mikelink45

Since I remain skeptical about Twins performance in 2015 I am all for playing Hicks until Buxton comes on board in July. If Buxton is all we have been saying it is time to give him the Griffey/Trout treatment and let him grow in the bigs. Get Rosario ready to replace Hunter and see if we can really lay the foundation for 2016. If we think like Beane we will push the vets to get max value this summer and then get the next wave in with more in the minors to support them.

I predict the Twins will play the season out, that new things will happen to new people and everyone will move on. I see the Twins finishing last in their division and some of this is bound to come true which will lead the blogger to proclaim powers of Clairvoyance.

What a tough one - great story, like a novel, all leading to the great fall - a Greek Tragedy except that Jimmy the Greek would claim that title. Hard to figure out this ranking. Definitely a top selection, but how much do you knock him down for a bad ending?

A youth rebellion that throws the old guys out no matter the contract and we see Sano, Santana, Dozier, Mauer, Vargas, Buxton, Arcia, Hunter, Pinto with Meyer, May, Hughes, Santana, and Berrios. Burdi, Perkins, Reed and fill in from there. Not what I expect to happen, but what I see is needed if we are truly going to push against slow change and a celebration of being a game over .500

I think I would switch Jocketty and Sabean, but that is minor. Great choice. These last two really shine and make the list seem like it is really going someplace. Here we also begin to see the importance of finding a manager who matches the GMs ideas - both Sabean and Jocketty.

Best last place finish in any division! Who could ask for anything more?

Could not agree more - I might even put him higher, but at this stage he is definitely the best of those you have listed.

Based on past performance I would suggest that they came close to adding Jim Kaat, but he would only come if Butera was here.

This one is really baffling. Is there a page 2 with the real reasons he should rank so high? I need some logic - some made up analytic or something to justify some of these ranks. Duquette is like so many on this list and probably left off. He inherits talant, he squanders talent, he leaves just before the talent takes off - this has been too common and if he was really good he would know what was coming and not leave. I continue to enjoy the postings, but some of these really have me confused.

This is a reminder to me of how the 1B position has weakened. This is where the power and the glamour is - was. Killebrew, McCover, Cepeda, Bill White, Boog Powell, Vic Power... of 1970. People like Stargell, Eddie Murray... There is a need for a resurgence at the corners. To rank below #5 on this list does not mean much.

Now we have a profile that speaks of excellence. The leadership he showed in promoting and recruiting African American and Latino players is what really stands out. He assembled the team and put the right leadership together to become champions. Thanks for the outstanding insight - I love seeing the names of players I cheered as a kid - and for bringing Joe Brown back to our attention.

This seems like the right rank, but it reminds me of why I would not elect umpires, executives, and managers to the Hall of Fame - players only. We just do not have good metrics to judge these men. This was a good story and his family pedigree is quite outstanding, although we could also say it is a reminder of the good old boy system that used to dominate the sport. It is true that trades were the currency of the day. Does signing good young talent reflect on the GM or the scouts? Soon Steinbrenner will demonstrate that it can be a reflection of the owner. I cannot say he was not good, but the stories do not jump out at me as great. But once again I can only reflect on how few GMs really left a mark - Veeck, Rickey...

Once a player is in the bigs we only talk about his comparative age in the rookie year and that is the way it should be. With the Twins I worry about this marinating in the minors strategy which can also remove the best years from their time in the big league club. With pitchers I am curious how many pitches are the average thrown before they get their TJ surgery and prefer that they get some of those in the bigs rather than adjusting to both the recovery and the majors. The truly good to great players are ready early - Ken Griffey for example and with that kind of natural ability the minors are just a place to get hurt or get bad habits.

Nice story but once again I would put this man at 25, not 20. One good story does not make prove what a career would have been. I see the stories for your current 25 - 23 being much more compelling than #21 and #20

You need a staff - why quibble? Bender, Morris, Koosman, Rube Walberg, Goltz and Aaron Sele fills out the rotation. Same with bullpen - you need a full pen - Burgmeier, Thielbar, Niedenfuer, Hamburger and Perkins I also want to add Johnny Blanchard to the team. He played on great yankee teams and even as a bench guy he made some wonderful contributions. I am surprised that Rip Ripulski or Jim Eisenriech were not one of the outfielders. They would have to be on the bench.

I would agree that Cashman is hard to figure. He gets his highest grades for threading the minefield of Steinbrenner interference, but on the other hand did the things that worked come from him or his boss? Without George the quality and feel for the team has diminished. I think he would be #25 for me.

Interesting choice - certainly not on my list. He certainly must be accountable for want you stated - Campbell proved unable to replace them, principally because the Tigers were much less adept in the early years of the draft than they had been in the previous era of amateur free agents. I liked your first three better than this one.

As I read this series I am struck by how the GM job has evolved. The old GMs were part of the team executives - the management of operations - and seldom were recognized unless they owned the team like Connie Mack. The signing of players was a free for all and the teams acquired new players by trade - like Billy Beane is now doing, but now it is stats and free agents that prevail.

Considering the Steinbrenner affect - if you chose winning as the ultimate it was always the Yankees GM that would rank highest. This is a really enjoyable series and I look forward to seeing who will be on the list. Does Connie Mack and his championships followed by his decimation of his team (like Miami does) keep him in the good column? Does the notoriety of Trader Lane and Bill Veeck make them genius's too? Will Branch Rickey get a boost from Jackie Robinson or a knock for his overt penuriousness? In history, most GMs were faceless and nameless. In the 1950s the three above were the only one's I knew. Of course Charley Finley created a great team, ugly uniforms and then destroyed all he did. Where does he land? We have Rickey, McPhail senior, Barrow, and Weiss in the Hall of Fame so that must give them a boost, but then the HOF does not necessarily make good decisions on GMs, owners and others who are around the playing field. For example Pat Gillick - a genius in one place, not so good in another, but with lots of friends gets elected. Today Billy Beane has to rank at the top despite the prejudice that Moneyball might create against him. Walk Jocketty keeps putting winning teams together without a book and would be the next best. Theo Epstein still needs to win with the cubs (and I think he will) to be near the top. Andrew Friedman has been great - what happens without his personal manager? Brian Sabean is great every other year and that is really outstanding. Kenny Williams has done wondrous things with Chicago's other team and should get the cut. Thanks for generating a lot of ideas.

Yes and everyone else that has questions about starting pitchers. I do not want Nolasco in the lineup or Pelfrey or Milone. Lets start being aggressive with promotions. Lets get the pitchers in who will lead the future and next year trade Santana. I am looking at Billy Beane and his aggressive work - which reminds me - Hughes next year too.

I have to join the others who were not enamored by Mussina. I cannot put him above Kaat or Tommy John and I would not vote for them. I like the controversy and continual tear letting that keeping Rose, Jackson, Bonds, and Clemens out causes and their exclusion is okay. Piazza would have joined the four that were elected. That would have been my ballot. Good, even a short period of great is not what I want in the hall, but then I would vacuum up a few plaques that are already there. A player like Griffey - next year is easy and that is what I want in the hall. As much as Raines is a sabermetric darling, he was just an all star in his day and not considered an all time great.

I like Jeter but as another article demonstrated (ESPN) he and Yount have the same statistics. And yest I know Yount had to move to the outfield, but his years as short stop were great. I always wonder about the New York effect. Would Cal be number one if he played in NY? Honus Wagner is a consensus pick on almost all polls and will stay there, but the difference in glove, speed, and conditions make him nostalgic and perhaps not logical for a list with Jeter. I would put him on that mythical team with Cy Young, but beyond that we cannot compare. Perhaps the list needs to be post war which would then include Jeter, Smith, Ripken and we would have to add Apparicio who is vastly under rated today. He led the way to the era of great shortstops and base stealers like Maury Wills (who had too short of a peak). I agree with Banks too (yes I am an old timer) and despite the fact that he moved to !B we should not diminish his ranking. Many have complained that Jeter should have moved years ago to another position. Both Banks and Yount became stars at two positions. Barry Larkin just got HOF recognition, Lou Boudreau, Pee Wee Reese, and Phil Rizzuto got HOF too, but are below the others in this discussion. Luke Appling could be one of the top five, but I did not see him and it is hard to make a call on that. To bring this ramble to an end here are the best I have seen in my 68 years: 1. Alex Rodriguez 2. Cal Ripken 3. Ernie Banks 4. Derek Jeter 5. Ozzie Smith/Luis Aparacio

Of all the lists and speculations this is the one that seems most feasible and it is hard to say that, but the one factor that is not included is who is manager because these are the Gardy players - another manager might be more creative.

Is there any way that the Twins move out of their historic reluctance and take the same chance with Buxton that DC did with Harper or Seattle did with Griffey? Some guys are just natural and adjust to whatever level they are at. It would be great to see them give Buxton at least a week to show off and taste the majors and to give twins fans a reason to attend.

I am fascinated with this discussion. The complaint is that Gibson does not put enough good games together in consecutive starts. Look at the Twins starters - if we could get one to have a good game every other start we would consider them the team ace. Get Gibson up here, use his arm up if we need to and bridge the big gap between what we have and what we need to win.