Dr. Evil

I find it interesting that they can afford to Rule 5 the guy. It speaks to their organizational depth on the mound.

This guy seems worthy of a roll of the dice. Hopefully he can be healthy and have a good career. Good Rule 5 pick up IMHO.

There is a piece in your article that raises another thought on the Twins minor league pipeline with me. I think what I am thinking probably goes against conventional wisdom. You mention how triple-A isn't so much about prospects as it is about journeyman in the organization that move up and down to provide depth and help the affiliate win games. In my mind, I see this as an area where the Twins could improve. I feel like this should be a spot for our top prospects to be gathered to play with one another and against major league(almost) caliber players. In other words, provided they are ready, I want guys like Sano, Buxton, Rosario, Polanco, Pinto, Hicks playing together at the AAA level. I'm not real fond of hoarding a pack of journeymen at AAA. I would rather call up the most ready organizational prospect to fill in. Most guys need a few cups of coffee to help them bridge the gap from AAA to the majors anyway. Wouldn't if be more logical to say to Polanco, "Dozier strained a quad. We just need you to come up and fill in for 3 games." There is no pressure in that for Polanco. He comes up, does his best, learns something, and goes back with a better idea of what it takes to reach the majors. Again, this probably goes against conventional wisdom. But, it would seem that some type of fundamental change like this might help develop the kids and get them through the system quicker and more frequently.

This is a very interesting way to look at young prospects and an enjoyable read. It brings to mind sort of an opinion or theory that I have had on the Twins minor league players. I think that sometimes the Twins are a bit too fussy in seemingly expecting players to master or dominate a level before they move up. (This may just be a false read on my part though.) If a player is a good prospect by your estimation and has an average year in single A for example, and he is maybe 22 yrs old, why not kick him up to the next level. I feel like not every rung on the ladder needs to be golden in order to become a solid major league player. This is where I think maybe the Twins could be more aggressive IMHO.

Great news!

Santana would be a great signing and just what we need IMHO. As I have said all along, a solid 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation can take the pressure off of a lot of other areas of the squad. In addition to that, it slides other starters down a slot in the rotation to where they are a better fit. Examples......Gibson is a 3rd and Nolasco is a 4th. Meyer or May starts off as a 5th and the other joins the pen for the time being(like when Johan Santana started out in the pen).

The one move that is the lowest hanging fruit for this team would be to sign/trade for an ace starting pitcher. Having a solid 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation solves a lot of problems and takes pressure off of other areas of the team.. (Viola/Blyleven, Johnson/Schilling.......etc) But, I'm thinking it will probably be another disappointing offseason with some token vanilla moves.

This might be premature to say. But, suppose they decide to rush Buxton along a little and have an outfield of Hicks in left, Buxton in center and Hunter in right with perhaps Rosario in the mix too competing with Hicks. I do like the sounds of Hunter being in the mix mentoring this group. In this scenario, maybe Arcia and Dozier are traded for a top of the rotation starter to give us a 1-2 punch to go with Hughes. Polanco or Escobar or both take over at second base. Maybe mid season Sano gets the call up an Plouffe is traded for a solid bullpen arm. I would find the above scenario at least more interesting to watch.

I hope he gets healthy and has a great run. I got no problem with him. I just would like to see the twins be able to trade him in the next year or two. Not because I don't like or respect him. I want to watch something different. I'll be honest....right or wrong I feel when I watch a game more and more like the guys pretty content with his place in the universe and settled in to a comfortable way of going about his business and I no longer get excited about seeing him play. He strikes me as a guy that's pretty content with going about his business a certian way and not real driven to prove much. I get that. He has been an awesome player. I just feel like I want something different to cheer for. Respectfully humble.

I agree with much of what you say.

I don't like trading a good player who is in his early 30s for nothing. This trade stinks.

Shane I don't totally agree on the concept of blocking. Perhaps I actually do but I have a different way of looking at it I guess. I would like to see a minor league philosophy were top prospects are playing with top prospects, developing chemistry and working together towards the big leagues. I see no value in filler players at each level and that is where I believe the team needs to adjust their philosophy. I'm gunna take some heat for these comments but I really think there is a benefit to having top prospects work together and figure it out together. Even if they are at slightly different maturity levels. I think we agree but in slightly different philosophies. I find that I agree with you on the vast majority of your posts.

What a joke. We need guys like Kendrys. Just gave him away. Should have resigned him.

As I said, Deduno needs to be done. Is today proof or does it take more?

Agreed Correa too.

Too much quality on the farm to keep running Samuel out there. Bring on the most ready farm hand now. I see no reason to wait.

I like the moves. In general I think he Twins should nudge their players along bit more aggressively than they do. They hold on to hope with guys for too long and fall in love with mediocre veterans. I have seen enough of some of the guys on the active roster to know they are what they are. I would rather see some of the guys you are talkin about on the big club. Maybe even 1 or 2 of the AA guys like Vargas. Maybe they deal a few guys and some of these move up. It would be a it more interesting to watch anyway.

This will make things interesting for the bad teams and puts something in front of them that they have a reasonable chance of achieving. If your record gets too good you get relegated to a major league division and replaced with the next worst team. MLB "AAAA" Division Standings Team Wins Losses GB Diamondbacks 3 8 0 Astros 3 6 1 Twins 3 6 1 Padres 3 6 1 Reds 3 6 1 Cubs 3 5 1.5 Mets 3 5 1.5 Phillies 3 5 1.5 As you can see, the Twins are already in the thick of the race. They will remain in contention throughout the season! Now I can cheer every time they rearrange the lineup to put Mastro batting leadoff or try to make a reliever out of "Wild Thing" while Tonkin remains in the minors. Bartlett making the team out of camp is now actually a good thing! The boys can really "get after it" and get guys "runnin all over the place" out there like field mice and still remain competitive in this division! It's a win - win as far as I'm concerned.

Classic!

Some of my fondest childhood memories were with the Twins game playing on the radio in the background. I remember going to bed early on school nights against my will and catching the end of the game on my transistor radio laying there in the dark in my bed. I remember laying elbows down on the living room carpet in front of a black and white tv on a Saturday afternoon watching a ball game while sorting my Topps baseball cards in to piles by team and wishing I had a few bucks to buy some more wax packs to try and complete my collection for that year. At school all my buddies knew who was closest to completing their collection and that person was the envy of all others. Many important trades took place on the playground. All were carefully calculated and afterwards discussed for value just like actual big league trades. One family evening has always repeated itself in my mind.... After a day of walleye fishing on Lake Mille Lacs, I spent an hour wading in the water tipping rocks looking for crawdads until dark. My dad came down to tell me it was time to come back to the camp site down the road from lakeside about 75 yards. It was just deep enough in to the woods to where the forest shadowed total darkness on to the campsite. Except for the flickering of the orange fire. I laid flat on my back on one of those folding lawn chairs looking up at the sky through the opening in the trees. Void of any city lights I could pick out great detail in the stars. Even an occasional shooting star or tiny bit of faint movement that I speculated must be from another world. My parents had beers and chatted by the fire while I tuned them out and listened to the closing innings of the Twins game on the radio. The way I remember it, Mike Marshall threw 120 mph fastballs in the 9th to secure the win for the Twins. I went in to the tent and slid in to my flannel sleeping bag and zipped it up tightly to keep the crisp night air out. Best nights sleep I ever had.

Clutch is a RBI in a tight game, non is a solo shot in a out of hand gm

How far out is Kohl Stewart?

Twins way= easy does it, don't get too wrapped up in the challenge at hand, think long term, relax, no pressure, it all comes out in the wash, think long haul and big picture. Mauer by the way albeit a great player ain't your team leader. Somebody please kick over a water cooler or chew someone's arse for today's failures and show some urgency and emotion.