diehardtwinsfan

I'd say we are fairly similar. Problem with Span is that this won't be a 1 year deal I think. If it is, I'd be all over that. I'd probably trade Milone as well. He could get you a decent reliever. Not sure he could get much more than that, but it would be an upgrade over Milone being in the pen and some team would get a decent rotation option in exchange. Room has to be made for Arcia as he's out of options. He's going to be DHing starting next year (and he should be). I'd be making room for Pinto too.

Like the others, for the right terms, I'm fine with that.

yeah, I think I'd go after Hedges, Norris, or Lucroy before I went after Weiters personally. Here's the question I have. What's up with Pinto? We know he can hit (this season's injury issues aside). At what point does he become a viable option in this discussion?

yeah, unless they knew in advance, it's pretty hard to say that they should have known about drug issues. I've known a number of people who have used them. Some are pretty obvious, and it would be very easy to say 'you should have known'... others... not so much. And at 17, it's entirely possible that he wasn't using them and started using them as an adult. It's sad that he didn't make it, most propsects at his position don't. I still wish him well and hope he can kick that drug habbit.

Problem is that this doesn't always correlate. Even in the minors you have those issues. Some guys put up video game numbers in AAA and it never translates, while others are rather pedestrian in the minors but put up great ML numbers. That, and I seem to remember some guy named Tsuyoshi Nishikoia that absolutely destroed the NPB, only to be horribly bad in MLB.

I like that.

This sums me up quite well. What I think bothers me about most of it is that it's often being said that he shouldn't be as vocal about it... of course, those same people wouldn't think that way about it if his views were the same as theirs. At the end of the day, I would also like an informed discussion/debate. Problem is that it's pretty hard to get that on this topic.

That I could get behind. Only real issue is that it makes it more likely that Arcia or Vargas get let go, and I think that's a mistake, but if the Yankess wanted Milone for Tex, I'd do that in a heartbeat.

Santana strikes me as the type of guy that has value to a rebuilding team, as they can let him take his lumps as a starter. I'm fine with him in the 2016 futility role, and I'm also fine with the idea of trading him as a part of a package to a bad team with a good player at a position of need as their lack of competitiveness will let him take his lumps as a starter. As it is, we also have Polanco in the high minors who will at some point be requiring a roster spot too, and there's also a resurgent Levi Michael. At some point, the Twins will have to shed some of these guys.

No way would I give up Gibson for Texiera. That's selling way too low on Gibson.

yeah, I fail to see how it is that he won't start in Rochester next season.

I think Kepler is a real possiblity to earn that open corner position come spring, especially if Arcia falls on his face. I'm looking forward to seeing Buxton and Kepler in Rochester this year. I think both could get off to some hot starts and have us clamoring to have them up.

This is probably the best summary. He doesn't get a lot of recognition in prospect circles because of the K and BB rates, but he's continued to produce, causing some (particularly in these forums) to really latch on to him. I'm pretty encouraged by the increasing walk rate, and I'm hoping at some point, he figures out enough of it to see that K rate come down a bit. I know the comp isn't ideal, but Vlad Guerrero was a free swinging slugger that Kd a lot, but even he had a career of roughly 1k/8 AB. He was striking out in the minors at a bit higher rate (about 20%), so I think there's room for hope. Walker, however, sits at 34%. That number has to come down b/c in the majors, if he doesn't figure it out, you'll see this in the 40s. Walker is what he is. A high ceiling prospect with elite power and a big question mark as to whether or not his style of play will translate to the majors. The fact that he did what he did in AA this year is pretty encouraging, but not enough to overrate him.

pretty much this. I'd welcome him here as a part time PH in the twilight of his career, but that's about it. The problem is that I doubt he sees this, and I doubt the Twins would either.

Buxton showed that he's not ready to do it at the highest level. There's nothing wrong with giving him sometime in Rochester. It's part of that development. If he's figured it out, we'll all be clamoring for him in a month after he puts up a 300/400/500 line in Rochester. In the mean time, there's no harm in making him earn it. He didn't do that this year. I fail to see how forcing him in the lineup will make him better. I would think watching guys like Carlos Gomez flounder for years because it was too soon should be plenty of evidence as to why an AAA stint wouldn't be bad. Heck, 2 years of Aaron Hicks is another good example, and while he's not Buxton as a prospect, I think we can all safely conclude at this point that there are advantages to letting guys develop in the minors.

wow, you're higher on Walker than a lot of people. Is that a gut feel or do you have some sense that he's figuring things out? I know his walk rate has improved of late (though the K rate has not). I'm personally hoping that's the first step in him putting it together, but I still have a tough time rating him that high, even though I think he's got a ceiling of perenniel all star if he figures it out. Also on Stewart, do you have any contacts in the org who could answer questions about his lack of Ks? I know Neil Allen was preaching that from the top down, which is good, but Stewart took a step back in what is typically considered a pitchers league. I don't have too much of a problem if this is something where they are sacrificing Ks for other developmental gains, but it would be nice to know what the thought process is there.

I don't get the desire to trade Rosario (yet). You trade from surplus when you have something that can replace him, and I don't see that for Rosario in 2016 at least. It could happen at some point, but Rosario earned that job and there isn't an inhouse replacement that is likely to outperform him as of right now. Buxton and Kepler will likely eventually get there, but they aren't there now, and if the team wants to be competitive, then keeping Rosario in the OF is the right choice. Moving Sano or Plouffe to the OF isn't a good idea. I would think that watching baseball the Twins play ball the last few years should be evidence enough that you cannot just slot a guy into the OF and get decent defense, and poor OF defense makes a pretty big difference. I do agree that some OF help may be needed, but I think it's in the team's best interest to give Arcia another shot, and they need to find room for Vargas too at some point. Only way to do that is to trade Plouffe (who is redundant at this point) and not go out and get some big name OF. I could definitely go for a Cuddyer/Nolasco swap as suggested here as long as Cuddyer understands that he won't necessarily be an every day guy, but that's more a bad contract/bad contract swaps where the bad contracts better address the current needs of the teams trading.

I didn't realize they were serious about my application for the job.

Yeah, don't think either of those kids are prospects, but Trey would fall into the sleeper category. I'm not a van of Vavra as a coach, and it's quite possible that with kids in the system or not, dad may leave simply for a better opportunity. It isn't as if his current job as an ML coach gives him more family time with his sons. BTW side, note, but doesn't Tanner have a physical handicap as well? I was thinking he as deaf in one ear for some reason. Could be wrong though.

I still blame Gardy for 2004... and honestly, the biggest yankee choker was Joe Nathan, and I'd argue that started after 2004 when he was left in way too long. He stopped using his bread and butter and threw only breaking pitches when he was closing out games for them. Several walks later, he was in a jam. Perhaps that's selective memory, but when it came to choking against the Yankees, Gardy's chronic mismanagement and Nathan's refusual to do what he did best struck me as the top issues. Back on topic. There's a time to go for it and one not to. I see both sides of that. The problem with this team is that it was a pretender, not a contender. I don't fault Ryan for being a bit cautious there. It will be interesting to see what Ryan does this offseason, as the decision to go for it shouldn't be made in July; it should be made in December. This team has some clear upgrades that could be made for relatively cheap as well as some tradable surplus assets that can be shed to provide other key pieces. This offseason is the time to go for it. I'll be disappointed if the only token changes are a couple of RP pickups. There's no reason to think that Ryan cannot assemble a clear playoff competitor this offseason while keeping key 'help on the way guys' like Buxton, Berrios, and Kepler.

I'm not an FO apologist by any means, but these are the types of irrational expectations that drive me and other posters around here absolutely nuts. The Twins had next to nothing for pitching in their system and a clear need to rebuild after two consectuive really bad seasons. Aquiring pitching talent was a must, despite the fact that this team hasn't developed an ace since Santana, and even in that case they had help from Houston. If they chose to not aquire high end pitching because of their developmental track record (as you have suggested here), you would be the first (and rightfully so I might add) to castigate them for not targeting pitching when it was extremely obvious that they needed pitching. But with that comes risk. I know you understand that concept, but I'm not seeing it here. Prospects fail all the time. We aren't the only team who has seen a guy in the top 100, or even top 50 drop out for various reasons. It happens, especially, I might add, with pitching prospects who are more difficult to develop and more suspectible to injury. There is a reason that you know what TINSTAAPP means. What none of us know is what else (if anything) was on the table for Span, but I highly doubt that any team would have had a younger major leaguer with some cost control on the table with a top 50 pitching prospect as well. As Ryan put it back when he aquired Meyer, once guys like him hit AA, they are untouchable. This is basic supply and demand. We needed help in the system on the mound, not at 1B/RF. We might have gotten your young major leaguer if it was some hitting help at a corner position where the system was weak. Those types of guys come cheaper because there's a lot more of them. Likewise, as another poster aptly put it, when the wins come is just as important. Getting Drew Storen for Span would have added a couple of wins to an otherwise disasterous 2013-2014 seasons, with no additional pitching help in the pipline (not to mention that it would not have strengthened a Washington team with WS aspirations). Leaving Span in house would have done so too, but the Twins would still have been that laughing stock. Regardless of how Meyer pans out, this is not the unmitigated disaster you now claim it to be. It is precisely the type of trade that Ryan needed to be making. What is more interesting about this is that as recently as last year, you were front and center castigating the front office for not calling up Meyer sooner, despite the fact that the main reason for not doing so is precisely why it is that he failed as a starter this season. You've been rather effusive of your praise for Meyer over the last two seasons, and I fail to see where you get to play the 'I told you so card' when in reality, what you wanted no other GM in baseball would have agreed to. You don't get to play this one both ways. Either Meyer was the pitcher you've praised the last too years and worthy of that risk or your assessment of him along with BA, BP, and everyone else was wrong. Hindsight is 20/20, and that is all that this really is. Meyer and May were unknown commodities with lots of risk when they were aquired. But they needed to be aquired.

I would normally agree with you, but I think this speaks more to the fact that the Twins have a deep system than anything. It's hard for me at least to put an untested 16 year old that high when all of the guys in front of him show similar amounts of promise and have had success at levels he won't even see for a while. In the Twins system a few years ago, he'd be top 5. Now, not so much.

It depends on the list maker. Some value results more than others (not that Buxton was bad in AA, but he was clearly not ML ready). I put him at 2 on mine this year. He was 1 last year. Main reason for that (for me at least) was that he plays CF, which is a bit harder commodity to find impact talent than 3B. This year, Sano flat out out-performed him at the same levels.

Even if Meyer ends up in the pen, I'm not certain you can call the Span trade a disaster. It was the type of trade they needed to do, and there's no such thing as a risk free trade. It's why Ryan aquired 3 pitchers via trade that offseason, as invariably, some don't work out. The irony is that the one who appears to have worked out is the one no one thought would be this good. There's risk involved with this type of trade (and let's not forget that there was some risk aquiring Span too, and that he wasn't very good the first year of that transition). The Meyer book isn't closed just yet, and even as a reliever he could be pretty good. I agree that I'd rather him start, but I think calling the trade a disaster is a bit unfair. A disaster is Hardy for Hoey. This isn't that.

I guess I'm not sure what 'just enough' is, but a good change has to take just enough off of it that a hitter will be out in front of it and is unable to just sit on the FB. I'd imagine 3MPH would lead to a lot more foul balls or weak contact, which means it isn't an out pitch in the traditional sense, but I'm not seeing this as the end of his career, especially if he can still get Ks with the FB.