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diehardtwinsfan

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Everything posted by diehardtwinsfan

  1. Because at the end of the day it's a business and things like ROI matter? I really don't get the spend for the sake of spending argument, and even if that isn't what was meant here, it's how it comes across. Just because the money is in the payroll, doesn't mean we should sign anyone for it. They didn't like what was available at the price they wanted to spend, so they chose not to spend it. Given what's coming up the pipeline, I understand, even if I don't agree (I wanted O'Day in the pen with May starting for the record).
  2. Let's be a bit careful in assuming what we do and do not know about the Twins and Plouffe. We do not know if they did or didn't try to trade him. Some think we didn't (and that's fine), but let's assume we know this as gospel truth, because we don't. What we do know is that the market for 3B sucked this year. A superior player in Frasier netted very little on the market. Based on that, I don't have a problem holding him for now, as someone may get hurt this spring or early in the season where a trade might come to Ryan under better terms when the Mets realize that David Wright isn't going to get better. Plouffe also may end up being a godsend if someone gets hurt or heaven forbid Sano struggles next year or gets hurt. Who knows. I hope he's traded for something, but I think the "just trade him for what we can get" is very short sighted. Plouffe has value to this team, if for no other reason than insurance at this point, and as Brock pointed out, it's certainly not worth getting rid of him for a mid-level relief prospect.
  3. Rand Paul says Hi... and he's far more fiscally responsible too.
  4. I'm not sure about that, but technically, it's the delegates who nominate the guy, and I could see something there. I ran as a delegate 4 years ago to help the Ron Paul campaign, but let's be clear, my faith in the Reps went about a year into Bush's first term, as did a lot of Reps... They of course just don't show up.. that's wrong too, but the Reps have gone out of their way to chase away their Libertarian minded base as all they are is a different form of big government. They did this to themselves. Their collapse (hopefully sooner than later) might be the best thing that could happen to this country assuming something decent rises out of the ashes.
  5. I think his domestic policy hurts too. If he got a quarter of what he wanted, the national debt would double in four years. That's going to be a real problem as people tend to resist tax increases and you can only print so much money before the entire system collapses on itself. Sad thing really is that the Dems are acting like the Republicans back in 2008, forcing bad candidates on the people and rolling out the red carpet for Trump. They'd almost be better off unifying behind Rand Paul or something like that. Me thinks this is going to be another Gary Johnson year for me personally.
  6. Um no... That woman is as crooked as they come. The email scandal is a big deal, and in my opinion it's a slap in the face to people who handle classified data. I would be in jail for what Hillary did there, and so would most of the DoD. She gets away with it b/c she's Hillary.
  7. I'd be a bit concerned about them and Apple in the short term. Netflix is hitting it's saturation with US customers and Apple I think is going to get hammered as the recession takes hold. Might not be a bad idea to sell high on both and potentially buy back later. I have no complaints about Microsoft's performance of late (full disclosure, I work for MSFT), but even that isn't recession proof. I'd add that this bounce has been at best tepid. I think you're going to see another massive leg down in the next couple weeks. I'd definitely advise moving some positions to cash where you can buy back in much cheaper.
  8. I'm going to sticky this up on the main board until another mod overrules me and let people chime in here, but pitchers and catchers is less than a month away and the games will be going on in full come March. I know a number of people will be there, and it might be fun to post our schedules so we can meet up. For me, it looks like I'll be there for a few days (probably March 11 to the 13th), but that's not quite set yet. I'll try and keep editing the main post to show everyone who is going. Edit: Halsey Hall and Bob Sacramento- all ST ChitownTwinsFan - Feb 28-March13 SDBuhr - March 14-23 Loosey - Feb 14-18
  9. I think the issue with DanSan is part what Howie said (out of options) and part b/c there is some talent here. He's a kid that could use more time in the minors, but as contracts are, he's forced to be in the majors. I'm guessing the team hopes that he can click a bit and will rotate him around to get him competitive. I'm not as concerned about this one given he plays SS and CF... perhaps below average, but positions where we aren't necessarily deep at the moment.
  10. Honestly, I don't think Ryan would go public with saying he wanted to trade him even if he was trying. That's hard enough on a guy like Plouffe not to mention it doesn't always work when it comes to trade values.
  11. I'm guessing with Kepler they want to see another year, though another year like that and he will be in MN... I'm sure that has something to do with it. No one doubts the tools, but up until last year, he didn't exactly get the results.
  12. Funny thing is that supposedly the Cubs had a better offer on the table (according to the 'experts' at least). This was probably a good example of trading at surplus (and a valuable surplus at that) and both trading for need, accepting some risk, and trading for the future. The Twins needed a closer, and Nathan looked like he might fit the bill. Bonser was pretty much ready as a prospect, though he had lost some shine, and Liriano was a lottery ticket. There's no such thing as a pitching prospect, but Ryan really did hit the jack pot on this one. Now to be fair, this trade would never happen today. Back to Plouffe, I hope/suspect he's traded at some point. I'm not against holding on to him a bit until Kepler, Buxton, and/or Arcia really force some things and Rosario shows how he belongs. I think the OF will be hurt in the short term as there may be some struggles, and I don't see how it will be average defensively. In the mean time, he is an insurance policy of sorts. He's a known quantity, above average, and while not a star, he's not bad either. I don't think they get much for him even if he's traded at the deadline. I personally hope for a couple of higher ceiling, non-40 man, A ball prospects as our system is currently top heavy.
  13. Sorry, but he is a mastermind. The guy, like it or not, is smart. He knows that there's a huge number of very unhappy voters and he knows what will tickle them in a way that benefits him. I'm not a fan of Trump, to be clear, but he's not an idiot. He knows what will give him his power, and only God knows what he will do with it once he gets it (and I really do fear that, b/c I think he's both smart and crazy). This makes me wish that the Republicans didn't go all out against Ron Paul in the last two elections. They pushed sensible out of the equation. Guys like Trump are what is left for any person calling themselves Republican and actually wants change; and sadly, I think he's going to win. I won't vote for him, but he's your next President.
  14. What is a total sham is that they don't give candidates equal time and don't allow them to all answer the same questions. Kind of hard to figure out where people stand when all the important questions go to the 2 or 3 hand picked guys while everyone else gets asked what they think about the color of the White House.
  15. Thank you, I assumed it wasn't black and white. It's certainly not fantasy baseball. It's just interesting to know what goes on in the front office.
  16. The problem with that is that you get guys like Mike Pelfrey looking to make good due to injury or ineffectiveness. Good pitchers don't take short term deals.
  17. Yeah... hehehehe.. I do think that this may cost them a few games in 2016. Lots of question marks in the pen and in the OF that only time will fix. The problem I see is that there's no way TR blocks those guys, so we'll suffer a bit in April/May.
  18. Well, for one, money does matter. Like it or not. I'm not sure how having less payroll constraints somehow translates to money not mattering. It's been said in this thread a bazillion times that the Pohlads run the team like a business. Businesses will dump sunk costs from time to time, but when you invest significant capital into a resource, they are going to do everything they can to make that resource succeed. I'd add that in the example you gave, the employee's salary is not guaranteed, nor is there a golden parachute attached to it more often than not. That's a big reason why your average joe will find themselves unemployed when they have a bad review... and that's before you factor things into it like injury (which affects performance)... something that only athletes have to deal with. They may have excess funds to spend, but they don't just cut cut and cut. Teams in general don't do this if you haven't noticed. This isn't just a Twins thing. That will come to bite you in a number of ways, whether it's players refusing to sign or the fact that they still have to pay these contracts when that guy is playing for someone else. There's a time to cut a guy, I won't argue that. But the way people on this site clamor for it makes me glad that Twins Daily doesn't run the Twins. That strategy will fail if it was used as often as we fans thought it should happen.
  19. I'm pretty certain that they expect some of the kids to step up and be on the roster in shorter order. Not sure many (other than maybe Rogers and Melotakis) have a chance to break with the club, but I suspect that is the plan, like it or not.
  20. Reasonable doubt lies apparently with a jury unable to define it. The other areas of the proceedings going astray is precisely why reasonable doubt exists. The prosecution cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Avery did it because of all the mistakes made in the investigation... and yeah, juries can throw out data. They can look at that case minus said flawed data. The problem is that there's absolutely nothing left after that. Hence my point. Reasonable doubt exists... and my concern is pretty much what Shane said here. I wouldn't want to be tried by a jury because they are unable to understand this very concept.
  21. You don't just cut a guy with a guaranteed contract. You don't see that anywhere in baseball (not just here) and for good reason.
  22. Levi, It doesn't matter if he's innocent or not. What matters is reasonable doubt. I think you're putting words in people's mouth when you frame it this way. And yes, to an extent, the pitch forks still need to come out, whether Avery is truly innocent or guilty. This happened for reasons that were inexcusable, and one of the big reasons why it happened is b/c the system as a whole does a poor job in holding people accountable. In most corporate jobs, a guy like Lenk would have fired on the spot if he had been caught getting involved with something where had a clear conflict of interest, and quite possibly sued as well. Most of the people who screwed up the investigation would have found themselves unemployed if they performed their corporate duties to the level of negligence that was applied in this case, and that's in an environment where the principle goal tends to simply be monetary. In the justice system, real people are jailed and freed. Real people's lives get turned upside down, and that's stuff that isn't easy to get back, and the people that royally screwed up have to face no accountability for their actions. That's wrong on so many levels, especially when an innocent man ends up in jail or a guilty one goes free.
  23. Because the moment a the state allowed people with a clear conflict of interest be involved in the investigation (all while lying about it to the public) that threshold was approached if not met right there. The fact that these same people didn't follow best practices for collecting the evidence (so that no one could paint a reasonable picture as to what happened) and that just about all of the state's main evidence was found by these same individuals under odd circumstances or contaminated in some way, you have not only met, but completely exceeded the standard required for reasonable doubt. It is not a high standard. It was never meant to be. Best practices exist for a reason, and that reason is to prevent putting innocent people away or prevent guilty people from using this type of defense. Here's another way to look at it. If you threw out everything that was contaminated about the state's case, what is left? From a physical evidence standpoint, very little. The documentary didn't mention Avery's sweat found on the hood of the vehicle (and there could have been a very reasonable explanation for that as well), but there really wasn't much physical evidence at all linking Avery to this case if you threw out everything that was questionable.
  24. I think this is fair if you have a big massive gap where there's no hope for help within the farm. Problem is that realistically, they aren't going to simply dump someone who hasn't performed (i.e. Nolasco or Mauer of late). It will happen with Nolasco at least, but they tend to be patient with 4 year guaranteed deals, and like it or not, they should. The team as it's constructed really doesn't have that big massive hole with no help from the farm. It's biggest weaknesses currently have are long term contracts that you won't see dumped and a few short term situations that will rectify themselves as guys like Burdi, Berrios, Buxton, Kepler, Chargois, Melotakis, etc. move into the majors.
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