diehardtwinsfan

I'm not sure the issue here. It's an excused absence... at that point, I don't worry about it. He went through proper channels and got permission to report late... for all we know, he has a relative on his/her deathbed. It could be rehab too for all we know, but we don't know. As for the cocaine accusation, I thought there were plenty of sources indicating this was something he took while rehabbing. This is new, and hopefully the agent is telling the truth here.

In regards to the K vs. Sinker guy, I'm not sure why it cannot be both. One of the things that statistics has shown is that the ability to induce ground balls correlates positively to the pitchers results. Getting a K guy who has enough heavy sink on that fastball to induce a lot of ground balls is not a bad thing... Take Liriano for instance. When he came up, part of his success was the ability to rack up Ks as well as induce a high amount of ground balls... Far more than the Twins other ace at that time. We all know what happened with Liriano, it didn't work out, but let's not pretend it's an either or situation with GB and K pitchers. Besides... we all know that most major league hitters have no problems hitting a 100 MPH straight fastball.

Well said.

Ding ding ding... Of course you and I will never know what the CIA role is. The alternative media will speculate and the mainstream will ignore it. Then you have the US going out and saying that executing diplomacy at the barrel of a gun is a bad thing... like we don't do that or anything. I'm so tired of this. I wouldn't leave out the fact that the Ukraine recently decided NOT to join the EU. The didn't want any part of bailing out all of Europe and I think this is largely being driven by the EU looking to retain some sort of relevancy. This whole situation makes little sense without the US being involved, as I really think that some powers that be are itching for a war to take everyone's mind off of the "recovery" that really isn't happening. That's speculation, I know. But this is front and center while Venezuela is being ignored, and what is going on there is just as bad, if not worse.

It doesn't make sense from a need standpoint... That said, the Twins learned last offseason that CFs can get nice returns on the trade market, and developing decent center fielders is something Minnesota seems to do well. I'd go with the "cannot hurt".

I guess there really aren't a lot of guys here that get me excited. I want to see Stewart, Gonsalves, and Thrope from pretty much opening day. I think you could make a case for all of them.

I think it's more of a who than a what. If Kolek fell to them at 5, they could get him, but he's taking slot. If they liked Holmes a bit better, they might be able to reach down and get him below slot and then grab a tough sign in round 2. Either philosophy works in my opinion. Part of it depends on who is left at 5, and part depends on who they like the best. At this point, it's a bit early to tell. Once we hit May, we should have a pretty good idea on where people will be falling.

It seems to me that attitude is largely a perception based argument and not necessarily a reality. I'm not a fan of Gardy just to be clear, but I'm not sure any of us can reasonably argue that Gardy does or does not have attitude. You post this picture, but this is a slice in time for an attitude that will be observed from Gardy from time to time.... Of course this is the same manager who has consistently been at the top of the league in ejections, which to me says the opposite of what you are saying. Willihammer posted 3 pictures earlier in this thread. One showed Gardy livid during a game where the Twins held a comfortable 6-0 lead. The other showed him having a nice chat during a 20-5 blowout of the Twins. He didn't comment on this, but I cannot help but notice that his attitude in each of those pictures was opposite of what some of us would "expect". I've seen plenty of shots where he's livid in a loss and pretty laid back in a win... or even a close game for that matter. While I don't want to put words in Willihammers mouth, I have to say that to me this enforces a very simple principle... attitude is a perception. If you want to judge Gardy, it should be by his results. Personally, I think Levi hit the nail on the head here with his inconsistency towards rookies.... that's just me though.

This is the first time I've heard about the hit tool being that low. That can be one scout's opinion I suppose, but a 40 hit tool is not a top 5 pick. Hopefully for his sake that changes a bit... If it doesnt, give me one of the pitchers please.

The only thing I can think of with Pinto is that they've graduated him. Pinto is a better prospect at this point than any of the guys that got missed (minus maybe Rosario).

mmmmmmm.... drunken posting.

First, the law begs to differ here, as does I would imagine the federal judge who will be hearing this case. Also, statements like this one is what generated moderator action towards your posts. While most of us appreciate your desire to defend your position, you have no right to tell people that their opinions do not matter, especially since based on the position that you are taking, yours really don't matter either, as you are neither the employer or the employee in this particular situation, yet you seem quite willing to continue to give us your opinion. Tread lightly here, you can say what you want to say, but please do so in a respectful manner. Previously, you said that the market always pays you what you are worth. Now you are essentially saying otherwise. I've been in these shoes. Many times, you need to get that raise by finding a new job. I've had to do it, as has my wife. Wages aren't always set by market rates though (minimum wage is one example), and bypassing market rates is EXACTLY what is going on with minor leaguers. It's being done in the name of competitive balance. They don't have the rights to go look for a new job using the skills that they have, as the 30 employers have gotten together and decided that if they want to work for any of the MLB teams, they must work for the team that drafted them and receive the wage that has been set by a CBA in which they are not represented. The minimum wage argument is a bit different and if you want to start a tangent here, I suggest a thread in the Sports Bar. But the idea that anyone's opinion on this matter is meaningless is simply not true. The moment one of your employees sues you is the moment when a judge's opinion is going to be rendered in this case, and quite frankly, everyone else's opinion (minus the guys hearing the appeal) will be rendered "meaningless". But from the standpoint of this forum, everyone has a right to an opinion here, and while not everyone here has run their own business, I pretty much guarantee you that some of the people you are arguing with have. I've done the self employment thing successfully, on more than one occasion I might add. I know a bit about the extra taxes that are paid in the system. I have also hired a company to manage one other business I have, and I'm not the only one. Again, in an unregulated system, your statement would be true. But the system is controlled by a trust. That changes the rules. The issue at hand is the law, and what the law says. In this case, the law is pretty clear.

This. I thought it was ridiculous to keep three catchers back when Mauer caught and occasionally played DH.... In his career, how many times did we actually need to bat the pitcher? I remember once. Either way, a 3rd catcher is silly, but in this case, I highly doubt Mauer is going to say no if Pinto were DHing and Suzuki got hurt. Of course, given what it appears that the Twins will be having on their bench this year, I'm not sure how much better off they will be than if they let a pitcher hit.

I see what you did there.

I see a few disconnects here, and to be honest, it seems as though this is spending way too much time looking at theory. The problem with theory is that it represents ideal situations, which do not exist in reality. Basic economic theory, for instance, assumes perfect knowledge, but reality suggests otherwise. As well, you are distorting what I mean and what everyone else means by a living wage. No one is saying that the employers need to control every aspect of an employees life as compensation for the "living wage". It isn't necessary. MLB, as an employer, is very much aware of what the cost of living is in these minor league cities. They don't need to dictate their employees budgets or anything of the sort, they just need to pay them enough to cover that. This isn't slavery, it's basic ethics. One could argue that the current situation that minor leaguers face is more akin to slavery than most jobs right now. These guys have no control over who they work for or what they are paid. Likewise, this isn't a situation where these players are "so unskilled" that they cannot produce a living wage. It's quite the contrary. These guys are highly skilled at something that the vast majority of us could wish to be skilled at. You are right that there are more than enough young men willing to give it a shot. But what is being missed that being willing does not equate to having a skill. I'd love for a shot at MLB. No team in their right mind would ever employ me to play the game, because quite frankly, I'm not that good at it. The flip side is that there are only a few places where these guys are reasonably work to ply their skills. Their potential employers have sat down and agreed on a wage compensation and then assigned these folks to their places of employment, thus eliminating their ability to maximize their earnings. This is not a situation where these players can freely choose where they want to work. As such, this is the definition of a trust, which under the law is illegal. The reason MLB, the NFL, NBA, etc. are allowed to operation in this fashion is that they have been granted an anti-trust exemption because they have allowed the players to unionize and collectively bargain for their wages. That would work just fine except that in this case, minor leaguers have no vote in the bargaining process and because of this have been unrepresented. In the eyes of the law, this is pretty clear in my opinion. These guys cannot control their wages or who they work for, and they have no ability to collectively bargain for really anything. As such, we are back to a trust situation and the anti-trust exemption does not apply. I really don't see how MLB and the MLBPA will come out OK on this.

I'm sure there were reasons that Mr. Ford decided to pay his workers more. Some of it may have been ethics as Hosken suggested, and some of it may have been simple economics as you have suggested. I fail to understand why it cannot be both, as both can be very legitimate reasons for raising salaries. I also fail to understand why it is that some are against the idea of paying people a living wage. I've been to countries where you are lucky to make a couple of dollars a week. The poverty there cannot be described adequately, as the poor in this country live like kings in comparison. The reality as I see it is that the MLB has essentially organized into a trust like structure to control wage and employment of prospective employees. That's done in the name of competitive balance, and truthfully, for the league to survive, that has to exist in some manner... However, the law is clear that in order to be exempt from this type of anti-trust activity, the players must be unionized and collectively bargain their wages. That works great until the union no longer represents the interests of players, and in this case, the minor leaguers are not represented. MLB would have done themselves well by building dorm/apartment style housing near all their stadiums and making sure the players were fed well. But they don't do that. As well, it isn't as if they lose money on the minor league operations. Those are quite profitable, especially if the players are being paid peanuts. MLB and the MLBPA are likely going to lose this. They've exploited the law. This is a case where simple ethics could have solved this problem years ago. Instead, due to a complete lack of them (or perhaps pure ignorance), they are in this situation. I'm hardly a fan of organized labor, but in this case, it's hard to feel sorry for MLB and the MLBPA.

I guess I don't see the big deal with him DHing. He had some pretty significant contact issues in AA (though he seemed to figure things out towards then end of the season). Unless having him DH is going to put some sort of strain on the elbow preventing him from being a 3B, I see no reason why he cannot start DHing when he rehab has progressed adequately. He can switch back to 3B in Rochester in 2015 for what would hopefully be a short stint.

This was a make/break year for Plouffe and Parmelee. When you look at spots for the next core, DH really doesn't have someone in the short term, and if Hicks flops, there could be opening in RF. Either way, both of those guys need to step up. If they do, we have our DH, and we have some trade bait/insurance. Sano getting hurt has given Plouffe all of 2014 to figure things out, and possibly some of 2015. Prior to that, he was going to start feeling the heat come mid-season if Sano had come out swinging.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Tampa Bay has consistently defied the odds on this one... Edit: posted after I saw the article on this. It's the whitesox.

If he proves the last 4 months of 2013 weren't a mirage, I'd move him back to short.

Arizona Diamondbacks - 80.5 - UNDER Atlanta Braves - 87.5 - UNDER Baltimore Orioles - 80.5 - OVER Boston Red Sox - 87.5 - OVER Chicago Cubs - - 69.5 - UNDER Chicago White Sox - 75.5 - WAY UNDER Cincinnati Reds - 84.5 - OVER Cleveland Indians - 80.5 - OVER Colorado Rockies - 76.5 - OVER Detroit Tigers - 89.5 - UNDER Houston Astros - 62.5 - OVER Kansas City Royals - 81.5 - OVER Los Angeles Angels - 86.5 - UNDER Los Angeles Dodgers - 92.5 - UNDER Miami Marlins - 69.5 - UNDER Milwaukee Brewers - 79.5 - OVER Minnesota Twins - 70.5 - OVER New York Mets - 73.5 - UNDER New York Yankees - 86.5 - OVER Oakland Athletics - 88.5 - OVER Philadelphia Phillies - 76.5 - UNDER Pittsburgh Pirates - 83.5 - OVER San Diego Padres - 78.5 - UNDER San Francisco Giants - 86.5 - OVER Seattle Mariners - 81.5 - UNDER St. Louis Cardinals - 90.5 - UNDER Tampa Bay Rays - 88.5 - UNDER Texas Rangers - 86.5 - OVER Toronto Blue Jays - 79.5 - OVER Washington Nationals - 88.5 - OVER Tie breaker: The two AL WC teams will be: NEW YORK & OAKLAND Tie breaker 2: The two NL WC teams will be: WASHINGTON & PITTSBURGH

I think you can make a case for the hitting improving on its own with young guys improving and some regression to the mean with the vets... the pitching on the other hand needed fixing outside the org. Personally, I don't see there hardly ever being a good reason to have a pitching staff of 13 guys, especially at the beginning of the year when there are more breaks in the schedule. I'd take the bat.

To me, this all comes down to opportunity costs. No one doubts that Drew is an upgrade over Florimon. The issue at hand is how much (likely a couple wins) and for what cost. If you assume 1 win is abou 5M, Drew's asking price is substantially more than what he's going to provide, and that's before you throw a mid 40s pick in a deep draft into the mix. I said before I waffle on this, and I still really don't care either way. I suspect that if it was just cost, the Twins would have signed him already, but they are giving up A LOT to get an upgrade, and it isn't as though they are one piece away. This is the type of deal I think they would be making in 2015, or potentially even next year if things break right, but not now.

Just a small point here, but this system isn't a free market. We can talk about free market economics here, but the reality is that it doesn't exist in baseball. MLB has an anti-trust exemption based on the fact that they are essentially a trust. The draft, by its very nature, is anti-competitive as the 30 organizations essentially decide who potential labor pays for and sets their wage. That's illegal in every industry unless they get an exemption, and the reason why MLB is allowed to do it is because they have a collectively bargained agreement with the union. The problem though is that while the union "represents" minor leaguers, they aren't actually voting members of the union and so their interests are not being represented. This one, in the eyes of the law, is pretty clear. Minor leaguers will either get to unionize, or they will be granted membership in the MLBPA. Their current wage, bonuses, etc. are all immaterial to this, other than proof that MLB and the MLBPA have been ignoring the interests of minor leaguers because quite frankly no one has forced them to do otherwise.

This, this, and this! The reason our system is ranked so high is because of the start potential and the depth. There's a lot of lower ranked guys who could find themselves on top 100 lists next year, even as we graduate players like Sano and Meyer. Thorpe, Gonsalves, Harrison, Kepler, Walker, Vargas, Polanco, and even May all fit that bill right now. If they come out dealing this season, coupled with continued success of guys like Sano, Meyer, Rosario, Stewart, and Buxton, there's going to be a lot of reasons to be excited about Twins baseball for the remainder of the decade.