terrydactyls

My opinion of trying to achieve parity? That's just stupid. I have no problem with a team that is dominant over an extended period (and that can be three years, ten years, or fifty years) as long as the dominance is gained through superior coaching, great personnel decisions, and inspired on-field performance. My problem is the silly idea of giving away huge amounts of money to players who may be approaching the backside of their careers to try to buy a championship. I am not providing any sort of blueprint to remedy this because I do not have the information needed to propose changes. Any one not in the front office of a major league team does not have the information. Many theories, assumptions, and guesses, but as long as the accounting books are sealed from the public we just don't know the true situation.

The latest I read at MLBRumors.com is that the draft is postponed for now but expected to happen after the CBA is agreed to.

ERA was lower in the second half. Batting Average Against was higher. Slugging percentage was higher. OBP was lower. K/9 went up. BB/9 went down. WHIP went down. FIP went down. xFIP went down.

Is this the third or fourth year in a row that someone has asked "what to do with Sano?" I guess the obvious answer is: His trade value is so low right now so let's wait and see what happens.

You forgot the words "I think that" after the "but". It's an opinion, not a fact.

I am a little confused by the logic behind the statement that the FO should be blamed for everything went wrong that could go wrong. It isn't their fault that Simmons refused vaccination, or injuries hit the team, or that players performed poorly. If those factors were known ahead of time, they would have been addressed. I am losing faith in the FO (just as most fans have) but I'm not about to blame them for things not in their control.

I've been watching the Vikings sink into a pit of despair and wishing the NHL would get it's act together so the Wild don't have to wait two weeks between games.

Remember "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain"? How about: Bailey and Ober, pray for rain, and start over!

Buxton and Bryant in the outfield, and Donaldson, Story, Polanco, and Kirilloff in the infield should be an incentive for good pitchers to venture north. Go for it. Nothing much to lose, is there?

Your observation didn't match his observation. Ergo... You must be wrong! FWIW I agree with you so I must be wrong also.

I have too much modesty to allow me to do that - and I'm too lazy to find the article.

A couple months back there was a very insightful article I read that suggested Palacios at SS, and Lewis and Martin playing the corners with Buxton in center. I will have to admit that I was the one who wrote that article. ???. Yea me!!!!!

Thanks Seth. Rankings like this one (and your hitter ranking also) really make the minor league reports during the season more fun to read.

Once again, Doc Bauer stole my thoughts. I've been seeing a lot of comments about LF still being a need. If so, Kirilloff to the outfield and Miranda to the infield solves the dilemma.

Quick thought from out east... The payroll is about $90M right now. Sign Pineda for $10M, sign Kris Bryant for $18M, sign a glove-first shortstop for $3M, and a bullpen guy for $5M. The payroll is now at $126M. That completes the offseason. As the midseason trade deadline approaches, evaluate the where you are as far as competing in 2022, and either trade prospects for additional pitching, stick with what you have, or trade whoever is hot (Donaldson, Sano, Kepler, Bryant, Pineda come to my mind).

Most of those numbers are gibberish to me. I'm too old too figure out what Rtot, Rdrs, RF, etc mean or how to interpret what is good. All I know is what I read and that is Arraez was bad at second and good at third. That I can understand.

Those stats are not for Barry Bonds (or his father). I'm not sure what the original post had to do with steroids?

In the early 60's, I was a short, chunky kid playing 1st base. So is there any question about who the player was that made me a Twins fan for life? Harmon of course!!!!

Where is Palacios?

What would I do? Let's start with the infield. The first thing I would do is call the Mets and offer them Donaldson. They need a 3B and their owner thinks the luxury tax is a goal to achieve and not a punishment. Ask them how much salary they would like the Twins to contribute this year and make the deal for whatever they offer. Miranda is now the Twins 3B. Polanco must stay at 2B so step 2 is to sign Iglesias to be the SS. That leaves Kirilloff for 1B. The infield is set. Now we move to the outfield and there are two directions I can go depending on Kepler. If there is any interest by any team for including Kepler in a trade for pitching, then he's gone. If not, he is the RF. If he is traded, then I would use spring training to decide who should be the RF. The choices are Larnach, Rooker, Martin, and Lewis. The best spring wins RF. The second best spring wins LF. I wouldn't mind an outfield of Martin, Buxton, and Lewis. No fly ball would ever touch the grass. The catching I don't touch. For extra position players and DH, I would have Celestino, Arraz, and Gordon. Now for the pitching. For the last several years, the front office has refused to trade pitching prospects because they were highly valued. Well, now is the time to prove it. Currently, there are three starters with Bundy, Ober, and Ryan. Sign Pineda as a mentor (or whatever else you want to call him). The remaining starters will be picked from a hat (meaning spring training performance) from Winder, Sands, Balazavic, and Strotman. The relief bullpen already has Rogers, Duffy, Thielbar, Alcala, and Duran. I would sign Knebel and add Jax and Stashak. That would be my 2022 Twins with a budget to please the owner and maybe enough curiousity to put butts in the seats.

My ideal post-lockout scenario would be Donaldson, Sano, and Kepler packaged and sent to either Miami for Alcantera and Bleier or sent to Oakland for Montas and any decent reliever. I would also like to see Martin in LF and Lewis in RF, with Buxton between them. Sign Iglesias to play SS and have Palacios around as a utility IF. Low payroll, lots of youth getting a chance, and maybe some excitement at Target Field. Who knows, maybe by mid-season the staring rotation includes Winder, Balazavic, Sands, and Strotman???

You could say that about any minor league player, couldn't you?

Oakland has three. I would start there.

My mother travelled all over Minnesota watching my older brother and I play high school and college hockey. And I'm talking outdoor games in the 50's and 60's. But so did thousands of other parents. To me, that makes this article a just one of many such stories and a good indication that there ain't no good things to discuss.

We certainly are getting desperate for stories this offseason.