an risky bet and paid the price. And of course, some people are far less charitable. I have a theory related to the causes of the current shortage of promising starters in the system, and I would suggest this order of the most significant causes: 1. A full decade of picking in the back half of the draft order. (One exception, which netted us Hicks). No prospect considered to have a #1 ceiling was available to the Twins, not one, during this entire ten-year period. No high-profile, sure-fire ace lasts until even the 14th pick of the first round. Go for ten years, or 500 rounds worth of selections, always picking in the second half, and then ask yourself why anyone should expect your pitching pipeline to be better than average. By the way, the Twin's farm system is still more highly rated than any othe team in its division except KC, which has picked in top five for over a decade probably. 2. Some bad luck with injuries and setbacks that could not have been anticipated.** 3. Some bad decisions.** Some of you are experts, so you can tell us which of these picks was bad luck versus bad judgment. If you submit that they are all a result of bad judgment, you have zero credibility. Zero. Hunt, Bashore, Gutierrez, Tootle, Gibson, Wimmers, Waldrop, Rainville, Fox... I don't buy all the bad evaluation, bad scouting, bad coaching, bad development nonsense. And I definately also do not buy the "soft tosser" preference stuff. I'm very skeptical that ther's been any change in philosophy regarding "hard throwers", although by appearances, it's possible. I just don't think the five dozen scouts employed by the Twins are told to avoid pitchers who "throw hard". Here's a test: make a list of the top 20 "hardest throwers" on the Twins active roster over the past decade. Then make a list of the top 20 "softest tossers". Now, compare the fastball velocity of the #20 guy on each list. What's the difference? My guess is about 2.5MPH. This soft versus hard is simplistic.

Sure hope the excitement for Zach Jones is justified. I remember similar excitement for Pedro Guerra, for example, and he fizzled out.

Marquis started 7 games for us and stunk. In the future, he will do that again. His short-term failure here and short-term success there is just one more one-off situation, thrylos. For every player you can give as an example of the ineptitude you always try to find, I can provide an example of a player you performed worse when they left here. When you run out of names, I will have plenty left. Ready, set, go, thrylos.

Oh, so they DID spend the whole $2.9M allottment. Well, that still doesn't negate the fact that the Pohlad's only care about money and are cheap.

They've only spent $2.12M? And they could have spent $2.9M by now? Clearly we're seeing signs of more bare-bones budget cutting. Right, jokin?

I hold out hope that Ryan will sign one #2-3 starter via FA (Marcum type), trade for another #2-3 starter (Leake type), sign Baker, and fill out the rotation with Gibson and Diamond, leaving a very acceptable set of options in the wings: Hendriks, DeVries, Walters, Deduno, Bromberg, Hermsen...and? Nope, bye bye Blackburn. This would cost one of Span and Morneau, most likely. If Ryan settles for one #2-3 starter, I'll be dissappointed, and ready to criticize him as I did regarding this year's failed gamble with the rotation. If he gives us no new #2-3 starters, I'll join in the outcry for his head.

All of the concerns about being equipped to manage a more diverse workforce are of course legitimate. But this whole notion that we need a wholesale change in the ethnic composite of the organization because of language barriers and cultural insensitivities contains its own elements of racial and cultural bigotry. Show me direct evidence of a negative effect.

Everyone is on the same page about the pitching needs, so let's "assume" for the purpooses of our discussion, that there is a possibility of changes in MI personnel. My gut tells me we get maybe one meaningful change in the MI. So, we either have to live with Dozier at SS, maybe at 2B if an outside fix at SS becomes available. But here's where I'm at: I can stomach either Casilla or Dozier as below-average stop-gaps for 2013. I get damn queasy thinking abouth both, and puke on my tennies thinking about Nishi, Escobar, Florimon, or Nishi playing every day. Do we get one meaningful upgrade in the infield over the winter? If we don't I'll be very dissilusioned.

Absolutely no one realistically believes the Twins brought Nishi up to deflect attention from other problems. No one, not even thrylos. But thrylos doesn't neccessarily express something because he believes it. Truth is inconsequential in his agenda.

Completely valid criticism on the Bartlett and Hardy decisions, diehard.

Back up your opinion, thrylos. Oh, you can't? Yep. Just more crap.

I agree about the depth issue, but think the quality issue at SS and 2B is more problematic (broken record). When your options are Dozier, Casilla, Carroll, Escobar, and Florimon (am I missing someone for 2013?) it appears logical to me to go outside the system for a fix at one of the two positions. Maybe, for the first time in a long long time, they'll trade a prospect for......nah. Never mind.

This was a fun read, Seth. Thinking back to last season, I wonder if we had this many strong one-month performances all year!

When Logan Darnell and Pat Dean are two of the better starters in your upper system, you have a lack of pitching talent in AAA, AA, and A+. Let's hope a whole slew of the 2012 draft class of pitchers are the real thing, and that the Twins follow up with an equally promising draft class in 2013. If that happens, and guys like Salcedo, Solimon, and Bromberg return to legitimate prospect status, then maybe we can feel good about the pitching pipeline. Until then.....kinda ugly.

It's a positive that Terry Ryan would SUGGEST we have other holes, as opposed to Billy Smith, who would refuse to ADMIT it.

ericchri, one of the absolutely best, most balanced comments I've ever read here. Thank you. Please speak up more often.

Geez, SpiritofVodka Dave, way to pee in the punch bowl with all that meaningless droning of positivity! Yep, the damn excuse factory is workin' overtime, Dave, and you're the foreman. I'm here to fulfill the Community Service requirements of my last sentence. Just trying to keep the bruises down in the DPJ household.

I don't put any stock whatsoever in some "Black Hand" notion that we're seeing some dramatic change in promotion policy that ought to strike fear in the hearts of the minor league players and that spells the end for the age-addled Jim Rantz. Rantz isn't tied up somewhere in a back room. Some of you may not be aware of the reality that he doesn't decide these cases on his own. It's a simple situation, and it has past precedence, as Celebrity Weddings accurately pointed out with the Hicks, Parmelee, Benson, and Revere examples. These two players, both mercurial talents, have, as kbknudson points out, satisfied the development staff's criteria of adjusting to pro ball and displaying the necessary makeup and maturity. As Ryan says, it goes beyond numbers to things they see that we don't see. If anything is instructive from this it's that a #2 pick often has loads more talent than the guy picked 28 slots later.