diehardtwinsfan

Well... could not vs. would not. You're right, they CAN spend the money. I suspect though that this one is coming from ownership and that they won't... maybe that changes with a new GM, who knows, but I suspect this problem is a bit deeper than Terry Ryan... or maybe I've just been in the acceptance stage of grief for too long I cannot speak for you, but nothing I saw on Trea Turner (other than fast riser) that really made me want the Twins to draft him. I think the Twins were right going for ceiling over speed to the majors, especially given that SS hasn't really been a position of need for the team over the last few years.

Twitter is a complete waste. I'm convinced that America's collective IQ drops a point each year it's in existence. Facebook can be useful for connecting with someone you've lost contact with, but beyond that, not so much. And goodness, the makers of FB have an odd definition of what is considered to be important.

For some odd reason, my wife doesn't appreciate that.

That's good info. Wouldn't be surprised if he started in AAA. He was over 4BB/9 in AA earlier, glad to see that's ticking down, but 12 walks in 7 starts is certainly not much to be concerned about. Looking more like a 3 game adjustment for him to realize what he couldn't get away with anymore in AA. This kid might be a monster.

I'd rather have my front 5 to be Santana, Gibson, May, Duffey, and Berrios than to give a spot to Santiago and send someone to the pen/minors. Not to mention, Hughes is still floating around, even if the odds of him returning to a starting role are miniscule. In the minors you still have Mejia, Dean and (probably) Wheeler on the 40 man with Gonsalves (and possibly one or two more non 40 man guys) likely knocking on the door. I don't really see the point in holding on to Santiago unless someone gets hurt. I'd trade him if possible (doubtful), but otherwise non-tender him. Same goes with Milone and Plouffe. I'd be open to keeping Kintzler as he could likely be traded next deadline or kept if the team is doing well. Edit: forgot Mejia

I think it depends. I'm definitely more of a case by case basis on a lot of this as everyone has extenuating circumstances which makes these decisions difficult. The goal isn't to minimize time spent on mistakes but to maximize development for everyone. The biggest issue with a global type approach to this is that there are always going to be examples of where a specific policy fails a specific prospect. That's why I think it really depends on the prospect. I think your approach will work better with most college guys, but for high school guys, that doesn't make as much sense (and of course there are exceptions with both groups). Keep in mind that for every guy that gets pushed up, someone else gets pushed out. That's what really makes it difficult, even more so at deeper positions.

I wasn't referring to you (someone said it somewhere else). So I apologize if I implied as such. I agree it's a BS phrase. I have no doubt the Twins failed Buxton. He shouldn't have been in the plans for 2016 and they did a Hicks 2.0 with him. I do think that some of his failure is on him, but he was setup to fail, so it's really hard to blame the kid. As for judging him. I'd give him a full year in the minors in 2017 (minus the injury cups of coffee) and then see how his 2018 season plays out. I would expect improvement at that point... just how much, not sure. Even a .650-.700 OPS with the stick would be a huge improvement over flirting with the Mendoza line and with his defense turn a net negative into a nice positive.

Sickles had him at 37 with an ETA of 2016 in his pre-season list in 2013... so yeah, not universal as has been implied (and truthfully, that was the number that came to mind when I posted the original statement). That was also before he lost all of 2014 to injury. That injury was big. That was a years worth of lost at bats. I could care less where someone puts him on a list. That would in most cases push his ETA to 2017. He was up in 2015 and struggled mightily with not even 2 seasons worth of time in the minors. Context matters.

Buxton had a grand total of 55 at bats in AAA between his disaster of a season last year and spring... 55. He was awful again in the spring. Anyone predicting him to be an RoY candidate was doing so solely b/c of his name, and certainly not because they actually watched him play, and if that's the expertise being used to judge the pick, then I go back to my original statement, the expectations were ridiculous. Who is saying that there's no timeline to judge the pick? I am saying that all expectations heaped upon said pick have (to this point) been ridiculous. I'm saying the decisions to keep him up here if based on said expectations were ridiculous. I'm saying that the decision to not have an adequate backup plan was ridiculous. I am saying that Buxton should have started and spent most of this season in AAA and that because it wasn't done this year, he's going to need it next year. It's clear he needs the time to develop. Period. It has nothing to do with him needing to man up. It has nothing to do with him being a bust. It has everything to do with him simply needing more time, which hardly unusual of a 22 year old, especially one with so few at bats in the high minors. Giving him the Carlos Gomez treatment is a great way to see a few more years of really bad production only to see it improve once he's ready for free agency or find yourself trapped in the Louis Rivas situation. If you're disappointed, it's because your expectations were unrealistic and need to be adjusted. Buxton has been setup to fail since he got called up. That's the worst possible way to develop any sort of talent in any sort of industry, because far more often than not, being setup to fail, leads failure, no matter how good the person is who failed. It isn't like that magically changes because the skill set involves hitting a baseball instead of being an engineer or manager.

You know full well that expectations are a case by case basis. Draft position means nothing. HS vs. College is a much bigger/better litmus test to start, but it's hardly the only one... The big concern about him was that he was from a weak HS conference and hadn't faced a lot of top talent. The question was how he would do against superior talent, to which he got off to a pretty darn good start. and your statement is just revisionist. Buxton didn't debut on top of the top 100 list. He was much further down and moved up after destroying low A in his first full season. I don't have a problem saying that expectations forced on the guy were ridiculous, and these further expectations are exacerbated by a complete lack of patience. He has what 300 at bats in 2 years at the high minors? That's a problem. Period. Very few prospects will survive getting that few at bats in the high minors. What's worse is what Brock pointed out, they aren't even continuous. Yeah, if he was Mike Trout, he'd have been fine, but guess what, he isn't. Forcing high expectations due to Buxton showing similar results is ridiculous. Forcing those same expectations because Buxton was a top 10 prospect for the last few seasons is ridiculous. Assuming you have an all star in the making just because you have a guy on all the top 100 lists is ridiculous. And the real ridiculous thing is forcing an unrealistic timeline because of said expectations... and that one is 100% on the Twins. Buxton needs time to develop. That was clear last year. It was clear this year. And to date he hasn't gotten enough of it.

I really don't see how you can draw that conclusion. Development is development. If they can identify and develop an international signing, they can identify and develop a draftee. Coaches don't change between the two. Player stops don't change (except for a stint in the DSL for some international signings) I think you're missing just how much goes into getting a player from the rookie leagues to the majors. It's not simple. You're applying standards to the Twins that no major league team can reasonably attain.

I'm guessing he didn't piss them off at all. He was a late signing (December of 2012 at age 20), transitioned from the pen to starting in his second season, and as such restarted the DSL. Played well in the GCL at 22. Skipped Etown and went straight to CR at 23. Let's drop the slow promotion/Twins must be incompetent with all prospects stuff. Please. this meme is so old and untrue that it's getting ridiculous, and I'd like to believe that the people who read these forums can remember the bazillion counter examples to all of this. There are real things that players learn during development and real reasons why they start in the various leagues. Prospects are very much a case by case basis. That's not what happened here and a quick look at seasonal stats shows that he's moving along at a reasonable pace for reasonable reasons. Whether or not he is a good prospect, time will tell, but I'm guessing the Twins will know a bit more about him than any of us scouting box scores ever will.

I don't get this reasoning at all. Everyone knew Jay had to transition from the pen to a starter, which his going to slow that whole ascent. I'm not sure this is a litmus test for anything. Those other two were drafted higher b/c their teams knew they could get there quick. The same cannot be said for Jay, who was drafted more for his ceiling than a quick rise.

Not sure I'm ready to lump Berrios into this category just yet, and it's a bit of cherry picking when you ignore Sano and Kepler. Berrios has had what... 7 starts? That MLB jump is hard. Berrios at least looks ready to the extent that he's had plenty of time in the high minors. Buxton on the other hand... he needs more time in the high minors. period.

Sorry, his position on a list means nothing. Plenty of guys up on that list fail, see Young, Delmon. Unreasonable expectations is often what causes it. The Twins need to do what is best for Buxton and not cater to some BA list. You're talking about a guy who spent most of 2014 injured, got all of a few months of time in AA in his first taste of it (the first month or so was pretty bad too), and virtually no time until this season in AAA. That's pretty much the definition of rushing him. Buxton shouldn't have went north this spring. He wasn't ready last year, and the idea that in an offseason he could somehow be magically ready this season was a really really really really really poor decision by the front office, and the same logic that pushed Hicks pushed Buxton. Hopefully, the next front office is smarter about this and plans on Buxton spending most of next season in AAA. Give him some time to learn and reinforce good habits (which he's quickly getting out of in MLB) while giving him an easier environment to work on some of the skills he current lacks (like hitting a curve ball).

I guess I'm not seeing this. It strikes me more as a statement of hype. The two are the same age, and Gonsalves is sitting in AA instead of A ball (yes, I know an injury was there). Results are a mixed bag. Both limit homeruns (with Romero slightly better). Gonsalves gets more Ks. Romero has less walks. WHIPs thus far are nearly identical. Not that Romero isn't a bad prospect, but I'm really not sure just how much higher said ceiling is.

Interesting thing about Gonsalves though is that he's a fly ball pitcher. I'm really curious what he's doing differently that keeps the ball in the park. For the talk of a lack of quality breaking ball, or FB too straight, hitters don't seem to be able to put his pitches over the fence.

Yep, and for most (if not all of it). He has one option left and hasn't shown he can hit major league pitching. Bad options management/impatience put him in this position. The Twins need to commit to giving him those at bats in the high minors and not yank him around to the majors. They need a stop gap guy (just like they needed one this year and didn't do it).

This is kind of what I'm getting at with bad habits and not being down long enough to cement the good ones. He did this in AAA during his last demotion as well before correcting things and going forward. He needs to spend plenty of time down there to get in to a good habit of taking good at a bats... that and pitch recognition.

regardless, there's promise in these guys. They aren't sure thing top 100 guys, but if the performance continues, some of them could end up there before they hit the majors. The Twins have a lot of wildcards like that in their system right now. Hopefully, a bunch take some major strides forward.

Little big horn, little big foot... close enough I say.

We have a few of those in our system, but TINSTAAPP, right? The more the merrier, and if Dozier netted one or two of those type guys, even better. You get enough, and we can have a lot of high end cost controlled pitching for a while.

yeah, I have to think BD would bring home 2-3 prospects, with at least one being top 100, quite possibly 2 if you aren't getting someone in the top 40 or so. Personally, I like the Yankees the best here as they have a few top 100 guys (likely in the 60s range, but good fits) that could be targeted (Sanchez and one of their High A pitchers).... though in general I just hate the Yankees. I have to think though that a trade here makes sense. Not sure I want to go into 2017 with Polanco being a super utility guy. Not bad from a depth side of things, but I'm not sure that best uses his talents, and BD can bring in a catcher and maybe some additional help (unless of course the team plans on binging and getting Ramos).

Pretty sure I'd get mistaken for a big foot if I took my shirt off at Walmart... though I might be a bit too short for it. Is there such a think as a little big foot?

Honestly, with Albers, I don't think anyone is concerned about losing him, and if someone takes him, it's good for Albers more than anyone else. I don't have a big problem with it. Flight cancellations... yeah that sucks, and I think that most of the 40 man pitchers in AAA who could come up had pitched recently.