diehardtwinsfan

I guess I don't get this. Does NCAA and MILB mileage somehow wear you down less than MLB mileage? Was he hurt and missed entire seasons?

You know Levi, I enjoy debate with you, but you choosing to read beyond what I'm saying to build up some sort of straw man gets old. I'm not saying that poor districts shouldn't get more money. I'm saying that parents should have some control in some of the funds that are set aside for their children. They know what's in their children's best interest and cannot afford to wait around 10 years for the government to fix it's many problems. Ironically, it is the poor that are punished the most in their current systems. It has nothing to do with "greedy poor districts" and everything to do with the fact that there are plenty of horrible districts that all the money in the world cannot fix because their fundamental problem isn't money, it's that they are poorly run. Like it or not, some form of school choice will go a long way to fixing that problem. I agree that the goal of education should be to give every student the ability to participate in the economy and society, but the current system in place DOES NOT DO THAT. I'm not saying that the system needs to be turned over entirely to the free market, but I am saying that the parents SHOULD have a choice in how their children's education is handled, because at some level parents might actually have a better idea on what is best for their child than some bureaucrat at a state government or in Washington DC. There's a stark difference between colleges and lower level education. For one, that gravy train is unlimited. Colleges dumb down the standards because that gravy train is there for the smart kids as well as the dumb ones. They also dumb them down because for the most part, the education system has failed those kids and colleges are forced to continue high school education for them because these students never got what they needed in K-12. That problem isn't going to be fixed by simply paying teachers a bit more, centralizing funding, and continuing to do more of the same. I think you know that, and I think that if you were in any other profession you'd likely acknowledge that. I think you need to take a long hard look at the schools that will be 'destroyed' by allowing school choice. It means no one wants to send their kids there, but they have no choice, and they cannot afford to send their kids to private schools (or else they would). It means that the parents hate these schools and that these schools are failing in every aspect of their jobs. I cannot speak for your state, but in Indiana, those systems also get the lions share of the funding, because we do exactly as you suggest. Funding is handled by the state, not by local authorities (and we haven't even begun to discuss the very real issue of how politics and favoritism play into this). The problem still exists because at the end of the day, the solutions aren't catered to fix the problems. Like everything else in politics, the solutions are catered to the needs of special interests who have little or no interest in the education of our children, and they leave out the people who have the most incentive to insure that their children get the right education.

Don't have too much of an issue trading some of these guys. Only way I part with the big ones is to get a long term fixture at a position of need, but trading some of the lesser guys to pick up some decent relief help should be what happens this month.

Those are roads made by alien construction crews... everyone knows that.

Sorry no. Way too much to give up. Glad we are in the hunt, but this isn't a WS team and giving up that much is going to have a bad impact on the rest of the decade.

speaking of big foot, I've been rewatching xfiles. Really good series. And back on baseball.. Season 6 episode 19 "The Unnatural" "All the greats were aliens"

Based on this alone, I'd say the pick wasn't a reach. Everyone ranked him high, with some as high as 3 and low as 16. This is somewhat normal, especially when he wasn't in the clear first tier.

yeah, I was looking forward to him pulling a Hu in A+ this year. Guess it will have to wait a bit.

I think both are 80 power. Remember Sano is younger.

They need to win a lot of games /John Madden

yeah, I seem to remember some guy named Glen Perkins who had an attitude issue too... If that's Vargas' problem, he's out of luck b/c the Twins hold his rights for the time being.

The encouraging thing about Garver is his splits. He was terrible in April/May, but his OPS has been over .800 for June/July, as he's looking more like the kid that put up those numbers in the MWL.

I liked the idea until I saw his age. Not against acquiring him, but this isn't something you give up Berrios for. If he was 26 and doing this, that would be a much different story.

nice read.

Palacios is a decent prospect I'd say at this point. He turns 19 in a few a days, but that still keeps him pretty young for the GCL. I believe he's an international FA, but not the high bonus type. He's a SS too.

I'm not necessarily in disagreement, though Arcia has been maddeningly inconsistent during his time in the majors, and I'm quite glad he's heating up. I think the big issue is that this is something he COULD do, and there's no reason why he cannot be a plus bat with an even glove. That said, I think he should get another shot at some point soon. They can send Santana back down and move Escobar to SS and upgrade two positions.

yeah, not seeing it. If the Twins dip into FA this offseason it will be for relief pitchers or a catcher. Pretty sure the catching market is pretty sad, so I'm not expecting that.

I'd imagine that a better chance to make it would be a reason for hoping to be traded. I'm sure some organizations are better than others at developing certain types of talent... who knows.

will be going through withdraw tomorrow.

given his age, I'd hope Gordon is getting a lot of doubles. Those will translate a bit more as he gains strength. Span (offensively) might actually be a pretty good comp. Not bad out of a SS.

I tend to think of phenoms as guys who could be consistent all stars when they hit their prime. I think there are quite a few potential characters, but at this point, they all have question marks. Those guys include ABW, Thorpe, Gonsalves, Stewart, Jay, Berrios, Kepler, and Polanco who I think have a decent chance. Further down the ladder, there's quite a few as well.

I remember when he was traded for Trevor May and Vance Worley. Right now, I'm quite happy with that trade, even though Vanimal didn't quite work out.

I wonder if isn't his bat, but his glove. No reason he couldn't be an average defender if he put the work in.

Sorry, but GMs aren't going to be as impatient as fans are in determining value. Susac was a very high valued catcher going into the season, and a bad month from a rookie is hardly going to eliminate that value. We certainly wouldn't have been able to pick up Susac on the cheap. I'm not necessarily against acquiring him if he's available (and that right there is a very big IF), but understand that he was (and still is) going to be expensive.

Who the heck knows. That decision is something that May and Molitor come to together. Not sure it's fair to anyone for you or I to set those expectations.