Lefty74

The big "if" is the assumption DeLeon is having a lot of MLB success with the Dodgers. Reading all the fangraphs articles and seeing DeLeon's MLB pitching line to date he is no sure thing. He may be a star and he may be something less. Dozier is a proven star, controllable for 2 years and based upon track record is more likely to success than DeLeon in 2017. The Twins deserve multiple solid prospects for Dozier, not just DeLeon.

Yikes! The comment about Twins winnng 10 more games next year due to current talent improving concerns me. Is the goal to win 69 games in 2017, is that progress? I would consider 69 wins a really awful year.

In life perception is reality. My perception of Sano from 2016 was that he did not prepare to play RF (not discounting he should never have been put in that position), was overweight, had a lowlight reel of booted balls and lack of effort in RF and 3B, seemed more interested in yukking it up with opposing players when the Twins were getting drilled than showing any sort of competitive spirit and seemed to regress at the plate taking some horrible swings on pitches he laid off of in 2015. I think he is very immature and doesn't understand what it means to be a professional. Compare him to Correa, Lindor and many other young players who seem to prepare at a very different level than Sano. It seems to me that 2017 will be very telling. If he comes in overweight and unprepared for 3B it does not bode well for the future.

Talking about Gavin Lux......see his name wasn't in my prior post.

Very solid player with professional approach as an 18 year old. Saw him play several games in Arizona Rookie League this summer and he stood out. Took great at bats and while he had some errors at SS he has the tools to be a solid MLBer IMHO.

Couldn't agree more. These people have no reason to show bias against the Twins. They see all the teams prospects and evaluate them based upon stats and evaluations done by many professional scouts. We should be worried! Hardly any big game changers in the the group. More than ever we need to count on Buxton, Sano, Berrios to become stars quickly or we are in for a long road back.

Great news. Torii has a 1 in a million personality. He can motivate with a smile and knows when to give someone a pat on the back or a kick in the butt. I think that last year a few kicks in the butt may have been in order. Too many younger players that seemed to be adrift.

I think this move was due to Levine's comment about too many corner position players. Lots of guys with power potential who strike out a bunch. There is room for only so many of those players on an MLB roster and we have plenty.

Think the world of Trevor but fully understand and respect the thinking of Falvey/Levine. He will not be enough of a difference maker in the near term and Twins are building for the future. I'm more impressed with moving Centeno to AAA and letting Walker go. Neither will ever be a part of a contending team. I know lots of fans like Walker's homeruns, but his history of SO's is off the charts. Centeno is a pitchers worst friend. He appeared to be wearing boxing gloves behind the plate. I've been amazed at how little emphasis we have paid on catchers since Mauer. His concussion issues have done more to doom the Twins than any other factor. He was an outstanding receiver and hitter. Since he was moved out we have really struggled.

Very much against trading Dozier. Now at 40 HR's and 94 RBI's. Where do we expect the infield production to come from if he goes? Dozier makes up for Mauer's lack of slugging at first base. Looked late last week and we had a player in center field who we believe is having a horrible year, Buxton at 28 RBI and Mauer who has played the entire year at 1B with 48 RBI. Keep Dozier, hope that Sano's production increases to 35+ dingers and we will see more wins. If someone wants to give us a #1 pitcher then go for a Dozier trade, but otherwise......no!

It's always interesting when low 90's velocity is considered substandard. I just looked at 2015 Fangraphs data for starting pitchers. They list 77 with enough innings to qualify under their classification. Right in the middle sit pitchers like Bumgarner, Greinke, Gibson, Lester at average fastball velo of 92. As Twins fans we are enamored with velo since we haven't seen much success with pitch to contact. If Gonsalves throws 91+ with command of multiple pitches and deception his stuff should be more than good enough.

I guess the real point here is where have the Twins made a great pick in this timeframe? It points out the need to take a fresh look, clean house in the front office and try something else. In particular the poor pitching drafts are killing this team!

It seems that nothing fits together with this team. So many positions where we are incredibly weak: catcher, starting pitching, relief pitching, cf, lf, ss and I'm probably missing some. Chemistry and players out of position (Mauer 1B, Sano RF) and you'd have a tough time finding a position where a Twin's player would be in top 10 much less top 5 in MLB. I've had season tickets since 2010, however am very close to saying "no More" as we heads toward 2017. The pre season was a mirage--it never felt right to sign Park, then push Sano to OF while we have Mauer hitting for no power at 1B. Just a very poorly constructed team with little hope to resolve in short term IMHO. Berrios, Buxton, etc as saviors is wishful thinking at this point. Will Berrios be a very solid MLB pitcher I'd say yes, but not a 1 and probably not a 2. Buxton could be solid, but appears will be exceptional defensively and good at best offensively. Hope everyone exceeds current course and speed, but I need to see proof soon!

Our son pitches for a D1 team on the east coast. We were at his weekend games 2 weeks ago and had an interesting discussion with a guy sitting next to us. Through the game he came to learn we were from Minnesota and near the end he asked where we lived. When we told him he said he was originally from Iowa. I asked why he was at the game as he never said a word while we sat by him. He told us he was an ex AAA umpire who was hired by the conference to evaluate the performance of the game umps. Not so much balls/strikes or calls but rather how they hustled, kept the pace of the game, etc. Anyway we talked about a lot of things and I asked him about concussions and how they related to umpires. He told me that many umpires get concussions and that at the lower levels they try to hide them as MLB will toss you to the side very quickly if you have those sorts of issues. This umpire, in addition to working evaluating conferences is a part of a group that has developed and is marketing a catcher/umpire face mask that lessens the impact of foul balls. I asked him why everyone wasn't using it and he laughed. Seems major league catchers get between $80-$150k per year for wearing Wilson, Under Armour, etc. Tyler Flowers is currently the only MLB player using it and he gave up $ to do so. The ex ump gave me the website and I took a look at it. Very impressive and If my son was a catcher I'd look at this sort of product. Anything to keep them healthy long term. For anyone interested the site is force3progear.com. I really enjoyed talking with the ex ump and wished I had time to have a couple of beers with him. Lots of good stories in a short period of time and I'm sure I only scratched the surface!

I would do the Gibson deal in a minute. I believe his is/will be a very solid #3 and many teams would have interest if he goes to FA. Would not do Plouffe's deal. Like him a lot however we seem to have plenty of pieces that could work at 3B if he were to leave.

Personally I do not like the trade. While it was a small sample size it appeared that a switch flipped inside Hicks late in the year. He carried himself differently, took very good AB's, seemed focused and started to realize his potential. I'm very concerned that we traded him just as he turned the corner and that the trade is going to turn out one sided--the wrong way! Time will tell and hope Murphy is better than forecast because I think Hicks will be a very good player for years to come.

If Joe is not able to either get over his concussion issues or develop a better workout regimen to improve performance in 2015 what should Molitor do? Personally very appreciative of what Joe did earlier in his career, but OBP not withstanding it is very difficult to play him at 1B hitting .267 w 9 home runs. Is Plouffe more valuable? Move Sano to 1b? Obviously the contract is huge but let's face it Twins are eating Nolasco's and maybe the answer is to platoon Joe?

I believe Gardy will be replaced. The Twins are in the entertainment business and the fans are suffering from serious fatigue. Whether or not Gardy is the problem isn't the point. The Twins need to show they understand losing has consequences. Gardy is in the same position as the CEO of a public company that has been losing money for years. Often times they are replaced to appease shareholders and to shake things up. As a Twins season ticket holder I want to see if a new manager can make a difference. It may not, but we won't know unless we try.

Strange post......Gibson is the least of our troubles. .500 pitcher this year, ERA right around 4.00 and lowest BAA of starters. I like Deduno, but don't believe he would be swapping spots with Gibson anytime soon. If he stay healthy it looks like Gibson will be a solid 3-4 starter for years to come. Not a 1 or 2, but solid.

I am in the camp that believes the concussion issue is lingering. With that said, I have to believe the Twins have done extensive work trying to figure that out--Joe is the teams highest paid asset. The fact they haven't said anything could mean the Docs are saying he's good to go. Most concerning to me are the strikeouts and what appears to be an unwillingness on Joe's part to make pitchers pay for throwing strike 1 right down the middle of the plate. He's 6'5" 225 and he can't turn on an inside fastball and drive it out of the park? The shift has hurt him a lot, but I think he needs to modify his game plan before he'll see better results.

Blake attended Eden Prairie HS and now plays for Maryland. Outstanding SS and competitor. Played on EP's Legion World Series Champions team in 2011 and was named MVP of the tournament. Great pick!

I agree with everything you say. Some guys seem to be able to throw 120+ pitches every game and get stronger. I always say the human body is a miracle and trying to make connections between 2 people and injuries is so difficult. It was kind of funny to talk with Altchek and have him ask if I played golf, after which he demonstrated lag by taking a golf swing without a club. I thought if he doesn't know what causes these injuries then we are a ways from getting answers.

The whole TJ issue seems to be a mystery, even to those who perform the surgery. Last week I had a chance to meet and talk with Dr. David Altchek for a few minutes. Altchek performed surgery on Sano, Santana and tons of other MLB guys. He said he was on a panel on MLB network the previous day with Costas, Kaat, Smoltz and Verducci talking about TJ. He said Smoltz was very much against blaming it on pitch counts. Altchek's personal opinion is specialization and kids throwing at early ages off a mound and with radar guns logging speed. He said kids will tend to overthrow due to the guns and that the mound creates a tremendous amount of lag in the elbow which multiples the forces on the joint. He thinks these 2 things cause damage over time and believes that in youth baseball the mound should be removed. There is also a lot of tracking being done by Boyds World and Baseball Prospectus. They track Pitcher Abuse Points (PAP) for college and professional pitchers. The basic premise is that when college or pro pitchers exceed a threshold of around 125 pitches they are in greater danger of injury--in particular if they exceed it frequently. I haven't studied their conclusions in detail, however they do seem to have data supporting the theory that high pitch counts tie to problems for many pitchers.

I agree with your comments about weightlifting. We have a son pitching in college and the training they do is incredible. He's gained 25 lbs in 1.5 years and most of it is due to pitching specific lifting. They do not focus on heavy lifting, but rather improving their explosiveness. This leads to the additional strain and as stated in the SI article, you never know when something is going to give. The pitchers or yesteryear were, for the most part, not allowed to do any sort of lifting.

Shane, I agree that winning trumps all, however everything we hear says the Twins clubhouse is a morgue. With the 162 game grind you need players who can pick others up, provide vocal leadership and in general make 1+1=3. I think today's Twins have none of that. Just too many passive/introverted players.