whydidnt

Can't speak for the "basic" plan, but the premium does include DVR like functionality. You can elect to start watching an in-progress game from the beginning. You can fast forward or simply skip to a different point in the game. However, my experience is that the fast forward is not as functional as most cable/satellite boxes. You can't see the action as your fast forwarding so you have to guess at when to stop and get back to the action. There are a few commercials, but usually you just see a commercial break place holder.

Just because they keep Liriano out there, doesn't mean they aren't messing with his delivery and/or his head or a myriad of other things. Based upon mainstream media reports they have been. You know Johnson's K/9 rate those first couple years was less than 8 per 9 innings. I'm not comparing Liriano to Johnson, I'm just attempting to get people to compare how their success and failure is dealt with by the coaching staff. Would the Twins have recognized Johnson as a once in a generation pitcher those first 4 years he was wild and struggling, or would they have told him to take some miles off his fastball, slow down his delivery on the slider and throw more strikes, because we have 9 guys out there waiting to catch whatever is hit? And if he refused, would he have been shipped to Tampa for a head-case left fielder since he didn't want to do things the "Twins way"? I personally have serious doubt that the Twins would have been patient enough with him to let him develop into what he became. To put it to you another way, what would have to happen for you to criticize the Twins handling of young pitchers, it seems from your posts the staff is above reproach and has done everything perfectly. I'm simply trying to raise the question that perhaps that isn't always the case, and asking people to think about why.

I agree with the core of what you're saying, but I think if you look at the moves made last off season, if you have another 15 million to spend you can significantly improve the team. Don't forget the team spend another 10.75 million on Marquis, Carroll and Capps, plus another 1-2 million for the bums in our pen, meaning you would have had about 27 million to work with in the offseason. Instead of signing Marquis for 3 Million, you sign E.Jackson for 11 (+8), instead of Carroll for 3 Million, you sign Scutaro for 6 (+11), I'd go with Cordero over Capps and save 250k, that would leave me 5-6 (the guys they brought in like Burton, Gray, etc. cost something too) million to spend on the bullpen, for that I could have signed Coffey, Saito, Qualls and Rodney. Not saying all these guys would have signed here, or that you would have even wanted all of them, but the point is, we would have a legitimate SP, a decent offensive option at short and a bullpen that we could have some confidence in. The team would certainly be in a better position to compete for the AL central. Don't forget Fielder wasn't signed until late in the offseason, so if you're running the Twins, you don't see the Tigers as being that much better in your division. It was a bad, short-sighted move to cut payroll this year.

I don't think the rule applies to mlb.tv since it's not satellite transmission. MLB.tv is purely internet based, and the blackout rules are set by MLB. They very well may be based upon the FCC's satellite rules, but I don't believe they have to follow those rules for internet transmissions. I think the blackout rules are in place to protect local tv revenue, especially since now all local games are moving to paid channels like Fox. Teams are getting huge rights fees for the local cable/satellite only stations, and those stations are in turn charing the providers huge monthly fees, which we all pay. MLB isn't going to mess with this revenue stream, not when you see it contributing to people bidding over $1B for a bankrupt Dodgers team.

Sure, but my point isn't to argue that Blackburn can't be a back of the rotation option, it's that the Twins NEED to develop #1 and #2 pitchers and haven't shown a propensity to do that. It seems to me that they refuse to allow guys to pitch through and learn from their mistakes, rather trying to change them to the "Twins Way". I'll ask the question again, what would Anderson and Gardenhire done with Randy Johnson had he come up in the system and walked 6+ guys a game like he did in Seattle? In my earlier post, I hadn't mentioned Santana, thinking he came up under the previous regime, but it looks like that was one legitimate Ace developed by Anderson. Any others? He has been here 10 years now, you would hope that we see more than 1 every 10 years, right?

On a positive note, the Rays faced a similar trio to open the season vs. Baltimore last year with similar results and manged to win the wild card. The Twins aren't dead, and really shouldn't we be past the point of being intimidated by playing teams predicted to win the league? I thought that was the point of subsidizing a stadium, to allow the Twins to compete with the rest of the league, right?

Why did Payoll have to come down? There was no logical reason to reduce payroll. Revenue was up to 230 million last year and we still haven't heard what they were adding from the new local TV contract. Team has historically spent 50+% of revenue on payroll. This year they decide to spend significantly less, and you think this had to be? Seems to me the owners were setting the team up to fail.

Well, this may be a philosophy question, but maybe it should be a question about Rick Anderson's ability as a pitching coach. I'm thinking back over the last several years and am having a hard time recalling any starting pitchers that showed consistent improvement over their time with the Twins, be it after getting called up, or being a acquired in a trade. Liriano and Blackburn have been very inconsistent, Slowey slowly got worse (injuries contributed) Baker has probably improved slightly, but again injuries really make it hard to judge. Pavano has certainly declined, Duensing never made it as a starter, and same with Perkins. Garza blossomed after he left the Twins and Lohse has been pretty good, though probably not much better than when he started with the Twins. None of the young "power arms" that we have brought in over the last few years ever got over their control problems, or if they did it was simply by throwing a 93 MPH fastball over the middle. My point is that based upon the Twins trust in Anderson you would hope there would be some sort of history to back that up. Where you see young guys improve and one or two maybe even turn in to all-stars under his guidance, and maybe every now and then a veteran learns something new from him and gets better. It may have happend, and if so, point it out, but it just seems like guys don't consistently improve once they get to the Twins staff and isn't that what you want your pitching coach to make happen? To get back to the philosophy of pitch to contact as a rule, I think it's more a "throw strikes" rule than pitch to contact. But I also think major league hitters have figured that out and know to be looking for first pitch strikes when facing the Twins. Of course, I haven't researched the stats to see if my conclusion is true, my observations are likely clouded by my pre-conceived notion of this, but if I was hitting against the Twins I would certainly be ready to jump on the first pitch of any at bat. I think the Twins need to show more patience with young power pitchers that have command issues. Guys like Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson were notoriously wild when they came up and eventually figured things out, not comparing any recent Twins minor league to those two, but rather suggesting that power pitchers often take longer to develop their command and sometimes rather than forcing the issue you have to deal with some growing pains. Ask yourself this, if the Twins had a power pitcher who's BB/9 IP was 5.4/4.9/6.8 and 6.2 over the first four years as a starter, how would Anderson and Gardenhire treat that guy. Would they be messing around telling him to throw strikes, and benching him or sending him back to the minors or would they let him figure it out? Those were Johnson's BB/9ip his first 4 years as full time starter. I would much rather see the Twins show some level of patience with a guy like Liriano who has shown the ability to strike guys out, but hasn't quite figured everything out than to a guy like Blackburn who obviously can throw strikes but hasn't shown the upside of a top starter. Yet it's Blackburn that gets the contract extension, it's Blackburn that is guaranteed a spot in the rotation coming out of ST each year and it seems as though Blackburn is given a pass, even when he's getting lit up. Yet Liriano walks 5 guys and he's called out in the paper and told over and over to pitch to contact. Certainly you want to instruct guys to get better and throw more strikes, but you also have to try and build on a pitcher's strengths and let that guy gain confidence and improve, right? Do we have any evidence that the Twins can develop a top level starter, at least under the current regime? I say we don't, and that is scary for a team that will not, or can not spend the money in Free Agency to get one.

I think this is a pretty accurate statement. Why fire the GM only to replace him with his top "adviser"? Francona won 2 world series, had his team in the playoffs as frequently as Gardenhire, managed in a much tougher division and got fired after his team had one bad month. Yes, managing in a huge market like Boston gives him built in advantages, but when you say on any other team he'd be on the hot seat I can't argue. I just would argue that being in the hot-seat doesn't mean you should be fired. I think it does mean that it's time for the media to stop perpetuating the notion that Gardenhire is immune to his team performing poorly and start putting him on the hot seat and forcing him to make tough, good decisions.

I don't disagree with most of what you say, but seriously, having to work year round makes for a long year? Uh, isn't that what a majority of adults do, work year round? Most college kids I know go to school full time while maintaining a PT Job, and then working FT in the summer to pay for next years tuition. Sorry, but I don't feel sorry for any of these guys for having to work in the offseason, the rest of us have to work 12 mos. a year, being a baseball player shouldn't exempt you.

I hope it doesn't happen. But, if the Twins lose close to 100 games again this year, then it sure should happen. That means that the Twins have had a payroll in the top 1/2 of the league for 2 straight years, and turned it into 2 of the worst results in team history. Someone has to take the blame and it only makes sense that the manager shares in that. I would imagine if we end up there again, Gardy himself might want to consider a change, I don't think he had a lot of fun last year.

Question for those in the know. Do minor league players receive any sort of per diem for meals/expenses when on the road? If so, how much? I know major leagues get a pretty nice one, and assume that minor leaguers get something, though it's probably more in line with the IRS recommendations for the city traveled.

I'm not ready to panic. I'm sure they will play better at points throughout the season. I didn't have high expectations though. When you lose 99 games and then cut the payroll by more than 10% what do you think is going to happen? The team is put together poorly, they build their pitching staff around guys that put the ball in play and then put guys in the field that are average at best, and in many cases below average defenders. Valencia is playing like he did in the minors, the entire organization was blinded by his 1/2 year performance in 2010. I hate to say it but we are seeing the real Valencia, a below average fielder and mediocre hitter. Have to agree the offense has been very disappointing. Facing probably the worst 1-2 starting pitchers in the league and have looked absolutely lifeless. Hunter was the throw-in part of a deal for a middle reliever last year, that should tell you about his pedigree, yet the Twins hitters couldn't square up on him all night. Wouldn't surprise me to see the Twins but up 8-9 today though, you just never know with this team.

I don't think Hughes is necessarily a better hitter/player than Casilla, but I like him in the lineup. With Revere, Casilla, Span and Carroll all batting back to back we end up with 4 slap hitters in a row. Hughes helps break that up some. Interesting that we haven't seen Plouffe start a game yet, either.

I don't know, when you consider that most of these guys, especially in the low minors are only 18-22 years old, I don't consider the pay that out of line. How much do other non-college grads make in their first few years of work out of high school? As they get older they are making an informed decision that the potential long term reward is worth the short term suffering, like many end up doing in their careers. It's just that in baseball the potential reward is many times greater than most of us will ever realize. No one is forcing any of the guys to pursue the dream, if they feel there is a more rewarding career path out there, they are welcome to pursue it.

Nice day for the farm teams. I was surprised that Gutierrez was the setup guy and Slama the closer for Rochester. Given the Twins past treatment of these guys I would have expected them to feature Gutierrez as the closer. Not that one or the other is really more important, depending on usage. It's just the Twins typically put the "most trusted" guy last.

Justin Mourneau - FTW!

Thanks for posting this, my daughter is an adult now, but I completely understand the emotions Marquis felt, and am glad the outcome is so positive.

Here's a helpful tip for you, you could have used the "reply with Quote" to save yourself the few keystrokes that indicated Gardy had done SO MUCH WITH SO LITTLE as other had done. See it works both ways, and guess what it adds absolutely nothing to the conversation. When you get out of your teens hopefully you'll realize that people can disagree with you without it being the end of your world. Cheers...

Really, you mean to tell me that if it's in the 8th innning, your team has a 2 run lead and the lead batter reaches base against you, the manager can't figure out that's a high leverage situation and to warm his best pitcher up instead of "saving him for the ninth". Managers constantly try to get their better pitchers into high leverage situations, EXCEPT for their closers for some reason. It's also frustrating to see managers refuse to bring their closer in for the last out in the 8th, when runners are in scoring position. Again a high leverage situation the manager certainly could have had the "best pitcher" ready for. I think there are lots of games every year where the "high leverage" situation is obvious, or do you think it's purely random that Perkins usually was thrown into that role last year? I can buy an argument that some players perform better if they know their role and when they are expected to pitch, as it probably affects their routine. I'm not sure their is any statistical evidence to back that up though, I doubt it.

I think Doumit is the primary RF. I don't think there is as big of fear of him breaking down since he won't be catching every day. They also don't have to worry about losing the DH if he's in the field and needs to move to catcher. However, if you figure he's going to C 40-50 times so Mauer can stay fresh, and still need another 10-20 days off himself, that still leads to 60-70 games where we need a RF. I think Plouffe and gulp, Revere get those games.

Apparently there are some Twins fans that are so brain washed that they believe Gardenhire is perfect and there is nothing to criticize him about. I guess I missed all of those World Series parades he led. First, the talk of him doing so much with so little is a bunch of BS. He's had two MVPs on his teams and one of the best closers of the era to start with, not to mention the AL Central has been pretty weak over the last decade and the Twins took advantage of that. So, having said all this to try and create a little reality...I think Gardenhire is a good manager, he's certainly not infallible though. I'm not calling for his job, just think some could recognize that, just like everyone else, he's not perfect. He does a pretty good job motivating the players and managing their egos. The one thing I'd change is his fascination with scrappy middle infielders that are in his mould. It seems he has always overvalued these guys when it comes to playing time and also lineup positioning. Don't forget it was Gardenhire's desire for "more speed and athleticism" up the middle that was one of the factors in the Twins giving up on Hardy and going after Nishi.

I think it was Gardenhire, but maybe Ryan that indicated Plouffe will be the backup shortstop. Sounds like they are planning on playing him a lot as a "super utility" guy. Not sure where behind SS and RF they plan on using him though.

I tend to agree that spring training stats aren't typically meaningful. However, it seems obvious that Capps problems last year were too many HRs allowed and too few strikeouts. The numbers this spring seem to confirm those same traits. For the record, I think closers are often overrated, but only if you are willing to run a league average reliever out in the bottom of the ninth. If you are constantly sending a worse than average, or replacement level pitcher out then all bets are off. The game is somewhat close and you can't give up a run or two every other time out there and be effective. All of you that think Terry Ryan is the savior and can walk on water, just remember that his first act upon retaking control was to re-sign Capps at an above market rate. Was there really another major league team that was going to offer Capps 4 Million + an option this year? I think he would have been lucky to get 2.5million from any other team, especially when you see the way the market for relievers played out. It was a terrible move, especially when you consider the Twins were cutting payroll. FWIW, I think Ryan is a decent GM, I just don't think his track record is as great as everyone seems to remember. I think there were a couple of times during his first tenure when the team was just a player away from winning it all and he steadfastly refused to pull the trigger, it seemed like we were always player for the future. I wonder what happens this year if the Twins are a game back at the deadline and they are selling out every game, so ownership tells him he can spend some $. Is he willing to deal someone like Benson or Hicks to land the Ace SP we need? I'm talking a true ace, not someone like Capps. I doubt it.

Definitely think the lineup/bench looks improved over last year. But, I'm still pretty concerned about the Pitching that was really poor last year and doesn't really look too different. I guess if 2010 Liriano returns and Baker's elbow cures itself the rotation will be decent, but those are 2 big ifs. However, it sure is nice seeing some guys on the bench that you aren't afraid to see at the plate.