Ncgo4

"Antony has great respect in the industry as a negotiator. He has a high-level of respect from the agents." Really? It may not be respect, it's love. The rediculous contracts the Twins have given out in the last few years and some of the extensions "negotiated" are so unexplainable that it will be a wonder most agents don't have Twins management high on their Christmas list.

They're waiting for Stewart's start tonight. They can get a discount if they fill 2 seats on the same flight.

The biggest mistake is going to prove to be their handling of Miguel Sano. He had 20 games of good production last year and a 5 game good streak this year. Other than that he has absolutely stunk as a hitter. He strikes out and he does not hit with runners in scoring position. Then they compounded the screw up by putting him in a position he cannot play. A position no-one his size has ever played in the majors. When he gets hurt, and it could happen, what will Ryan and Molly say then? He should be in AAA with Buxton, Rosario and Kepler and each brought up when they have proven success at AAA.

We started out the season 1-9...I know it was 0-9, but let's have a little poetic license. The last 10 games they have been...1-9. That's 2-18. And if you don't have your shoes and socks off that's a winning % of .100. This is a very, very bad baseball team. It's a poorly managed team, a poorly trained team and a poorly run organization. The reason I am posting this is not to keep bitching. My Grandfather was a Scottsman. He taught me that playing golf in the rain when it is 45 degrees is fun. He also taught me that curling outdoors when it's 25 below is fun. Finally, he taught me that haggis was fine cuisine. My father, also Scottish, taught me to love Gopher Football and Basketball. I'm used to not expecting too much. I gotta tell ya, though. These Twins are testing even my limits.

With the outrageous $$$ each team is taking in, "The Family" is absolutely not upset. The Twins are funding generations of trust funds. What's to be unhappy about? Only if there is a wholesale lack of fans in the stands will the family be motivated to make any real moves. With cash flooding in why involve yourself in such messy things as confronting a GM or manager. Those kinds of things can be so unpleasant. The good news...by Late August the team could be so far back that local sports fans might go see a much improved Gopher football team. But maybe not.

Well put Baggy Guy, thanks. I cannot imagine any other organization in America being allowed to be as mismanaged as the Twins are without a management house cleaning.

Clearly it is Mauer as the most consistent, Park as the best bargain and Arcia as the biggest surprise.

I am intrigued with Miguel Sano’s hitting. I looked at last year’s hitting log for him and was surprised by what I found. The first 30 games were not superlative, but were OK given his status as a just called up rookie. His next 19 games were all world. His last 30 games were below dismal. July, 2 - August, 11. 109 AB 30 hits (.275 Average). 19 RBI’s 5 HR’s (1 every 22 at bat) Aug, 12 - Sept, 2. 57 AB 23 hits (.403 Average). 23 RBI’s 10 HR’s (1 every 5.7 at bat) Sept, 3 - Oct, 4. 115 AB 22 hits (.194 Average). 10 RBI’s 3 HR’s (1 every 38 at bat) Perhaps most amazingly, the worse he hit, the lower his strike out rate. For the above periods (41%, 59% and 37%). This year, with an acknowledged ridiculously small sample, in a 5 game stretch (April, 18- April 22). Sano has batted .400. Had a HR every 6.7 AB and had 4 RBI’s. In the other 18 Games he’s hit .212 with 0 HR’s 7 RBI’s. No conclusions drawn or implied wth this small of a sample, but interesting.

Buxton in his brief time in AAA did well, but only 55 AB's. I sure hope this turn they give him adequate time to get fully tested and comfortable before throwing him back into the fire. He's our best prospect let's not mismanage him into oblivion.

Gonsalves had another strong outing. 6 IP, 1 ER & ERA now below 1.5. Tonight Stewart takes the mound. Another good start for him and the talk about moving them both up a level will increase. I still wouldn't expect that for a while though. June sound possible?

Start # 2 tonight. A little less adrenalin and a bit more control and we'll al be singing for joy? What thinketh y'all?

He's earned this opportunity so best of luck to him.

Can we send Molitar down?

3B, 1B, RF & DH. Sano, Plouffe, Arcia, Park & Mauer. A Twins conundrum or a good problem to have? Right now Plouffe is out so no issues are present. On a long term basis, it seems that Sano and Arcia are the two top prospects. Park has the most up-side potential to be shockingly good. Mauer has the possibility to be over his injuries and again be a high hit contributor to be batted in by the others. Plouffe is a serviceable fielder with the ability to contribute at the plate but he clearly has the least upside. Add to this the real possibility that Rosario, Kepler and Buxton could force themselves into position as the outfield of choice by the middle of the year. Let's face it, because of our years of consistent failure on the field we are loaded with prospects who could be real, real good. The Twin's management team is going to have to make difficult choices and we'll criticize them pretty consistently. They gave up Chih-Wei Hu (sp?) and I was critical of that, but it looks like the right choice. Fun and interesting times ahead.

Dang! Thought they were all 11 years old. Thanks for the catch.

Watched the game last night because of Berrios. What I remember was Sano making two great plays from 3 base. The first one he made a great dive to his left, snagged a rocket heading into the gap. He then had the presence to look to the lead runner near second and throw out the runner to first. Later in the game he made a bare handed grab of a ball just topped toward third and in one motion threw a rocket to first to just nab the runner. I'm aware that two plays do not measure his skill. He certainly, though, at a minimum has looked totally comfortable and "in place" at third base. If he can keep this up and if Plouffe is out for any length of time he could make it very difficult for the Twins when Plouffe returns. Especially given the congestion at DH, 1B & RF with Arcia, Sano, Park & Mauer each either playing well or showing some signs of starting to stroke. Nice problem to have. Kind of what we were hoping for.

Berrios, Gonsalves and Stewart were all born in 2004 within about 5 months of each other. Would make a very nice corp of 22 year old starters the beginning of next year would it not?

I've seen Miss America. I'll bet she can't throw a slider or a change up and her 2 seemer never gets over about 60 MPH.

Stewart had another quality start tonight. 6 IP, 0 Runs, 3 Hits. Only lasted 6 innings. He threw 93 pitches with 5K's and 3 walks. Seems like a lot of pitches in 6 innings. His ERA is now below 2.0. Certainly seems to be erasing many of the doubts expressed last year. Keep it up Kohl.

Not living in Minnesota I don't get to read to listen to Sid. Therefore I am almost certainly missing some critical details and I turn to this board. What is the story with the Twin's ownership? Do they want to win or not? It seems pretty obvious Ryan has demonstrated beyond a doubt that he is not capable of handling his role. What has to happen for a change to be made? I'm serious about the question (if not about Sid), I just don't get it.

Trying to determine the logic in a Twins front office move is like Caitlan Jenner finding a restroom in North Carolina...difficult at times but not impossible. I just hope they give Meyer at least 1 start. His performances in Rochester deserve that. I think, however, that they called him up when they did to use him out of the bullpen. Else it makes no sense to force him to miss a start for no reason.

Berrios starting. This is the night we'be been waiting for since about last June. Just checked the weather and it'll be 50 degrees, a 50% chance and 17 MPH winds. For a kid from Puerto Rico it'll be winter ball. Good luck Berrios! Will be interesting to see if he brings out a crowd despite the weather.

Terry Ryan has proven to possess an incapability to do his job that is nearly biblical in proportion. CENTER FIELD The last 2 "no miss" prospect we had were rushed to the majors and have disappeared (at least from the Twins). Now we have the consensus #2 prospect in all of baseball, a center fielder, and what do we do? We rush him to the majors without any indication he is ready and now he's been sent back down SANO Another consensus great prospect. We bring him up as DH/3B and he performs amazing. What do we do? Go out and invest $25 million in a Korean DH forcing us to move our prize, over-performing rookie to right field. This just coincidentally makes him the largest outfielder, perhaps in ML history. How does he do? Demonstrates that he cannot handle the position and suddenly can't hit either. THE AFORE MENTIONED KOREAN On April 15, he breaks the 9 game team losing streak with a game winning double. April,16, a mamouth dinger. April 18, another tape measure dinger. Perhaps the longest in Target field history. April 19, another huge dinger. We reward this incredible performance by benching him the next 4 games. MAX KEPLER We call him up on April 9. The reason we call him up? Because he's hitting a robust .167. That's a sure sign of success at the next level. Over the next three weeks he gets 19 AB's and on April 25, we send him back down. One of our top prospects in the organization whose having a tough spring so we call him up to sit in the bench. I won't even think of going into the pitching staff. The Twins need to get rid of Ryan and the sooner the better.

We had no plan and we executed with perfection!

The scariest part of what I just read is that it makes 100% sense in consideration of the "Twin's Way". It's a scarier read Steven King. By the way, it was a brilliant post but I could not check "like" 'cause I hated it so much.