goulik

I got mine, they must have just missed yours (or thought mine was better... Ehh, probably not)

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...

There will be lots of 40 man decisions this off season and the Twins need to decide who will be exposed to the Rule V draft and who to protect. That also means they need to decide who they are cutting bait with. Deduno was the first of several DFA's/ non tenders to open up room IMO. Thompson just may be another one later this fall.

Since my last entry Gilmartin has pitched twice. In those games he pitched 9.2 innings giving up 9 hits, 4 walks, and 4 earned runs. He had no decisions and struck out 9 batters. In more detail: On Aug 23, Gilmartin struck out two and walked one in the first, walked another and got his third K in the second and set down the side in order in the third. The fourth inning started with his third walk. A swinging K was followed by a two run home run and a double. A fly out and ground out ended the inning. In the fifth, he began with a fly out but a single, stolen base and a walk later he was relieved by Hamburger. Hamburger got the hold and eventually the 3-2 win. This Friday, August 29th, Gilmartin got a little help from his friends to survive the first two innings. The first inning started off with back to back singles. With runners on first and third, Hermann gunned down an attempt to steal second base. A sac fly led to the first run of the game and a grounder ended a rough first inning. The second inning also began with a single but a strike out was followed by a double play. For the second game in a row, the third inning was a breeze and Gilmartin got his second k of the day. The fourth inning went like this; Swinging K, single, single, Swinging K, single and a run, fly out. The fifth was like the third with his 5th strike out. Sean induced a groundout in the sixth and then was pulled in favor of AJ Achter who went on to win 3-2 (yes same scenario as Aug 23rd) Editing note: Apologies for posting a partial and editing three times but I was losing my entry half way through and didn't want to keep retyping the whole thing. Second Editing note: Apologies for the typos now corrected... Having a bad start to the day here...

Thank You and Good Luck to Sam Deduno. I hope you gain Moore control of that Nasty stuff and prolong your career in the NL.

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.

What we truly want at every position is players that can play both halves of a baseball game, offense and defense (except DH and Pitcher in the AL) If a prospect is not going to play both halves, they need to be moved. Management isn't the only part of the organization to complain about his mitt. (See Glen Perkins) Sometimes fans spend too much time looking at offense and then wonder why the pitching staff isn't better... Good defense lowers ERA's. To the point, if Pinto is not going to be an MLB level defensive catcher he needs to be at a different position or traded for best value.

Yes, The OF is thin and we should pick up a bat out there either through free agency or by trade.

On that, we agree! With the addition of Wild card teams, above average teams can make the playoffs and be in contention for the playoffs without being true contenders.

So I was at a ST game in Spring of 2013 and this guy is saying the same thing, fire them all. He goes up to this guy in The corner of the stands and tries to get him to sign a petition asking Pohlad to fire all the field staff and TR. He had no idea that the guy in the corner of the stands WAS TR and he asked TR to sign that petition. Ryan just quietly said, "no, I don't think I will be signing that" and the guy went away. Where were you March 20, 2013? TR took over a wretched system top to bottom and has slowly improved the whole product. He isn't going anywhere unless he wants to leave.

Make that 30 names, I entered Pedro Hernandez twice and no one called me on it...

I looked at Nolascos Fangraphs page incorrectly, I apologize. My numbers were way off. My point with the numbers remain the same though they are just guesses based on past performance. The more past, the more likelihood of guessing close to correctly. So Nolasco is less than league average. My original point remains the same and is what I am defending, I do not think we are too far away and if everything fell into place, we could contend for a playoff spot. I'm betting on 2016 though, not 2015. There is honestly no way to know next years ERA+ and that was what I am trying to say to Oxtung and other readers.This is a rebuild and we have to ride these guys out and see what we have. I get your point. I am confident Meyer will be one of those elite pitchers. Nolasco had a 124 ERA+ one year. Often, that is what carries that World Series team, a career year from a few different players. Often the World Series champs have those breakout seasons, career years, good breaks and relatively good health. With all these untested, unproven young players, no one really knows what to expect next year. I just feel there is reason to hope based on the plethora of changes in the last 14 months and the much greater talent than the past few years.

Last Fall, when the season was over, I began a series of three blogs saying there was no more room in the Inn as players were getting jettisoned and prospects were pushing out the AAA filler in Rochester and at the MLB level. As this year enters the last couple of weeks for the minors and approaches the waiver deadline, it is amazing to consider the sheer volume of names no longer with the Twins or Red Wings. SO, Looking back in retrospect over this past year, here are names no longer with the organisation: Starting Pitchers: Cole DeVries Andrew Albers Vance Worley Liam Hendricks Scott Diamond Pedro Hernandez Kevin Correia PJ Walters Nick Blackburn Pedro Hernandez Brooks Raley Relievers: Matt Guerrier Infielders: Jeff Clement Ray Olmedo Mark Sobolewski Kendrys Morales Jason Bartlett Catchers: Ryan Doumit Drew Butera Danny Lehman Outfielders: Darin Mastroianni Clete Thomas Alex Presley Josh Willingham Antoan Richardson Brian Dinkelman Jermaine Mitchell Evan Bigley Kenny Wilson Jason Kubel Sam Fuld This list intentionally omitted players that never reached Rochester. I also know this list is probably incomplete and encourage additions in the comments. 31 names... That's quite a long list.

We are talking about next year right? In that case some of your numbers are meaningless; Milone 42= SSS, Career is close to 100. Nolasco's last three years until this injury shortened SSS year was three straight right around 100. May =SSS with no MLB large sample to project from as well as Meyer who has 0 MLB experience. Gibson is in his first full year so one could hope the 96 improves but I will go with your number on him and Hughes, so; Based on career, next years potential ERA + Meyer 133 (based on Minor league ERA's some years much higher, some not as much) Nolasco 101 (last 3 years when not hurt) Hughes 105 (outside Yankee stadium) Milone 98 (Last 4 years) Gibson 96 (in first full season will probably be higher) May 100 (approx based on minor league career... Just throwing out a "league average" on this one w/out data...) Wow, those numbers look a lot better when you throw out SSS...