goulik

Seth, can you give us a scouting report on Danny Ortiz? He has put up respectable though unspectacular numbers that seem to be an upgrade over some of the MLB outfield numbers we have seen. He was a 4th rounder which is again respectable. What keeps him off the prospect lists or from contending for a spot next spring?

what strikes me most about the positive comments about Molitor has been the consistency over years. People have been making comments about his great baseball mind for over a decade now so there must be something to all the recent comments as well.

I had not seen his comments

Would love to hear from bigger MLB level guys than Colabello but both here and other places I have read a lot of people saying "best baseball mind" I ever met

So how about we sign a free agent outfielder and package Pinto with Hicks for a SP. Need another OF? Rosario shores it up short term, Buxton is long term answer. Free agent outfielder just might be mid season trade bait or Schaffer just might be gone!

I like the Molitor hire because he seems to be different from Gardy in all the right ways. He's not afraid of the over shift, and he uses saber metrics while still believing in good fundamental baseball. Most of all, he comes in with an open mind about who the coaches around him could be.

Gardy, Inside man who played for the Mets? I think all this inside/Outside the organization is nonsense. Either they are good coaches or they are not. That is all that really matters.

First of all, Gardy on the job 13 years, Ryan 3 years. Secondly, I stated this opinion months ago and it remains the same: 2011 Bill Smith is blamed and fired. 2012 still blaming Smith. No improvement in 2013, blame the players for lack of improvement. 2014 blame the manager and coaching for lack of improvement (oor at least enough improvement) and 2015 you blame the GM. It's the natural progression. I don't see him off the hook, I see him at the end of his leash and next year better be different or he's next.

Brandon Poulson- how's the adjustment to professional baseball coming and what is he primarily working on in the instructional leagues? Theofanopolous- how we'll does his name fit on the back of a Jersey? ( name Reminds me of Mientkiewicz)

Im sorry, I agree with much of what you said, but Worley had/has an attitude problem IMHO and is not known for being the best guy to listen to coaches but is known to shift blame instead of take responsibility

Let's follow a logical process of who to blame. If you blame the talent, you must improve the talent, blame the players and upgrade. If, as many fans believe, the roster has more talent and the results are the same, where does the blame lie then? If I believe (Which I do) that our current pitchers are better than last year (Correia, Deduno, DeVries, Diamond, Walters, Pelfrey VS Hughes, Gibson, May, Nolasco, Milone) And If I believe we have added more talented fielders (Vargas, Santana) in place of lesser talent (Florimon, Colabello) then I must consider coaching changes. If coaching changes don't change the outcome, then the FO is on the hook. To me that is the natural progression of the blame thought process. I say hire a new manager (from within or without I care not) and if things are not better next year, Ryan is on the hook. Until then, I believe I have seen Ryan improve the whole organization and specifically the roster without any on field progress which. I think we should have been seeing this August/September.

1 hundred percent agree. RF-Arcia (If doesn't improve and Hicks emerges possibly moved to bench or platoon) CF-Aaron Hicks (til Buxton) LF- Free Agent (possibly Traded at deadline or moved if Hicks finally emerges) C- Kurt Suzuki 1B- Joe Mauer 2B- Brian Dozier SS- Danny Santana 3B- Trevor Plouffe (Until Sano moves him to bench or trade at deadline) DH- Kenys Vargas Bench OF- Jordan Schafer (Until regression or pushed aside by emerging prospects) C- Pinto (Until he shows he can handle major league pitchers or is pushed aside by prospects) IF- Eduardo Escobar IF- Nunez (Until Plouffe is moved to bench by Sano)

If you get Tomas, Rasmus, and either pitcher, your 40 is full and everyone else is exposed. Well done, you followed my guidelines better than some of the previous comments today

Now you got me thinking on the 40 man so... Bernier is another obvious DFA after the season but I also consider DFAing Johnson and Pino to make room. Off the top of my head I'm also adding Gilmartin and obviously Sano

Good thoughts on Alomar, if you can pry him away from Toronto, I'm in on that move.i chose Ozzie because I believe he may actually come coach for us. As for Yasmani, I'm going all in. I don't necessarily believe he is the best out there and we will possibly be over paying, but we have the payroll available and he's young and in his prime at the end of the 4-5th year. Besides, he's an actual outfielder. Outbid the other contenders I say. I kept Schafer for now because he too is an outfielder, can be a defensive substitute at any outfield position and can be a baserunning sub as well. He fits what you want in a bench guy and he gets replaced when Buxton and Hicks are finally both Up for good. As for the 40 man, Colabello, Florimon, and Burton I believe are all gone this off season but there are a lot of players that need protecting or risked losing (Meyers and Rosario for example) so the question isn't who you cut from the 40, the question is which prospect(s) are you willing to lose in the rule V when after those roster moves you sign a free agent.

I have spent a lot of time reading blogs, posts, articles and comments about the Twins MLB and MiLB rosters, players, stats and More stats. Some comments really irk me. It is very easy to be anonymous on this sight and therefore put up hyperbolic comments like "cut the whole 25 man roster" and "fire all the field staff and the whole front office". Comments like these do not take in common sense of then what? It takes years to build a 25 man roster and MLB franchise. I have also seen many responses like "this isn't football". I agree. So throwing out the grandiose statements and hyperbole, I pose this question, who do you consider building blocks on the current team, and who isn't. But here is a rule, if someone isn't, give a specific replacement. Play GM. If you are signing free agents there is an additional rule, who are you willing to lose in the rule V draft to make that move? Risk a real prospect here, if you take a spot for a free agent, someone is at real risk! Let's not get all freaky frustrated and be unreasonable, let's get real about running a franchise. This includes front office. If you fire TR, who do you hire (give actual names here) Here are my moves: Gardenhire and Anderson are let go. Molitor replaces Gardy, Ozzie Guillen takes Molitors coaching opening. Bobby Cuellar gets his shot at pitching coach and we hire Viola away from Las Vegas as bull pen coach. Viola and Guillen bring old school outside voices into the club house influenced by other organizational models. Guillen also offers Hispanic voice for our young Latin hitters. Molitor with hitting coach Bruno offer different hitting and fielding philosophies while maintaining solid baseball fundamentals. Yasmani Thomas signed as free agent left fielder taking Parmalees place when I DFA him. I'm going for youth still as this team is building young and for long term. We also have the money and I believe It is time we jumped into the Cuban pool. I also have too make someone available for Rule V with this, and I am risking Niko Goodrum. He's at fort meyers and is not near MLB ready so I will risk him.

I agree swainzag with the added "as long as he isn't in the way oof any other promotions" which he isn't. If there were others to promote, they would DFA florimon or Colabello now...

I wouldn't mind seeing Beresford and Romero rewarded. I believe DFAing Florimon from the 40 should be done to make more room for moves like this. If Rodriguez had not done enough to get a left field shot before now, I do not think a jump over AAA makes sense. The other two have had their cups of coffee and do not need to be called up. I would like to see Meyer called up to see MLB pitching and hitting from the bench or bullpen even if he doesn't pitch. Coaching and exposure to the veterans can have a positive influence too. Achter and Oliveros should also get opportunities but maybe their reward comes after the season being added to the 40 man roster and given ST invites. There are other bullpen options that may get called before these two. (Including some current AAA starters)

Very enlightening post, thank you for this examination

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/436001-sophomore-slump-truth-or-cliche This article found 56% of sophmores have "similar" stats in year two as rookie year, 22% improved, 22% slumped

I found this http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?92837-How-Long-Does-the-Average-Baseball-Career-Last Showing 10 percent of rookies play only one year... You can view the rest of the info there including avg length of career

Next years team already cannot be this years team mostly intact... The team has already been blown apart from a month ago

Guilty but I saw him as a rookie with potential to play better as he grew accustomed to the league not regress horribly

Good point Willihammer. I like Vargas' power more but both are still MLB small sample sizes

Disagree on Ryan, he has brought a lot of talent into the system in a short amount of time. Disagree on Bruno, we have seen hitters with more variety and a mentor that teaches power hitters to maximize home run ability. Agree on DFA's except it would be both Pino and Deduno Would sign corner outfielder. As Hicks insurance traceable at the deadline. I'd also keep Hughes. Need a sixth pitcher for backup against injuries. Again tradable at deadline but also allows Nolasco to be long relief instead of starting.