Mr. Brooks

If you are going to lock him up early, it's so you DON'T have to pay $100 million. When the Rays locked up Longoria early, it was for 6yrs/$17.5million guaranteed, with a total of 9yrs/$47.5million when you include the 3 team options. Buxton might get a little more, because of inflation and because he's a more dynamic prospect, but it won't be twice as much.

1) There is more to defense than just "errors'. That is merely one element of defense. You can't make an error on a ball that you don't have the range to get to. 2) When you are playing a team that can't hit to save their life with RISP, you are not going to be made to pay for those errors. You commit 3 errors against a decent hitting team, you are going to lose most of the time.

That is mostly due to an improved bullpen. I was clearly referring to starting pitching. Our starters are only 0.3 runs better, and with the real Deduno stepping forward, it could be much closer by the end of the year.

Adding an impact free agent during any one of those years could have put us in the position to make a WS run, rather than winning relatively weak divisions and getting stomped in the playoffs. Not to mention the game is constantly evolving. I'm getting a little tired of listening to the division titles of the 2000's argument. It's a bit like listening to glory days stories from an ex Prom Queen sitting at the end of the bar, alone, at 2am. Those days are over. The sooner we move on and look forward instead of looking back, the better chance we have of building a winning roster.

Today's performance was another reminder (OK, I never really forgot) of just how bad this team is, and just how far away we still are. I often hear it tossed around that it is all just the necessary growing pains for what is going to be a resurgance beginning in 2015. (Some have even suggested 2014, to which I am speechless.) I'm sorry, but I just can't see anything that soon as being possible. We could be in this mess for several more years to come. I think some of that optimism might have been valid coming into the season, after all it was supposed to be a year in which we identified which players were going to be a part of that future. (That is of course, unless you believe the words of the front office, when they adamantly claimed that they were putting a contending team on the field.) Yet, here we, a little more than 3/4 through the season, and not a whole lot has become much clearer. In fact, aside from Dozier, and perhaps Arcia, the things that have become clearer have been negatives. Here it is, 8/18, and Terry Ryan still chooses to roster a 25 man team full of players who will (or at least SHOULD) not have any part of our future. Here it is, 8/18 and Gardy still chooses to field a lineup full of players who will (or again, SHOULD) not be part of our next division winning team. Gardy continues his obsession with carrying 3 catchers, rather than evaluating someone who could possibly be a part of the future. Even in the extremely unlikely situation where you are forced to finish a game without your DH, what is the worst consequence of that? You might lose an otherwise winnable game? In a season like this, I say big deal. Is the 0.1% chance of losing an otherwise winnable game worth demoting a player who just a week ago you claimed needed everyday AB's so we could see what we had in him? Among our position players, we have perhaps 3 or 4 players who might actually be a part of our future? Sorry, that is not good enough. Rip the Astros and Marlins all you want, but at least their losing is for a better cause. At least those clubs are rolling with guys who might be a part of something down the road. At least those clubs aren't trotting out guys like Doug Bernier, Ryan Doumit, Clete Thomas, Wilkin Ramirez, and Chris Herrmann. Coming into the season I heard our starting rotation couldn't possibly be as bad. Fast forward 102 games, and it's just as bad, with no reason to believe it will get better anytime soon. Even if Sano pans out and replaces Plouffe, and Buxton pans out and becomes Mike Trout, and Rosario pans out and moves Dozier for a prospect (he was a disaster at SS, not sure where else you can move him), even if Meyer pans out and replaces Correia or Pelfry, does that turn us into a division winner? I don't think it's nearly enough. In order to create an environment where our top prospects can thrive and propel us back to the top of the division, they are going to need to be augmented by an overhaul in philosophy by both upper and field management. No more bargain bin hunting for starting pitchers. No more waiting until guys hit their lowest possible value before moving them. No more giving valuable playing time to guys who don't have a future here. No more complaining about a lack of bench move options, when you are carrying 13 pitchers and 3 catchers. No more sitting Arcia against lefties, just so that a journeyman like Wilkin Ramirez can "get some swings in". No more catchers and DH's playing in the outfield. No more throwing young players under the bus in the media when they make a mistake. It's not exactly breaking news that young, inexperienced players are going to make mistakes. Handle those things behind closed doors. No more mocking and thumbing your nose at advanced metrics. Both statistical AND scouting analysis are needed in the modern game. Don't let your pride be your downfall. In closing, I'm as excited as anyone about our farm system. I can't tell you exciting it is to have a once in a generation prospect like Buxton doing the things he's doing, to have a legit impact bat like Sano, and a couple front line starter prospects in Meyer and Stewart. But until/unless Terry Ryan is willing/able to augment those guys by being more aggressive in free agency and in the international market (I'm talking about the big $$$ guys not covered by the spending pool), it's not going to be enough. And until/unless Gardy is willing/able to admit that he has some major flaws in how he fills out the lineup card and handles certain players, it's not going to be enough. The time is now. We are at a tipping point. This thing is about to go one of two ways, the necessary pains of a rebuilding process, or simply just one more lost season in the midst of a long stretch of bad baseball. Things have to change this offseason if this organization is serious about winning. Gardy has proven he is capable of being a good manager, and Terry Ryan has proven he is capable of being a good GM. But, nobody is immune to being passed on by time. The MLB, like most businesses, is constantly evolving and shifting. It's time for those two guys to step up and admit that there are mistakes being made, and organizational beliefs that need to be changed. If they insist on winning, I have faith that they can. If they insist on winning "their way", then we might be in for a long run of ineptitude. Sorry, extremely long winded rant over.

1)The fact that the Twins can't find enough who do either, according to you, should be quite the indictment on the front office, if we consider your later statement (Shake any tree and a dozen gloves fall out) to be true. You can't give the Twins a pass for their defense by claiming they can't find anyone who is good defensively, if you are then going to claim that they literally grow on trees. I stand by my statement, the Twins either don't place much value on defense, or they have a terrible understanding of what good defense is. 2) The Rays would disagree with your second paragraph. They have been consistently winning for years with outstanding defense, and not much of an offense. True, they have good pitching, but they have also made plenty of mediocre pitchers look pretty good with their good defense. 3) If Willingham is acceptable by your standards, I'd like to hear an example of a corner OF'er whose defense is unacceptable. Willingham might possibly be THE worst defensive OF'er I've ever watched, and that includes Delmon Young. 4) I don't have a problem trading Revere if you are going to get something (better) back for him. Terry Ryan traded him for one pitcher whose NL numbers were fluky and unsustainable (Worley), and a pitching prospect who has a high ceiling but is very unlikely to ever reach it. BTW, that is not hindsight. That was my opinion from day 1, one that I took a ton of heat for coming into the season. Yes Revere is limited offensively, but can hit for average and steal a ton of bases, and is an elite defensive CF'er. I'm okay trading him if you get an offer you can't refuse, but a prospect like May and a fringe #5 starter/AAA filler is a package you could always get 3 or 4 years down the road, after we've gotten a ton of value from Revere's cheap years. I would have held out for a better offer.

If you are going to run out the most extreme pitch to contact starting rotation in the modern history of baseball, you have to choose the defender over the hitter more than just "sometimes". Not only that, but the Twins do not prefer defense, that is a big myth. If they did, they would not have played Delmon over Gomez, they would not have traded Revere for a bag of beans, would not have given Hardy away, would never play Willingham in the field barring an emergency situation, etc., etc., etc. That list could go on and on. The Twins either place very little value on defense, or they have a terrible understanding of what good defense really is.

So you are saying they sold at his lowest possible value? Shocking. IMO, there is no spin that can justify this move, although I respect your attempt to do so. Bill Smith was in way over his head, but the scariest part is that by the Twins own admission, Terry Ryan was still heavily involved in the Bill Smith era, which makes it confusing when I hear people try to give Ryan a pass for "the mess that Bill Smith left him". (Not saying you are doing that, just going a bit off topic.)

He already threw a sinker before we acquired him.

Didn't you say you had given up on him earlier this year? Maybe that was someone else, sorry if it was.

That's nothing new. The Rays have known the value of great defense for a while now.

A) JJ Hardy has been better than league average. He's ranked 4th, 11th, and 7th (current season) among MLB SS (in WAR) since leaving here. Even if we concede that he is league average, you don't trade a league average SS for Jim Hoey. Trading someone for Jim Hoey is giving them away, and you don't just give away a league average SS, especially when you have no proven replacement.

My point is that it seems to me you would have to be living in a cave or something to be an assistant GM in MLB, and to have never come across, or discussed something as basic, simple, and common as FIP. That tells me that the Twins only surround themselves with themselves, there is no input or dialogue with anyone outside of a very small group, which is alarming, and explains part (not all) of how we got where we are.

Mets third baseman David Wright was ecstatic about Santana possibly joining the team "If it's true, obviously, you're getting arguably the best pitcher in the game," Wright said, according to AP. Is it possible that Bill Smith made this trade entirely with the focus on making David Wright happy? I LOL'd.

Curious why you don't consider Maddow news? I understand that what she chooses to report on is slanted, but that doesn't bother me on a cable news network. I think she goes out of her way to present only FACTS, not just making up complete speculation (or even flat out lies, as some do), which to me is all you can ask for from a cable news anchor.

From what I understand, as long as the Twins sign a waiver saying that Meyer doesn't have any significant pitch/innings limit (within common sense), the exemption would almost certainly be granted.

We hear about 5 tool prospects all the time. Most of the time, at this young age, 1, 2 or more of those tools are just "projectable". To have a guy in our system, a once in a generation prospect, who actually has all 5 tools, RIGHT NOW, is incredible. Obviously no guarantee he makes it, but at this point (especially if all the reports about his makeup are true), I'd be shocked if he's not basically a sure thing. Just amazing.

Dozier is a 26 year old middle infielder with a 2.2 WAR making the league minimum. He would be claimed by about 15-20 teams.

I'm not sure how you could possibly be so confident, one way or the other, without being around the team. As for the season totals, it's his first season. You don't fix things over night, and to be honest, outside of Mauer, Arcia and Willingham, there isn't much offensive talent on this team

In the end, it probably won't matter, because Primaries are all about appealing to your base, and I can just about guarantee that the Republican base doesn't watch MSNBC or CNN. However, it's just more bad publicity for a party that can come off as paranoid and spiteful at times. Are they paranoid that MSNBC is going to edit the coverage to make it appear that a candidate said something other than what he actually did, like some bad Kung Fu film?

I can't think of one good reason why an MLB assistant GM would be better off not understanding what something as simple as FIP is. Like the article says, even if you choose not to use it, it is SHOCKING that he literally did not even know what it meant. It's like they live in a bubble.

You can watch the Twins 5th teamers play anytime.

Drew Butera does not count as a position player?

The Twins FO doesn't look at FIP and xFIP. They don't even know what it is. I'm not being a smart ass, Rob Antony literally thought it stood for "first strike in inning pitched". Twins thrive without sabermetrics - SweetSpot Blog - ESPN

First, May's best pitch, by a mile is his fastball. Second, I believe the author was describing how it looked in that game, not as a whole: "Tonight, though, was not a bad outing, despite what the box score will tell you. May started off the game hitting 92-94 on his fastball, 83ish with the change-up, and upper 70s or lower 80s with a nice curve." Also, I don't believe the author is a scout, ( I apologize if he is) everything I've read from scouts and baseball people is that he doesn't have a 3rd pitch right now. Jonathan Mayo grades his curve (and his slider, though I believe they have dumped the slider completely) as currently being well below average, with a ceiling of below average, and has this to say about them: "His fastball reaches 95 mph, with plenty of sink, and he has no trouble maintaining velocity deep into his starts. His best secondary offering now is his changeup and it has the chance to be an above-average pitch. May throws both a curve and slider, but both are inconsistent and are fringy."