Major League Ready

I wonder if he would had said that if it was Sano?

I agree completely. I would add this team is not nearly as terrible as the record would suggest but they would need to dominate the Whitesox to have any chance and even then the chance of winning this division is remote. All of the injuries to key prospects is a real bit@#. Our relative success is going to be a matter of a handful of prospects working out. I like the odds of Ober and Winder contributing and Winder has a high ceiling. Obviously, Duran, Balazovic, Canterino, and Enlow are the higher ranked prospects but they need to get healthy and demonstrate they are ready before I am going to have confidence in them. Adding to the pool of prospects can only improve the odds of future success. Let's hope the guys on expiring contracts are very good over the next month.

I thought they did quite well in 2018 with much less to work with than they have this year. Alcala looks to be a contributor for the next few years. Of course, the overall value of those deadline moves will probably depend on how Duran turns out. I think Chris Valimont and Luis Rijo were part of that group too. He could end up having some value too. I think Celestino and DeLatrinidad are 4th OFers.

Good question. We have a lot of guys that can play 2B. The flexibility is nice but he is a big piece of the puzzle if he is at least average at 3B.

I am assuming that pointing out the myriad of players picked up at the deadline that are now contributing to winning teams is absolutely pointless given the examples are many and you have chosen to ignore this fact. I guess you are correct that SanDiego shed some salary when they traded away James Shields for Tattis Jr. Someone should have told those fools you can't improve your team with this type of trade.

If Winder handles a handful of starts at AAA he is getting a shot. Not sure how the fit Miranda in this year. I would think the way this goes is that he gets the rest of this year at AAA and maybe a month or two next year. Now, if they somehow trade Donaldson, we will see him get a shot in about a month provided he does not stumble at AAA. These two guys could be a huge part of the solution. Establishing Winder and Ober this year with the big league club would be big. Then, if we could somehow move Donaldson and get Miranda up we have a shot a rebuilding / retooling in a very short period of time.

We are having this conversation because a large segment of the population is finding baseball far too slow. My wife is a sports fan but she finds baseball booooooring. I appreciate the ebbs and flows and sometimes I watch all of the game (minus pitching changes and between innings) and sometimes I watch portions. For example, I watched every minute if the innings Ober threw.

Absolutely. I was not making a comp. I was pointing out they pursued options that they did not require them to give up top prospects. It's tough to get anyone to give up top 50 prospects. I just don't know if they can get it done which is why I have prefaced my positions on Berrios/Buxton with "if they can get an elite SP/CF or SS prospect. I also don't believe that either player is going to give up the opportunity to test free agency so anything (like your idea) that nets a good return is far more preferable to losing them to a big market team willing to bid a bit crazy. A team is going to forget Buxton is injured every year and that Berrios is a 2/3 on a Contender.

They have made really good personnel decisions. A lot of the people who made those decisions are now with other clubs. Even the clubs that did not hire their staff have learned from them. Teams are doing things differently today. To what degree have the practices that drove those decisions been implemented with the Twins. None of us has what could be called an informed opinion. Therefore, IDK the size of the gap or the specific shortcomings. I will say that I believe the biggest difference between the Rays and the mid market teams like the Twins is that they understand the value of years of control. They have been consistently willing to trade away established players. Frankly, much of what they do are things that people here despise like trading away Snell, cutting guys because their arbitrations amounts are on the rise and they play a lot of guys cut by other clubs. I am not going tp to list the common practices in bridging these gaps because frankly I don't think people care. I think they want to bitch because the team has sucked. I will add that I would make sure I found the people capable of understanding and implementing these practices. Then, you have to be willing to operate the way they do. For example, they would not let Berrios and/or Buxton hit free agency. If they could not sign them, they would trade them. That has obviously been an unpopular strategy here but it does not make sense to say we are not capable of making there decisions if you are unwilling to make the decisions they make.

1&2 as well as 3&4 are basically dealing with the same time allotments. It does not matter what batters do if you have a pitch clock and reducing warm-up pitches reduces time between innings. If not, it's a meaningless change. Having said this, I agree with doing these things. I do not agree players would see them as not altering the game. I also think these are minor influences in comparison to; 1) Pitching dominance / balls not being put into play and hits nullified by shifts. 2) The very nature of the game taking time between "plays" not appealing to a younger generation. Even the older generation like me records the game and watches it in an hour. 3) Interest switching to Soccer / Lacrosse / other 4) Shifts taking away hits. Average is at a historical low by a considerable margin. 5) Restrictions on access to free Broadcasts. 6) Cost - The league may have priced themselves out of a significant segment of fans.

Hard to argue this point. IMO, it would take at least $60M annually to get extensions with Berrios / Buxton and Rodgers so they would have $80M invested in 4 players for 2023. Seems like a bad plan. Unfortunately, I think they would have to take $10M annually back to trade Donaldson. That means they would have $70M tied up in 3 players. Can they even think about signing a front of the rotation guy ($25M) if they could get one to come? That would be $95M in 4 players. In the event we managed to completely rebuild the BP next year and 2-3 pitching prospects fill out the rotation well enough for us to make the playoffs and we fill the void left by Donaldson and Buxton stays healthy and we make the playoffs ... Will a 1/2 of Berrios and Maeda matchup against most playoff teams?

What is your solution? Should the league prohibit trades? Are they bad for the sport? People move all the time for opportunities that pay far less and don't have even remotely the upside potential. Being traded is hardly a devastating hardship especially when the average salary is $4M. I keep coming back to one number ... $3.17M / annually. That's what the average household income would be in America if household income had grown at the same rate as baseball salaries over the past 50 years. MLB baseball are among the most fortunate employees / contractors in the world. Who here would avoid a profession that paid millions/year because it required frequent moves?

Adjusting to all the cultural and technological changes in America is a monumental task for all businesses. Of course, it’s been great for many businesses. However, a business like baseball steep in traditions that evolved in a much different time has significant challenges. MLB actually did a great job promoting the sport and growing revenue. We had great attendance and TV revenues were grew rapidly. Did they do enough to encourage the next generations. IDK without significant study of what has been done across the country. We have the Twins Caravan / Family sections / donations of gloves and even ball parks. Players are active in their communities. It’s tough to fight cultural changes but I am sure there are other strategies that could help. I know the problem is not 7 inning double headers or having a runner on 2nd to start the 10th as was suggested here. Those things were adapted because the game takes too long. There are numerous other things being tested right now. We could complain the changes are two slow or we could commend their effort to test these changes before implementation. They will find ways to reduce the length of games and perhaps more importantly put more action back in the game. Those changes just are not things that will be done without considerable due diligence. I would be more inclined to complain if it was not so obvious that due diligence is taking place. One other observation .... There has been a lot of interesting discussions about the challenges faced in growing the game to this point and retaining interest in the game. Yet, when there is a discussion about who gets the revenue, many here are very firm in their position the success of the game is all about the players. Every business needs great employees to thrive but leadership, adaptation, and marketing, are essential too.

I like the idea. Losing Buxton and Berrios for comp picks would be detrimental for several years in the near future. However, San Diego traded for Darvish / Snall and did not give up any top prospects. All teams have become increasingly reluctant to give up top prospects. The end result would be great. I just think we will need to get fortunate in finding a couple trade partners willing to give up one top prospect for Berrios or Buxton.

That roster MIGHT give you a shot at making the playoffs. However, having bad middle infielders does not help the cause. A SP that gives you a good shot at matching up with other playoff teams is closer to $30M. Are you going to be happy when we get swept from the playoffs again if they were fortunate enough to make the playoffs? You also have not considered the fact that these meaningful additions are going to get multi-year contracts. Of course, Berrios / Buxton and Rodgers contracts are going to increase the payroll by an incremental $25M. Of course, there will be arbitration increases as well. And BTW you have to get someone to take Sano before you can spend the money and who is going to take him at his current level of production. Donaldson would have to come off the books and probably Sano too. So, add needing a 3B to the list and having Polanco at SS is a bad idea. Arraez is no prize at 2B either.

Thanks for posting this Mike. My position has been we trade him if someone is willing to trade (pay) as if he will continue to mash this year and they want him for next year. Obviously, that's the highest value. Is there a team out there willing to pony up as if they are going to get a year and half of great production? IDK. However, I would take advantage if the situation presented itself.

You either have intimate knowledge of the TB processes or you simply don't understand what it takes to assess the operational aspects of an organization. Even the assessments we did on a single operational function took 10 weeks with complete and unrestricted access. The 10 weeks was after the client provided us with a massive amount of data. We then did dozen of interviews and validated all the information we collected. Several people here seem to think they have a comprehensive understanding of the Minnesota Twins and The Tampa Bay Rays operations. I know I do not because I do have a comprehensive understanding of what it takes to acquire that insight. Regardless of this insight, I do know that it is incompetent to pursue less effective practices. If this group, including leadership can't institute best practices, fire them. Get people who can. Don't suggest pursuing less effective practice because that would be truly incompetent.

It not only matters what the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, etc can throw at Buxton it's exactly why all this conversation about offering Buxton $100M or less is absolutely fruitless. Do you think he cares if it's a smart decision for the team? Horrible deals like Jacoby Elsbury are simply not nearly as devastating to big market teams so they have been willing to take the risk. They can have 3 of those deals and have the Twins budget left over. It's more likely IMO that Buxton and his agent are sure the free agency process will yield a stupid high offer. Why agree to sign for anything less than stupid money right now? This discussion is all based on the hope he recognizes he has often been hurt and/or he has not been nearly this good prior to last 6 weeks. Who here believes his agent is basing the ask on the fact that he is out a lot or that this performance level is a very small portion of his history? The discussion of what is reasonable or what should be offered is fine as an academic exercise but he is not accepting a reasonable offer, IMO. So, the more pertinent question is do you let him walk for a compensation pick or whatever the new CBA provides. We can also discuss what level of trade compensation we should take as opposed to just letting him go. However, a discussion of what's reasonable in terms of an extension is probably academic at this point.

I believe 3 things that are not popular. One it is highly unlikely they can contend in any serious manner next year. Two, Berrios is not signing an extension. Three, same for Buxton. They are going to insist on the opportunity provided them in free agency. Many won’t like this approach. However, anyone not listed below is available. One of Arraez or Polanco stays. Alex Kirilloff Trevor Larnach Ryan Jeffers Kenta Maeda Jorge Alcala Bailey Ober I hope to move as many of the players on an expiring contracts as possible. I pray that Cruz continues to hit and Pineda comes back strong. Our value and opportunity to rebuild is in players expiring after 2022. Berrios / Buxton / Rodgers / Duffey. I am not moving them without impact type prospects coming back but trading these guys can bring back players that make a difference for several years. Hold on to them until the off-season or next year’s deadline if a significant return can’t be negotiated. The two guys who I would most like to move are Sano and Donaldson. IDK how that happens with Sano unless he catches fire in the next week. Donaldson would take the right scenario and IDK if that exists. We would have to take back salary. However, moving these two guys would be a good first step in accelerating the process. If we move Berrios, let the parade of prospects begin. If the rotation by some miracle comes together quickly, we will have budget for a major free agent SP next year. If the audition and development takes the rest of this year and 22 as I expect, use the money that would have been spent on Berrios for a free agent SP in 2023. If we move Buxton, let Gordon play CF. Kepler is the back-up plan for 22 or perhaps a free agent or a player taken in trade from these deadline moves. If Sano goes (not happening) Kirilloff gets 1st base. How do we replace Cruz? IDK. That depends on how the rest of the roster comes together. The bullpen is going to be a 1 ½ year rebuild. Hopefully there are some arms in the system that can help. I would also look for BP arms when trading some of our expiring contracts

What he is going to get matters less than what he thinks he is going to get. We can make reasonable offers until the cows come home. It does not matter if he has an unreasonable expectation. This scenario is about as ripe as it gets for a player having an unrealistic expectation via ignoring the injury concern and believing 6 weeks of play is now the measure by which he should be paid. To keep hammering the same old argument of why don't we offer him X is futile if he wants X plus 50%.

There won't be any free agents after 2023? You are failing to see the option of collecting the trade value now and spending the money on a different free agent.

What he got in free agency is absolutely irrelevant. $10M is a very fair estimate for what he would have got in arbitration which is what he would have cost had we kept him. Trying to make a case for a guy playing barely above replacement is a product of only see what you want to see. Bias is a powerful retardant for the accepting the truth even when it's this obvious. Sorry for the tone but I am sick of hearing about Eddie Rosario when we have two replacements that are both looking like cornerstones for the franchise. The wisdom in moving on should now be painfully obvious.

Tell you what. We have two very different assessments of this situation. The did not draft and develop these teams. They traded established talent for prospects. Some of them were MB ready. I even gave specific examples and you still are not following the point. You want them to follow a strategy that is basically the opposite. You want them to hold on to everyone which is exactly the opposite of what has made them successful. I think this is exceptionally short-sighted. Best practices has been the rage in pretty much every industry for the last 20 years. If you are not executing best practices, you make the changes necessary. You don't follow inferior strategies and then claim you can't execute better strategies unless you are looking to be fired. Within the myriad of dumb stuff I encountered while consulting, nothing irritated me more than someone telling me they could not do it the right way.

Even If I could convince myself defense does not matter, I would still take Larnach ever day of the week. With Rosario's recent hot streak he has now produced .2 wins above replacement. Failure to move on from mediocre players like Rosario is a great recipe for mediocrity or failure. Ask yourself what Tampa would have do\ne with Rosario and the answer is he would have been gone before this year.

Rosario has been good for 10 days. The rest of the year he has sucked by ever measure except RBI. He hits 4th and he has played almost every game. Cleveland has played 72 games or 44.44% of the season which means he is on place for 92 not 100 RBI and that's not even close to the top of the league for a corner OFer. Add to that the stupid base running mistakes and I am extremely happy to have Larnach or Kirilloff in LF. Actually, I would prefer to have Rob Refsnyder or Garlick and $10M to spend on free agents it's not even close. Also, the retort that Larnach and Kirilloff were not on the opening day roster is an absolute failure to accept common sense. The team knew they were both ready and either one would be available for 90+% of the season.