HarmonK03

There are probably four players that should be included in next years plans to begin; Keaschall, Culpepper, Buxton and Jenkins. But this organization needs to come up with a plan and figure out an identity. Do they value defense and athleticism or home runs more. Then look at your roster and see who fits into that plan. Identify positions for players and let them play there. Fill the holes where you can, it may take a couple of years as you can't completely turn the roster over but at some point they need a plan that is going to build a sustainable competitive team. This team has one playoff win in the last 10 years with this front office and is 38 games under .500 as of today for the last six years. If there was a plan it sure ain't working. And there may be players that have to go that are favorites of TD posters. But at some point results have to start being the criteria not the process as it has been under this front office. Tom P. needs to sit down with ARod and Lore across the street and get tips on how to identify a leader for your organization and then let him do his job. Don't think small, think big just like the Wolves did. Connelly has made three earth shaking moves in attempts to continue to make the Wolves competitive and you can see a plan and they explain at a high level. This is what the Twins, you may have a down year or two but give the fans hope that their is something coming. If this front office is still in place it will be more of the same, they will sign a league average veteran at best to fill any holes they see and bring in AAAA types for depth. There will be no upside. And no excitement around the team.

But who is in front of him, Kremer hasn't earned it or has Abel. He has earned the right to be in the rotation at the beginning of spring training, if someone passes him then he can go to St. Paul. At some point performance has to matter with this team and I don't want to see Kremer treated like Outman was last spring training.

As things stand now Buxton is here for two more years, might as well accept it until he publicly says something or they make a trade. I doubt there will be any announcement if anything changes. If you want to discuss what his role should be, that is a fair discussion. But they still consider him the face of the organization so he is going have more say in his role than many would probably agree with on here. Lewis is blocking no one right now, we have no other options at 1B currently. In the offseason they could move somebody like Keaschall or bring somebody new in, but for this year he is blocking no one.

You can't just put a player on the IL because you don't want to play him. The union would scream about something about like this. Larnach could rotate at DH with Bell and ERod plays in LF, simple solution.

He was outplaying Outman in spring training and they sent him down early so he couldn't win the job from Outman. He should have been on the opening day roster. For anyone who thinks the Twins are operating differently under Zoll, this was the first example that they don't. Outman should never have come north with the team but because he was traded for, they tried to force it to work and it didn't.

Falvey left because Tom split up the Operations and Business duties like it has always been done. Falvey didn't want to give up the business duties and wanted to continue to do both.

I am guessing you must be an attorney since you seem so certain how it works. The timeline would be negotiated, it could be immediate or it could be phased, we don't know, unless you are sitting in on the talks. Football and baseball are two different sports, each sport will do what is best for itself. The owners will have to negotiate with themselves as well because the big market teams are not just going to fold and say we will trade three of our top players or whatever the number is and give up revenue too. Cleveland would have to raise their payroll by $100m if these numbers hold, I find it hard to believe it will happen overnight, but I don't know. But the real negotiating is not going to happen until December 2nd when the lockout begins and they will start getting serious when spring training is supposed to start. We still don't even know if the cap will get implemented. They can say all the right things now but when checks start getting missed and payments to the owners from the tv contracts, we will see how firm they are.

Abel should start in St. Paul, others have passed him by. He has not done enough to be handed a starting job. This is what happens when you are injured. He has great stuff and had a couple of good outings but still struggled to throw strikes at times. I am not altering my rotation for Abel, he can start the year in St. Paul and show he is better than the other options up here.

You are correct and I think they should give him another year unless it's a clear upgrade and that doesn't mean Clemens. But Lewis isn't necessarily a vet yet in my opinion, in another year then it is a different discussion. But he's not blocking anyone, they have no one else to play first currently. If you keep both Kremer and Ober or even one, as things stand Prielipp and or Matthews are in AAA and I think they have pitched well enough to start spring training in the rotation. Kremer is not a clear upgrade over either one of them. I think Ober has pitched better this year than others do, so I can go either way with him. They would still have 8 to 9 starters, you aren't going into the year with 15 starters it's not feasible, injuries happen.

Kremer is arb eligible, he can be non-tendered and should be or else put in the bullpen. He is just another vet blocking younger guys which is this team's m.o. Both him and Ober are in the same boat.

“We believe that the best structure going forward is a president of business and a president of baseball,” Pohlad said. “I think what’s best for this organization right now is all the energy and focus in those two departments being 100 percent committed right now. Yes, there is an element here where I’m a different leader in how I want to engage with this organization than in the past. You wrap all those things together and I think that’s what best moving forward.” “I think any structure can work with the right belief in it, with the right people, with the right people underneath, and the foundation,” Falvey said. “And I want to say this: I totally respect Tom's position that he would like it to look a little different in the other way. There are few teams that have it this way, there are a lot more teams that don't that have it spread apart. I totally respect that decision. It's a really hard job for sure to do both. I think with the right environment, the right structure around it, you can do both, but I respect the decision he has going forward and I'm sure they're going to have someone really good to take on this business.” From the MLB.com website, Falvey wanted both positions and didn't get it which was naive on his part. The majority of teams split those positions. And he was not fired.

You are presenting a lot of assumptions as facts, do you have support. Falvey and the Twins mutually agreed to part ways, that is the public reporting. I get things can happen behind the scenes and that is a face saving way to say it. But in Falvey's own words, he thought one person could lead both baseball operations and business operations, but Tom took away the business operations from him. When he took that role it was when the team was up for sale, most competent leaders in that position know that the role is probably going to be a transition to when a new ownership group would take control. When the team was pulled off the market, Tom P. wanted to go back to the way the Twins had always operated with two people in charge. It appears that Falvey disagreed and hit the road.

You don't know how it would go anymore than me. But when you have teams almost $100m below the initial proposed floor, reality says it is not going to be that easy to just get up to it. So either they do a step process of a lower floor level with automatic increases each year until they get to the agreed starting point or they give teams a period of time to reach it. It is all negotiations and we have no idea how it will end up.

So he promotes Zoll to replace Levine and he tells him to do nothing. The GM is responsible for the day to day operations carrying out the vision of PBO. He very clearly had input into what was being decided, Falvey didn't sit at his desk and decree every decision. Levine hinted when he left that he had been left out of the decision making for a period of time, which if true very clearly shows that Zoll was involved since he was the one promoted. Zoll has had time to show himself and needs to be gone by the end of the season. And Falvey stepped away because his feelings got hurt when Tom P. took away the Business Operations responsibilities from him when they were probably not intended to be long term.

Zoll helped Falvey develop this roster and he has been with the organization for 10 years. He has been a major decision maker for at least the last 5 years. So no it is not too early to judge him, he is Falvey 2.0. The only reason Jenkins and Culpepper were brought was when there were no other options just the same as Falvey would have done. So I am not letting him off the hook and he needs to go to move this organization forward. The new guy can make a decision on Shelton.

Bradley is a middle of the order pitcher, there should be no rush to sign him to an extension until he proves he can throw strikes more consistently and not have meltdowns when he is needed.

Last year at the deadline, Keaschall was in St. Paul and Lee was basically the utility infielder. He was next man up at SS and was thought to be the next starting shortstop by the organization. He wasn't just put there because there were no other options. They needed to see if he could handle shortstop in the major leagues. The mistake was starting him there this year.

There would probably be a period to get to those numbers if it goes through, which I don't think those numbers will be the final if any. There would also be an increase of revenue sharing to help offset the increased payroll costs, in theory it would be a sum zero game, but who knows how much of an impact in reality no one knows. But this is also why the owners are going to be divided, the big markets aren't going to want to give up their local tv revenue. It is a long way to go and a lot of negotiating will occur so who knows what the final result will be.

This isn't new in the major leagues, you play the younger guys in September to find out where they are at in their development. Did you see who Detroit was sitting today, Torkelson, Baez and Torres, this is nothing new and has nothing to do with scholarship. It is about trying to build a team going forward.

They are not throwing games, they are looking at the younger players which happens every September. And the bench is what they choose it to be, very weak.

If someone that has a potential future with the Twins is sitting on the bench, then Bell should not be in the lineup. If there are spots for all the younger players in the lineup then put Bell in the lineup.

Why do we have a minor league system in your view if it isn't to develop players to hopefully contribute in the major leagues. At some point you have to find out where they are in their development process. And September has typically been the time for that especially if a team is out of the playoff hunt and fans understand this even casual fans.

But is he the best option, I am not saying if he is or isn't. But at some point I want this team to shoot for excellence throughout the organization and not just settle.

I understand where you are coming from, but it can create a weird dynamic and many times doesn't work. Most guys want to win or lose with their guys not someone else's. And I just don't know if there is anyone from Shelton's prior stints as coach that he has worked with that might be in favor of that sort of arrangement.

In fairness to Rocco, that was an organizational decision when they dumped Correa to move Lee to SS. He was the top option that was ready to play there.