bird

While feeling a little guilty laughing at another's foibles, I confess I was humored by the thought of Nishi adding to my already rich history of individual player ineptitude dating back to 1961 for me. Hosken Powell came to mind for me. At least Houston Jiminez had a reason to take a glove out to his position. But I gotta say, if they trot Nishi out there for the next 25 games, I will become more and more humorless I'm afraid. Maybe the brain trust has seen something we haven't, but I just can't imagine Nishi turning things around. Give me Casilla and Carroll any day of the week over Nishi! Prove us wrong, boys. This'll add a nice little side interest to a lost season I guess.

Buxton was the 2nd pick, not the 22nd pick, and his promotion (and Berrios"s) is likely based on readiness, not some big philosophical change of thinking about promotions. So, great news!

Don't you think Nishi goes right back to AAA when Plouffe is healthy? I question whether there's anything more to the story than that Nishi is the best option for this short period of time. It would surprise me if he didn't perform better than Valencia, both offensively and defensively. There are only two dozen players in the International League sporting an OPS of .750 or higher, so Nishi wasn't dreadful, just bad.

Do you think it's possible Valencia was traded becuase he didn't perform, and not because "he has personality"? Geez. We won't know if we got anything for him until perhaps next year. That'll be mildly interesting.

The Twins didn't exit the "Hardy era" to enter the Dozier era. They made a decision to find an alternative for Hardy for two primary reasons:first because they didn't think he was worth the salary he would command, and second, because they thought they had a better idea named Nishioka. They came up looking like imbeciles on both counts. But jokin, you say that this was part of a bare bones budget cutting strategy on the part of the evildoers. Then how do you explain the Nishioka investment? How does that expenditure reconcile with your big conspiracy theory? You are confused, jokin. Your conclusions are not "facts". Perhaps a little humility would help you see the difference.

What a great problem to have. They've been playing Candido Pimento at 2B, a la Rosario, to free up room in ETown for Kepler, Jiminez, Walker, and Rhodes; Rodriguez and Buxton in GCL, and the two best players on the Dominican team, like Pimentel and Jiminez were last year, are center fielders. And there are some at least marginal prospects in place at Beloit and Fort Myers: Roberts, Ortiz, Williams, Concalves, and Morales. Nice to think about not having Mark Dolenc starting in the AA outfield. But I have a hunch Buxton will shoot up the system. He might be that good.

Yep. "Mininum wage players dotting the field at key positions". Yep. "Bare bones budget cutting". Yep. Pohlad "makes his living finding wiggle room for every word he utters." Yep. This is what you call "facts presented". Yep. Your credibility is impeccable, jokin. Why not just tone down the rhetoric? You see, jokin, out here in the sycamore trees, where reality fails to be grasped, at all the dinner parties and soirees, you don't find the kind of dishonest "droning of garbled commentary" that you call "facts". As a matter of "fact", people are actually pretty fair-minded toward each other at all our dinner parties and soirees. And the food? Really really good.

I'll bet that virtually every manager in the league would agree that Gardy has been very fair in his treatment of Alexi. Very fair. And does anyone actually think Casilla's chances have been (or should have been) limited on the basis of OPS +? How ridiculous would that be? thrylos, you know exactly why Casilla has unfairly been denied a full-time job. Gardy can't understand OPS+. Yep. That darned Gardy again. But really, Alexi's chances have been limited for one reason: it's in celebration of the Twins bare bone budget cutting. Yep. Hilarious once again, jokin.

I'll actually be surprised if they DO NOT secure a #2-3 type starter either via trade or FA this winter, and I'll only be a bit surprised if they trade for one #2-3 guy and sign a second. My guess id Gibson is ready to go at the beginning of the season. He's making great progress and looking sharp right now. Baker, Diamond, Hendriks next. Then Walters, Deduno, DeVries, Hermsen, an unknown minor league pick-up, maybe Bromberg to the rescue from AAA. Blackburn is a name that I have difficulty typing. The "change of behavior" from signing only bargain basement types to spending more aggressively has already taken place. They made sufficiently generous offers to a number of players last winter, including Cuddyer, Kubel, and Willingham, so it's not so far-fetched to expect an aggressive effort to improve the rotation this winter. I'll join the critics if they don't.

What's not to love about Deduno right now? Great story, and so fun to watch....for now. The 2013 rotation? I seriously hope Deduno is about our 8th best option, just ahead of DeVries and Blackburn. He won't be much fun anymore when players learn to tape their bat to their shoulder for three innings. I'd love to see him as a 30-year old injury call-up in 2013. Just like he is in 2012. But as a fifth starter, he has a chance to wreak havoc on a bullpen with short starts.

Looks like the most reasonable quick fix is a #2-3 type FA signing, clearly "overpaying" in the process.

Oh, this'll be good....

Highwater, I understand your case, I really do. But here's where I think you're being a tad bit harsh: The Twins (Jim Pohlad) has publicly stated that the Twins will budget, ON AVERAGE, roughly 50-55% of revenues for payroll. I have heard this promise firsthand, by the way. This is the third year of Target Field. My opinion, and their stance, is that they went "over budget" in 2011 and went "under budget" in 2012, but the actual numbers aren't important to them. They are to fans and the media, and that's why your rested case is understandable. But they didn"t "slash" payroll. A question: if they won the division next year (pipe dream, I know), and then won a playoff round (funny, I know), would you care what they spent on payroll? Trust me, a bunch of our pals on here would, for whatever unhealthy reasons they might have. I find it much more enjoyable to trust a person's promise. While I find positivity in some of the many good moves we've seen them make lately, the next guy views the list of those things as meaningless garble. Too bad for that guy. Now, if the Twins don't improve the rotation, I'll be critical again, like I was this year. I, like many others, viewed as a misguided gamble to start the year with Blackburn, Liriano, Pavano, Marquis, and Baker. Of course, jokin can't be charitable enough to even give them credit for thinking it through, insisting instead that they sang some sort of mindless hope an change chant. So, in the case of your argument, I don't see it as terribly unfair, just not as balanced as it could be by looking at improvement (yes, i know the W-L record, and still will argue the team is much improved) in addition to spending over, say, a three year AVERAGE. Let's give them a chance to continue to fix things and see what the spending pattern looks like. By the way, my wish list (my pal jokin's term) is this: A new #2-3 type starter via winter trade, a new #2-3 type starter via FA signing, and then some combination of Gibson, Hendriks, Diamond, Baker,Blackburn, Hermsen, Deduno, DeVries, Walters, Bromberg, and God knows who else filling the rotaion, with that rotation mustering an ERA in the top half, maybe even top third, of the American League. (My wish list for 2012 had been to have a bullpen with an ERA in the top 35-50%, and they might just fulfill my wish). With this,, at least one more reliable reliever, a lineup equally as productive, with maybe an improvemnt in MI depth, and continued improvement in the farm system, say a BA ranking in the top 1-12 to start 2013. So, I'm really excited, because my colorful pal jokin has promised to sing from the rooftops if the Twins even attempt to pull off anything this close. What do you think? Can we trust jokin to keep his word. I do. I like to trust that people are going to keep their word. Glass half full, I guess.

No monitoring being done, Mr. colorful, although I will not deny the powers-taht be moniker. You said what you said. You simply "identified" a businessman. Right. And look up two words. Hyperbole. Perhaps you can, given your incredibly colorful imagination, learn to use it correctly. And hypocrite. As in one guy being guilty of "perjorative namecalling and another more "colorful" guy simply "identifying" someone. Right.

jokin, As a matter of fact I do know a number of the Pohlads, although not particularly well. But I have trouble respecting people who disparage others whether I know the victim or not. Go hide behind your "mildly colorful" garbage, jokin. Maybe it wasn't perjorative name-calling (your recent word choice), but it was disparagement at its lowest. Oh, because someone isn't posting, or because they're in business, that gives you a license to smear them. Cowardly behavior. And gee, I just don't recall any praise emanating from the mildly colorful jokin when, during Jim Pohlad's "history" of running things (about a four-year period, three of which involved the now-higher revenues), for outbidding everyone for Sano, for spending big bucks to land this year's 4th-ranked International prospect, for spending $850k on Kepler, for signing the best pitching prospect in Australia, for spending almost every dollar of this year's draft allottment, for signing Willingham, or Doumit, for ....the list of "evidence", which you asked for right?....goes on and on and on. And of course, guys like you and twinswon1991 will disregard this evidence, won't you? twiswon1991 will smugly declare how out of touch someone like me is. Funny stuff. mildly colorful even. And remember, Pohlad disagrees with you about the need for certain "personnel " changes. Of course, that's probably because, as a high-profile businessman, he makes his living finding wiggle room for every word he utters, right, jokin. Right. Cowardly and low thing to say. Oh, and when your're praising Jim Pohlad from the rooftops for spaending this winter to fix the rotation, stay away from my sycamore.

Oh, and jokin? You called out a fellow poster for name calling. Fill me in on the rules, will you? Is it bad manners for us to attack each other, but OK to disparage others? For example, you said Jim Pohlad makes his living creating wiggle room for every word he utters. Do you know this person? That kind of attack, regardless of who is being attacked, is the epitome of smallness.

I'm continually amused by the examples posters use to support their argument that the Twins (Jim Pohlad) are cheap, and that Terry Ryan is a dinosaur. Yeah, let's go back to Ponson, and all the other pre-Target Field bargain basement signings. Let's ignore all the investments in the recent post-Target Field era. Ignore Willingham, Sano, Amaurys Minier, Doumit, using 97% of this year's draft budget, because instead, you can point to Marquis and blurt out something about the same old cheap dinosaurs, confident that your grasp on fangraphs is vastly superior to Ryan's. Or bring up "quotes" from over the last 15 years, ignoring that none of them were from Jim Pohlad really until maybe four years ago, and tell all of us how conclusively this proves that we're dealing with the same old cheap dinosaurs. So, if Terry Ryan and Jim Pohlad trade for one #2-type starter, sign another #2-type starter, and otherwise cobble together a starting rotation for 2013 that finishes with an ERA in the top third in the American League, all while keeping the lineup they fixed this year intact, and all while keeping the bullpen they fixed this year intact, and all while continuing to dramatically shore up the farm system, then are you critics who spew out all the "old school" and "cheap" characterizations going to come back and admit your criticism was misguided and perhaps uncharitable? OK, cool.

jokin, you're right, name calling is a sure indication that the name caller is losing the argument. Another sure indicator? Not knowing what you're talking about. Good game. Good game.

Ryan promised two things: 1) to evaluate the performance of those involved in the medical arena, and 2) to improve communication on medical matters. He's doing exactly what he promised. But of course, thrylos, you can't help yourself and want to portray it falsely. How do you live with being so dishonest?

thrylos, you just can't help yourself, can you? You'll never be honest enough with yourself to see the reality, which is that most of us can in fact find both positive AND negative things. It's called fairness. Try it some time. Just once.

Lots of really good (and civil) arguments today. We would probably all agree that GM's have a tough job, and that occasionally they will make a judgment call that doesn't work out. We can then rightfully holler about their "poor judgment". I'm fine with that type of criticism. But the criticism I absolutely despise is that the Twins " are sitting on their butts doing nothing", and that "they are fine with mediocrity". These are just unfair and patently untrue criticisms. They reflect irrationality and ignorance. Give Terry Ryan and the others credit for trying hard to fix things, and if you accuse them of accepting mediocrity, please supply a quote. Thank you.

If Detroit ekes out the division title, it will be on the back of their MVP Delmon Young. Clearly.

What strategy could be more brilliant than to weaken teams in your own division by sending them your Delmon Youngs and Francisco Lirianos?

I understand why some of you still extrapolate spending behavior from the pre Target Field (lower revenue) era. You choose to see them as cheapskates, damn the facts. You believe they "cut payroll" for 2012, and that's all the "proof" you need. First of all, they didn't shred the long-term spending strategy. They simply spent $15M less than budgeted for 2012 on payroll, just as they had spent $15M MORE than planned in 2011. Big deal. Secondly, if they were being the misers some of you claim, why did they spend 97% of the draft allocation? Why were they one of the biggest spenders for International signings? So, when they sign one or more expensive FA starters this winter, outbidding and overpaying in the process, will you choose to see things differently?

http://www.twinsdaily.com/images/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by shanewahlhttp://www.twinsdaily.com/images/buttons/viewpost-right.pngThe Twins are the slowest at promoting position players, or at least they were pre-2011. Then they decided to have their best prospects skip AAA altogether. Doesn't work (only for Arcia would it make any sense). Chris Herrmann is stagnating. Josmil Pinto is as well. Maybe Matthew Koch would do better if he was promoted (I wouldn't overlook the letdown that players experience when they are blocked, blocked, blocked) I don't buy this slow promotion generality, shanewahl. Your examples of Herrmann and Pinto stagnating aren't accurate. Pinto's put together a nice run very recently. And both are catchers, playing in oppressive heat, getting used to full season play. Slumping at times? Sure. But not stagnating. And your notion that there's some sort of pattern of underperformance and stagnation due to "letdowns"? I think that's all in your head, shanewahl. I see zero evidence to support this theaory.