diehardtwinsfan

Got it.... so he's being promoted on Thursday

Given that this is not a team with as deep of resources as the Cubs, I think not getting pitching in the early picks is just as risky as we won't be going out and handing out those 150MM ace contracts. I do think pitching and hitting should be mixed up, but refusing to draft a pitcher at #1 simply b/c of the risk smacks in the face of all that BPA talk I hear every day.

This is precisely the type of thing you do in a rebuild. Doumit provide some value. He wasn't blocking anyone, and wasn't going to be traded. There was no heir apparent to move him, and so he got locked up for a reasonable deal, and was eventually traded. My fear with statements like this is that people seem to think that a rebuild is calling some kid at A ball up to the majors and playing the kids. That will fail far more than it succeeds, and even if it works, you waste all their service time with them learning on the job. You need placeholders like Doumit. I won't argue that the Twins would have been served picking up more of these types of deals (such as Feldman/Baker instead of Pelfrey/Correia), but let's not pretend that this isn't a rebuild. This is simply rebuilding differently than how you would have done it. Rebuilding is acquiring shorter term assets to act as place holders until the long term assets are available. It's also about acquiring more of those lottery tickets to help long term. There are lots of ways to do that.

all farm systems graduate people. I agree that the lower minors talent is a bit more sparse, but there's still some decent hitting prospects in the system beyond Gordon. Cabbage, Blankenhorn, Wade, Arraez, Palacios, Diaz, and Javier are all guys who have pretty high ceilings. We may find ourselves unbalanced with pitching prospects, but truthfully, those are much easier to move. Pitching prospects are currency, whether that be for MLB talent or for picking up blocked higher ceiling prospects at positions we need. By the way, I agree with Gunnathor here on this rebuild. The idea we haven't been rebuilding the last few years is down right silly. Saying this isn't a rebuild because from what I can tell the Twins never called it as such and the Twins didn't operate exactly the way many people here would have is simply faulty logic. Yeah, we aren't going to agree with every decision. For that matter, we won't agree with each other on every decision that was made. That doesn't mean that there was no rebuild or that the Twins are not trying to add talent, and that is what is being implied here, whether intentionally or not.

Sickels has write-ups on Whitley and Wentz. Figured since we are connected to both, it might not be a bad idea to read them.

As bad as the pen has been, there's room for this guy and Chargois at the major league level for what it's worth. Plenty of guys likely to be removed at some point. I've been on record saying I think JT needs a bit more of a sample in AAA, and I'm guessing that by mid to late June, if he's still doing what he's doing he should get the call. At AA, our bigger names have been hurt at this point. I'm hoping this is just AAA depth and have no issues with it in that scenario. If not, I'd rather give Chargois/Boshers a chance over this guy.

I think your timeline is a bit off. They thought they were a playoff team in 2011, and after 2010, not many would have disagreed. 2012 would be the soonest timeline where a rebuild would have officially begun, and even that was more a stand pat move given that they had so many injuries in 2011. This team started it's rebuild in 2013 when they traded Span and Revere for Meyer and May. Granted, they got a bit of a head start from really bad years in 2011 and 2012, but I don't think it was official until 2013 (and even then they didn't come out and say it though I doubt anyone would ever publicly do so). But to answer the question, I don't think even now they would be in the beginning of one. They are nearing the end of the rebuild. They have a nice wave of talented players that need to mature in the majors or need some seasoning in AAA as well as some very interesting options in the lower minors. What they need to do at this point is start shedding some of those bad contracts and letting the kids that are ready play every day. They need to add resources where appropriate that have a history of success in taking kids at this level and getting them to make the steps to go from below average to average and from average to above average. They need to shed contracts where appropriate, and this offseason, they will need to target options that can provide above average value at positions where the farm system doesn't have much in terms of options. They could still be very competitive in 2017. I'm not quite as confident in that as I was a year ago, but it's still doable.

Don't agree here. We have young kids coming up, and lots of them. The spend component will be low. Eating contracts, on the other hand... yeah, there's something there. But I don't think payroll is going to need to go up in the short term at least.

One thing to remember about Luhnow is some pretty interesting questions regarding ethics and the way he runs his front office. He got a little bit of egg on his face when their private DB was hacked and it's contents spilled all over the net. Then you have the whole Brady Aiken fiasco and some rumors out there about how he negotiated arb extensions with some of his players. Some of that was downright wrong if it was true. That's the kind of stuff that can absolutely destroy a team if anything backfires, not to mention building a culture that I suspect none of us would want in our team.

I like the premise behind this article. Not quite sure I can put everything down in a few minutes, but here's a start. I definitely want someone who continues emphasis on the scout/draft/develop side of things. I think the org as a whole probably needs a bit more work particularly on the development side, so if we are adding/removing staff, that would be side where I would likely start moving people and/or acquiring additional resources. On the money side, like it or not, it's going to be someone who can work under Pohlad's budget constraints, whatever those are exactly. I would like to see more creativity. If we need a 1/2 year deal, grab some upside/make good type contracts while using minor league FAs/AAAA guys in Rochester as filler in the event said guy gets traded, doesn't work out, or the prospect you want to fill the role isn't ready. Don't force a prospect up before he's ready. Please don't. We've seen enough of that of late to know that there's nothing but bad things that come out of that. I definitely want an executive that has an analytics bent. The team needs to modernize rather quick in that area. On drafting, honestly that really falls into a case by case scenario. I want someone who can be occasionally creative there, as there's a time when the org may say need higher risk higher ceiling HS guys, and has to draft someone underslot somewhere in order to maximize the return (this year is a really good example of that, whereas next year may not be). On international, this is probably the last year to go all in before a draft. I think the Twins should do this (though that will fall more on Ryan than whomever replaces him). I really don't care about player/offseason stuff. That really is governed by the CBA/players/coaches. Follow the rules, and make sure players do get an offseason. I do care about trades. I don't like trades for the sake of making them (we all saw how that worked with Bill Smith), but when there are guys that need to be traded, they get dealt. Terry Ryan is probably the opposite in that regard as he's not going to move someone unless he gets what he feels is appropriate value. The only obvious exception there is a bad contract like Nolasco. Either cut him or trade him at this point, and I don't care the value returned. I do care if they give up value to get rid of him. I like that (for the most part), but he ended up hanging on to guys like Tommy Milone, who was redundant, would have fetched something this offseason, and quite frankly was blocking better talent. On field staff for the short term needs to be able to develop talent. Young guys are coming up, and we need a staff that can manage that transition. I thought Molitor was a good fit there, but based on what I've observed this season, I don't see that. I don't want Gardy V2 here. We need an onfield staff that can be patient with rookie struggles. Also, we need a renewed emphasis on fundamentals. As for media, let's dump the passive aggressive stuff about players and the double standard that rookies/vets get. I do think there's value in trying to build from within, but there should be effort to occasionally bring from without. Both strategies to an extreme can be dangerous, but there is really good value in a hybrid approach.

And it costs 10 times as much

So they settle with 1?

I thought apartment life in downtown Chicago was pretty much the same thing... without the yard.

That one went right over your head.

Well, if you pay me $50, I'll take them off your hands. Do I need to go to the game?

I think North deserves the right to defend himself.

I'm not sure if I'd bring him up again this year... but that's me. He was bad in two tries. I have no problems leaving him in AAA for the time being. This has nothing to do with service time and everything to do with his development... then again, I wouldn't have brought him North this spring either.

He probably thought it was funny too.

I actually think that Bran somehow ends up with Danny at some point. Remember he was told he would never walk again, but that he would fly.

Color me very skeptical on that statement. If the guy doesn't have the mental makeup to handle not getting promoted on a slightly faster timeline, he's not going to have the mental makeup to make it in MLB at all. If this were the case, then I'd be really curious why it is that Berrios, May, and Meyer all struggled once they reached the bigs. Not to mention that there's likely a bit of revisionist history here as none of these guys (minus Meyer who wasn't effective at all last year) have spent extraordinarily long periods of time at the same level.

Probably a larger sample. Granted he's been good, but were are still in SSS territory. He'll be up soon enough.

I'd fix this for you, but I'd violate the TD posting policy.

I live in Indiana. You at least get the occasional city in the middle of all those corn fields.

Sorry, but if you want scenery, Florida or California are the best.

Well, generally I'd say that a gas station is a good reason to stop... and maybe a bathroom break, but finding a gas station when you have nothing but wheat fields and flat land as far as the eye can see can be difficult.