Alex
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Everything posted by Alex
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Seems that several people miss the point of this comparison. I'm comparing the Twins and their situation in last three/four years to those teams. I'm not using the Twins previous years because they aren't relevant, especially to the Giants and Cardinals (the A's have been in a worse situation than the twins current one for a long time). I'd argue that's reasonable. The point is this: The Twins' current situation is comparable to those three teams (or better in the case of the As) financially. In the last 20 years, you'd think they'd have gone through something similar, but they haven't, so to argue these awful two or three seasons HAD to be part of the normal rebuilding for a mid-market team is just plain false. And while we're using .500 as the bench mark, these teams found ways to avoid being completely awful even in losing seasons. I really don't get how this is debatable.
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Those aren't rebuilds. Those are terribly run organizations for extended periods of time. I'd point to the Cardinals, Athletics, and Giants, all of whom are comparable to or worse off than the Twins. They've managed to rebuild without bottoming out for multiple years over the last 20. As for Boston, whether or not you want to blame it on the manager, that's something the Twins haven't changed.
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Yes, in that a I think every one of those players would have been an improvement for the Twins. It's no secret that FA are both high risk and tend to be overpaid in dollar amount vs. WAR (and it looks like about 2x as much as one would expect), and taking basically just the highest paid FA is going to scew that quite a bit. Either way, eschewing FA as a rule is just an option the Twins don't have. They need to find some help out there or they'll lose more fans.
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How convenient! Plenty of mid-market teams or less have been able to rebuild and do so while being competitive without a single pick that high. As others have mentioned, if you're just using the draft it's going to be a long wait for those players. Luckily for Ryan, Buxton is moving very quickly and the previous GM already had other seeds of the rebuild in place before he arrived otherwise it would be an even longer wait (assuming all works out).
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Referring to the Cubs top 5 farm system: "Does it help us win big league games right now?" Epstein said. "No. But it will in the future." - See more at: Chicago Cubs: Clock ticking for Theo Epstein - Chicago Tribune "We need certain things that, in my opinion, we are more likely to find from someone outside the organization at this point,'' Epstein said. "Some things you just can't get from the status quo.'' - See more at: Chicago Cubs: If Theo Epstein is unable to hire Joe Girardi to replace Dale Sveum, he risks compounding his mistake - Chicago Tribune On free agency: http://www.bleachernation.com/2013/09/18/theo-epstein-speaks-free-agent-binging-on-base-needing-players-regressing-baez-baezing/ Now, I had a hard time seeing where Terry Ryan sounds like a visionary, even if his quotes about Free Agency sound very similar. However, as the last article states, he actually did acquire some free agents. They certainly have an opposite view of changing managers and he lays out a pretty clear plan for offense and the types of players he goes after. He's been on pretty much the same clock as Ryan and, imo, has been far more active, though he's be met with comparable lack of success. Now, the question is should we care? Not really. I'm focused on the Twins and what Ryan can do. To that end, I agree with stringer bell's assessment and the fact that he's been so passive has been concerning. I'll continue to advocate that rebuilding does not require consecutive 96+ loss seasons.
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Who is advocating that? I think most people would prefer he do his due diligence, evaluate players and make this team better. Almost any position on this team, with a couple of notable exceptions (C, 2B, maybe 1B depending on Mauer) could be upgraded easily.
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I'd be curious to read the quotes about Theo you're referring to. Any links?
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I agree but I think this was actually more than I thought the Twins would get for him.
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Some people continually give him more credit than I believe he's due, and that's the part of your post I was responding to. Not to mention that looking at what he's done is important in actually evaluating him. For my part, I would have liked to see a better team at Target field than the one we've seen the last two seasons, but instead we've had little action taken by Ryan on that end, and he's also made very little difference in adding to the farm system while that has happened. We've disagreed about whether it is actually natural in other threads, especially for a team to be this bad and I've highlighted several teams that avoided that did that are in the Twins position or worse in terms of markets. I'm not arguing that they aren't rebuilding rebuilding, but we'll have to agree to disagree on that and whether "rebuilding" means you have to lose 291 games in three seasons. You certainly don't have to win divisions doing it, but at a certain point they're just doing a poor job. As for next season, I'll be happy to re-evaluate when Spring Training roles around, but outside of free agency, I'm incredibly interested to see what path they'll take that will help them be a better team next season. I don't see how they'll make a significant trade without sacrificing that precious depth in the minors and they have nothing of real value on the major league team. I'm sure we'll see a couple of our prospects move up, but to think they are going to come in and start turning the team around instantly as they try to figure out the big leagues is a bit much.
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No, you certainly don't, but you have to do something better than the other teams and the Twins don't have many options for the immediate future outside of FA. As far as they next year or two is concerned, they are at a "last resort" type measure. As for part two, he is very likely to succeed at some point with the farm system, but he'll have done so with a large portion of core players that weren't acquired while he was GM. Then, of course, he's presided over two 96+ seasons and likely a third unless he actually improves the major league club. As I mentioned in another thread, some people find this acceptable and natural, but I disagree and see a GM who did very little to help the big league club at best and at worst, tried and failed miserably.
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Morneau was actually very good against RHP this season and neither of those players were ever as good as he was. Morneau, Willingham, Doumit all lack defensive flexibility. Doumit and Willingham are both used best as DHs. Factor in that Mauer catching is irresponsible and likely at 1B and you have two of the other three who should be sitting or providing major defensive liability somewhere. So having all four of these players on the roster with not enough spots to go around pretty much starts the offense off where it was last year with no real additions. I'd like to see them move either Doumit or Hammer before the seasons starts even if they don't sign Morneau.
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Twins picking even that up is only worthwhile if they get rid of both Doumit and Willingham.
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I think/hope this is the case, but Deduno will probably get a nod ahead of Gibson to start the seasonunless Gibson shows a lot of improvement in the offseason.
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Absolutely. A incredibly high risk player is all they could hope for, but I still wonder if the Twins will overvalue them and thus not get what the expect and keep them. But, I agree, unclogging the roster is far more important. One thing that people may not realize is that they make $10M together, and while money shouldn't be an issue, that $10M could be put to far better use instead.
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That's fair, but I guess I was hoping for more than a back of the rotation pitcher, which he could be with more control but time is running out for him to figure it out.
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HAHA. Completely thought I had typed him but he must have been too obvious! So, the five next season must be Sano, Rosario, Buxton, and Meyer and May (or Stewart?)? I don't have much hope for May anymore, sadly.
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I'd be highly impressed if either one of those players bring back anything more than a reliever or AAAA type player. I predict they'll be on the major league roster next season clogging it up and one of the reasons the Twins are going to continue to struggle since they should be bench players at this point, but that would leave a single spot on the bench for a catcher (with 13 pitchers).
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I assume he didn't mean debut. That would allow for Mauer, Pinto, Dozier, Perkins, Hicks and Gibson, but I can't figure out the other one (unless it's a relief pitcher).
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Huh? You must have completely misread my response. Who wrote off the future? I said "...3 90 loss seasons or more," as in the ones we've been through. I then asked a question: Were those three 90 loss seasons avoidable? As in, were they necessary for the rebuild? My answer is no, the were not necessary and poor management, talent evaluation, and sitting on hands is what caused them (well, at least the last two).
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I don't think anyone disagrees that the minor league development and farm system have been great (but only a small part of that is due to current management) Overall, the question will be wether three or more 90 loss seasons were inevitable and unavoidable for the major league club (edit: the ones we've just been through).
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I'd add Hermann to the list because of his flexibility. I prefer him over Doumit at this point.
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In the wake of some of the Carlos Gomez discussion, I thought this article might be worth a look. Latino players bring much- needed flair to baseball. | SportsonEarth.com : Jorge Arangure Jr. Article Whichever side you lean more strongly toward, I think this article makes some thoughtful points well worth considering.
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Article: Message to Twins: Accountability Means Change
Alex replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I'd add that "not taking shortcuts" is pretty darn arrogant just by itself as if there is an accepted "right" way to do things and another "easier" way to get better faster that is somehow less ethical or worse. -
Yes, hopefully they are changing, but there won't be satisfactory evidence of the truth of that until the major league team stops losing 90 games a season.
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People are taking this Presley response too far and completely out of context, extrapolating entire philosophy about who will startin CF from a basic question. The original question (by Labambo) was who would start in CF based on some other waiver suggestions (which is what this thread was about) A couple of us, myself included, responded that Presley is currently the best option on the roster, not that he is "the answer" to CF. That response had nothing to do with whether I supported the Twins overall philosophy but is based on available options and likelihood. I personally hope the Twins in do something about several positions, but because of both Hicks and Buxton, I don't see them signing a FA to fill there (at least that are any different from those already on the roster or played it recently), nor do I think it should be a major priority since they basically need to keep the spot warm for a few months at most hopefully. I'd prefer they go spend money and make acquisitions at other positions of higher possible need (SP, SS, a corner OF). Of course, that's a topic for another thread.