Champuckett

I like the idea of starting Nolasco in the pen, with incentive to earn his way to the starting rotation. He thinks he is the real deal, prove it tough guy. It sort of did temporary wonders for Pelfrey as he seemed to have a fire lit under his behind for the first half of 2015. Nolasco seems to be an even hotter head than Pelfrey, so maybe this will fire him up to give him something he hasn't had since joining our team: motivation. Since it's only my wish for that to happen, it's likely he ends up as the 5th starter due to paycheck priorities. I don't think the Twins have enough of a spine to demote a whiny brat down to the bullpen, that has done nothing positive for this team since joining, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Others may be concerned about defense regarding this article and Sano in general. That's not the focus of my concern. He may be just fine defensively for all we know due to his incredible athleticism. The focus is what playing an outfield position is going to do to a big man like Sano. I'm concerned about losing the potential offensive productivity due to injury and fatigue and the over-managing, over-manipulation of the players, in spite of these players already doing well at certain positions. Mauer was moved with the idea that playing catcher was too hard on his body, but he has had by far his worst seasons offensively since moving to 1B full time. They gambled on this one and they were wrong. Santana is a completely different case, and you are correct that his natural position was SS, but he was plugged into CF due to waiting for Buxton and Hicks being unreliable at the position. Santana flourished once he emerged from the minor leagues, but went into the crapper offensively as soon as he was moved back to his "natural" position. They could have left him in the outfield, where he was doing amazing, but they didn't, and now he is struggling to get a spot on the team. There is no way to know for sure what would have happened with Mauer if he had stayed at catcher or if Santana had stayed in the outfield. All we have to go on is what has happened, and in both cases, it has been bad news.

Professional athletes typically are egocentric, self-involved, and don't have the slightest idea about what they are talking about, but get asked questions constantly by the media. With that said, Ortiz makes a point that at least to me, is common sense and does not take much thought or debate in one's head. Why put your big, potential all-star, future of the franchise, best slugger we have had in decades, suddenly in a different position? Why risk this? There are other players that would have made better sense playing in that spot. Putting the biggest guy on the team, in a run heavy position, comparatively with infield slots, seems to be stretching things into surreal territory. It's nice to see he is up for the challenge and has not complained since being moved there. If a man does not complain, however, it does not magically justify the move. We have had 2 other large scale moves in recent times and both have had abysmal results: Mauer to 1B and Santana to SS.

I think it just comes down to this. TR is amazing at spotting talent, drafting, building up a fantastic farm system, and overall redirecting a team that is going nowhere, to being prominent again. He has now done this twice. Franchises like the Pirates and Royals who struggled for decades would have given anything to have a GM like this ages ago. He has a lot of value in that regard and I will personally always be grateful to him for doing this. What he is not so good at, is making important major decisions on a bigger market team that has money to spend, players to buy in free agency, and making key trades with players when they have maximum trade value. Where would we have been going into the 1991 season if we had not traded our ace Frank Viola for a bunch of mediocre players and unknowns? Who knows, but we did it, and the rest is history. Crazy trades are apart of this industry and can make or break a team, but playing it safe and not having any participation in this sense will certainly not give you any reward, because you never took any risk. He would be better remaining in the scouting department, and as personal counsel to whoever our GM is when we are in the process of drafting or scouting Hispanic and Asian countries.

Yeah, this off-seasons trades/transactions leaves me with uttering nothing more than a simple "huh?". He didn't do severe damage to the club like bringing in a bunch of speedy, .175 light hitting outfielders that are prototypical Gardy Guys or trading away some sorely needed power bats for 88mph max fastball pitch to contact bullpen help. So you have to give him that. Instead we got pretty much nothing. Plouffe was likely at his maximum value this offseason. As sad as it would be to see him go since he had been one of our biggest offense contributors the last few years, Sano coming in at 3B made sense to part with Plouffe while he still had trade value. Didn't happen. Badly needed bullpen arms and some legitimate aces in the starting rotation. Easier said than done, I guess, with the starting pitching market being as expensive as it is, but doing nothing will never help you achieve your goals. Opted for "hoping for the best" strategy with the same guys that gave us a mediocre run in the first half and then a pitiful second half. Oh well, same crap, different year. Guess that's why I love these guys and will always be a fan, cause the going is never easy for us. Going to be tuning in having a blast watching them and appropriately feeling like crap halfway through the season when I'm asking myself, "it sure seems like they could have done more in the offseason, what happened?!"

I hope now, that Mauer has spoken up about this, that we can move on. There were many people making excuses for him left and right about his decline over the last 5 years. And there were also plenty that were bashing him nonstop about his work ethic and whatever else they could think of. The man just owned up to fact that he has a problem. Good for him. Now I hope we can get the support he needs to correct or treat the issues he has been dealing with. Maybe they won't be able fix his issues, and he will never recover to his former self. I hope he does, for the sake of the team and his own self.

Last start as a Twin? Last start in his major league career.

Joe Mauer is not singlehandedly at fault for the Twins poor play the last 4 seasons and mediocre play this season. I think we can all agree with this. I think we can also agree that being a starting member of the team, he does partly make contributions to either our successes or our failures. Being a first basemen, there is a certain amount of expected power and general offensive ability at the plate. Making up nearly 1/4th of the payroll is not insignificant either. All of these points combined are where the concern comes in. He is hitting nowhere near the level he did up to and during that stellar 2009 season. At least some of us would like to know why. This thread tries to pinpoint that. Does his lack of training mean that that this is the definitive reason behind what's going on? Who knows, but at least we can discuss what has happened here. Mauer has had the owner, multiple GM's, multiple managers, and fellow players defend him any time he is even slightly criticized. This is to be expected for the most part, but what's unusual is the fans, who generate revenue that makes this team possible, do the same thing. Not all, but a pretty sizable amount. Why is this? Criticism and discussion are healthy, especially if what is happening isn't working. We've got a bunch of issues to be worried about, and Mauer's lack of production is one of them. It's great to see his on base streak these last couple months, but it would also be nice to see his ba and power production increase as well, some day. Short of that, a move somewhere in the batting order would be nice. If that fails, then we start needing answers regarding keeping him so high in the order with such low production at such a premium position.

Worst: We sign/trade for zero new starting pitchers. It seems like they improved over last year, at least for the first half of the season, but we are seeing them average back out. Something has to be done. Would be nice to see 1 or 2 solid signings and I can't think of anything worse with our starters than holding onto Pelfrey, despite his decent first half. Best: We obtain a good shortstop and move someone to first that actually has power. We use Joe Mauer somehow in a deal for a shortstop, even if it means paying a partial amount of his salary for the rest of his contract. If even 1 thing related to any of the above happens, I will be happy.

Best thread ever. I wish we could have a game score at time thread was created and a game score after thread was created.

Great effort by a combo of Boyer and Thompson to quickly give KC the victory. Was there anyone that didn't see this coming as soon as Thompson started jogging in?

This isn't a bad comparison. I have thought the same thing a few times throughout the course of the season. I would say it's closer to the era, not the year, that we were going through in 2001-2004 than just 2001 itself. We are building something here and the young guys are starting to trickle in to flesh out what we really are capable of. In 2001 no one had us pegged as even being in the top half of best AL teams, yet we finished over .500. Losing was the Twins Way at that point and we had pretty much zero proven talent on the team and ended up overachieving tremendously. In 2015 we are a more aggressive franchise that spends more on free agents, has more elder players, and we stopped winning not too long ago. I think the biggest similarity between the years would be the over achievement (so far), and the large amount of young prospects getting in there. It is weird that Hunter rejoined us, to kind of put a link between both of these eras. Maybe that will be what he is remembered for by MN fans, getting the fire started.

Agreed with the people saying Mauer should not be in the 3 spot anymore. His numbers clearly don't support it and his power has never supported it, short of the 2009 season. I have been lobbying for him to be in the 2nd spot or anywhere higher than 5 since 2010. Molitor did do this a few games this season, placing him in the 2nd spot I believe, and Mauer was doing better at that point if I recall correctly. It's obvious Mauer's time as an elite 3 spot hitter is finished, has been for years, it's just a matter of the coaching staff accepting this and the front office allowing it based on the 23 million dollar paycheck that they have to keep issuing him. They don't want their massive investment to be batting anywhere but the 3 spot, that's what they signed him for, but after 5 non-power, non-elite seasons since 2009, I hope the pressure is there enough to make this move. Other than that, I don't have a problem with Escobar being in the lineup or with Vargas being sent down. Both have their reasons and they make sense to an extent, but the op is absolutely dead on with the whole Mauer debacle. Something needs to change here. With that said, the team is winning, you can't debate this. We may go on a 15 game losing streak starting tomorrow or next week, but thus far, we are playing good to great baseball despite all statistics and predictions stating otherwise. Tinkering too much is like fixing something that isn't broken. Why do it? What benefit can we have, be even farther up in first place? I'm happy we are where we are right now, exceeded all expectations 100x for the year so far. Put Hunter in the 3 spot and move Mauer somewhere else and call it a day.

Thanks for posting this article. I would just like to add, he also caught a pop up behind the plate for the final out in game 6 of 1987 to send the series to game 7. I guess I have a soft spot for Laudner. He was the first professional baseball player (or sports athlete for that matter) I ever met in person at the age of 5, right after the Twins had won the World Series in 1987. I went to see him at a local shopping mall in the winter of '87, getting a signed ball, autographed picture, and a photo with him. In addition, I got to sit down with him for a few minutes and just talk baseball. He wanted to know if I liked playing baseball and I told him I loved playing it, and wanted to be just like him one day. It was so weird, with a professional ball player, asking me, a tiny kid, questions about baseball. I never have had any kind of a bonding experience with a professional sports player since even remotely close to that, and I have met plenty of them. After meeting many other Twins players and other professional athletes in the years following, I can't say anyone ever left such an impression on me of kindness, attentiveness, and just being down to earth. Tim Laudner will always be one of my favorites because of that.

Yes, he is underrated, no doubt about that. What I'm wondering is why? Is it his low batting average, his lack of star power, his small physique, or just the fact he has been playing on bad Twins teams for his entire short career? On a team that finished in the top half of most offensive categories in 2014, he finished as a team leader in home runs, runs scored, hits and walks. 2nd in all of the MLB in runs scored. When you think of offensive leaders on the team, Arcia, Mauer, recently Vargas, and maybe even Plouffe come to mind. Yet, somehow, it's been Dozier for the last few seasons. Regardless of his lack of notoriety, I think it's a positive thing (unless you want him traded) he is going relatively unnoticed. He isn't going to have leverage for a ridiculous contract and have a crazy payday that a star player would command, yet he is still going to produce, under the radar, for the foreseeable future. I will gladly take that.

Wow, lot of dislike for Mussina. When I remember him, I think of him leading a struggling 90's Orioles club, not a 2000's Yankees club. He never was flashy and never got much publicity for his pitiching abilities, but he was extremely consistent during most of his career. I think he does deserve to get into the Hall eventually one day, ala a Bert Blyleven type journey. But yes, he is not a first tier HoF pitcher like the recent Maddux, Martinez, or Johnson. The majority of his career was played in Baltimore, for mostly mediocre to bad teams. Besides the standout 1997 season for the Orioles they never had any great seasons during the 90's. Mussina managed to get at least 18 wins 4 times during that span. A top 5 Cy Young candidate 6 times, 4 of those again, with the struggling Orioles. He finished his career sort of early and only acquired 270 wins. That hurts him a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if he never gets in, but in years where dominant potential HoF pitchers are lacking, he may pick up some steam.

Yes. It's nice to see some of our young guys already getting interest in them, no doubt about it. But we need to start building up and start from somewhere and I think Dozier has displayed he is more than capable of helping start this new foundation for the future. Our offense was one of the strong points of this team with Dozier being a large contributor to that. He is the spark we need at the beginning of the lineup. He's better than what his offensive statistics tell us and he is just about to enter his prime or has already entered it. Reminds me of a young Danny Gladden. His value is going to increase and we will know what we have with this current crop of rookies + the new guys coming up in 2015 in terms of competitiveness in the very near future. Assess trading him at that point, but let's see where this crew goes, if anywhere.

Dozier is the type of player we have been lacking in the post Pierzynski/Hunter era around 2007. Someone with some passion, flare, and leadership. We had been limping along uninspired with the likes of Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer lead group for years and we saw how that turned out. We need a steady, fiery, inspirational force on the team like Dozier. Regardless of his statistics and trade value, which are pretty good, he is currently untradeable if the front office has any understanding of what they are doing. If it wasn't for his "intangibles" and leadership qualities, I would say trade him if the deal was right, but he has more to offer than what a stat line says. As for Escobar, I say he is expendable and like others mentioned, may be at his peak trade value in his career right now after exceeding expectations last year. I like him, but I don't think it is completely necessary to hold onto him for this franchise to have future success. If the trade value return is right, pull the trigger. Plouffe is another guy in the same place, but we have a high caliber replacement coming up soonish with Sano.

Captain Blackbeard.

I'm ultimately never going to give up on this team, no matter how bad this team is, how poorly decisions are made in the front office, how low the attendance gets, how lousy Mauer's season is going, or how expensive the tickets at Target Field get. I want to make sure people know before you read any of this, that I do care a heck of a lot for this team, and always will. With that said, I understand what the op is going through, and it first began for me after that great 2006 season. We floundered the very next season and let go of our arguably two best stars, a middle of his prime Torii Hunter and the best pitcher in the game, Johan Santana. This started the lack of faith I had because I didn't know where this team was headed and things were beginning to change, although I was still hopeful. Then you got to the 2008 and 2009 seasons where we basically just crawled our way to a potential playoff spots, barely making making it in in a game 163, and losing the other game 163. With zero adequate replacements for an ace pitcher or a team leader with Torii, it was starting to show even though we had the rest of our core in there, we were not competing at the same level as we did for the first half of the decade. What the heck happened? I began to worry about the front office decision making at this point as TR stepped down and Bill Smith had entered. The team felt different than it had in the past, and we would truly know the consequences of the decision making that had been done for the team in just a few years later. Does anyone remember at one point we had a rotation of Santana, Liriano, and Radke? Have we had anything even remotely comparable since? 2010 came and there was hope, as the front office went all out and spent a ton on free agents and gave us a great shot that year, then let them go the following year, a few of them in outrageous trades. It was at this point I began to have doubts in Gardy for the first time, and of course, increased doubts with the front office, although I for a few years did try hard to dismiss them. But as each 90 loss season went by, and virtually nothing changed, in neither the front office, the coaching department, or the quality of players acquired, it just piled onto everything before it. As I began to notice that player after player would leave this team or be traded for reasons like "we need speed" or "we need people following the Twins Way" every time these questions were asked either to Gardy or the front office, I began to lose faith in the system as a whole. Now we are at the present, and just like the op mentioned, there are things piling up that are worrying with this front office. Hunter may pan out and help mentor a young squad, Molitor may be the best coach we have had since TK, or we may sign some amazing free agent starting pitching, but the current feeling is, we are in a tough spot and will remain there, for quite some time. This team is awesome, always will be, but the current system is not. It leaves skepticism and doubt and I hope we can escape from this terrible streak of 90 loss seasons soon. If what the front office has done in the last 4 years is any indication, it feels like it may be later, rather than sooner before we get some true positive change.

I think if the Twins made some kind of effort to get Maddon and came up short, it would result in disappointment at most. There are those that would state we didn't have a chance in the first place and those that stated we didn't go after him hard enough. That would be the debate and was the debate until we learned the most recent news. Instead, we are currently talking about a GM that has made zero effort, according to reports. This changed the debate to, "who would even want to come to an organization that does not try" or "what the heck is going on in the front office right now?" versus "we are a sad team anyways, so it does not matter in the slightest whether we tried or not" or "we are saving money right now and can't afford to pay a few million more". All sad and defeated remarks to hear. This has resulted in disappointment at the least, and sorrow and dejection for this franchise at most. The latter debate seems about 100x more depressing than the former. There was going to be disappointment no matter how this played out, I was just hoping that would be worse case scenario instead of best case.

If the info is true, the reporting person credible, then I guess I have lost more of what little faith I had left with this organization than I thought was possible. I agree with some other posters, that a small amount of faith was restored with the firing of Gardy. Now the news of not even a single phone call.. Forget it. I don't think a single fan of the Twins ever thought we had a real shot at landing him, or at least a good chance. But I don't think the same people would have thought we would put exactly zero effort, inquiry, or curiosity into this development. Such an embarrassment at the moment to be a fan of this franchise. We get to go back to checking for news about the exciting possibility of hiring an exciting guy with Paul Molitor!

We started this offseason with an unexpected move of firing Ron Gardenhire. How many here or elsewhere predicted that? If you don't think we are capable of pulling something unexpected and unTwins like, then I guess we already forgot what happened only a month ago with Gardy. With that said.. Terry Ryan has repeatedly stated that he does not want someone only from the inside of the club, or the outside, or any side.. he wants the best man for the job of manager for the Minnesota Twins. Up until Thursday, the best man available for the job was debatable and there have been numerous threads here and on other sites discussing just which manager it would be. Who is it going to be? Molitor, Steinbauch, Mientkiewicz, Martinez, Lovullo? Hysteria. On Friday, Maddon opts out from Rays. Mass Hysteria. There is no longer a debate about who is the best manager that is available. We know it, Terry Ryan knows it, the baseball world knows it. It's obvious, and if Terry Ryan keeps to his word, he will make a sizable offer to Maddon assuming we get an interview with him. Maddon is the best man for the job. Whether or not Maddon wants to come to Minnesota is the only thing I'm concerned about Everyone apparently knows exactly how much he wants to come here and everyone says he wants to coach in a big market and he loves Chicago or LA. Many clubs that people were already predicting he would be interested in (Dodgers) already declined to have Maddon stating they are sticking with their current manager. That's what fans and reporters have been saying.. alright, but it's not what Joe Maddon has been saying. We haven't even heard from the guy on the subject. Let's wait and find out if we interview him for the job how excited he is. We'll know at that point where he stands and if we have a chance at hiring the best manager in baseball.

I will echo the original poster's thoughts, and I like the idea of Doug if we have to choose from within the organization, which we likely will. This is based on nothing except he is young and I enjoyed watching him play, especially during 2001. However, my hunch is Steinbauch is going to be the guy they pick. For whatever reason, Molitor has not been on the "inside" with the front office for as long as I can recall. It seems he is slightly ignored or passed over when opportunities arise. Maybe he wasn't interested in really getting involved after Gardenhire got hired in 2002. I think the best thing for this franchise would be to look outwards for once. Martinez doesn't sound like a bad idea. It would be amazing to get Joe Maddon, but since that isn't possible, I guess this is the next best thing? Not sure on Chip Hale, but it seems that is basically looking inwards again, as he played a bunch of years for us. We need to get over this. Crazy idea here, but what about Mariano Rivera for bullpen coach, or pitching coach if you want to gamble. I haven't heard anyone talking about this possibility with him, so I'm assuming he is available. Zero idea if he is interested in ever coaching. He would meet some needs, including this Hispanic connection the Twins are looking for.

I was inclined to go with Arcia but after a little analysis on it.. I'm going to go with Brian Dozier. He's more of an everyday player than Arcia and will probably play more games/won't be as injured as often. Dozier got stronger as the season progressed last year, indicating he is strong enough to play a full season at a high level. There is no reason a healthy Arcia shouldn't be our best home run hitter this year, but I just get the feeling he may be a little careless with his body and spend a lot of time rehabbing. I'm not expecting anything amazing out of any Twins players in the HR department until Sano, so I'm going with: Dozier: 21 Arcia: 18 Willingham: 16 Mauer, default disappointment: 13