gunnarthor

I'm not opposed to the idea of trying to grab someone like Bruce (or others in CIncy) but not at that price.

Actually, no. Santana, Vargas, Dozier and Plouffe. That was it.

Sure. If I was the Twins I'd say, "look what happened when Hughes, a flyball pitcher, came to us. 3rd best AL pitcher in WAR."

Not sure. It could turn out ok if some things break right. Hicks could be a good defender in left, maybe Buxton rushes to the majors. In any event, I doubt most players put much stock in defensive numbers. Fangraphs had a few articles on that last year and most players don't know about WAR, UZR etc. But a lot probably think "hey, Hunter, he's good." And leave it at that.

I think, from what I've read from players, it's Hunter's encouragement that has been helpful. He's not going to make a bad player good. But he might be able to get a player to better understand the daily grind, the problems of giving away at bats, leaving personal stuff at home, not worrying too much about an 0-7 stretch etc etc which might make them better at baseball. A lot of people in LA loved how Hunter kept the team together after the young pitcher was killed in that car accident.

i don't disagree that he's a bad fielder at this point. My problem is that I don't think defensive stats are accurately measured or accurately valued. So we may be multiplying a wrong number with another wrong number to create a (negative) value that is not consistent with reality. (We have seen that before, to a lesser extent, with Orlando Hudson). That Hunter seems to be at the extreme end, one year being so-so and two years after being terrific, makes me think that there is a lot of noise in the numbers. I'm also expecting that Molitor will move his OFers around a bit more than what may have happened in Detroit. He is old, he could turn into a pumpkin over night. But he hit pretty well last year and I think TF is a better place for his swing. So if he can put up a 110 OPS+ again, I think the Twins will be in good shape. But if his bat goes (and it's certainly possible), we might have two tough months of Hunter before he is let go.

These are my problems/concerns with the Hunter defense is horrible gang 1) Defensive stats, on a single year, are not that reliable. Two years ago, Hunter was consider a better RFer than Stanton by the stats. Yet everyone is burying him on last years numbers. 2) We fans are way too trusting of the numbers. Joe Posnanski just quoted Bill James who stated that he flat out hated WAR and thought the numbers were phoney. Every article will have a "the numbers aren't perfect" disclaimer and then use those numbers to say what they want them to say. 3) As bad as his defensive numbers were in one year, they weren't as bad as Cuddyer's in 10, 11 and 13 yet people seem a lot more forgiving of Cuddy's defensive limitations than Hunter's. I think there's an unsaid expectation that the slow looking white guy is trying as hard as he can and Hunter might be loafing on lazy fly balls. 4) I think RF in Comerica is one of the hardest RF to play and Detroit CFers didn't seem to be very helpful in covering extra ground. That might be a way the Twins can protect Hunter. (A reminder, when Hudson came to the Twins in 2010, similar concerns were voiced. Klaw noted that the Twins would probably do a better job of shifting than the Dodgers and Arizona had an he expected a bounce back defensive season. That's what happened). All that said, I'm not sure RF in TF is much easier. 5) Lastly, defensive stats don't have to even out. Most players are in the negative. In the AL, CFers combined for a -20 value last year.

I think everyone is putting more stock in defensive stats than needed. Two years ago, defensive stats had Hunter as a better RF than Stanton. Last years numbers could have a lot of noise in them - esp for playing RF in Comerica. His RH bat might play a lot better in TF, too, if he's still a pull hitter.

None of those things are relevant to your proposal. Maybe those things Hunter does, while horrible in your eyes, are the things that the people running the team think the locker room needs. Maybe, with their experience around the sport, and your aversion to "the baseball codes," perhaps the people with the best knowledge of locker room dynamics and what is and isn't needed in them aren't posting on TD?

I've been a big supporter of Masterson - I think last year was an injury caused problem and his GB rate and K rates would make a good transition to TF. I like Hunter as a 4/5th OF type, but not as a starter. If he's willing to do that, I'm ok with it. Rios does nothing for me. As others have mentioned, Rasmus might be a more entertaining attempt.

I've been a big advocate for Masterson and hope they pursue him like they did Hughes.

Well, the reality is Mauer isn't going to be the best player on any Twins team going forward. Molitor's ability to get Arcia, Hicks, Gibson, May, Meyer etc to become good everyday MLers is going to be a lot more important than whatever we get out of Mauer at this point.

Depends on his role. Shouldn't be brought in as a starter but I'd be ok with a 4th OFer role.

I think the Twins job would be a great opening for nearly all managers and Maddon would be nuts to not want it. BUT he likely has better options/more money elsewhere. He'll get 5-6m or more a year and the Twins aren't going to spend that on a manager. (Heck, they won't spend that on a LFer next year). I still think it'll be Molitor but Lovullo could get it.

Why do people think he's a good manager? I'm not saying he isn't but I'm wondering what they are basing it on. His teams actually under perform their pyth w/l records. He shifts a lot but most of that is supposed to come from the FO and he just implements it. His record in one run games changes a bunch year to year (like most managers). Success with a small payroll team? Good clubhouse atmosphere? Development of young players? Developing scrappy teams that fight? I think all of those things have their pros and cons.

La Russa drank and drove and had it covered up. Cox beat up his wife. Weaver was an ****** of the highest order. Billy Martin was worse. Most managers have been unfaithful to their wives. Molitor's off the field stuff doesn't matter to me at all so long as it doesn't affect his on the field managing.

A lot of very good managers have stayed at one place for over 10 years with great results - La Russa, Cox, Torre all just went into the HOF. Weaver. Sparky. Whitey. Both TK and Gardy had good runs. Sciocia in LA. Bochy is on his 8th year in SF and Baker had a good 10 year run prior to that. Longterm stability in the manager isn't a bad thing. That said, I think Molitor gets the job, hangs around for a few years and then it goes to Dougie Baseball.

Is this one of those moderator created threads to gather up all the trolls in one place?

From 99-07 (his last year), Twins pitchers were third out of 30 in pWAR, behind only the Yankees and Red Sox. He's brought in quite a few good arms over the years.

I'm fine with any of the three. I hate the idea of disqualifying Molitor or Dougie Baseball just b/c they work for the Twins. That's a stupid idea. And Ryan had no problem picking Gardy despite being part of a coaching staff that had lost a lot prior to 2001. It is interesting that Lovullo has been a finalist for a lot of jobs but never hired.

I'm more pessimistic on this than I thought. At this point, I don't think the Twins should count on him to be any better than he was. If he improves, great. But don't expect much more. His babip was around normal for him, he didn't play catcher but couldn't stay healthy. He'll be 32 next year. Lots of guys are done at 32. I also don't think he has the ability to hit with power against the shifts baseball has used against him. The hard part will be what they do if he stays this way. His OBP was still pretty respectable and would fit in the #2 spot. But his bat really isn't better than that and the Twins might have better options in the next few years at the top of the order. He could be a #7 hitter in 2016.

A few things wrong with this. First, of the Twins best prospects only Sano and Polanco are Smith guys. I'm also sure it's fair to say that he's dong what any other GM would do with those picks. The Astros have absolutely torpedo their drafts (and they've drafted above us in everyone).

Eh. First, the GM has a huge say in the first round pick, esp at the top of the board. Second, when Ryan came back, he publicly stated that he and Radcliff would have input on the draft. He didn't mention Johnson (and Johnson has had some bad results prior in the draft). Third, there was no way the Twins could pass on college ready pitchers to get a HS kid that everyone thought would take many years to develop without specific approval from the GM. Fourth, when Ryan wasn't the GM, his generalized area to cover was the SE and PR. Twins drafted heavily from those areas once he came back to the GM chair. Lastly, ever report indicated that Ryan (like all GMs) would see the players. Secondly, a lot of the Ryan talk is code for the FO. A lot of anti-Ryan guys use thoughts about the Twins being stuck in their ways etc. It's an attack on the whole FO not just Ryan. So it's fair to use Ryan both ways.

I was never very high on him as a prospect but I was wrong. He'll be a stud. He clearly cares about hitting and smart enough to figure it out. I think next year could be a really big year for him.

I was using the 07 list - the 08 list is made up of guys that Smith, the new GM, added. Smith (for many reasons) never was able to get the farm system back to where Ryan left it. The 07 list had 4 guys, the 06 list had 5, etc. But the idea that Ryan left the cupboard bare isn't true. We had a well stocked system his last year with us and a lot of recently well regarded graduates.