Major League Ready

Hindsight makes for pure genius. Colome and Happ were very reasonable additions. We can find countless examples of free agents that failed in every year for every team for a lot more money that were perfectly good choices. Easily over half of "high-end" free agent RPs fail. The majority of people on this board have called for the signing of a long-list of RPs that have failed, including a call to keep Wisler and Clippard. Most posters here called for Odorizzi. Turns out he has been bad but he was not a horrible choice. Let's not forget they could have signed Bauer and we would still be quite bad. People just feel better if they bitch about it especially if they can insinuate the problem is the stupidity of management.

Sure with 20/20 hindsight Hill was the better choice but Happ was widely considered the better option during the off-season which is why he got paid more than 2X Hill. I thought Walker was a better choice but most people were not that high on him. We also can't reallly suggest they should have know to use Ober out of the gate when he had not competed since 2019. This is pure hindsight given Shoemaker failed. Regardless, we might be talking about a couple more wins. We can hardly look back and say these choices would have made much of a difference. BTW ... most people were feeling pretty good about Dobnak after he had a very good spring training.

I agree which is why I capitalized "could". Pitching is always in demand at the deadline and Buxton has been having a Traut like season. Is it not possible to believe a team takes a chance this is Yelich type situation and trades for him in season? I don't think it's probable but I could happen.

So what would you have done within the budget they have to work with in 2021? Most here advocated for Odorizzi. That would not be much better. Some said trade a bunch of prospects for Snell. That would be a little better but for all practical purposes insignificant. It's easy to complain. What would have been accepted here at the start of the year as a reasonable solution, within the budget, that would have made this team a contender?

There COULD be some decisions to make to that end in the next 1.5 months.

The point was they need to cash in on their trade value if possible. Keeping them through 2022 relinquishes that opportunity so just keeping them is the same outcome for the purposes of this discussion. The comments on signing them was directed at the masses that say we just have to sign them.

Crushing to what? We suck and he is hurt half of the time. Getting a nice return from a playoff team that will gamble on him being healthy the next year and a half could be the boost this team needs. A blind focus on the present or even next year is exactly what we can't afford right now. This is not a $500M revenue team that can go out an buy the pieces next year so how are you turning this team into a contender next year. Extreme long-shot. They need to take and trade with a good return on anyone that is not signed past next year including Berrios and Buxton if the compensation is good. The idea that we can just extend this naive. The big clubs are simply able to outbid us and any other mid/small market team. Players like Buxton and Berrios that are brilliant at times are going to have their agents advising them to test the market. Berrios and his agent are hoping he gets paid like an ace. Buxton is probably hoping to get paid like a guy that plays 150 games/year at the level he played in May. The only way to some players are going to sign is if they get substantially over paid and that's not good for the team either. Maybe they crave the spotlight in a big market. Maybe they just want to play somewhere else. Maybe they want to get every last nickel and therefore insist on going through the free agency process, IDK but to just say they need to sign them is simplistic.

The examples of players who have turned around a bad season are endless. Players should not be jettisoned at the first sign of trouble. They moved him to the pen 60 games into the season. It's not if they just ignored the problem. The next logical step was to see if he could provide value out of the BP. They also have to have a replacement. How quickly did you expect them to determine readiness with no Milb season last year and a late start this year? I would have much more difficulty having faith in an organization that did things without a thoughtful process. Just dumping Shoemaker is not a thoughtful process.

Apparently pretty much every training staff in baseball is doing it wrong because there is an unprecedented injury rate this year and it's not even close. Why do sports fan so love to go right to assuming someone is incompetent? I have no idea what's going on. It's not my area of expertise. Perhaps someone here who actually has some credentials on the subject could offer some ideas on why the league is absolutely plagued with injuries.

He started a little slow but since May 1 he has a wRC+ of 148. Only Garver has a better wRC+ but he has 1/2 of the ABs. His bat looks faster to me. IDK if he made an adjustment or it just looks faster when it's going well but he looks great right now.

I hope they just recall Buxton because we are running out of bodies. They should have given Gordon some reps in CF while he was in the minors. They were asleep at the switch on that one. I would guess he is going to spend a fair amount of time at AAA this year if the injury parade lets up. Hopefully they put him in the OF and get a good idea how he adapts. He would be a much better asset if he can also play the OF. Gordon and Refsneider could be a great great bench tandem for the next few years.

You are welcome to your opinion. In the consulting world it's considered gross incompetence to derive conclusions without in depth gathering of information and validation of that information. I guess I am really stupid because after 20 years of conducting this sort of assessment I would need much more information to derive any conclusions as to the competence of Mr. Baldelli.

I am not siding with anyone. I am stating fact in that teams spend according to revenue and that's the way the world works. If suggesting that expecting spending to align with revenue is siding … you are welcome to that opinion. What you are asking is that we find an owner who unlike all the other owners is willing to forgo profit or even take a loss. That would be great but it but it’s a fanatical expectation IMO. If it's such a good idea, why haven't other mid market teams signed the top FAs? There has literally been one signing of the kind of FA (Bauer) by a mid market team in the last 20 years. That was Grienke and The Dbacks had just signed a $1B TV contract. That signing did not bring them success.

That theory is popular with fans who don't think a little thing like a significant revenue disadvantage should stop them from spending like a large market team. I guess the theory is the big markets would make a good profit and the small market owners should take a loss. Not too many guys signing up to buy mid/small market teams under that premise. I would like to have an owner that was indifferent about financial concerns but it's certainly don't expect someone to spend 10 of millions/year to entertain me. There is also the fact that their actions (spending) are quite consistent with revenue across all the MLB teams. They consistently make a solid profit except when the team rapidly declines while they have a high payroll. In those cases, that problem is rectified quickly which speaks to their financial focus / goals. The Twins spending is relatively consistent with other teams of equal revenue. They all operate to make a profit. We should also keep in mind that the value of the team is completely predicated it's ability to produce a profit. These guys are not going to spend a billion plus to lose money annually as well as reduce the asset value. Perhaps more to the point, if they were willing to basically donate 10s of millions to a cause, I certainly hope they would donate to a better cause than a couple more wins for their baseball team. It is mind boggling to me to suggest they spend (donate) 20 or 30+ million a year to get 3 or 4 more wins in a given year when that money could be allocated to MUCH more worthy causes. I would add, if the theory is owning is fun therefore they should be willing to forgo a profit, why do we so readily accept the players focus on getting every dollar they can as they did during Covid?

A "businessman" that has amassed a billion dollar net worth is not going to operate at a loss which is what the post you responded to is hoping to find. The constant complaining about spending is misguided. The appropriate thing to complain about would be that the Twins have half the revenue of the Yankees/Dodgers and a lot less than than several others. To complain they don't spend money they don't have is the equivalent of calling a guy cheap who makes $50K/yr because he does not drive a $100K vehicle. Small/mid market teams never operate this way. Are they all incompetent. Tampa has consistently been successful trading for players before they are established. Tatis Jr. was acquired for James Shields who was bad to horrible after the trade. Chicago's team was bolstered considerably because they traded away very good established players. Boston with an enormous budget compared to the Twins let Betts go. Where are they now? The Angels spent a fortune and and stink even after hitting the draft jackpot in Pujlos. How have they been doing. The Phillies signed Harper / Degrom and traded for Realmuto. How did that go for them? The bottom line is that we don't have the revenue to sign the "Bauers". Therfore, we can complain they don't spend money they don't have or we can embrace the need to draft / trade and develop. People with average incomes don't drive a Ferrari.

Would you feel better if I had suggested it is easier said than done or it would be great if all our pitchers developed another effect pitch. I guess I could have responded the same way to the OP but I thought it was fair to suggest developing a change-up would make Alcala a great RP just as I thought it was fair to point out this is relatively true for all pitchers. Lighten up Francis!

Another pitch would make a lot of RPs more effective. Not being able to throw another pitch is why they are RPs instead of SPs. That said, I hope he is able to develop a change-up.

So, it was Rocco's fault when Simmons (elite defender) dropped a throw right to him and it was Rocco's fault when Arraez airmailed 1st base on a routine play and on and on? It's Rocco's fault our Cy Young candidate has been ineffective or hurt? When players make great plays do we say wow that guy is well-managed? None of us have the access and ability to observe Rocco to adequately assess his level of competency. Fans adore players. Therefore, it's managements fault. It might be in this case but their is a mountain of evidence that suggests players have failed. Of course, the injuries, who was injured and when they were injured has contributed but players have failed to execute and that's why we are where we are. Go ahead. blame everyone except the people actually playing the game if it makes you feel better. Where we can find fault is signing a 38 yo SP and a 41 yo DH. None of this was really criticized at the time but there is an inherent risk. We also have to ask if there were better FA options. I like Taijuan Walker myself but I did not see much support for him here. Most people here wanted Odorizzi resigned and he has been quite bad. Clippard is out and Wisler has been bad. We could have traded away good prospects for Snell as so many insisted was the thing to do. He has been mediocre. We would still suck and part of our future would be lost. So, to sum up, had they followed the consensus we would be in worse shape.

I am assuming Mike means that Buxton was a top 5 player for 5 weeks. It's hard to imaging teams are going to value him based on those 5 weeks without considering his level of play for the past 5 years. It would be or will be interesting to see how Buxton is valued if a trade comes to fruition. However, I would have to believe his value will be quite high if he returns to something close to his level of play before he was injured. Someone might just take a chance he will stay healthy the next year plus. It would be great if the return was a good SS prospect. It would be fantastic if they could get Abrams so I applaud the idea. I am with Bighat on Donaldson even though I have always thought very highly of him. This team needs a retooling beyond just this year. It would be ideal for him to get hot and get moved. Add an asset or two by trading him and make room for Miranda.

If we were a contender... would you pay more to have a top player for the rest of this year vs just next year when as we all know a team might not live up to it's potential.

That would be a phenomenal trade for the Twins but San Diego is not giving up that much for 1 1/2 years of control. They made a bunch of moves but generally kept their top prospects while getting guys with more control than Berrios/Buxton. The Trade Simulator shows Abrahams alone has equivalent value to Buxton and Berrios combined. That said, it would be great to put together a trade for a top SS prospect.

Seth, I have heard he has a plus change-up. What else does he have going for him. Does he have plus command? He is a soft tosser, right? Just wondering if his stuff plays at the MLB level. Is he Gonsalves 2.0? I just signed up for Milb TV so I will catch his next start.

Pitching always rules at the deadline and probably more so this year. Therefore, I would think Pineda has the most value especially if a playoff team loses a top SP and Pineda would get playoff starts. Happ would appeal to a team in a tight race if he regains something close to his usual form. They guy that could really jump in value is Robles. He needs to get a better handle on his command between now and the deadline. If so, he might bring as much or more than Cruz who is going to have limited suitors. Simmons is only going to have significant value if the right team has an injury or two. That is not a reach this year. Dman makes a good point about 2B. They could make Polono or Arraez available and not hurt the team. I am really pulling for Gordon to sustain his recent success. It would be fun to have a base stealer besides Buxton and it would be like finding a good player out of nowhere given his mediocre play up to this year. They are going to move every pending free agent they can. The real question will be if they trade Berrios and/or Buxton or perhaps a 2B.

Shoemaker – I did not think much of the Shoemaker signing either but IMO a $2M SP that was signed as back of the rotation or depth is not exactly a big miss. Signing Jake Arrieta for 3/75 to be a difference maker and getting 3.6 WAR total over 3 years is a big problem. Signing Jordan Zimmerman for 5/110 and getting 5.2 WAR over 5 years is a costly mistake. Kenley Jansen and Wade Davis were costly mistakes. A 1 year deal for $2M SP is not a big deal unless you have plenty of payroll capacity and fail to use it. Colome was a quality addition. Like the majority of established / expensive RPs, he has not performed as hoped. Given the option, I would definitely go back in time and sign May instead of Colome if May was willing. He seems to like the big city. Robles has also been effective in the past too. Let’s not forget the guy many wanted us to keep (Clippard) has been bad. Rosenthal is out. Several posters wanted Brad Hand. He has negative Fwar. Treinen has been OK. His Fwar is .3. The point is that RPs are a roll of the dice.

Buxton was playing as well as anyone in MLB. He went down. Our Cy Young candidate from last year is hurt and performed poorly before he went down. Garver had been tearing it up and he went down. The guy everyone wanted retained (Cruz) has been pretty mediocre since May 1. Arraez is hurt. Duffy and Stashak had been reliable and they have not been good. Pretty hard to blame this stuff on the front office.