Mike Sixel

Wow, Seth. That would be remarkable timing, imo, for any team, let alone the Twins. I can see Sano on that path, IF they move him to 1B, but I can't see it at 3rd. I assume Tonkin is a reliever in that scenario, meaning maybe even sooner, if they just leave him there.

Re-checked on the iPad last night, while not commenting on the vikings on another site.....I like it. So I retract that comment.

It would sure help if he could be a marginally decent starter for this team....

Hicks was not in the high minors last year, and Dozier, well, the jury is out on him. Gibson was out all last year. Hendriks could be a AAAA pitcher, but I still hold out hope he is a 5. Only Plouffe and Parmalee were in AAA/MLB and healthy last year, so I don't understand your point about last year at all. Heck, it is somewhat likely Gibson pitches less than a half year in the majors this year, so I'm not sure how much that helps this year (thought it surely helps next year's draft spot). At no point have I asked for Trout (as a matter of fact, I've said over and over again that I am not asking for that), I've stated over and over that if you won't sign free agents, that you need to be better at producing legit starters from your minors than other teams. And, the last few years, the Twins have not done that. No DH, 1B, C, 2B, SS, starting pitcher has come up from the minors (even as a backup) in how many years? The LFer is a FA, the CF is a AAAA player (until Hicks is up), the RF was a DH last year, and is an unknown this year. The 3B only played last year (they almost DFA'd him) because of ineffectiveness of their orignal plan (though I am a believer in Plouffe, and currently count that as the success last year). Diamond was a nice pickup, let's hope he continues to "over achieve" and be a number 3. I'd give them partial credit for that, but I'd consider him more of a FA than a player they developed in the minors. The improvement in the farm systems is driven by three things: 1. Bill Smith spent a lot of money overseas. I'm grateful, for that anyway, that he was the GM when these guys were available and you could spend whatever you want overseas. 2. Good trades, I hope, by Ryan last year. 3. Sucking badly and getting lots of picks last year. My point on Buxton is that people are giving Ryan all kinds of credit for that great pick, but that picking pretty much any player at that spot would have resulted in the same "credit" that the Buxton pick gets by people that rate systems. The rest of the picks are driven by not signing their own players to contracts and getting extra picks, and of sucking. In other words, it wasn't some great genius of picking Buxton that fixed the minors, as some on this board have claimed, but that if they had taken Buxtion, Zunino, Gausmann, Zimmer, they would still have had a good first pick in the draft. Any of us could have made that first pick, and been as right or wrong as the scouting director was, so far as we know today. Not sure how I'm shortchanging this year's system...."it's a talented system"....not sure where in that whole post I short change the system as it stands today.

great post Shane......

Summit is good beer. I endorse it.....

Given that most of these AAA guys are not really all that good as starters, why aren't more being turned into relievers that are cheap at this point? If they need to stretch back out due to injuries, oh well.

hate to see a talent like that off the roster, but they were NOT going to pay him top dollar. So, great value, imo. Now they need to pick well. I predict they deal one of those first rounders for a 2nd this year, and first next year.....

Mobile...which you may not have even changed.....

However the over under royals story is set up, my Android phone does not support the plug in and cannot open that story.

This continues to make my point, if they has taken any of the players taken after Buxton, their system would be ranked the same. IMO, the growth from the draft was about being awful the year before. It is a talented low minor league system, let's hope they beat the odds and all turn out.

Dudes, I work for a fortune 25 company, IE6 was the standard last year......I believe we skipped to 8 last year......yup, just checked....IE8 on my work computer....

Admittedly, I was sick all weekend, so my experience was likely influenced by that.....I promise to look again and comment.

Did you change the font? It looks different at work today.....if so, not a fan of the choice. It seems blocky to me. Me, i go straight to the forums most of the time. The new front page seems pretty cluttered on the iPad, frankly. The scrunched up forums section on the right just isn't that nice, imo. The old was much easier to read/see/find. Don't get me wrong, I love that you guys have this site up and running, and maybe I'll get used to the changes.....

Of course it matters where he goes, that way I do not need to read " he has never pitched above Aaron, of course he needs more seasoning". I expect him and May to be in AA, as AAA will be full of Gibson and about 8 AAAA pitchers.

272? That is pretty big for a baseball player.....how big was Frank Thomas, or other really big players/

That was my original idea.....

That seems to be the point people are missing, IF he's one of the 5 best starters, it is wasteful to have any innings not in the majors. If he's not, I don't care if it is EST or AAA where he gets up to speed. I just want him fully, 100%, ready for next year to pitch 200 innings give or take.....and I want him up here if he is deemed ready.

And here all I tried to do was indicate that not everyone hated every owner.....and then this broke out. Alas..... You want a list of public subsidies that get my dander up? This website can't hold that much content, frankly, and it touches on the no politics edge, so I'll just say, I am not a fan of most subsidies. I think they are generally a bad investment for the taxpayer. I actually have less issue with the stadium than many other subsidies.....I just think that if you are going to beg for one for a decade, you ought to then spend the extra income, rather than pocket it. If you don't want to spend it on the team, then pay back the taxpayers in the years you underspend.

Got it, thanks. Like I said, I do not think the spending influenced their draft at all. I think they picked the guys they wanted. As for the wilf post, I was just responding to the statement that people hate owners, I was talking about the Wilds, which did not in any way reflect on the Pohlads. It is like when you compliment person x, and person y takes it as a criticism of them. They have nothing to do with each other. Nothing at all.

Point of clarification, did they spend their draft allotment last year? I thought they did not. Not that it mattered, I don't think. I think nothing they did would have changed had they decided to spend it, just curious about the facts, that's all. I don't think, for example, they would have taken a different player later on, that needed more money....

He is a great example of "his stats are good, but maybe he's topped out. If so, we should trade him before everyone else finds out.....", I think. I hope I'm wrong, but he looks like a guy that is just good enough to be not quite good enough to start in the majors. Like I said, i hope I'm wrong.

I must have totally misinterpreted the point of your last sentence then, because it sure sounded negative when I read it.

I'd rather they concentrate on D and WR than anything else this year, assuming they keep Loadholt. Ideally, they'll keep Loadholt. Ideally, they'll keep Harvin, but I think he gets traded. I would consider taking a later 2nd this year, if it comes with a first next year. If Ponder stinks it up, having a high first and another first should get you to one of the elite QBs next year. If Ponder is good, then they can fill in DE and CB with the two picks next year.....which they'll need to do if they don't get a CB/S/DT/DE this year. Assuming spielman will not sign expensive FAs, there are OGs and DTs that could come in and start, and not break the bank. I think he goes that way, but lots of WRs are being re-signed right now, so that could be tough. I don't think any of the 2nd tier LBers are all that good. I don't think he'll spend the money on a top CB or S. If they lose Loadholt, I think they'll sign a 2nd tier OT. In the draft, DT and WR (if not elite at WR) is deep, so if they can trade down from the first pick to an early 2nd, and get a third or early pick next year, I'd do that. There are a coupld of players I'd stay at 23 for, but I think they'll be gone. The priority has to be DL, LB, WR.....they have one legit LB, and need at least one DT. They have one legit WR if they let Harvin go, maybe.

Great update, thanks Nick.