ND-Fan

What's happening with how this front office is running this team is like big experiment with a lot of theories and attitude of they are smarter than everyone else. the one thing baseball teaches is still a game with a lot of variables and more you try to out think it more it comes back and bites you in know what. They may still win but I am afraid we could see also epic failure by this organization setting it back years. I wonder what it has done with these young talents we have is it why were seeing regression in so many of these players.Are They are overloading them with information and making game so complicated that has effected their play. I keep thinking were still going to start winning with this group of players because they have won all the way up in minors but I am getting to wonder if that's going to happen. Glenn Perkins when interviewed at press conference talked of the talent of this team and talent down in minors how Terry Ryan had drafted a lot of talent before he had been let go that should make this club a winner. So again I was getting to feel maybe were going to turn the corner and then I see this front office and moves they keep making and I get feeling were not going to make it. Like I say this front office talks a better game than they actually play as managers of this organization and they have luxury of saying all faults were on previous regime but I think that theme is running out now it on them to show some results.

What class act as individual and person. This is done out love for his family and wife that he reduces the further risk of head injury and long lasting effects from head injury. Hopefully the injuries he has will not effect him in the future. The players like him are very rare exception of playing at high level and being quality person on the field and off the field. I wish him and his family well and feel great full for watching him through his career.

I think this is very likely the roster they head out with next spring it fits with this front office in that it basically puts another year in for the prospects in A ball to continue to develop and holds spending down for this team. Second it basically means we either win with the talent we got or we sink again giving us another high draft picks to build the farm system. I willing to bet that by end of the season Giby, Ordorizzi, and Pineda are all traded for prospects. Also this will lower our payroll to help offset attendance drop if this team has been loosing and if we should be contending they may add some mid level rental player. This front office is just not going to commit with our present players and first time they do commit it will be with their players. Only addition to this team that could add some cost would be if Joe Mauer decides to play another year or two. On this front I wouldn't hold my breath. I will hate to be business office for the coming year try to market this team to the fans season tickets sales are going to drop. I am going to flat state this Front Office was hired to protect the Twins Brand `in fact they are going to do much more damage to that brand and how its perceived by fans than what ever damage the previous front office did. I am just waiting for media to begin to understand this and so called experts around the cities this front office is just lacks knowledge and experience to be able to run baseball operation. Its one thing to talk the game and second of just doing the job so far my impression they talk a better game than what they are doing.

I just got done listening to Chad Allen on Mike Berandino pod caste his discussion on Buxton which I found very interesting and has given me some hope for this group of players the Twins have now. From what I took from Chad Allen's remarks Buxton needs to have playing time to get himself squared with hitting. Reading between the lines this Front Office has overloaded him with to much information and try to micro manage him until he has lost all confidence in his ability. I wonder if that is not going on with Sano too where they just need to play let them figure things out even if the numbers are poor for awhile and they need to have trust with their coaches. Second he talked about was this group of players just tore up minor leagues won everything but they haven't been able to make this work at major league level. The question I have is this front office of geeks overloading these young players until were not getting any performance out them at all. Soon as they go else where we see this dramatic improvement in performance. I read where Flavey and Levine are down in club house a lot after every game I wonder if we got case of micro managing going on here. Maybe this will change with their own manager but my guts tell me this will probably not change. I wonder if this case of these young stud geeks who did this with their other organization for their jobs now can't let the people they hired do their jobs because they are still doing what they had done before. This could be case where they haven't had experience of being managers let people do the jobs they were hired to do maybe not the exact way you would do but capable of getting the job done. If this case this front office is going to go down in flames because having multiple coaches voicing differences through out the organization creates lack of direction and confusion through out the whole organization. A little more speculation is this why they are firing people through out whole organization because people can't do it exactly how they think they would do it. If this case were going to have players, coaches, and training people who either waiting for directives and players overwhelmed with information and not being helped by people hired to do so because they are waiting for upper management for directives. I guess time will tell here but my feeling is this is like when the Twins hired Ray Miller from Baltimore Orioles we had team that wasn't performing and players and staff were never on same page. But getting back to Chad Allen I was impressed with his remarks and I think its worth listening too.

This front office has not committed to anything yet and if I suspect they are not ready to yet either. While other clubs commit to group of players and build around them to try to put winning team together we have not committed to one player either young or old. Now we are coming to this year we have 2/3 of the rotation that will become free agents next year. we have heard of no talks with any players to extending them contract and only one that was offered longer term contract was Buxton on very team friendly offer last year. I my experience as baseball fan a team needs core of baseball players that you can construct team around not always most talented but nucleus that provides right club house and does thing that make team good. The Twins have not had this now for at least three years or more with the exception of Mauer who has been in last years of his career. The year the Twins signed Tori Hunter with Mauer they started winning what we heard how they led this young group of players. This past year we had Brian Dozier and Escobar but its hard to be club house leader when your Front office is trying to trade you and not committing to you beyond your contract. This brings to me this team now who do the Twins have as leaders for the future my answer is nobody everyone is playing for their next contract or just waiting to be traded. Rosario is probably best hitting player the Twins have but he doesn't appear to me a team leader. Buxton could become a team leader but question there is can he overcome his own problems to ever become that player. Sano is not team leader now and I have my doubts if he will ever become that type of player. Everyone is convinced here on the board we need to trade Kepler because he's at his peak but I think he's going to become monster of player in next few years. He is type of player that could become leader for this club he play's smart, works hard, versatile in where he can play, and his stats should be better than they have been for batting but seems to have been unlucky in getting hits. I think he could be core player and leader for the future of this club but time will only tell on that. But getting back to this front office its time for them to start committing to this team by deciding who and how they are going to build this team around. This where I believe they are very weak as front office they have all these theories but when it comes to building a team they lack experience and baseball eyesight to know how to build a team with a group of players. The analytical people are what somebody said other day on one baseball shows these are people if they were poker players are used to limited poker where the game is limited by statistics but people like Red Sox are playing unlimited poker they are betting even when stats say something else not saying they don't use analytical information but they are also using their baseball and people knowledge to construct their teams and how they play the game. The fault of previous Front office was they were behind on analytics but they did have people skills and eye skills to find baseball players now this front office is just opposite but they are inexperienced in running a club and so far shown they have lack of commitment to their team when they shown they can compete. I will hear how they signed all the free agents this past year but the plan was based on short term where they could sell their signees and still didn't commit to any player long term. We see how that played out and the now were left with no experienced players and whole lot of questions left on remaining players. Now we start with new manager that could be good manager but problem no matter how good manager you are you need a team to manage. Only saving grace for the Twins is there in divisions with three other clubs in the rebuilding mode but we will see of these three teams who rebuilds fastest my guess is by end of next season we will be wondering how were in last place.

His stats for hitting doesn't look good but watch him day in day out he's going to hit in his career at some pretty good numbers. He takes good at bats and swing is what you want out of hitter. I think he was bit unlucky this past year where he has hit baseball hard but seemingly right at some one. Everyone is concerned about his age but he is relatively young were doing same thing here we did with Aron Hicks some players take little longer to develop into the player everyone wants. I think he has worn down each of the last two years effecting his numbers especially toward the end of season. This is also result of Buxton problems where both he and Rosario have had to play more and move positions for the Twins replacement outfielders. If we trade him i am betting people here will be writing why we ever let him go here in couple of years. He has all the tools to become star player and what I see and read about him his attitude is good and he's adapting to become a better player. Another thing is everyone has fallen in love with Cave but remember this is small sample size and there were reasons New York let him go. His numbers have not been impressive until he came to the Twins and like i say the sample size is still small. We have to see how this plays out in full season of baseball our impressions may change before next season is over.

I give Stearns credit for his trading for Yelich but it was something that doesn't come along to often a team dumping talent to reduce payroll which the Marlins did last year. I look at talent Miami traded away this past year they had club that could have been playing right now to get into the world series. The amount of talent they traded away is unbelievable and look at the impact it has made on the clubs that acquired that talent. Yankees became better team, Brewers, and St. Louis some of the teams that traded with Miami off the top of my head. I don't see this happening with the Twins our 40 man roster 25 to 40 is simply one of the weakest group of players I have seen for the Twins. This leaves us with the top 30 prospects mostly down in A ball that is reported to have a lot of talent. The problem with this its hard to trade A ball players for proven talent because putting it simply only a few of these people make to majors and even fewer become major league stars. So we are faced with either trading some proven talent with these prospects for young player that looks ready to become a star or looks like they are going to make the majors. The problem here is were already thin on proven talent so it will be calculated risk what we ever trade for will be better than what were trading. I just think were in for another year of seeing if our young core develops and probably signing couple of free agents to fill in the holes this club. I still believe were in total rebuild and come trading deadline were going to trade bunch of this young core for more prospects but higher than before probably in Double A range or better. This club will not make a run until 2020 or more likely 2021 when there A ball players should be coming up to the team. I will believe they are making a commitment when they decide when they start locking up some this young core group to some longer contracts. Right now I here nothing on that front. We have no pitcher signed long term and we have 3 of the 5 projected starters in last year of arbitration for next year. I know all three have had major flaws to signing them in the past but it also means that trading deadline if we don't have commitment on them we will be trading them. The pipeline for the Twins is not exactly full high end minor league prospects to fill in. We do have couple that look like they will make here at major league level but that is still to be determined. Also we have not made a single commitment to any of this young core we have now so this is just another sign I believe why were still in total rebuild. This front office has never believed in these players we have now and will not have any trust until the players they have drafted and developed reach here. I just think because Twins were flawed when they arrived here everything here was flawed even the existing players. I hope I am wrong but this is what my gut feeling is telling me about this front office.

I for one don't see the Twins as having as much money to spend as you figure for the coming year i betting they will have salary figure of total 75 million to spend not what we spent last year it will fall back closer to year before spending.. The construction of this team salary has some big questions to be answered. First 3 of the 5 projected starters are in there last year of arbortation for the coming year so what are Twins plan for the future on pitching. This group of Gibson, Ordorizzi, and Pineda all have big questions on their future as big league starters but if they are not signed by opening day very likely all three would go FA at the end of next year. That leaves the Twins with only option is to trade them an next year trade dead line unless were really contending and then very likely we loose them to Free Agency. The Twins have glaring needs at ss or second base for next year which I believe will cost them at least 4million. Then we will need to have either a 3rd baseman or first baseman which could cost at least between 5 to 8 million if were talking quality players. Then it comes to our bull pen if they truly want to improve this team some money is going to be needed to be spent here. They should being looking for shut down closer in my mind that would be first thing to fix to gaining most wins for this club. Look at how many losses we had in walk off losses last year. If we had a bull pen that would have shut down other teams and we had won 75% of those games this team would have exceeded last years wins. But also with closer they could use at least another arm to fill in with our existing bull pen. Lastly this all based on assumption that Buxton and Sano can turn into all stars they were two years ago. If this doesn't happen were looking at a team again that will be 78 wins at best plus we will again have traded away a lot of the core of this team again especially starting pitching. I think this window on this group of players will be determined by next year performance and if they can't turn the corner I believe like I have thought all along were in reset again waiting for the next wave of players to arrive. This front office has never believed what was in place here and its why they haven't invested in these players or added to this team even when they have been contending or close enough to make a run. Also thinking were going to sign one of the top free agents next year isn't going to happen there not going to come to team that has this many questions and is in this state of flux. Were going to have hard time to even sign quality free agent to come here and for sure the Twins will never over pay to get a player I believe ownership has demonstrated that over years on there signing of Free Agents.

I have metric for this front office to measure their performance. I will be interested see where we stand in the division at the end of next season and probably year after that. If Detroit, KC, and Chicago make more progress next year and look like they are closer to contending and all three started after MN in rebuilding. If this happens this Front office will need to be evaluated and changes will need to be made.

That's the optimistic look for next season which could happen for the Twins. We could also see that Buxton still doesn't hit and is defensive wiz but then hurts himself again. Sano can't keep from striking out and can't catch up to fastball from top pitchers and we find he is unable to play 3rd base without rest. Kepler may struggle again and look like he ready to breakout and we finally trade him somebody fixes him like they have with Hicks becomes all star. The starting pitching could be good but with position players not hitting enough were loosing again and front office thinks we should be sellers again so we trade Gibson, Ordorizzi, and Pineda for future prospects and we bring up these young pitchers to finish the season. I expect us to sign of couple one to two year free agents for not to much money to fill in our needs around the infield. Castro our catcher struggles to come back with few times on DL and then at trading deadline we also trade him. We will also be looking for few more DFA to be picked up to fill in during the season. This will be year we hear that were back to rebuild this club for the long term with expectation of next wave prospects to be coming in next couple of years with likes Royce Lewis, Gordon, Krilloff and few of pitching names will be the new saviors for the Twins. I think the optimistic view of the Twins is were just fooling ourselves look at this team we had on the field not many of these players would even crack line up the teams that are in playoffs. Molitor should have been considered manager of year again with team he had and circumstances he had to get 76 win season instead he gets fired. The future for this team is basically at A level in minor leagues and history tell us not many of these players make it. Also the level of money we have to spend is not as high as everyone thinks I willing to bet its closer to 30 million at best. Ownership and business side of the Twins will want to keep payroll more in the 70 to 80 million range not the 110 million range everyone is talking about. The clock is now ticking on this front office because they were given team with talent to win but failure to add talent and continue to develop that talent has put this window in jeopardy and may be vanishing because there belief they had to totally rebuild the whole organization. I may be all wrong but I think this Front office is all theory but no experience on how to put together baseball team and may have missed their chances to win because of this. This next year will determine a lot of this and surely the year after but we fans will have endure this experience.

The problem is that they have nothing to fall back onto if these two don't perform. There's no veterans left to rely on to carry team with some of their solid young players and there's nothing in the system in triple A or double A that can be called up. This leaves us to looking at DFA of young players to try and find somebody that maybe can perform. Also some of the options like Cave the jury are still out on too. The next big problem is that this front office has lost any creditability with players with moves they have made with Buxton and Sano I don't think they have found way to communicate with him I think he should have been here much sooner as player when he was younger and more willing to follow a mentor. I believe Sano was held back because of service time to control his best years but they have missed that period. I think the Twins are soon reaching point where they are sinking ship and all hands want off the ship. I just think were going to be choice of last resort for players around the majors and even then its going to be hard to sign talent. This Front Office may know all the analytics but I believe they lack skills to handling real people and getting players feeling they believe in them and also getting them to believe in what they are trying to get done. That is one thing I remember of Terry Ryan the players respected him even after they moved on they have spoke highly of him. So far I haven't heard this of this front office and silence speaks very loudly on this matter. I believe Ruesse this club is in total tear down mode and they are going to tank next year and year after. We are not going to be in contention unless you look at it from point of if we can be one of the worst to get one of the first draft picks. I am waiting for ownership to address the public come clean this is the plan and if ownership doesn't know this were even worse shape than I thought.

I am not believer in this front office and had grave reservations about them after listening to them from the begining. They are going to always tell you what you want to hear but when they get behind closed doors they are going to just do the opposite. Second i get impression they think they are smarter than anybody else and they know how do everything better. The fact is they have screwed up alot moves in just two years being with the Twins. There player acquitions for most part have been busts. We hear how good they have drafted but in my mind that still to be determined because were several yerar away before these people reaching the majors if they do. Ruese Lewis pick should be good with first overall pick and so far looks to be good pick. Also this front office has all this these theories and new metrics for putting a team together but its another thing putting a team together its more than numbers its meshing of people and getting people to buy into what your doing and believing in what your doing. So far i haven't seen any of that in contrary we have heard some from veterans complaining on giving up and not improving this team. I think ownership got scared two years ago because attendance had dropped from peak of 3.2 million to 1.95 million they were afraid if that continued they would have to start supplementing this franchise until they began winning. What I think they have done is set in place where they may even drop further with this group thinking they needed to modernize there management office and decided to go with these unproven talent but had all these great ideas on how to make great baseball organization. The problem is they got sold a dream by the people who they hired but they were not ready to run a club and second they don't have plan to implement this dream. I think we have not reached bottom yet before ownership knows they have made a mistake but when other teams in their division are rebuilt before them they will finally make a change.

Front office is just following typical pattern blame the manager for lack of success and bring in there guy. The problem is that there player acquisions were the problem not the manager. I could go on forever about this front office but ownership will have to see for themselves that these people are not ready to lead and develop a team. I think the clock is ticking on this group even the media is starting to wake up to these people. The sad part is how long will it take ownership to come to conclusion that they made a mistake. I am guessing its going to take a while and i as fan will have to endur more seasons of loosing. I betting they are going to have hard time finding players to buy into what ever they are planing and general public will be next to figure it out too.

I don't expect the Twins to sign many free agent players except for one year deals for the coming year they have glaring needs at 1st, 2nd, and 3rd base. This front office is not going to sign any quality free agents in the next years business I believe they are going to see where they are with this group of core players. I could see them signing Berios to longer term contract but I have feeling they will have hard time getting this done. The pitching depth will not be there unless they sign Gibson and Ordorizzi to longer contract is not that deep. I could see both being sold at the trading deadline next year for future prospects. I think were being said up to loose to get best higher pick in the draft. The twins are rebuilding and right now were on mission to have highest draft pick as possible for year after this next year to set up franchise with quality players. The problem with this how do excite people to come out and watch baseball.

I don't understand how you judge the moves the Twins made this summer and fall have improved this team for next year. We gutted the 40 man roster and just added players that other organizations had determined didn't fit into their plans or they had better aternatives in their system. The trades for Dozier, Escobar, and Pressely we recieved no prospect higher than advanced A ball. This means were still at less than 50% chance of never seeing these kids in the majors. WE have very few high end prospects in either triple A or Double A that could advance to the majors. Our highest prospect in those levels is now struggling wasn't good enough to be called up this fall in Gordon. Second this gutting has been planed for some time because the proof is how they handled Buxton with his injuries they had plan to save a year of team control long before they made any trades of the above players. If you haven't figured it out were to just go through at least 2 more seasons of 90+ losses to acquire more prospects. They are not going to sign any quality free agents next year it will be low cost one year deal people to just fill out lineup. Gibson, Ordorizzi, and Sano are going to be traded next year with only exception being Sano if he continues to struggle for more Prospects. Any Trades will be for closer prospect ready to majors like might be called up next year and will play the following year. All you people out there that think were going to be contenders next year is a dream. Also for all you Molitor haters with type of team he will have to manage they will have plenty of loosing to base letting him go. I also hate to see what type of club house they will have because there will no thinking of team but wondering if i have a job or where are they going to move me for their next prospect. I like to see what ownership and Dave St.Peter think of this when they are trying to sell tickets in next few years. I could see attendance drop from 2 million mark down to 1.5 million mark pretty easily if the Twins put poor team out there from the begining of spring training with little for fan draw. I am waiting for all you that supported this gutting see your reactions are when we are experiencing poor baseball on the field. I will still be fan always looking for the hope but i am afraid were going to experience what Cub fan experienced for many years utter futility on the field.

I just watched interview with Billy Beane of the A's they were asking him on how he rebuilds and his answer may shock some of you. He doesn't have 5 year plan he said he can't afford it he tries to put a winner together every year and adjust from there. They were talking to him about having 3 last place finishing squads and he was even surprised he had 3 because he thought last years team had done much better finishing strong. The general feel I got from him 5 year plans are to long and to many things can go wrong he is philosophy of trying to win as soon as you can. I look at his club he gone from contender to being as poor as were Twins to being a contender again while the Twins have been floundering on putting a 5 year plan together. I am seeing same things with Yankees, Phillies, Arizona, Colorado, and number of other clubs they have rebuilt themselves quickly to win while were on this long term track to rebuild. The questions that need to be asked is why is it these teams farm systems seem to restock so quickly with high end talent where it takes us years to acquire this talent. We sure not spending at the big league level on player talent so what gives do we not spend money signing players like these other clubs must do. Also another point with the A's is that if they are win now mode they value there 40 man roster more than total minor league system saying they use minor league system like cash they improve their roster with prospects and when things don't go as plan they sell pieces that don't fit there roster for minor leaguers to improve their cash position again to trade for people improve their roster again. I am not sure this would work for us but I like idea they want to win now not in future with prospects. In baseball planning to win in the future is pretty shaky because there are too many variables of what can happen to your players plus you don't where or how other teams may be playing when your planning to be a winner. I believe in 2000's we should have signed a player or two that could have given us edge to be winner instead they went with minimum to just win the division or the wild card. Especially when we finally got to playoffs we hurt and worn down from race to just win a playoff spot. I also think last year we had a better shot than we got if we had invested in that team with extra piece or two but we were in five year rebuild mode and winning wasn't part of the plan. I keep hearing about the Cubs and Houston how they rebuilt there clubs that is what were doing and I see very little in common with them and where we are now. The difference with us and the Cubs is they had couple of quality drafts and they were able sign end pitching to put together a winning club. They are also big market club they have been and willing to sign high end talent. Houston went with plan of just being terrible to acquire talent through draft and they were able also to sign under old rules international players to also bolster there talent pool. Since then they made the big trade for Verlander to get them a world series title. I also think the way they built there clubs may not be repeatable because of how baseball is changing. All I know now is our 40 man roster is weak not in one area but all area's for the coming year. We have shortages of quality players in infield, Catcher, Starting pitching, and Relief pitching and only place we have what I would call were adequate is at outfield positions but still looking at a lot questions if these players can hit at the major league level. Second is that I doubt we sign any major free agents for the coming year this Front Office has been even more unwilling to sign players to long term deals than previous front office. I could see them trade for 40 man roster player that could be ready to graduate to majors but I again have a feeling they may feel is to costly again so we may not see this. So we will see some more one year signings and another lost year and acquiring of more prospects. Cleveland did similar to this but they had empty stadium and took for ever to get the fans to coming back again. We see how that plays in MN.

I would like to say everyone says that Dozier and Escobar would be gone by end of the season that was true. But this front office new that was coming had all of last year and last off season to sign these players to new contracts and nothing was done on that front. Dozier from reports was hoping to be resigned but nothing was done on that front we waited to last moment to trade him basically got nothing for him. Now top that off were going to need to sign a free agent second baseman for the coming year which I bet when we get it done requires at least 2 year contract and will be inferior player to Dozier. If we had signed Dozier to new 3 year contract this past year we would have second base locked down with above average player until Gordon will have arrived. Same scenario goes for Escobar where we need utility fielder and 3 baseman fill in for Sano which would have given us production while we wait on Sano. These players would not held anybody up in minors because we don't have anybody ready in these roles for at least 2 years and giving 3 year contracts would not have effected the Twins signing there young players. This is case the plan was to tare down this club and only keep Sano and Buxton to go along with people they have drafted. I also think plan was to trade Sano for a high level pitching prospect but that plan has kind of fizzled with what's happen to Sano. This front office duo I also believe they are so confident in their abilities on putting a roster together on the cheap they have lost creditability with the players and agents to getting anything done unless like last spring we had where there were unsigned players. But the problem with this what type of club chemistry do have and a lot of the times there were reasons these players were unsigned. This Front Office likes to talk about the farm system but I look they should have had a good draft last year with overall number 1 draft pick plus there other high draft picks. But I also see where Terry Ryan's last first round pick is being highly toted prospect for next year also. I look at Terry Ryan's first round draft picks they have been good solid picks Buxton, Berios, and Bard in 2012; Stewart in 2013; Gordon in 2014; Jay in 2015; and Kriloff in 2016. Buxton, Berios and Stewart have reached the majors already for the Twins with some success for the first two. Bard reach majors with the Angels but is back in Twins farm system. The difference for bringing in Falvey was modernize the organization and he was good at developing pitching but so far pitching is still work in progress and time will only tell. I would put new Front Office handling players and putting team together at least subpar to very weak. I think they could turn things around but I have very serious doubts on this at this point. Minnesota nice only goes so far and I think there time is running our real quick I wouldn't be surprised by next year were talking about what ownership will be looking for in new Front Office because of fan reaction. I know this short time period but look at the structure of this team for next year and were still looking at least another year before high A prospects are here.

I think that players will need to have get control of their careers between the ages of 26 to 30 if the are going get paid for their most productive years. Clubs under this new analytical management have proven that most productive years are usually in that time spand. Today with way the agreement is clubs have been manipilating the players service time so these players are under team control durning these years. If we get these changes as fans for sure would see younger players on the small market teams much faster than we have seen presently. I also think that another change that would help is moving the trading deadline up to middle of June to first of July forcing clubs to put together team they think they can win with and also requiring them to move players to majors if they think they can win. Second is that teams maybe shouldn't automatically get first draft pick with the worst record because it has put in place teams that want to fail to rebuild quickly. This was fine when we had where all team tried to win each year but this new group of General Managers have been manipulating the system to put together dynasty team for the future. The analytical people have improved statistics of the game but in my mind the changes have made game boring and also less exciting because now they have figured out how to stifle the offense of the game. The game with flaws led to more upsets and cinderella teams would have been great now with expanded playoffs. They need to get back to that where you had more flawed game.

The 40 man roster for the Twins is in my opinion weakest has been in my lifetime for the coming year. There is not one posiitional player based on this year performance i would like to see for next year. Sano and Buxton if they turns things around could be drawing cards, Rosario i like to watch but not one i would drive 300 miles to see and Kepler may become a player i would like to watch in the future. Show me who are future stars on 40 man roster that are not on the 25 man roster right now. We have traded away Dozier, Escobar, Pressley, and bunch of other signees for prospects but not one prospect is above high A meaning we have at least 3 years until help arrives if ever it arrives. Dozier we got basically nothing for him and now were going to have to sign someone to replace him. This is where I see big gap in there plan or should I say It may not be because were heading for failure so they will get a high draft pick. For all you people out there the Twins are not going sign any free agents next year and all this money they freed up will never be spent. They may trade some of there prospects for closer prospect to the majors but here again I betting this doesn't happen here again because the cost will to be high for who ever they are trading with. My guess is we loose about high 90's games next year and year after to continue to build the farm system. Were on rebuild of not winning until 2022 to 2023 when all there current high A prospects have reached and they will have all system filled with three years of loosing. Just be patient they will tell you but by then we will be looking at more than 12 years of loosing with exception of last year and the one two years prior to that. I will then be 65 if I am lucky to see the Twins win again and I am getting worried I may not live long enough to see them be winner again.

This front office group tells the media everything it so desperately wants to hear but this is not what is being put forth to the players and I believe to coaching staffs. Now were hearing for the problem is Molitor which he may have some fault but when we have heard complaints from the players its hasn't been Molitor its been the front office. The problem is this front office has never been sold on this group of players and never has invested in them to win. Yes they did this off season moves but all short term contracts that could be converted into new prospects. Attitude of any organization starts at the top and this has been problem with this team since this front office has been in charge. We have heard it from the problem veterans of Santana and Dozier they have thrown in the towel way to early. When you have teams that are close to competing you need to pursue because things happen where you may never get a chance again. Look at Washington Nationals from 3 to 4 years ago they shut down there pitcher and they were going to get ready in the future with him. The problem they have never been that close again. This team is farther away from being contender now than when they were hired. Everyone raves about their drafts but its way too early to know how those drafts will turn out. Those players are at least 2 to 3 years away from reaching majors. The trades for prospects are same way so we have know idea on the value of the trade until those players either reach the majors or don't. Another thing is I hear is they are following what these other clubs are doing but to be honest I would prefer they were doing their own plan. This club is in total rebuild next year will just be another 90 to 100 loss season sooner people face up to it better understanding where we are as organization. I don't think media and a lot of public realize the team was gutted this summer and will continue on that path next year with Gibson, Pineda , Ordorizzi, and Castro probably will all begone by next August for more prospects. The future of this club rest with prospects at high A level minors.

Front office plan is hard to see at this moment because I just don't see the talent that could produce a tending team. The only way we become even respectable is that Buxton and Sano can produce all star numbers. Even with that there are just to many holes in there line up for the coming year we have right now nobody to fill 1st and second signed for next year. Then add in If Sano can play third or is he heading for DH role and fill in first baseman then we need a third baseman. Catcher is also open because Castro will he be ready and Garver is not ready to be full time catcher. Getting to pitching it looks to me were going to see Gibson gone by August of next year. Probably add Pineada to that list too for more future prospects. At the best for next year would be 78 and 84 team but if I was guessing were looking at 67 to 62 wins and 95 to 100 loss team for next year. That's if we stay healthy for next year add couple of injuries and loss total could climb higher in 100's. This team was gutted this year and only Ruesse of the media has come out stated the truth on this. This is why Twins pulled fast one with Buxton on service time they already know that earliest they can contend again is in 3 years thus giving them Buxton for that year. This front office has wasted two years floundering not knowing what to do because this team showed they could win last year but they were not committed to this group so they didn't invest in them. They got very little in return for this group of players Dozier basically nothing, Escobar maybe one future pitcher, and Pressely couple of pitchers but still years until we see them making impact. Remember when we used say the Twins were nothing more than Triple A club next year probably will be the year with exception of couple players on the team. This is frustrating for somebody that is old because I may never see winner again in Minnesota in my lifetime. My boy who's in his 20's has given up on the Twins he has no faith in this management and I wonder how many more of his age have had same feelings about the Twins. This serious for the Twins because they are loosing generation of fans and will take something special to win them back. Also side note on this if Vikings and Timberwolves should produce champions in next 5 years the Twins will not recover until next generation of kids can see a winning franchise. Ownership better take note they were concerned about their brand 2 years ago they should be sweating bullets now because their brand has even fallen farther now.

I like to say we don't know how this front offices drafts have been yet because were several years away from knowing real results of these drafts. Yes they look good now but alot of things can happen with these new prospects before they arrive at the major league level. Terry Ryan plan if go back look at articles of what he wanted to do was to expand the scouting department to find more talent. This was never done and i believe that business side of Twins also wanted to update analytical side of the organization. I also believe the business side wanted to keep Ryan on as advisor and this is speculation on my part so they would have somebody they could consult on the performance of this new front office. My opinion is of this front office they may have put together very highly competitent analytical department and scouting department but organizational they are struggling to put together strong developmental and organization to deliver quality players to the major leagues. Also with this is understanding of putting team together and signing right players to longterm contracts and getting team that will play together that can compete and win. I think last year was very telling on this they had no clue they had club that could win as made up and if you would have added a few pieces they could have gone further in the playoffs. There actions of selling at trade deadline and even after they did win wild card was to say that Ryan had alot to do with the club wining . Second thing i would address is the loosing at Target field over the last 10 years could have been expected. We had club that had been scouting and finding players that were suited for the dome and artificial turf. Suddenly we had new stadium designed traditionally with grass and out door conditions requiring different skill sets and different players. Also the latter was most common type stadium and so more clubs to compete with to find the elite players that could compete in these stadiums. When they were in the dome there were only handful of clubs looking for some of these same type players. What all Minnesotans hated about dome was what helped give them advantage over alot of other organizations. Think about it experts always picked the Twins worse than they performed because they had players who knew how to win on their home stadium. We had players that were quick and new how to beat ball on the turf to get a hit and these quick players were better at catching ball on that turf. Also we had quirks of stadium of tracking the fly balls, the baggy in right, and also the noise which created excitement for our players. So we had advantage of winning with this stadium now with the new stadium were like all the rest and the advantage goes to them because they have been drafting and finding players that fit this type of stadium. Were just getting begining of players drafted for our stadium and same time we had to redo whole scouting department to change what type of talent were looking for now. There are also many more things that go with this change in stadium. Getting back to front office what we have is theoritcal front office with little experience of putting together a team and is gun shy of signing anybody to longterm contract because of fear of making a mistake. They have offered long term contracts but were none starters for the players and agents so we have not any progress on that front or even signing of any major league free agents except like we did last year bunch of one year deals looks good on paper but put winning team on the field. Busines side of Twins was afraid of Ryans damage to the brand of Twins because of his failures and perception he was old school and behind the times. Now we have had this front office group and i will state they have hurt brand more than Ryan ever did because the product on field does not have any player right now people would be interested coming seeing and style of baseball is dull and boring like somebody else has stated here. Also they have hurt the Twins chances of signing existing players with recent moves and attracting new free agents will be difficult. The times have changed i hear people say money brings players that is true for part of it but other thing is players today want to play on winners or chance of winning and right now we don't have that here. Today's players are different than the past they want to be on winner look at all the major sports elite players are accepting less money to play on club that can win a championship. This Front Office needs to look at itself and better soon start making some changes on how they operate or ownership will be making changes because the bottom line is when attendance falls and tv viewership falls changes usually follows. I willing to bet they will feel the real pressure this coming winter when season tickets sales drop and what fox sports decides on next years telecasts.

I don't think the Twins spend much on free agency this coming year. They will be looking for utility type player where they can fill the holes for second and third and they will be looking for veteran reliever to spot into the bull pen. I would think they will also might sign Mauer but I thinks that's still a big if. I think most people think were going to compete next year but here's food for thought they may just tear down whole thing again and start over. Meaning if Buxton and Sano have repeat of this year I could see them trading away this core and look to rebuild from scratch with their people but I would say this will be hard one for fans to swallow especially after almost 10 years of loosing. But there are to many ifs for this team to be winner right now.

My first opinion was to trade him and his recent run has been help to the Twins but I would like to see Gordon called up in September see if he could handle big league pitching. So I am back to trading him because I just don't see he has future here with Minnesota and if he does it means were in rebuilding phase again.

So begins the hype for the Twins on there next wave of prospects of Lewis and Krilloff to give Twins fans something else to think about than this current group of players. Just remember both these kids are in minors and Lewis is still in A ball there's long way to go until they reach the majors. Just remember Sano and Buxton they were taring up minor baseball too not so many years ago. If this current group doesn't turn it around were looking at another 4 to 5 years of rebuilding.