JADBP

Yeah…they could have just hung on to Varland… now the best closer in MLB. As I said before, it will take years to clean up the F’in mess left behind by Falvey.

You are 100% right! Trading Varland was a disaster from the moment it happened and, worse yet, it was absolutely unnecessary! It was an catastrophic self-inflicted wound. There was just no reason to trade him. Other than that the BJ's pulled the wool over Falvey's eyes. He was so wrapped up in tearing down the pitching staff that he just couldn't stop himself. Every team was calling and banging on the desk with trade deals to pry some of the remaining excellent RPs from Falvey. It was just insanity to fall for this trade offer. FALVEY DESERVED TO GET FIRED. Maybe Falvey really thought he was smarter than all of these other GMs. But the last ten years have proven that he was wrong. I do NOT see any other teams jumping to offer him a job. He might find a role in A-ball. But I am pretty sure, after the last deadline nightmare, he will never again be a GM. And, yeah, there is absolutely no was that Lackey is linked to the Varland deal.

Lot said here, Doc. Yeah, at the end of the day, this is a swap of a lottery ticket for a project. Maybe the Twins pitching staff can eke out some magic for a couple of months? Maybe not. Maybe Reyes flames out? Maybe not. But the bigger point is that yeah, the Twins are at least doing something. That's a world of difference from last year's nightmare! That said, I am still waiting for the news on Larnach, Jeffers, and Wallner. I really just want Wallner out of the org. Not sure he will ever play in Target field again. And, I would hate to see Jeffers go, but it really is the only sensible path with him. Larnach is a maybe. Ryan, Lopez, Lewis and all of out top AAA guys should be untouchable. The better news here is that these moves can help to motivate the rest of the team. I hope it motivates them enough for some of them to sign extensions...like Ryan!

I’m really happy to see Randy doing well. OK maybe against another team. But good work, Randy!

7 at 30 is not a bad starting point. That’s a lot of years but I believe he’s the best SP the Twins have had since Johann. I think the Twins can start negotiating by buying out his last arb and 4-6 more. With the looming minimum payroll the Twins will need him to get the salary levels up! And to WIN games! He’s one of the top 10 SPs already and getting better every year.

Right. So trade him. But at least TRY to sign him first. Not even trying to sign him is irresponsible (to the org) and disrespectful (to Ryan). Show some stones and genuinely TRY.

While I agree that moving Duran for such light talent is egregious, nothing compares to the Varland Trade for absolute idiocy! Someone had a total brain collapse when they accept that trade! Imagine if we had Varland today.....instead of Roden and Rojas? No wonder Falvey got fired!

We’ll call me a dumb fan I guess. I’ve long said this about Ryan: Try to sign him to a 3-4 year deal. If he won’t sign, then trade him. Tom Pohlad can put his money where his mouth is by signing him. That’s a great PR move. If Ryan refuses (which I sadly believe is likely) then Tom can say so publicly (also unlikely, because it’s rude, so he might just have to leak it) and thus can avert the PR nightmare after the trade.

Sure. Now do you trust Zoll to make good decisions this trade season? Based on his track record this season, I DO NOT. Maybe Tom has to look over his shoulders a bit. If he left everything up to Zoll…Zoll could crush this team. As we saw last year, almost any good team is ready to jump on bad decisions by the Twins!

Yeah…hmmmm…didn’t they just do that last year? No, anyone is NOT available. Some are. Would you trade away Jenkins, Emma and Buxton?

YAWN....when will this lame, unoriginal BS end? Is this really the best that Zollie can do? If so, then we need to rethink the GM position. Because this is pretty embarrassing..... I am thinking that a lot is resting on how Zoll performs in this trade deadline. Not so much for the team but definitely for Zoll. He could have a short leash if he messes up this trade season. I realize that he faces an extremely narrow path to improvement. He doesn't really have a lot of star power to trade away (Larnach, Jeffers, Bell) but has some tremendous holes and every trader is going to want to raid our young, controllable assets (just like last year). The chances of doing significant harm to the team is very high. What will he do?

Uhhhh....I think we are missing the boat here if we don't sign Ryan to a new contract first! Lock him up for another 3-5 years. Right now, he is one of the best pitchers in MLB (top ten, maybe even top 5). Lock him up if at all possible. After you clear up Ryan, then you can talk about Taj.

I am personally high on Young. If he continues to refine his hit tool and power (which he is doing in earnest), he could become the next Nelson Cruz. He has a long way to go and may not get there, but it is up to the Twins to develop his hitting skills. He has enormous power for a 19 year old. He might lead the next wave in 3-4 years.

I really hope they sign him but I believe it is 50/50. Sounds like he has a strong commitment. He could be top of first round in 3 years if he really blossoms at Wake. Or he could be another Wake flameout with an overused arm. Either way, he is 5-6 years before he starts in The Biggs and maybe 8-9 before he has a chance to make money like this again. Tough call.

Good points, LA, but the CBA ends at the end of the World Series, so you CAN'T negotiate in the offseason as soon as the team strikes, which I assume is as soon as they can. So, everyone gets locked out of negotiating with players. Then, we wait. I agree, I don't expect a strike to go into the regular season, as the teams and the players will lose too much money. But, it will make for one of those Silly Season trade windows. All hell will break loose. I still say the best plan is to do everything possible to extend Ryan NOW, before the end of the trade window. If he is adamant, and it is clear that nothing will move him now or off-season, to sign a long term contract, then yeah, trade him. But maybe Joe needs to step in here and talk with Ryan. There is a new sheriff in town. Pay him. Overpay him. Give him a bonus. Git er done. And, if all of that fails, then yeah, trade him. He's a grown up and if he adamantly wants to change teams, the do it.

I would do everything in my power to extend Ryan, asap. Not because I want to decide if I trade him. Rather because I REALLY WANT him pitching for the Twins for the next 4-5 years. Same for Pablo. But, not for Jeffers, Bell, etc. I think the real problem here is that the Twins WILL be facing a minimum payroll and it might be in the $170 mill range. Maybe the league helps out small market teams but the Twins still have to fill that payroll. They are a really young team and they WILL need 3-4 big salaries to reach that minimum. So, that who? Buxton, Pablo and Ryan next year. Then what? They really don't have anyone else to draw over $20 million (maybe Lewis gets there). So, they might end up trading or signing OVERPAID players just to hit the minimum! So, best to own up to the coming reality. The league has already proposed a minimum to balance a cap (I like this). Now, who do they sign now to extend into those minimum years? Our best option is easy and his name is Joe Ryan The risk, as I have mentioned many times, is what to do if Ryan doesn't want to sign. That means you have to trade him at the deadline or this offseason as the very latest. If you keep him next year, you are betting that there still is a QO so you get that one more year out of him and even then, he might be underpaid with the QO. So, like I said, the best plan is to do everything you can to sign him, even if you have to overpay a bit or have to give him a nice signing bonus. He is going to be an outstanding SP for years to come...wouldn't you love him to be starting for the Twins instead of NYY or BOS or ATL? The final reason to sign him is that it will prove that Tom is a man of his word! Nothing says he putting your money where your mouth is better than signing Ryan to a long term contract. JUST GIT ER DONE! Then all this speculation ends....

But we did the same thing with Sabato. Pretty much a single talent—hitting long balls when he connects. Sure he MIGHT succeed in becoming a great hitter (good AVG, low K rate) to go along with that power but I just don’t see him becoming a hitter like Buxton or Nelson Cruz. Three reasons: 1) he’s been in college ball for 4 yrs now and still never learned to hit well. He crushes fastballs. That’s all. And 2: the Twins don’t exactly have a stellar record in maximizing hitting talent (see Lewis. Lee, and lots of others). Finally 3: we are oversupplied with C prospects now, even before this pick. We have 2 on the team, and one is backup. Certainly need has to play a role. If true, then Tinney would likely have been there in the 3rd or 4th round. He just doesn’t strike me as top 50 pick. I hope I’m wrong but it will likely be years before we know. The Twins seem to be good with Pitcher's. Go that route. We certainly know how to trade them!

I think you meant to talk about his slider in the 5th paragraph. Otherwise, good writeup on a promising, quick start through the minors for Quick.

Uhhhh...nooooo...the Twins still have one of the worst bullpens in all of MLB. I wouldn't say that management has done a good job with the BP!

This draft appears to be near failure! Other than Lackey and Burns, EVERY PICK THAT THE TWINS HAVE MADE IS BELOW THE RANKING! There are still many ranked players on the board, and the Twins moved into unranked territory early, in Round 6! Lackey was picked exactly as expected, at #3. Otehr than that, there is only one player that the Twins picked at below the ranked value, and that was in the 8th round, with Burns. Every other player picked was either UNRANKED or the Twins picked him well above his ranked value. For example, Tinney was Ranked 73 and the Twins picked him at 43. The only close one was Murdock, ranked at 140 and picked at 139. Other than that, that, every pick was well earlier than ranked. I don't know how the Twins evaluate talent, but something seems amiss if everyone else has these players ranked well below where the Twins have them. Pick #2, Tinney, seems totally inane, with the Twins enamored with a big bat (and nothing else). He can't play 1B or OF and he can't hit much beyond fastballs. How is this guy a 2nd rounder? He's a total flyer. After taking two catchers, the Twins took 9 pitchers in a row! I agree they should have starting taking Pitchers in round 2, but nearly all of them were ranked at least 40 places below the Twins pick and 3 of them were not even ranked (below a rank of 250!). WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THE TWINS DRAFT OFFICE???? I guess the Twins, after the first 2 rounds, are taking SP's no matter where they are ranked. I agree with this philosophy but wowza, it makes the picks look awkward. Are they missing out on some stellar 1Bman with this blinded selection process? But Tinney, that was an absolutely wasted pick. I would have been happy if the Twins Took Renfrow at that point! Just a total waste. My opinion.

My read on this is that Sano was a far better hitter that this lug nut.

My first reaction was also WTF?!?! I was stunned that the Twins would expend an early draft round on a position of (now) almost zero need, with a big bat and nothing else. After thinking about this futher, I now see no logic in this pic. It was foolishly wasted on a hope and prayer that this player actually becomes a useful bat (a la Sabato, Wallner) with little else of value. This was Zoll's test. Not the first pic--that was was obvious. His first chance to make an independent, thoughtul, smart choice, he blew it. I still say WTF. Were there any adults in the room to tell him 1) We can't win the game with power alone! 2) There are many fine pitchers to choose from, even if they were down on our board (the Twins still chose a SP with thier 3rd pick). His later pick of Wachsmann is likely another wasted pick in Rd 3. He is committed to Wake Forest, so the Twins likely have to overpay him to get him to sign. He's very likely first round material in 3 years, so, why would he linger in the low minors for 3 years now and pass up all that college fun? So far, Zoll's first draft day looks like this: 1. Makes the obvious pick at #3. 2. Makes an inane pick 2A.Make a good SP pick 3. Another inane pick 4. A good SP We all wanted him to load up on all those SPs in this draft. After the first round, I am very disappointed. I'd have to give him a FAIL today.

I’d be perfectly happy if they kept Lackey away from Mauer. That Maueritis can be tricky-contagious.

Absolutely positively zero chance they give Jeffers a $22 mill one year offer! That is insanity. Just trade him and get it over with. NYY have been desperately asking for him for some time. Trade him before he breaks another bone! On the other hand, if Tom wanted to show his stripes, then extend Ryan NOW. Because anytime next year will be too late. This is the only chance you will have to extend him and you are going to have to pay Market rate for a top shelf SP! Imagine a rotation starting with Ryan, Lopez and Bradey. That sounds pretty stout.