Major League Ready

I would not bet on us eating salary but we had different economic circumstances for most of our history. It’s not like Arizona getting a huge TV contract but we do have more financial resources than we did throughout our history. It would be nice to see that additional revenue used to get a good prospect in this situation.

It would sure be nice if something went right and Nolasco and/or Santana are great this month and one of them is traded by the deadline. For that matter, it would be just fine if they both got traded. Berrios would be here to stay. As long as I am wishing, let's hope they get a nice return on Nunez and Polanco gets a chance.

Thanks Seth. Palka is reported to have a strong arm where Walker is said to be suspect in that area. If he has decent speed he and takes decent routes he might be a big bat without the being a big defensive hole. It pained me to watch Delmon and I don't ever want to watch that again. I hope this guy turns out to be a surprisingly good transaction. His K rate is quite a bit less than Walker but it would be really encouraging to see him improve in that area in the next year.

How much if a liability is Palka defensively in the OF? I cant find a scouting report that is not 3 years old. Is he a DH / 4th outfielder at the ML level or can he play acceptable OF defense? Mauer has 2 year left. Maybe Palka spends next year in AAA and eventually replaces Mauer. Is the IF at the end of next year Sano / Vielma / Polanco / Palka? That could be good provided this came with good returns for Dozier and Nunez.

The Twins or any other team with a lot of young talent with any GM with an IQ above room temperature is not going to trade away their chance to be relevant for one superstar, even Trout. It is a good way to assure mediocrity or worse for a long period of time. To complain that our GM would not do it is to complain that we don't have a GM that would make this incredibly bad decision.

Sorry, I meant to quote the poster that said he did not want a soft tossing lefty in the pen. In other words, I too was thinking it screams long reliever. That's ok. Milone could provide some value in that role and it makes room for one of Meyer/Berrios/Duffey. Let's hope Nolasco continues to be great and makes himself marketable. As long as we are hoping. Let's hope a contender finds the need top add him and we actually get something for him. That makes room for 2 of Meyer/Berrios/Duffey.

Does it really matter how hard he throws if he is extremely effective during the first ABs?

I don't know if Sano has ever commented on his desire to play in the field and we would have to take whatever was said with a grain of PR salt. However, I would think that Sano and his representation would be against a strictly DH role. Players who can man a defensive position command more dollars and what player would prefer, especially with his athleticism wants to be just a DH. Point being that defying his wish to play in the field if it exists would be a good way too assure him leaving once he has the option.

Fair enough but what about the many other players that have benefited as have their teams by switching positions. This is a pretty common thing and I would guess just bet every MLB team has had a player that they decided just would not cut it at their intended position and then switched them at the major league level. Having said this, I think their is a pretty good chance this decision was a product of being at the bottom of the league in OPS last year as well as an unwillingness to accept this team had no real shot of winning the division

You speak of maximizing victories in #3 and then the future in #4. Quite often they don't go together. There are too many players to name that benefited greatly for a position change. Good thing KC's management was willing to experiment with Alex Gordon. Now, if they did this to accommodate Plouffe, that would be very short sighted. However, if they just did not believe Sano could stick at 3B, then this is all about the future and therefore a worthy experiment.

I guess the good news is that the average of the four would have Murphy's OPS to be 44 points higher than Suzuki and he should control the running game better.

It was very evident when he returned to the big club that his approach had improved a bunch. I hope he makes it impossible for them to send him to AAA and then plays well the rest of the season. It will make things very interesting with Mauer too. Vargas looks so good ... Maybe he has his eye on playing 3B (just kidding).

You would have to believe that Arizona dangled the same package that they offered Atlanta for Shelby Miller to the Mets and they obviously were not able to trade for one of the Mets elite SPs. Is it worth giving up that kind of haul or more to get one of the Mets SPs? Would we become a serious contender or would we even be the favorite to win our division? Their asking price starts with Sano or Buxton + Kepler + someone like Burdi.

Wow! He looks great. I will be pulling for him but they don't really have a spot for him even if they trade Plouffe.

I was really high on Rosario after seeing him in the Arizona Fall League Championship and his defense was a breath of fresh air after watching the likes of Willingham and Young in LF. However, his plate discipline has to get much better. I drives me crazy when a hitter can't layoff stuff that is not even close to the strike zone. He is going have to get much better where this is concerned or he is never going to be above average offensively. The flip side is that if this skill improves. he will be a very valuable piece. The potential of a Buxton / Kepler / Rosario outfield is really exciting. How good defensively would that OF be? We should get a good look at the trio the 2nd half of the season and maybe earlier.

What Mike said ...

I am betting that Duffey gets the 5th spot and Milone gets traded. Milone should have value with 3 cost controlled years. No way they trade Duffey given his performance and years of control. BTW ... I would not bet much. It's just a hunch.

Basically, Completely irrelevant to the concept of sunk costs unless he had an injury that was certain to prevent him from performing for the duration of the contract. Where it becomes mercy is if the probability of him failing becomes almost certain. This is literally finance 101 and it used incorrectly on a regular basis by people insisting they have a better idea of how to manage contracts worth 10s of millions and assets worth 100s of millions than the Twins organization. The more salient point here is that this is representative of why many here have such a hard time understanding why the FO does or does not do something. Fans expect the FO to have disregard for profitability, literally. One poster put it as they want them to spend until hurts. This is just incredibly Naïve. The spending philosophies suggested here would be laughed at any organization in this country with a 9 digit revenue. I mean really, just tossing $25 million when there is a reasonable chance to salvage value is a ridiculous premise that is a product of fanaticism. Disregard for the organizations financial well-being and the desire to make every decision as if our window to win is closing is the root of most of the discontent with the FO here. Of course, having partial information is ever present as well.

I guess it’s a matter of opinion but I don’t see this as a nit-pick. It’s a simple concept. The money is by no stretch of the imagination a sunk cost in reality but it is sunk in the minds of some fans because they would just prefer the Twins write it off and move on. This is the absolute opposite view point of those who are responsible for the decisions being made. It should be no surprise that those who have disregard for the financial health of the organization are at odds with the people the Pohlad’s made responsible for running their business. So, is it a nit-pick or is the very basis for the discontent displayed here on a regular basis.

The definition is not in the least bit abstract and it is really not complicated at all. Sunk cost are previous expenditures or in some cases payments yet to be made with no chance of being avoided. That is clearly not the case here. If Nolasco rebounds which is certainly plausible, Nolasco’s will be tradeable and therefore his future salary will not be recognized. The cost is not sunk. Please explain the baseball definition of sunk costs for me because it sounds to me like the baseball definition is when the fans would rather you just write it off because that option suits them better. It just boggles my mind that people can say just write off what is the equivalent to 400 years of income for the average individual.

I think you need to look up the definition of sunk costs. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sunkcost.asp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_costs http://www.accountingtools.com/questions-and-answers/what-is-a-sunk-cost.html

Bingo, this is the heart of the problem. Until Nolasco is gone, there is one rotation spot for Duffey, Milone, and Berrios. They are not sending Hughes to the pen, at least not yet. We will see how serious Hughes is about his performance by what kind of shape he shows up in for spring training. If I were Ryan, I would tell him show up in shape or expect to be in the bullpen and May goes to the rotation. Was Nolasco’s poor performance in his age 31-32 seasons a product of decline or was injury? IDK but most posters here say something along the lines of just eat the $25M owed to Nolasco or that it is sunk cost. It’s not sunk because they could get a major portion of it back if Nolasco performs well the first couple months of the season. If Nolasco performs as he did the 4 years prior to coming to the Twins, not only would they be able to move him but get an asset back in trade. Fans expect their team to have utter disregard for money. They are a business for god sake. Suggest this theme to the business you work for and see how you are received. The persistent insistence that money should not matter is incredibly Naïve when applied so generally. We have 3 players who have starting jobs based on salary as opposed to performance. They are Nolasco, Hughes, and Mauer. They are going to get played the first 2-3 months of the season. My hope is that the start of this season is their last chance. Mauer gets a bench role if he does not improve. Put Park there and replace the DH role. Maybe we get lucky with Arcia. Hughes to the pen if he does not perform and Nolasco either to the pen or cut. Keep Milone or trade him, IDK. I would be inclined to trade him a reliever which should not be a problem. By the AS break, the rotation is probably Santana/Hughes/Gibson/Duffey/Berrios. It might be a good idea to keep Milone around unless you believe Rodgers and Meyer provide adequate depth or perhaps this is part of the reason Dean was put on the 40 man. The OF is Buxton/Rosario/Kepler. The IF is Mauer or Park/Dozier/Escobar/Sano. The DH is either Park, Arcia, or Vargas. By mid-season you add a couple of the power arms we have in the minors and that’s a team with great potential. I will also enjoy watching this come together more than watching the 83-85 win team that is the likely result of following any misguided plan where we sell the farm to compete this year. Plouffe is obviously traded in this scenario. This is all very plausible and the team is finally positioned to contend once these young players mature a bit. They also should have picked up additional assets for Plouffe and Nolasco if we are so fortunate as to have Ricky return to form. If you are wrapped up in being in from to contend opening day you are destined for disappointment. Berrios and Kepler are starting the year at AAA and Buxton will likely be there as well. If you want to get there over the course of the year we are in good shape.

I hope you are right and it sure seems like a better path than what is being floated.

It is also possible that over the course of the last couple years they have come to the conclusion that Sano not going to make it as a ML 3B or they think he is suspect so now might be the time to try this experiment. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of Sano to the outfield but like always we just don't have all the information.

All very good questions. I would add ... what would of the detractors had said if the Twins would have done nothing until now and chosen Bethencourt? I am willing to bet that would have been deemed incredibly incompetent.