bird

That makes it sound like they had a specific premeditated plan to draft Kinley. They didn't. I can't explain their thinking on Burdi and disagree with the decision on the surface. We'll see if anything illuminating surfaces that helps explain it, but it's confounding, I agree. They clearly wanted to keep some open slots. There's no admission by Falvey that they had Kinley in mind going in, or anyone else for that matter. I can't explain THAT call either. They probably still think Bard makes it back to the Twins. But I'm 100% sure that Derek didn't turn to Thad and say" "Hey, I have a good idea. Let's swap out Burdi and Bard for Kinley, since he's obviously better."

There is no connection between what the FO thinks of Burdi or Bard and what they think of Kinley. They did not swap these guys! Disagree with the decision not to protect them by handing them roster spots, but let's please stop conflating the three decisions. That's not how it went down.

This makes sense.

Something tells me that Hughes needs to make a FULL recovery, including getting his velo back to 91. He needs to be viewed as a better rotation option than Mejia, Gibson, or Gonsalves. I think May is more likely to come back and claim a spot in the pen. Otherwise, I think Falvey releases him. Why plug up a spot in the pen with a guy who can't give you more than what Duffey gives you? I just don't think they'll stick him in the pen, and I don't think they'll lose sleep over the sunk cost. . If he's not good enough for the rotation, he's not good enough for the pen, not when you have so many options that could blossom for you. That might be a pretty impressive pen down in AAA, especially if they get Burdi or Bard or both back. Jake Reed is still a prospect too..

Jack Johnson, 2005: "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing".

Yu Darvish: "Tired of Waitng For You"---The Kinks, 1965

I'm guessing that the decision on what to do with Hughes will be based on the singular assessment of whether he is the best option for a rotation spot, and nothing else.

I feel the same way. I'm also of the opinion that Molitor was an exceptional baserunner based much more on his brains and instincts than on his foot speed. But yeah, I've long thought that base running is undervalued by most everyone but the managers and coaches. It's aleays been a source of curiosity that so often, when a manager gets asked about a player's skills, they mention things that the average fan wouldn't, with "knowing how to run the bases" a frequent observation.

Garver's a nice story. He was the 19th catcher selected in the 2013 draft (Turner was the 6th, Navarreto the 15th). I'm not sure we'd swap him for a single one of the catching prospects selected ahead of him, it being debatable perhaps regarding three or four of them at the most. He may not be a long-term answer, even as a backup, but it's a credit to him. and to the Twins, that he's on the cusp.

The comment was refuting any depiction of Falvine as being lackadaisical and having an incomprehensible strategy. We don't know everything that's being done behind the scenes and we don't have a clear picture of what they're thinking. For all we know, they have a completely comprehensible strategy and are accomplishing the necessary legwork towards acquiring that "good pitcher" and it just hasn't happened yet. There's absolutely no evidence suggesting they're on holiday, as one commenter wondered, or that they are operating with a convoluted action plan. I still have a good feeling that we're going to hear news about the acquisition of a front-line starter, through FA or trade.

I think it's interesting as well that no one seems to be championing Nick Gordon, and he might be talented enough to crack the lineup some time in 2018.

I think it's interesting that this is the 18th post and 28 names have been mentioned, but my mention of Fernando Romero makes it his first. I have no idea whether we should be more or less optimistic about him. Romero will be one of the more interesting prospects for me, along with Tyler Jay and Brent Rooker. That's because each of them could succeed spectacularly, and each of them might ultimately be disappointing, but if they reach their ceilings, this will be a different and decidedly better team, as early as this season.

If Mauer and his $23M contract obligation were offered free of charge to the other 29 teams, how many do you think would accept the offer? Isn't this a classic example of a player who is worth more to his team than what they could get for him in a trade?

Minnesota Twins Baseball is one of about 20 different businesses owned and operated by The Pohlad Companies. This is not a small, mom and pop operation. While the major shareholders are "the boys", Bobby, Jim, and Bill, there are other shareholders as well. A look at the company web site should quite frankly be a requirement for anyone wanting to get a better idea of how the Twins organization operates. Even when Carl was alive, and despite his almost cantankerous fixation on control of matters, the organization solemnly practiced a very disciplined form of governance. The Board of Directors, to this day, is constituted in such a way as to provide fairly objective oversight. Lots of unrelated, outside directors. I think it's always been fair to criticize the organization for its neglect of oversight of the "baseball operations" piece. When the Pohlad Companies BOD provides strategic guidance to its other businesses, they pretty much gain a great deal of insight from the people who manage the businesses before putting any of its own imprint on its strategic direction. It's been my belief that the baseball side of the Twins organization has lacked a strategic focus in the past, and even if Ryan and crew WERE more strategically-minded than I think, it's quite likely that the board members of both the Twins and its parent would have viewed it as less important than it is. I'm of the opinion that Jim Pohlad and others who provide counsel finally realized the need to bolster the strategic skill set within the Twins organization, and specifically the baseball side of things. Hence the changes. That said, I believe they'll continue on a course of being fiscally disciplined. Maybe to a fault, I don't know. I believe Jim needs to listen carefully to any qualified advice he can get about improving the organization's "public face". In particular, Dave St. Peter and Jim himself should be encouraged to avoid making individual comments about "baseball" issues and let Falvine be the spokesperson. They've done that to a large extent, but they need to be even more guarded about that. They're both very smart and decent men, but man alive, can they say some goofy things. I think it's entirely unfair when people describe any member of the Pohlad family as "cheap". Before I retired, I had exposure personally to each of the boys, witnessed personal acts of charity, and also the actions of The Pohlad Foundation. If all of us were as charitable, we'd live in a better place.

I agree. I've thought for a long time that the Twin's achilles heel was its failure to think along these lines more and to do a better job of asset management. Ryan seemed to like to wait until the asset was practically illiquid and he was forced to sell at a depressed valuation. Think of how often we at TD make comments about X player having more value to us than what can be fetched in the marketplace. And now, we're seeing signs that investment behavior is becoming part of the analysis, where irrational investments create a market irregularity. Like teams paying relievers way more than performance value. Interesting times.

I'm not quite sure what the point of your comment is, unless it's to show us that cynicism is alive and well. Unlike you, I found it to be an interesting decision and move. I think Parker's thesis regarding their thinking makes a lot of sense. And I'm all for seeing Boshers audition for a role in the pen. For someone else.

I don't believe we should keep that in mind at all. I have this humorous picture in my mind of the baseball offices divided and on separate sides of the hall. The new guys pin the names of "their" prospects on their corkboard and Burdi and Bard were over on that stupid corkboard across the hall.

Yeah, he's one for sure. They have plenty of "forgotten" men in May, Hughes, Chargois, and Jay. They have plenty of guys "ready to take the next step" in Hildenberger, Busenitz, Moya, Pressly, Duffey, and others. They have plenty of prospects who are "promising but unproven" like Curtiss, Reed, Kinley, and a half dozen others. They have a bunch of long shots, guys like Hackimer, Vasquez, Jones, and Anderson. They have a few come-back possibilities too, in Pineda, Burdi, and Bard. People have been scoffing at the concept of a "proven closer" for a few years now, but that's precisely what they needed to focus all their attention on in terms of relief help this offseason. Rodney doesn't meet my standard in that regard, and it appears they're choosing to pass on the elite FA relief arms. I think that's a mistake. Maybe a big one too. Different bullpen objective last off-season, but in my view they failed and got away with it last year.

Probably the stuff for another thread (and then about a gazillion more after that), but I tend to fall in this camp. I'd say the most encouraging thing about the regime change so far has been the actions of Jim Pohlad and company, in that, at least so far, he has given us many indications that the budget is substantially larger now. As for Rule V, I don't think Falvine said to themselves "lets swap out Burdi for Kinley". As related as they are, they're not connected. The Burdi decision is inexplicable. Wouldn't it be nice if one of our high-access beat writers were rigorous and vigorous in their attempts to extract an explanation?

Ah. The perfect storm. Chief has said he's tired of hearing, year after year, that the team has pitchers in the pipeline that might solve the problem. I, coincidentally, have had on my bucket list a desire to inflict someone with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome just for the h*ll of it. Hildenberger Rodney Rogers Busenitz Moya Duffey Pressly Hughes Curtiss May Chargois Mejia Jay Romero Boshers Jorge Enns Stewart Eades Pineda later Burdi returned Bard returned Kinley Melotakis Hakimer Vasquez Baxendale Jones Geez, I'm tired. That's a lotta typing.

Questioning is one thing. Like you, I hate losing both those guys and question the decision. Concluding that it's a bad decision, like you have? Are you not "defaulting" to your own authority? Let's let it play out. It'll be interesting.

Because the one looking just at a few stats is you, and the people looking at the player are long-standing, proven professional scouts who are also armed with a lot more data points than you? Brad Steil was interviewed and mentioned that they have "depth" on Kinley, having seen him often over the course of those five years. He acknowledged Fred Guerrero's observations, but kind of downplayed that in favor of just generally saying their people see some good things. I'd agree with you on the surface though, that Burdi looks to have the better chance, but let's not pretend that the decision involved a straight swap of the two.

Burdi was selected #3. Kinley was, I think, the 13th of 15 prospects selected (many teams passed, some on more than half the selected prospects). While it's not unreasonable to think the Twins should have protected Burdi (I think they should have), it's also not unreasonable to think their selection of Kinley is a worthwhile experiment. First of all, nothing says Molitor and Falvey have to make to same mistake with Kinley that many of us think they made with Haley. Maybe they learned from that experience. They'll probably have a shorter leash with Kinley anyway, for the simple reason that they have more and better candidates in 2018 than they did going into spring training in 2017. Secondly, we don't know what we're talking about when we draw conclusions about a guy like Kinley based on a few minor league stats. It may end up meaning nothing, but Fred Guerrero's reports from the Dominican Winter League might also hint at some positive development that give the organization reason to think Kinley is capable of more.

Probably not. It's likely more a reflection that much of the unprotected talent that is not already on the 40-man is in the low minors. Although our depth took a hit with the loss of Bard and Burdi, two of only 15 prospects selected. (The Yanks lost four).

I had a picture of Derek on the phone, haggling while fondling a framed photo of Calvin Griffith.