diehardtwinsfan

I've never been a fan of Gardy, though in 2010 I was ironically not on the fire gardy campaign (and I've been there in the past). At this point though, it does appear as though Gardy has reached his shelf life. I'm not sure he can have the impact in MN that he could have with another franchize, and to be honest he's never been one to work well with rookies. I personally think he would be an instant favorite and a good candidate to clean up that mess in Boston if he were to be let go (and that he's more talented to do it than many), but I don't think he can fix what's wrong here. I'd say he needs to go as well. As for mid-season, I highly doubt it. If he goes it will be in the offseason.

just the title of this article strikes me as "stupid" and not worth reading. The Twins punnished the Sox in 2010. They then proceeded to put up 90+ loss teams in 2011 and 2012, and so naturally the Sox have done much better. If this writer think sthe dome is the difference between a 90+ win team and a 90+ loss team, then he's an even bigger idiot, but the product on the field the last two years woudln't have won many more games in teh dome.

The question I'd ask is how many of those prospects that Houston got are likely to be impact prospects... If these are B grade guys, Houston instantly has the best farm system in baseball right now... but they don't. I'm all for making smart trades, but blowing things up to get talent that if it makes it is just a utility player isn't the best plan either. I do like how they drafted, but that's also a long term proposition as well, and to be fair to the Twins, I don't think this was an option for them as soon as Corea was off the board. No way Giolito, Gausman, Zimmer, Buxton, etc. were going to go that far below slot so that the Twins could go out and have grabbed a guy like Mccullers. The other thing is that the Twins have a pretty nice core of hitters both now and in the system. Next season, I full expect Benson, Arcia, and Hicks to all be knocking on the door making Revere and Willingham expendable. It would certainly be wise not to bring all of them up at once, but those guys are all profiling as above average regulars, and in the case of Arcia, middle of the order bat. Plouffe, Dozier, Parmalee, Doumit, and Mauer are all looking pretty decent, so this team on the offense is in need of a 2B (or a 3B if they want to move Plouffe over there) and a part time DH. Morneau won't get them much due to his contract, but next year at this time, he's going to be far more valuable even if he doesn't improve over what he's doing now, and if the improvements we see are continuing, the Twins might very well be shopping two sluggers at the deadline next year. Where they are weak, is pitching. They need pitching to work with this next wave. If they can flip Span, Morneau, Willingham, and Liriano for that type of pitching help, then there's no need to blow the team up. However, with all the chips, I highly doubt they can aquire the starters that they need, so in the Twins case, I think it's fair to say that free agency is going to be necessary. Looking at what Ryan is doing thus far, it seems like this is his plan. It isn't a bad plan. I don't think blowing things up is going to get us competing sooner. I do agree that some of the young guys are going to take some lumps, and that is what 2013 is going to be for, and to an extent 2014. That said, if they continue with this plan, they will field a quasi-competitive team that will keep butts in the seats... Lest you forget, this is a business, and selling out target field is a priority. Ryan actually has demonstrated in the past that this is somethign he's capable of doing, and having him as the GM of this team for a couple of years makes a ton of sense.... Once that talent is performing, I'm not sure he's the guy who can get us over the top, but getting us to it is something he does well.

the problem with teh angels is that htey don't match up well with us. I'd just assume one of the big targets ends up over there.

yeah, color me skeptical on most of these. Certainly Sano's defense may need to improve, but despite the power, the he's striking out way to much in low A anyways.. finishing out the year in Beloit makes sense.

That whole lineup was hot today... Hermsen pitched pretty well too.

I'd be really curious as to your source regarding Sano's work ethic. And if he is Hanley Ramirez, then the Twins would wise to trade him after his 2nd or 3rd seasons in the bigs where he'd fetch top value, not as a high ceiling guy in A ball. I'm more with you on Buxton (to a point). I'd rank him below Arcia, Rosario, Sano, and Hicks at this stage as all of them have the tools but have more results to go with it. Kepler is a stretch, though I suspect he'll be shooting up on the lists given the season he's having.

Just a correction, but Bartlett was traded with Matt Garza.... and man that hurt.... I think that ended up hurting more than Santana. At least with Johan, you knew he was gone in a year. Garza could still be here.

I meant the Braves... sorry about that. I was thinking Randall Delgado the whole way. As for Willi, I would hope it would be a very nice pitcher along with some high upside prospects at at lower levels.

And Neshek, Hardy, and Perkins to name a few more. There is a track record here.

1. Why would the Dbacks want to do this? 2. Why would the Twins want to do this? This makes no sense for either team.

um.. no. You can make a qualifying 12.5M offer to Francisco, which I'd guess he will reject. If not, you get him back (and he's not a terrible option at that price) and if he does, you get the pick.

well, there's more buyers than sellers, so every time a player dropps off the market, the supply of available pieces drops more than the remaining demand... In simple economics, that means a higher price for those desparate to buy. I personally kind of hope that TR is talking with the Dodgers about a similar deal for Liriano. I'm not quite sure Garza goes because the Cubs will ask a kings ransom for him, same with Willingham.

Presently: (intentionally omitting Span and Liriano who I expect to be traded) Star: Mauer Solid (average or better) pieces: Willingham, Doumit, Burton, Perkins Potentially solid or better pieces: Dozier, Parmalee, Plouffe (and I'd argue there's a potential star here if that bat is for real), Revere (lots more downside on this one I think), Diamond, Burnet Near future (all of whom should be average or better in their positions): Arcia, Hicks, Benson, Gibson, Hendricks This team looks pretty solid on offense next year, especially since I don't think it's a terrible thing to count on Dozier, Parmalee, or Plouffe to perform average or better and becoming solid pieces for the long term, and 2014 looks pretty bright with the talent coming in. The problem is pitching, pitching, and pitching. If they spent that 25M wisely on pitching, this team should finish above .500. It will be competitve in that sense, though I'm not sure it wins a division.

Whether anyone likes it or not, this team is going to try to compete in 2013. I'm not sure if hanging on to Morneau is going to help in that regard, though I'm hard pressed to see how it will hurt. Consider the facts... 1) Morneau will net nothing in terms of a decent propsect. 2) Morneau's upside is very high, and he's giving enough reason now to show that you might see something closer to the pre-concussion Morneau next season, plus, even if he isn't that contract won't be a factor for a team looking for deadline help in 2013. 3) Getting rid of Morneau and one of Span/Willingham opens up an OF spot with no short term replacement (where Parmalee could fit there now). That said, I think they go after starting pitching. They have no choice really as they need 2 or 3 decent starters, and they'll need them for the 2014/15 teams as well. My fear is that they go after guys slightly better than Marquis. I'd like them to go after Anibel Sanchez, and take some risks with guys like Bedard... As well, hopefully they add a couple of guys to Rochester like Jonathan Sanchez.

I'm guessing when Elizabethon's season ends you might see a couple of those guys move up.

minor league free agents will give you the minor league quantity you need. But you dont' trade guys you can offer arb to and get a pick for quantity... Otherwise, just take the pick.

both of those pitchers would be nice, though getting a higher upside guy at high A or AA would be nicer... that said, I'm pretty sure that Sabean has premanently blocked Ryan's number...

Pretty much this. Morneau's value is better than last year, but still pretty much at a low. It looks like he's going to finish out the season (knocks on wood) and he appears to be turning a corner. That contract will look a lot less like an albatross next season at this time, and if he continues to progress, he will be in high demand come the deadline. Trading him now will net exactly what? Most likely a Low a prospect with a limited ceiling. You don't build around those guys and the likelihood of him even making the big leagues is pretty slim. You may as well hold on and try to get something better, cause you won't get anything worse should Morneau get injured again or simply not pan out.

Baker won't be worth 9M. He won't get anything close to that in FA. Someone will give him a 3M base salary for next year and then a much nicer salary for 2 or 3 years. I'm not against the Twins doing that, but once that option is declined, I have a tough time believing that Baker is going to come back here. How often do players return to the team that declined their nice, pretty expensive option? And then add a medical staff that has a knack for misdiagnosing things...

That's true with any minor league free agents, otherwise theyd' be on the 40 man roster of some team. I expect every single team to do the exact same thing, and quite frankly, there's nothing wrong with that.... Unless you are the yankees, you are going to have to take these type of risks. The danger is when you expect too many to pan out.

Count me in the "not taking the deal" camp. Grossman is the only decent prospect of that bunch, and he's kind of redundant in this system, so there's no way I'd even be talking a trade around a propsect like him. Neither of those pitchers can strike out guys in low A, so unless there's some sort of obvious toolsy unrealized talent with those guys, they are filler at best. I'd much rather they take one quality propsect and a low A filler/higher ceiling guy than to go for a couple of #5 starters and a toolsy OF.

then you offer Liriano arb.

Sano didn't K tonight.

I don't see Morneau getting moved at all this season, and to be honest, I don't see it happening until this time next year. If he continues to improve, you should see something of value worth trading at the deadline next year.