mwmarkland

I think I'm frustrated most that this all came at once and I'm suffering a bit of emotional shock from that. I agree with everyone that the Varland piece seems out of touch, but I'm glad they didn't move Ryan. I'm not a person who has been overly critical of Baldelli; I actually like what he's done. But I don't think you can even evaluate him now given what he has to work with. As for Falvey, I don't think he's done any better or worse than other GMs in his position. His ownership let everyone down when they cut investment right after some success. Let's hope it doesn't turn into a Marlins-light situation where success leads to years of blah.

I think the hitting will come with time and experience. I'm more concerned about his untimely errors in the field and whether he can continue to improve that part of his game so he can stay at 2nd. If not I wonder if there is a Miranda/Julien platoon at first in the future.

I agree that this situation seems bad, but perhaps there could be a silver lining if he can get back into the outfield. We need right-handed corner bats and perhaps Buxton is a fit there even with his reduced abilities? With the hope that playing in the field again helps his hitting.

Would putting Buxton in a corner outfield slot, say swapping him and Kepler, have value? It would get him the field, but perhaps with less ground to cover.

Well, considering the team is about on the path to match the predictions laid out by the models before the season, how disappointed should we be? As for certain players I'm wondering if Correa's plantar fasciitis is hindering him more than we are being told. Buxton may end up being a Tony Oliva-esq player in that his body is betraying him right now, and may continue to. Although he isn't performing great, I still think he's a bargain going forward if he can figure some things out. Perhaps he needs to move to a corner spot (I know, too many folks there already). I think one thing I see from the front office is a deference to veterans, i.e. Kepler, that may not be warranted. However, if you just sit Kepler you ruin his possibility of having hot streaks that improve his limited trade value. I think I'd be okay dropping Gallo. One surprise this year has been Castro who I think will be a good utility guy going forward for the team. Unless he totally regresses. So I'll say I'm disappointed, but this team is sort of what I thought they were going into the season.

Although I'd like to still have those prospects, the Twins currently have a logjam of player prospects as it is. It seems like you build up prospect capital in your farm system for two reasons; to replace players on your roster directly, and to use them to acquire other players. The Twins haven't done a lot of the latter over time, so I think this was a good try by the front-office. And I'm glad we didn't get Montas.

I'm sure someone else has raised this topic, but shouldn't we consider the fact that it isn't just about how much the Twins are willing or able to spend? These contracts represent people, and as we have seen people make choices. I think we have to be realistic that if the Twins have a matching offer to a free agent with San Diego, then the person is going to look at other things besides money. And how often does MN/St. Paul win those battles? I feel positive in that I believe we are seeing the Twins get to the point where they are competing on the money side for at least some players. After the money, though, the player has to make a choice.