dougkoebernick

Thanks for your initial post - good stuff. I think he makes a significant impact, both defensively and offensively, and maybe more so defensively to start. I can't wait!

"What might be most impressive about this drastic improvement is that the Twins have done it without their big-money free agent signing (who will enter the fold next month), and without their top pitching prospect (who, by many accounts, is big-league ready)." Who do you consider their top pitching prospect?

While I hope Hicks hits like a corner outfielder I've been thinking the same as you and that he would be the 4th outfielder and Rosario would be in RF.

My prediction is that within the next 18 months Nolasco gets traded to a National League team. In fact if he pitches good this year and the Twins are out of it by the deadline I think he will be gone.

As always, Seth makes the most sense in summarizing this move by the Twins. I couldn't agree more. The one thing I'll throw out is that my Vikings have a child abuser and now my Twins have a homophobe. This doesn't impact the way he plays but if by chance there are any gay players in the clubhouse it could make things a bit uncomfortable. I've always enjoyed watching Torii play and over the years we have had Torii posters in our house but I sure wish he would keep his mouth quiet once in awhile. Even though he has the right to say what he believes he does make me cringe.

Great analysis - the only thing I would quibble with is this line when discussing Molitor: "There’s media relations and public relations and front office communication and clubhouse relations… and… and…" I think that a guy who has been interviewed probably 20,000 times (just one guy's guess) is probably going to be okay on the media and public relations areas - and he has also been involved in numerous clubhouses over the years and I can't ever think of someone who didn't show respect for what he had to offer. My vote is to go with Molitor and make Mientkiewicz part of the staff. Thanks for the great article!

I think it will be incredibly interesting to watch the evolving of Joe in the next couple of years. Hopefully he will take a positive step forward as the concussion issue gets further in his rear view mirror, a la Justin Morneau. If not, the Twins will just have to ride out the contract and be willing to sit him should better players step forward at 1B.

Hard to believe he is only 27 - seems like he has been around forever

While I understand what you are saying and think there is some merit to exploring what you could get for him, I hope he is the second baseman for the next five years for the Twins.

I would actually like to keep Suzuki and Hughes and extend Suzuki's contract for another year or two. As much as I like Duensing (being a fellow Husker and all) I think that they should look at dealing him if they fall out of contention as well.

Here's an excellent article about Nick Burdi who is getting ready to pitch in the College World Series in Omaha - http://www.omaha.com/sports/cws/hard-throwing-closer-burdi-helps-cardinals-take-flight/article_4d0decba-9182-5362-8a21-9b6f8dfb9bb0.html.

At the all-star break the Twins' winning percentage was a measly .423. However, until the current losing streak they had won at a .555 clip since the break which gave us all a little hope. In some ways it is like deja vu though because if you look back at 2011 and 2012 the Twins also came out after the all-star break and played better for a short term than they did before the break (.529 in '11 and .466 in '12). Each time they hit a wall at around the 50 win mark and struggled mightily for any wins after that time. In 2011 they went 13-43 (.232) down the stretch after being 50-56 (.471) before driving their Yugo into the ditch. In 2012 they went 16-31 (.340) down the stretch after being at 50-65 (.434) before their losing ways prevailed. So here we are in 2013. As stated above, the Twins went into the all-star break winning at a .423 clip and then had a nice run where they won 15 of 27 games (.555 clip). They have since lost four straight. The question for everyone out there is, "Will they go in the tank the rest of the season like in 2011 and 2012 or do you think they can pull out of the short tailspin they are in?" The second question is whether or not this is reflective upon Ron Gardenhire's managerial skills. It is one thing to say that he doesn't have good enough players but if a team hits a wall at similar points for three straight years and does a nose dive I would argue this is worthy of further discussion and closer examination. I like Gardenhire and won't ignore his entire body of work but if this happens again I would likely be okay with a managerial change because I think it does say something (though I'm not quite smart enough to say what). Thoughts??