Major League Ready

Non-profit organizations aside, EVERY business has a salary cap. Detroit operated for a handful of years with little regard for the bottom line. Every other pro sports franchise operates within a budget. The position the Twins are somehow different is an exceptionally simplistic view of the world. I have posted Forbes annual recaps here more than once it is was really quite clear the Twins spending policies were in line with the rest of MLB . There is an awful lot of completely unsubstantiated rhetoric around this position. I sure would like to see someone support this position with some form of documentation for once.

I think you might want to reconsider that logic. There is plenty to complain about but that pick is not among them. Literally every team in MLB passed on Judge, including the Yankees. They picked Eric Jagielo who does not look like he will ever play in the majors with the 26th pick and took judge 32nd. Kohl Stewart was a consensus top 10 even top 5 pick. To suggest it was incompetent to pick Stewart ovber Judge is to say that everyone involved in that draft for every MLB team was incompetent. The pick I hated was Tyler Jay. Benintendi and Happ were picked right behind him.

That strike out would have only been the 2nd out but its hard to argue that the Twins chances would have been much better had the proper call been made. I am ready for electronic balls and strikes. It's just too much to expect a human to make calls with precision on a 95mph pitch with movement and the impact of bad calls is significant. It also will eliminate the time guys spend standing outside the box muttering after a call they disagree with.

I think they can do better too but Ben Revere managed to find work at the ML level for a long time with the same profile.

To give some innings to the guys that were called up. The six innings were plenty in terms of continuing to reinforce the changes he has made in a game situation.. At 17-0, why not save his arm for the playoff run.

Are you really suggesting that it is not advantageous for professional athletes to be in the best physical condition possible? Baseball players can get away with. Golfers can get away with it. You dont see any overweight soccer players because they cant get away with. How many elite NBA players are overweight? I think we can say with a high degree of certainty Sano would be more agile at 3B and faster on the basis if he were 25lbs lighter. Would he come back form injury faster? Probably. I dont know if it would many any difference at all in his hitting. Probably not and that's why he can stay in the ML. While it's hard to quantify in exact terms or measurements. We can also say with a fair amount of certainty being in better physical condition would extend his career.

I am ecstatic Sano is on our team and I have always been in the camp he is a great athlete and that other sports have very big when with exceptional athleticism is just much more rare in baseball. The bias angle at the core of your post is dead on. It is all to common for conclusions to be a product of an already held point of view rather than looking at the facts objectively. There is a lot of that involved when it comes to Sano. The detractors to appreciate his athleticism and his accomplishments at such a young age. The athleticism is on display and the stats speak to his talent. On the other hand, the vast majority of ABs he refuses to apply any sort of two strike approach and he strikes out on a lot of bad pitches. He is a greater hitter but he is still along ways from being comparable to Cabrera. He ranks 60th in WAR and 37 in OPS. Good but he has significantly more potential. Altuve's OPS is 120 points higher and Bellinger is 108 points higher. Harper, Votto and Stanton 175-200 pts higher. There are 34 players with one home run or that have more home runs. His numbers are very good but not elite. The only thing all say about the weight is that there is absolutely no way anyone could argue he could lose 20 pounds quite easily. This can make him a target with the media because modest effort and reasonable dietary discipline and he is there.

This year was setting up for a complete bullpen makeover of young power arms. I am not going to complain that we are in contention and can't just roll with the young guys. The injuries really suck. However, I still think the bullpen is going to be a real strength by the end of next year. Hildy looks like a fixture in the pen for several years. Rodgers has been quite good with the exception of a couple weeks where he just was not effective but he seems to have what it takes to be part of our BP for several years. We just need a couple of the numerous other prospects to step up the remainder of this year and the first half of next year. The only place where we might be short is LH relievers but that's generally the case. Maybe Turly could be good in that role and we do have a handful of other LH relief prospects. It will be interesting to see what the BP looks like at the end of next year. I am glad they are finding a way to give the Slegers of our organization a chance. He looked like he has the potential to be part of the solution. It would be a huge boost if one of these guys step up. I have enjoyed watching Colon but he is a very short-term boost. One of these AAAA guys outperforming their projection would really help 2018 and beyond. I would like to see them cut Colon and give those starts to someone who will be here next year.

I don't know how you can possibly assign 100% to anything when you were not there. Buxton is suppose to be the field general and it appeared he did not assert himself. If he did not assert himself properly, at a minimum he contributed. If he failed completely or called very late, he is the primary contributor to the collision given it is his role to control those plays. We applaud Buxton's all out efforts but when Grossman does it he is a madman? Seems like a double standard out just flat out extreme bias to me.

I will have to say that there is a certain element that should be a familiar approach in terms of management style. However, what do we hear all of the time from athletes and sports executives ... It's a business. Players go wherever they can make the most money and fame. We also don't release family members. At least, not with the same ambivalence as we do athletes. So, we agree to some extent. However, in terms of the general premise here. We will have to agree to disagree. The number of direct reports has no relevance to this discussion in my experience. I have had full P&L responsibility for businesses of various sizes (up to $1B) and provided consulting services for roughly 100+ organizations. Management practices, and expectations, change the bigger numbers and the greater exposure. IMO, this perspective is a product of the love of the game as opposed to experience.

This is not only a different context, it’s a different discussion. The number of direct reports is completely irrelevant to the question of … Is the Minnesota Twins Organization more like a small business or a large / high profile business. If I manage a small group at Exxon, is that like a small business. Perhaps you meant to make a different point but the size of the group managed is simply not relevant to the stature or type of business.

Your family business is not constantly scrutinized by the media and your decisions are also not discussed on the internet by thousands of people who think they know how to run the business better than you do. You don't have public figures for employees and I doubt the minimum salary of your employees is in excess of $500K. There is nothing about managing a major league professional sports team that is more like a small, family owned business.

Could not agree more. Why make a move with significant potential to create a problem. If they really want Jake Mauer, craft a plan to put him in that seat in 2019.

I am somewhat on the fence. The reason I am on the fence is because the they have considerably outperformed projections and have a great track win percentage in one run games. They have also completely turned the defense around with the basically the same cast of players. So, to say he costs them more games than he earns them is a very suspect conclusion. The facts certainly do not support this conclusion.

I really enjoy watching him pitch. It's nice to see someone throw it right where they intend to most of the time. Let's see how he looks at the end of the year. A 1 year contract would be just fine with me if he looks anything like he did last night.

Very good point but at the same time competent management utilizes odds and probabilities to guide their decision making process. Bob did a great job with those facts of illustrating that this team really is not a contender, They are simply in a very weak division. Of course, run differential is just a quantification of what we all know to be true about this team. We have a well below average SP staff and a bullpen with significant holes. We have an average offense and above average defense. We don't really need run differential to understand these are not the characteristics of a contender and making the playoffs is not very probable. Winning a series is real long shot. Mortgaging the future would be by definition incompetent on the part of management. Therefore, if anyone is angry that the Twins are not mortgaging the future, they are made that our new management is not acting in an incompetent manner.

How much time are they giving Garver in the outfield and how is his defense? If he is serviceable as a 4th outfielder, he would be a nice addition next year as back-up catcher / OFer and RH bat of the bench. Might even consider trading Grossman at the deadline if we received a decent offer.

I did not bother to hit like because "like" is not adequate". The view we should buy because we are in contention is a very parochial point of view. Look at the various predictions of the odds of the Twins winning the division of for that matter a wildcard, keeping in mind that winning the wild card means a 50/50 shot at a playoff series. Then, even if we made the playoffs, this team is not a threat to go deep in the playoffs. Therefore mortgaging or even missing the opportunity to add the pieces we need to be a contender is foolish. If they can get a premium for Santana, Dozier or Kintzler, I hope these guys have the stones to do whats right to actually build a contender instead of the pretender we have now. Pay the money to replace ES with free agent that will be here as this team develops into a true contender.

I think McKay wanted a hot being a two-way player and Tampa promised that opportunity which lead to him declining the Twins offer. We know about assumptions but this one does not seem to far fetched. I wish they would have let him take a shot at it. If it works out, he is a tremendous asset. If not, you would think that would be clear to McKay as well and he accepts focusing on pitching. I know its not done but that does not mean it can't be done. Mauer only has one year left. Hughes and Perkins are also coming off the payroll. They can afford a FA starter but we need to be realistic. SPs are in short supply and we probably can't outbid the big markets for the very elite but I do think a Santana type FA can be acquired. Let's hope they can come up with a good FA because we have nothing proven behind Santana and his contract is done the end of 2018. I guess we should add his contract to the contracts coming off the books.

It seems a fair assumption they believed Leach would be taken before 76. They seemed to have executed their strategy quite well. They got a guy presumed to be gone at 76 and by taking Lewis were able to draft Enlow how looks like a darn good prospect. Yet, people are complaining about how they went about. How do you complain with a fraction of the information, especially when it all worked out quite well? It cracks me up when people think they are just being cheap. How hard is it to figure out that they have a pool of X dollars and they are trying to get the most value out of those dollars. Geeez. Levine has been clear about this leading up to the draft. It's not just about the first pick. When people like Callis praise the Twins draft, the detractors should consider perhaps they are not being realistic or don't fully understand the challenges of this process.

Did you see his face when he was selected. He was selected lower than he expected and as a 1B. He looked like he was not happy with the way it played out. .

> Yankees strongly disagree with you. (see 2016) > Astro's traded every veteran player they had of value while building their system. Seems to have worked out for them. > Detroit would not agree. They took the opportunity to get a nice return for Price > Billy Bean definitely strongly disagrees. Over the past 20 years, Oakland has the best record of any team in the bottom two-thirds of the league in terms of revenue. Beane traded some very good players at the height of their value. This team might win the division but so what. This team is not a contender. Weak starting SP and a very suspect bullpen. I hope the FO does not take a short-term approach because we have sucked for so long. No way to we compete in the playoffs this year even if we get there so keeping Santana would be all about 2018. I would much rather have a couple of high upside prospects to add to our system. Those kinds of moves keep you in contention for a long time. This team will be a contender but not until we go through the process of bringing all of the SP prospects and BP prospects through the system. It would also be a huge boost if we go get a FA SP in 2018 or even 2019. If they go get a FA + Berrios + Mejia, Wright? + Gonsalves + Romero + Thorp and a couple others should produce a rotation that can contend. With all of the power arms in the system we should be able to build one heck of a BP.

It tells them that the FO is not living in a fantasy world and understands this is not a contender and that you are trying to build a contender. It's says this front office is not going to settle for a pretender because it will put a reasonable number of butts in seats. It tells them you are willing to give up a couple wins this year and next to build a team that can contend for the next decade. It tells them that you realize until this young core gets some experience they are not going to be real contenders (see KC). It tells them that the FO realizes they need to acquire more top of the rotation talent if this team is going to be a true contender. Man, I hope someone wants Santana bad enough to trade a couple of good SP prospects for him.

I would love to read those headlines because it would mean had excelled.

I would think he goes to the highest bidder. This is probably his one chance to cash-in. He is a catcher entering his age 30 season and his career earnings are a touch over $12M. Pay him a premium. Cover it by cutting Plouffe if you can't trade him. Platoon him with Murphy until Garver or Turner are ready. Of course, there is always a chance a preferred team just matches the bid until it gets to a point where its stupid to go any higher.