Squirrel

With the new article out, post Ohtani speculation and the Twins no longer a choice, please direct comments there. But please keep to topic and stay away from the past and present FO comparisons. http://twinsdaily.com/topic/28105-article-twins-strikeout-on-ohtani/

I just redirected everything to here, as there is an Ohtani thread in the Other Forum, too, so for now, until we hear from the Twins, it remains here.

Well, and now Heyman is saying the Twins are out, too: https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/937463233023225856

Smaller market west coast team means ... Mariners? Padres? Or is that just Cashman justifying losing?

With 'little influence' or 'a little influence' ... just clarifying in case it was a typo. Btw ... I like your user name.

Yeah, okay, but I was responding to the post saying who wouldn’t want to be in LA with movie stars and swimming pools and great sushi bars. While I get the intent was to add ‘and also the Dodgers’ I was focusing in on the other things being superficial, but if that’s what it boils down to, it’s what it is.

Moderator note: At some point ‘Agree to disagree’ is a good option rather than going down a path that turns to bickering.

Well, but it’s LA. Yuck. Why not the Angels then? Those just seem like superficial reasons to me which wasn’t what initial reports seemed to make us think he was looking for.

This list kind of makes me sick. Other than the Mariners, it’s the high money teams, not in their signing money, but their long-term money. So much for making us think it was about anything else, or at least hoping it was.

It all depends on the stage he wants to play on ... that's what I'm assuming the letters are for ... he'll figure out what he wants from that. But if the long term money is it ... then there we are.

What did Keith Law think?

Heh ... I wouldn't call the couple of players they've had a long history as that article implied. It looks no longer than several other teams.

If he doesn't come here, I really hope he doesn't go to the Yankees. I thought that write-up was odd ... because of the Yankees' long history with Japanese players? I guess I wasn't aware of that. But mostly they said 'Because the Yankees will pay him the most.'

I really don't get the same vibe you do about 'entitlement.' What specifically gives you that impression? And I disagree about the letters ... strongly ... I don't think it screams small or big market. What is screams to me is ... I want all the information you can give me about your organization and your facilities and your philosophy and your development and your coaches ... I want every, single detail in order to make the best decision for myself. And that the instructions specifically said not to include any monetary information whatsoever. While that's still a long way from thinking Minnesota might or might not have a shot at him, I don't find that one bit 'entitled.' Now, he might be ... I really don't know. I've not read one single thing about about him that would point me to that conclusion. If you have read something, please share it. The more information we all have makes for more interesting discussion. As for where he might want to land, I really don't know. That's why this is all so intriguing and why it's difficult for me to keep my even keel going. If he were all about the money, wouldn't it have been smarter to wait a couple years and enter as a free agent and may the highest bidder win? So I'm wondering ... how important is the money to him? It would seem it's not the first priority which is another reason why what everything else a specific team has to offer is. And why I wouldn't rule out Seattle just because they have less pool money. But I don't know. Maybe he'll take the most he can get at this time. I just don't know. And it makes me crazy! That's my take.

Although ... he could choose Minnesota to get his feet wet in the MLB ... a more 'friendly' market and definitely less 'stressful' market ... I know, I know ... I just keep letting hope get in the way ...

“Why do you build me up (build me up) buttercup, baby Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around” I’ve been trying to keep an even keel with all this Ohtani business, but every report, article, interview and tweet is making me crazy! Dare I begin to hope that just maybe ... ? Many have given good arguments as to why Minnesota would be a very good landing spot for Ohtani, reasons I don’t disagree with, reasons that I think are stronger than other teams, but I just can’t quite get myself there. While I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else ... okay, I do live somewhere else, but I’ll be coming home when I retire because it’s home ... I just don’t see a young man from Japan wanting to come to Minnesota. That’s the dreaded sinking feeling that grounds my hopes.

I don't think it's a matter of having a constructive discussion on his weight that is the issue. It's when the conjecture and innuendo creep in that do nothing but paint this a problem with Sano's character that is the issue that get some posters a tad defensive, and then in turn, get other posters a tad defensive with the push back. As a poster mentioned above we don't know any actual specifics of anything regarding his diet and training ... just innuendo by local columnists that may or may not come from any specific knowledge other than their own personal conjecture. And if it comes from specific knowledge of Sano's diet and training, why not report it as such rather than just ... leave us all to speculate in a rather negative fashion which does nothing but attack Sano's character (i.e. he doesn't care, doesn't take it seriously, isn't professional, doesn't try, just wants a big payout from a big market, eats wantonly, doesn't have a good ethic ... all things I've read on this website, and all innuendo and speculation based on one thing ... that he appears overweight with no other basis of behind-the-scenes fact as to what Sano is actually doing/not doing, but since he appears overweight, it must be one of those things I just mentioned without allowing that maybe it's not and that there might be more to it than that.) Again, if you have more insight into his actual health and how he manages it, please share. But if it crosses the line into disrespect, it will get quashed. Sano is a big guy, and I get the speculation ... I live it, actually ... but just be careful about the picture you paint in the process. (Stated somewhat moderatorly. ) I will add that the year leading up to the disastrous 'experiment' of Sano in RF, I was a bit concerned with his approach from what I read. But I also acknowledged that he was young (needed to mature) and dealing with some heavy personal issues (death of a child). After that season, I liked what I heard from Sano himself on his own acknowledgement of what he needed to do. He seemed to have ... well, 'grown up' a bit, and was acknowledging that he needed to do more. It was exactly what I was hoping to hear from him, and I haven't heard differently since then. Yes, it appears he has more work ahead, but I don't know the inside of that so will just leave it at that. For now. IMHO.

I tend to agree with this about his body being what it is. My concern is he doesn’t and never will have the body we want or expect for a modern era baseball player, no matter what he does and that it will shorten his career.

Moderator Note: Please keep to topic and don’t side step to another tangent. If you wish to discuss scouting and ‘failed’ prospects and related decisions from past administrations, please start another thread. In this thread let’s please keep to the rule 5 draft and the resulting 40-man additions.

He played elsewhere and didn't spend his entire career in Minnesota ... but the majority of it certainly.

Did you figure this out yet?

This non-trade wasn’t about risk aversion. It was about it being too one-sided making it a bad deal and good they didn’t do it

Just a mod note: As it applies to Gibson, and in this case it was a response to a comparison, please don’t take the Buxton tangent further, as this is a discussion about May, and how he may or may not affect the starting rotation next year. Thanks.

Yes and no. LA was the ONLY team interested, not because Dozier wasn’t good, but because they were the only team with a need at second, who would be in contention, and had pieces to offer. If you are the only team bidding, why would you offer anything close to equal? That’s what the situation was and why some of us weren’t in favor of the one to one offer, even though it was likely the best we were going to get ... we didn’t feel it was enough to basically give away Dozier and if we had, that would have been a trade of desperation, one proven wise not to make. It didn’t and doesn’t mean we aren’t willing to part with good players for much needed SP help, but as proven this year, DeLeon wouldn’t have helped and would’ve been worse than everyone we trotted out there this year. It doesn’t mean that DeLeon won’t turn into something, and it doesn’t mean we won’t regret it next year, although that is getting less likely as time goes on. And it doesn’t mean we can’t still try to trade for DeLeon, but if Dozier is the trade chip, we are now in a position to command more than just DeLeon. It means it was an extremely risky trade to pull the trigger on and was good we didn’t do that at that time. Doesn’t mean we can’t and shouldn’t continue to find offers by trading good pieces for a good return. Yes, we need to build SP depth to be able to compete this year and into the future, but we can’t trade away too many good position players, either, for the same reason. We need to find the right balance of trades, and Dozier for DeLeon was not the right balance in many’s opinions.

Or were interviewed and no offer was made as there was someone else Falvine liked better. But yes,we’ll all wait and see. There are reasons to feel hopeful and reasons to feel skeptical, so waiting and seeing is a good alternative as well.