Vespasian

I remember thinking during the 2006 season that the Twins could probably afford to resign either Hunter or Santana but not both. Liriano was so dominant in 2006 that I actually found myself hoping they would quietly resign Hunter and simply let Santana walk after playing out his contract rather than doing the preemptive trade because it would have given us one year of Hunter in center and Santana and Liriano atop the rotation. Soon after I had this thought we found out Liriano needed Tommy John and he has never been so dominant again, so it's a good thing I'm not GM, but it is fun to think about how history would have been different if Hunter had been resigned. Thanks for the trip through an alternate universe Doc!

I guess I would strongly take issue with this. I am a casual fan. I usually go to games with my family, and I can assure you I pay attention and know exactly what's going on. Even keep score occasionally. What I don't care about is exactly how WAR is calculated or who's filling out the AA roster these days. I think you are overestimating the level of cluelessness at Target Field. As another poster said, there are an awful lot of season ticket holders in the stands. Many years ago when I was 20 I will admit to being as interested in chatting with girl I was with as action on the field. Hey - that's part of life. To the OP's point - I still think Mauer is more beloved. Personally my new favorite is Deduno. Crazy? Yeah. But hey, it's only baseball.

Signing Sanchez would not have put them in the playoffs - but it would have made it more compelling to show up at the ballpark every fifth day, and shouldn't that count? If not, why hang on to Mauer? (Yes, I realize he would be very difficult to unload given his salary and no-trade clause, but you get my point.) Sanchez may not be the same pitcher in three years, but odds are he will still be better than at least one of the prospects we are now penciling in, and unless I am forgetting about a bunch of guys who are going to need to get paid the next few years there should still he plenty of money available to sign the Mike Pelfreys of the world. If the Twins were underspending now so that they could overspend in a few years I would be completely on board with that. Unfortunately, there is no historical evidence to suggest they will do that, so I have to assume they will just pocket the money. Others have said it, and so will I. The best teams use all available methods to improve.

I agree with you. In fact I seem to like NL rules more and more as I get older. It'll probably never happen, but I think it would be fun if the league switched up interleague play for a series so that NL rules applied in the AL parks and AL rules applied in the NL parks. Just so fans could get a different twist without having to drive to another city.

Thanks for the warm welcome. I appreciate it. I guess I would sum up my position by stating that even those of us who loosely follow the team and enjoy the game, but maybe aren't tuning in for every inning of every game are still smart enough to know when we are being asked to pay major league prices to watch a AAA rotation. And for the front office to say at the beginning of the season that they expected this team to be competitive is to insult our intelligence. I saw someone in another thread - I think it was jokin - compare Joe Mauer's stat line vs. the league against our starting five, and the undeniable conclusion was that our starting five turns the entire league into Joe Mauer. This was an astonishing piece of evidence. It took me a minute to wrap my mind around it. But now that I think about it I guess I'm not surprised.

I guess I would consider myself the very definition of a casual fan. I attend 4 - 5 games a year, usually with my family, and can rattle off a typical starting lineup, but I couldn't tell you how WAR is calculated if my life depended on it and I really couldn't name any prospects in the minors beyond Gibson, Buxton and Sano. In fact, this is my very first post on TD! One thing I do know - even as a casual fan - is that the Twins ended the season last year with a starting rotation consisting of Diamond and nobody and started this season with a rotation consisting of Diamond (whom I figured was due to regress, as indeed he has), and nobody. I guess I was intrigued by Worley, which in hindsight is obviously no credit to me. One thing I do know is that nobody, whether a hardcore sabremetrician or some random guy like me could have expected this rotation to be competitive despite what the front office said. But I guess I should not be surprised the front office was willing to lie to the general public when their idea of accountability was firing Jerry White. In fact, I am disgusted with the condescension of this organization towards its fans - casual or otherwise - who are paying the ridiculous ticket prices and buying the $5 iced teas. The unwillingness to sign even one legitimate free agent in what we all knew was going to be a down year - to give folks like me a reason to say, "hey, I might want to head down to Target Field to see this guy play" - has me very close to tuning out completely for the next few years. It's not illegal - they can do it this way if they want to - but they shouldn't be surprised that attendance is falling. I actually think there are a lot of guys like me out there. Not super hard-core fans, but not showing up for the "stadium experience" either and who have the ability to tell the difference between legitimate major league players and AAA wanna-bes. Why should I pay my hard earned money to watch this garbage? Anyway, great site. Glad I found it.