mikelink45

It is my birthday and you give me this depressing prediction. Let's hope there is a massive shift or we really are looking at a long year and lot's of empty seats.

I am hoping to be surprised

This is not about the contents of the CBA, but the fear that baseball will shoot itself in the foot again - both management and players. The World Series raised the bar for fan interest after covid, TV contracts and other elements have continually eaten away at baseball's once lofty status. To have a strike/lockout after next season is such bad timing that I hope there are some intelligent decision makers on all sides.

This will be interesting and predictions are difficult. Teams with resources will always take advantage of those elements to rise above the less endowed. Climate, reputation, expectations will always be big factors in where players choose to go even with a salary cap. That does not mean I am against a cap, but my feeling is that if teams are just going to save millions from a cap that money should not just go in the owners pocket. It should mean lower ticket prices, more funds for the minor leagues and investment in the community rather than asking the community to build their facilities.

How is it possible? Because this is the Twins and I do not believe in their business model at this point. The last three years have not been about baseball, they have been about paying off the Pohlad debt.

Amazing analogy considering male humans all have nipples. So happy thanksgiving.

True. What would we be paying if they took Ryan? We're paying on Correa. That seems to be the new paradigm and Major League baseball and it makes no sense except to say the contracts they sign are too large to begin with.

Q based on the articles I'm reading on this site falvey is waiting on marching orders and a budget. It can't be all on the front office. And I don't think the argument about the best front office and leadership is all based on dollars. The fact that the Yankees and the dodgers have so much money to spend doesn't necessarily make ownership better. But ownership is responsible for creating the atmosphere around a team that engages the fans and the community

Of course it is and what's wrong with that there are emotional judgments made all the time.

why

And he holds it tight. Here is my thought question for the day - which owners are the worst in MLB? Of course I think the Pohlads are high on the list, but Arte Moreno and the Angels, Bruce Sherman and the Marlins, John Fisher and the A's, and Robert Nutting with the Pirates all seem to be vying for the crown or dunce cap (your choice). Did I miss anyone? How would you list them - I think there are hard choices here. From worst to best of the worse I would go: Fisher Nutting Pohlad Moreno Sherman But I accept any order for them.

I am having a hard time understanding this roster, but I think you have to look at the other TD posting that has Falvey in limbo with no budget, no minority owners, and no direction from the owners. So all Falvey can do is pick up scraps. In some ways he is in an enviable position if ownership ever gives him a green light because, as you point out, there is no shortage of DFA material here. So, like Falvey, we can only wait for minority owners, a budget, and low cost options. Plus we can hope the prospects coming in succeed in a way that our last group hasn't.

Grey is also going to cost 40 M, is a one year contract and has a record of staying healthy and eating innings. But if Boston wants to go after Ryan it won't be deterred by this trade.

From contraction to confusion - the Twins have managed two WS in 38 years. We have gotten periods of hope dashed with frustration. Ownership has offered no solace to the Twins fans from broadcast rights to free agents. “Without a question, the television situation is having an impact on our business. But beyond that, we’re also just trying to right-size our business.” — Joe Pohlad. We were told that we could not play outdoor baseball in MN and needed a dome - good bye Metropolitan Stadium, then we were told that we could not win in the dome (although we did) and we needed a different outdoor stadium - good-bye Humphrey Metro Dome The sportsbusinessjournal has this 2001 quote, Carl (pohlad) believes owning a major market sports franchise that has proven to be around a 10% increase of asset value year over year is quote “a burden for the family” Minnpost had this quote after the firing of Terry Ryan, "“Obviously, we need a general manager willing to make tough, smart baseball decisions,” said Pohlad. “At the same time, we want him to be big and burly, like a lumberjack.” “You know, we’ve taken a lot of potshots over being old-school and ignoring the analytics revolution,” said Pohlad. “And I’ll be honest, some of those are warranted. But if we can find someone who uses sabermetrics, has a base of traditional baseball knowledge, and has immense forearms with wood shavings on them? We’d be very interested.” Joe has tried to confuse us as he accepts the ownership mantle with quotes like this when we traded Correa, “Those were truly primarily baseball decisions. It certainly set us up for more [financial] flexibility, but they were primarily baseball decisions.” And when they pulled the sale and were getting these minority angels to buy in we got this quote, “I don’t think we could have imagined a better outcome than where we landed.” And then I roll my eyes when I read this in Sports Illustrated: “And I would say to those fans: It’s my job and this new ownership group’s new job to do everything we can to set this organization up for success, hopefully in the short- and long-term both," he said. "Our fans are passionate," Pohlad added. "Our fans want to win. We have that in common — we want to win, too. I’d rather have passionate fans than fans who are disengaged." If that is the case Joe, quit doing and saying everything you can to get us disengaged.

be careful Luke - soon you will be too expensive for the Twins

Thanks - I liked this summary. Amick is my biggest disappointment. When I watched him in Cedar Rapids I was unimpressed, but knew it was too little a sample to make a judgment. But some players have an aura of success even on bad days.

WHY NOT? At this point I would take every potential SP that is not in the rotation at the end of ST and make them a reliever. Do they not understand that RP can be turned into SP when needed?

Take them all - its not like we have HOF players at any position. Take them, try them, cut them. Who cares - its low price for the budget basement Twins.

Fun speculation - something to fill the void, but too much can and will happen between times. However, I do like the looks of the lineup. I see Gonzales as the DH>

At this point most fans don't trust the Falvey additions - Kreider, Outman, Roden and they are not impressed by Wallner and Larnach. If it matters it is the hope for Walker, Rodriquez, and Gonzales that keeps fans interested. With Martin as the number five OF - Wallner at DH or 1B. As usual this kind of take does not impact the good old FO so we wait and see.

I suspect it is not the trade that underwhelms. For me the underwhelming aspect is if this is what we settle for as backup catcher. I can only hope he is better than Gaspar, but the bar is damn low.

I once thought Arraez could not be traded! I make no predictions - bold or otherwise. So I will just say we have five guys to build around and I would trade none.

I personally would eliminate Julien and Outman. Larnach is borderline and depends on whether they are going to move the young hitters up. If so we have a lot of mediocre talent to move like Roden and maybe even Wallner. I would like to see Walker, Rodriguez, Gonzales, and Buxton as the top four OF players this year. What have we got to lose?

I am totally against trading Ryan or Lopez. Nothing is more valuable than front line pitching. Let's get Gonzales, Walker, Keaschall, Buxton, in the lineup move parts around but don't give up your real assets to do it. I am an Arraez fan, but he is not going to make the difference in this lineup and I am not ready to say any of the others in the "pipeline" can make up for the loss of our co-number ones.

This story line is getting repetitious and frustrating. I would keep both, but Falvey and Pohlads don't care about fans. So sell them both, but if so please, even by accident, get a strong return. Like last year we will have rumors and speculation, but nothing concrete until near ST.