Mr. Brooks

Could you please clarify? Maybe I'm just dense, but I'm not quite sure where you are going here.

I disagree about that being an appropriate asking price. That is the price that you would ask for an elite player, not a nice, but limited player like Willingham.

Can I get a link please to the sources that are reporting that the Twins were asked to eat any or all of Willingham's salary? I keep seeing that thrown around in here, and I'm trying to figure out why that is the working assumption.

But even then it would leave plenty of money to "overpay" for a lotto ticket like Johnson.

I'm not sure Ryan will be capable of pulling the trigger. His asking price, IMO, was already too high even if Willingham was having another year similar to 2012 (which, obviously he's not), so logic would suggest it will go even higher if he has a bounce back season next year. Plus, he's already shown (with Morneau), that he won't simply take the best he can get because a guy is in his walk year. He's shown that he'll "stand his ground" if his asking price is not met, and let a guy walk for nothing. So, to me there is no guarantee that we get anything for Willingham even if he does get off to a great start next year. There is a reason we got Willingham for 3/21 as a FA. Even at his best, he's a nice player, but not really anything special, because he is so one dimensional. And it's not like that one dimension is 50 HR power, it's 25 to 30 HR power, which is nice to have, but not elite from a pure DH, which on a team that places any value on defense would be the only place he belongs.

Sano and Buxton in their prime years, I agree. Sano likely won't be up until June, and I think it's a longshot that Buxton is up before September. Even if they go on to become superstars, there is no guarantee that they are elite players right out of the gate. Even Mike Trout struggled in his first taste of the big leagues. Even in a best case scenario, and they don't struggle, 3.5 months of Sano instead of Plouffe is worth maybe 2 wins, and 1 month of Buxton instead of Thomas/Ramirez/Mastro is worth less than 1 win.

"Hope" being the keyword. I truly expect that payroll will once again be slashed next year, or best case scenario it remains right around what it is this year.

But why is it more difficult for us than it is for all the other 29 teams? And for that matter just about any other team in the modern era of baseball?

I couldn't say, I don't remember them saying that. But if it is true that he has a very high K looking rate, then they would be right to be skeptical of that, as they should have been with Worley.

Yeah, I don't get the desire to have the "safe" choice at 1B? If we were a playoff caliber team, then I could see it, because you might not want to take a risk that could cost you a win or two, which could then cost you a playoff spot. But as a rebuilding team that will likely lose 90+ games again next year, why would you want the "safe" option, with no upside? It seems to me that is the optimal time to pass up the safe choice for the more "risky" choice, since you have nothing to lose if that risk turns into a massive bust. But if the risk pays off, you've possibly found a future piece of the organization that you might otherwise not have found. One of the reasons we have let some good players get away recently (Gomez, Hardy, etc.) is because we were in the playoff hunt those years, and couldn't afford to take as many risks. That is also one of (many) the reasons we are in the boat we are in now. Now is the time to take those risks.

I agree. Having a high asking price is one thing, and given that Willingham has another season under contract to improve his value, I actually agree with that. But, making your demands so absurdly high that they are just wasting everyone's time is another. Supposedly, the asking price was not only Rodriguez, but "several" other pitching prospects in addition. If those reports are true, then I just have to ask, why even waste everyone's time? Even if Willingham were having an identical season to 2012, this would still be a laughable asking price. Even at his best, Willingham is just not the type of player that you trade those types of packages for, he's pretty much a one dimensional player, and even at it's best that one dimension is not elite, it's just good. This makes me think that even if Willingham turns it around in 2014, we still won't get anything for him, because Ryan's asking price will be even higher!

Why is that? Minnesota is a great place to live. You could do a whole lot worse than Minnesota.

But again, when we have all this money that is not being spent anyways, why does the price on Johnson matter? Either target him or don't. But if you decide his upside is worth a gamble, the price shouldn't matter, given our payroll situation. The only argument to this is the "stick to your guns" argument, but to that I have a saying of my own, "your pride will be your downfall".

Many of those things were not going to happen, period. It's downright disturbing to suggest that a MLB GM had thoughts of a fantasy scenario where literally every player on the roster has a dream season, and nobody gets injured. In fact, every team in baseball could probably compete for a division title if everything went right. Most GM's are smart enough to know that is not going to happen. Not that it's not "likely" to happen, as you say, but that it literally WILL NOT happen. Diamond and Worley were NOT going to improve, they were DUE for a regression to the mean. Now, I did not expect Diamond to be THIS bad, but I did expect this from Worley. I didn't think he was anything more than a fringe AAAA/5th starter on a bad team from day 1. Obviously I got ripped to shreds for that opinion at the time, and I'm sure now you'll say I was "just lucky". What is funny is that many of the same people claiming you couldn't possibly have seen this coming for Worley, give credit to facing NL lineups for Liriano's improvement. How that doesn't work both ways in their mind, I don't get. Worley is coming from the NL to the AL and his numbers in Philly were a complete and utter FLUKE. Getting that many K's looking is not a sustainable event in major league baseball. The hitters are too good at what they do. Doumit was not going to have another career (or as you say 2nd best career) year, he just wasn't. The projection models predicted this is who he would be. It's not hocus pocus, it's really not. Pelfrey is coming off TJ surgery, moving to the tougher league, and was never all that good to begin with. I would say, and I am guessing so would most of the projection models, that he is having roughly the type of season he should have been expected to have. Sure, Willingham being hurt and ineffective couldnt be predicted, but okay, what does that add? A couple of wins? Morneau is having exactly the season he should have been expected to have. Dreams of him suddenly waking up one morning and turning back into pre concussion Justin were not realistic. Until this recent injury, Mauer was having an excellent season. Florimon is hitting like he should have been expected to, and if anything his defense has been a pleasant surprise. Dozier has been a pleasant surprise. Arcia has held his own for a 22 year old. Hicks was an unknown. No competent GM would "bank" on anything special from a rookie making the jump from AA. Especially one with a track record of struggling in his first taste of a new level. Plouffe has taken a step back, but again, what is the cost of that? A win or two? The bullpen has been better than expected. You can't just point out everything that went wrong without pointing out what went right. The starting rotation has been, IMO, exactly what it should have been expected to be. Terrible. As I admitted before, Diamond has been worse than expected, but guess what, Deduno has been better than expected, and we've gotten contributions from someone named Andrew Albers. To me the contributions from Deduno and Albers cancel out the negative of Diamond. Again, you have to point out the positive with the negative. This was never going to be a playoff contending roster. I mean, look at the roster! Only Terry Ryan and maybe a handful of overly optimistic fans would think (thought) it was.

Read the post from Pilgrim that I quoted, obviously that is who/what I was referring to, which is why I quoted it in my post.

Given the historic lack of K's from our starting rotation, I would say that no, obviously Terry Ryan does not understand that, at all.

I agree. I just think it's laughable that some people actually think there is some broad conspiracy to make it seem like Terry Ryan's demands are high when they are not. The simplest answer is nearly always the correct one, not the most complicated.

Claiming you WILL compete for the division is a "generic" statement? Ok.

Of the 238 years of our existence (if you include both 1776 and 2013), we have been at war for 217 of them. This is what we do. We are like drug addicts. As soon as our current war(s) begin to wind down, we instinctively begin pursuing our next "fix". It disgusts me. It is not our job to play World Police, and in fact we do not even have the moral grounds to pretend that it is our job. We consistently use the threat of nuclear weapons to justify war. The fact remains that in the history of the world, only one nation has ever used an atomic weapon against another human population. We pretend we have the moral authority to go to war to send a message that ethinic cleansing will not be tolerated. Do we forget the tens of thousands of Native Americans that we killed and/or rounded up and forced onto reservations? We complain about illegal immigration, we demand a fence and border police. Do we forget that we went to war with Mexico to acquire much of the land that today illegal immigrants are immigrating to? We threaten and admonish other nations who impede their influence onto others. Yet we seem to forget our own Banana Wars. We complain about deficits and debt, yet we don't seem to mind the fact that we spend at least $170 billion (some reports estimate it is as high as $1.7 to $1.8 trillion) each year maintaining 1,077 US military bases in at least 63 foreign countries. We demand that Muslim countries stop violating basic human rights, seemingly forgetting our own track record of slavery. Our government is in cahoots with big business to defraud the American citizen of their tax dollars, recklessly spent on military budgets that we don't need, and wars that we have no business being involved in. The lives, health, and mental well being of young men and women with good intentions have been consistently and constantly sacrificed, in most cases for no good benefit to the American people. Our children turn 18 and become subject to being used as if they are a commodity. It is disgusting. If leaders of nations in Africa, Asia, or the Middle East behaved the way our elected officials have behaved in regards to military affairs during our 238 year history, we would call them war criminals. We like to talk about other religions, other countries, other world leaders, and the problems they have that we must deal with. Baloney. When you have been at war for 91% of your existence, at some point it is time to look in the mirror, because it is likely you who have the problem. It's time to bring the boys (and girls) back home. I have many family members who have fought in Iraq or Afghanistan. The boys who came home are not the same people as the ones who left. They left with lofty ideals of freedom and honor. They have come home with wounds and scars, both mentally and physically. They left with the belief that they were doing some great good for their families and their nation and their people, and ALL of them have come home feeling used, and betrayed, and forgotten. I'm disgusted by all of it, and I am disgusted that we are once again embarking on yet another unjust war.

That is entirely my point. Taking "something" rather than nothing, even if it's not great, and even if you have to pay most or all of the salary, rather than just letting him walk for nothing. What a novel concept. I'll bet Diamondback forums are outraged right now that Kevin Towers didn't "stick to his guns" and get a better prospect.

That is exactly the type of player the Twins should be targeting right now! The only way you can sell high is if you buy low!! The money should not be a factor. Who cares if you have to "overpay" for him? The Twins have about $30 to $40 million extra that is just going into ownerships poket right now. What is the worst that can happen? He continues to be injured and money that was never going to be spent anyway gets "wasted"? But if manages to stay healthy, and puts up good numbers in a big ballpark, you suddenly have a guy that can either anchor your rotation, or you can ship him to a contender for a really good package, the type of package that franchises are built upon. To me, where the Twins currently are at with payroll, and with no pressure to win now, it should be a no brainer to take a chance on one or more of Johnson, Lincecum or Halladay.

So the D'backs decided to take whatever they could get for a player who was no longer part of their future plans, even if they had to eat most of the salary to get it done? Hmmm, interesting concept. Someone explain to me how Jason Kubel and his .612 OPS has trade value, but Justin Morneau has none?

Another source is now saying that the asking price is also way too high on Willingham. He must be part of the conspiracy as well. It couldn't just be as simple as Terry Ryan really is asking way too much for these players. #Orioles still trying to swing deal with #Mariners for Morse. Willingham not happening at this point. Twins asking way too much per sources

So there are only two options? We are going to be bad, or we are going to compete for the division? Again, I ask, did any of the GM's from other obvious rebuilding teams claim they were going to compete for the division? Couldn't he simply say something like, "I think we have acquired the pieces to improve both this year, and into the future."? Or any number of gray answers like that? Absolutely no good can come from him claiming that we were going to compete for the division. All it does is lead to questions from the mainstream fan when we have another 90 loss season, i.e. "who's fault is it?".

2014 was a team option. $1 million buyout.