HarmonK03

I just don't want Kremer in front of them though. I think Preilipp and Zebby have earned the right to be in the rotation at the beginning of spring training. Having a 30 something as your 5th starter is just the same middle of the road approach. Give the young guys a chance to develop and see if they can take the next step.

Going with 6 starters just shortens the bullpen and the way bullpens are used now, you can't do that. Just make a starter the long man to get length when you need, don't preordain it. And it really should be Kremer.

He purposely doesn't put a number on it, but you decide to. Is so you can be upset if he doesn't hit your perceived number. Let's see where it ends up and who it gets us, then we might have a reason to get upset, but setting a preconceived goal when he didn't is a set up to be angry later.

Lee had similar numbers to Bell in almost all categories while batting all over in the lineup and yet many are calling for Bell to return but don't know if a 25 year old Lee who can play plus defense has a future with the Twins. Not everyone will be a star, you need players like Lee to help support the stars. What we need are more stars. This was Lee's second full year and he has gotten better every year. We should be cheering for this development and production.

Talk to the Walton heirs across many sports.

What rebuild, Falvey has never trusted the younger players and always valued the league average at best veterans, see Margot and Gallo as two examples. After 10 years he was going to change because he basically traded away two assets last year at the trade deadline.

Falvey did not take over in New York, he was brought in an administrative role. I doubt Stearn is giving up his responsibilities to let Falvey make the personnel decisions.

He wasn't just speaking to the people on this board and others, he was speaking to all fans. And his words will resonate with those fans. He isn't just picking a number out of the air for payroll, who knows what the market will be like in November if every team rushes to sign free agents before the lockout. It sounds like he wants to be flexible, so let's see what happens. It sounds like he recognizes that there has to be action in November and you can't wait for the market to be set like Falvey always did and was left picking thru scraps. He knows he needs to put a winning team on the field for fans to come back. My biggest complaint is how is he evaluating Zoll and his performance. Is he talking to people in baseball that have more knowledge or is he making this decision without any input. I don't believe Zoll can put together a winning roster even with resources but hopefully he will have a short leash this time. Yes new ownership could be good, but we don't know that they would just start throwing out a $200m payroll or more. The Portland Trail Blazers fans aren't real happy with their new owner who is gutting the organization, the grass isn't always greener. I want owners who can think globally and put the management in place like ARod and Lore did with the Wolves. I really want to see TP take a step back, I don't want to see the owner out there talking all the time. He needs to step back and hire a good management team.

I believe you may have taken Tom's words out of context. He didn't hire anyone for the business operations because he said he wanted to learn about the business and felt this was the best way. I get we won't agree, but the Pohlad family is an easy target because they are the owners but it doesn't mean they do everything wrong. I am not necessarily happy with how the ownership situation changed and wanted them gone as well, but I don't think they are as naive or dumb as people think.

Thank you for making my point, he gave a vision and direction to Zoll and it wasn't met, regardless of the reality of the vision. So he may have told him to do better and make changes accordingly. But he did not fire Maki, Zoll did based on the direction he was given to improve the team. It could have easily been Hawkins or Sizemore whoever Zoll felt won't help the team meet the expectations given to him by his boss. And the only personnel decisions he should be directly involved in are the people reporting to him, like Falvey and now Zoll. Falvey had the business operations taken away from him by TP and didn't agree and thought he could do both baseball and business operations so he left. These responsibilities have always been split by the Twins under the Pohlads so why Falvey thought it would be a permanent decision when he was given the business operations when St. Peter left is beyond me.

There's a difference between specific moves and a direction set. Yes Pohlad made the decision to try and win at the deadline so Zoll made trades. But if you think that TP told him to target Tommy Nance or Jeff Hoffman, I don't know what to say. Or that he told Zoll to keep Jackson on the roster for two months because there were no better options. Zoll may not be a strong leader but show TP is making specific personnel decisions. And again I didn't agree with the decision to go for it at the trade deadline but it's done and over with, how do we move forward. The start is getting rid of Zoll to get a real leader in place.

Typically the CEO sets the direction and vision for the organization and their managers execute that vision on the day to day activities. If he is really walking into Zoll's office and saying fire Pete Maki then this organization is in trouble. And I am not sure that is what is happening. I get people don't agree with the direction Tom P. has set for this team but I don't think he is making personnel decisions just because he is hands on.

Bell is unplayable at 1B, so how does he solve the 1B problem, he is a DH only and just clogs the roster.

I have never said TP is making decisions on baseball personnel, players or coaches, or that he should. He gave a general direction that he wanted to compete at the trade deadline which I didn't agree with at the time and still don't but it was his decision. As for Maki, managers used to have more input into their coaching staffs than they do today. I do recall some comments when Shelton was hired that Falvey was involved in the hiring process of the coaches. And it led me to believe it was probably more then I wanted to see, but have no real idea.

Zoll is Falvey 2.0, he has shown that with many of his moves. If he is in charge I wouldn't expect anything to be much different. So hopefully Zoll is gone, but it should have been announced today.