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Lots of good posts here, but I agree with this point the most. It seems to me that Arcia has missed a lot of catches that he should have made and that with enough practice and concentration he could be a decent defender. On the other hand, almost everyone agrees that the Twins need better starters. Could Miller be next year's Phil Hughes? Thanks for starting this thread Bark -- interesting food for thought.

I agree with you that Molitor seems more likely than Gardy to get Hicks to play better. As for where Mauer should play, no one asked about that in the forum.

Thank you my friend. I was intentionally omitting my own opinions and merely reporting the key points, as reflected in my notes. Although there were no major surprises, I liked how PM seems to have thought a lot about every aspect of managing and how much he seems to want to win more games. I also appreciate the fact that the Twins are having these calls and allowing fans to ask hardball questions.

I was a little surprised that that PM was so positive about Hicks. My impression was that he thinks that Hicks has great potential and he is hopeful that Hicks can realize that potential.

It seemed to me that PM was confident and relaxed, as well as very focused on what he wants to do and how he wants to do it.

Tonight the Twins had another fan forum for season ticket holders and group leaders, this time with Paul Molitor. The format was the same as the recent forum with TR. This was a conference call where people took turns asking questions. This time, I actually got to ask a question -- more on that later. I took notes as fast as my hand could move, but I am old, so that's not very fast. Thus I will focus on the key points. The first question was about selection of coaches. PM said that there are lots of names to consider, but the Twins have to be careful about people who are under contract with other clubs. He has discussed this with TR for 8 or 9 hours during the past 2 days. PM then mentioned that the Twins lead all MLB in runs scored during the last 2 months of the season and that he loves Gardy and they have a good relationship. The next question was about the benefits of a Latino coach. PM said that the Latin influence has grown exponentially during the past 10-15 years and that bilingual skills improve communication. My sense was that he wants a Latino coach. The next question was about instilling greater discipline in fielding and baserunning. PM said that this must be emphasized in spring training and that teams that do fundamentals well tend to be around in October. The next question was about clubhouse culture. PM wants to create a culture of moral conduct where players decide for themselves and their teammates and there is accountability. He will give freedom within parameters, but when at the ballpark the focus of players should be mainly on work, not social media. The next question was about the influence of his former managers. PM said that his manager in Toronto taught him about respect, TK saw things that other managers don't see and paid attention to all details and Gardy had his own style, maintained some of TK's approaches and stayed true to himself. The next question was about PM's Xmas list for the roster. PM said that this has begun to be discussed and his priority is depth in the rotation, but we need people who want to come here and are the right fit. He then said that bullpens are important but they come together on their own, and it's good to have Perk at the end. Now for my question. I asked about PM's plans to speak with players during the offseason, for example to let Santana know whether he should prepare to play SS or CF or to urge Arcia to work on his defense. Yes, I did actually throw that in. PM said that he plans to be transparent and forthright about what he expects from each player, and speak with them about their strengths and areas where they need to improve. He then talked about having a pyramid of potential leaders, and that he expects that his own mindset will pass through to the coaches and players. He then said that he will reach out to the core guys in the near term (more on this later in the call). The next question was about PM's ability to influence callups and free agent decisions. Basically, PM's answer was that TR makes these decisions but will listen to PM. They get along. The next question was about the over/under on ejections next year. There was some humor here, and PM mentioned that Gardy's record is not in danger and that the instant replay has reduced ejections. The next question was about the timetable for Buxton/Sano. PM said that Sano has medical clearance but they don't want him playing because his elbow is vulnerable if he falls. He also said that Buxton is a little reckless, but they sorta like that. The timetable will depend on them and PM will concentrate on the players he has and welcome the new players when they are ready. The next question was about pitch counts. The answer was long and detailed. PM wants to develop starters who can go deep into games and who he has to fight to take the ball away, but this will be on a case by case basis because the team needs to protect its assets. The next question was about lineup construction. PM talked about sabermetrics and traditional lineup construction. He then said that Jack Goin is the main man on this and PM will consult with Jack. He also said that lineup construction is important. The next question was about what needs to happen in 2015 for PM to view it as a success. PM said that the veterans need to bounce back, the middle range now seem over the hump in establishing themselves and need to provide more leadership and the young guys have been impactful and can only get better. PM sees reasons for optimism. He then said that the Twins were competitive in most games last year. He plans to plant the seeds of winning in every ear at spring training. The next question was about positioning of Santana and Rosario, PM said that he has been around Santana since he joined the Twins' system and thinks that he has a high ceiling. He thinks that Santana is a SS, but Escobar proved to be a valuable SS and left his mark. Regarding Rosario, he said that they tried him in the infield but lots of people think he will end up in the outfield. PM hopes that Rosario's AFL performance will continue. The next question was about using the shift and countering it. PM talked about batters setting a priority for each at bat and that he plans to speak with Arcia and Parm about improving their bunting skills and bunting more. He then said that even in the case of David Ortiz it might make sense to ask him in a particular situation to hit a single to LF. He then said that batters need to be mentally strong to deal with the shift. I think that PM at some point suggested that the Twins might shift more, but this is not in my notes. The next question was about pitch to contact. PM said that this was part of the Twins scouting/drafting for a long time and it was successful for quite a while, but the Twins are now drafting more for velocity and you can see this at the lower levels. Such pitchers often do not pan out, but the margin of error for hitters goes up (down?) if there is greater velocity. He also likes pitchers who will push hitters who crowd the plate. He then said that Trevor May has 4 good pitches but needs to learn to use them better -- when to throw for strikes and when to throw for chase pitches. The next question was about helping Mauer. PM said that he's glad Joe is on the team and that Joe was unsurpassed when he played catcher. Last year was not great for Joe and he felt some pressure to make the All Star team, but Joe was better in the second half and PM will meet with Joe soon to discuss how he can help Joe. Joe has a quiet demeanor but burns inside. The next question was about leaders on the current roster.. PM said that Mauer leads by example, Perk has influence in the pen, Hughes is the leader of the rotation guys (he was well-taught by the Yankees system) and Zuke and Dozier are leaders. People follow Dozier. There are also other potential leaders. Good player leadership is important. The next question was about Perk's health. PM sad that he had an elbow problem but PM is satisfied that it won't continue. He also talked about how the closer is important and that Perk knows how to get ready for next year. The next question was about the importance of bunting and small ball in the American League. PM said that the trend is to bunt less due to Billyball and sabermetrics, but PM likes to score first and expects guys to know how to bunt and to practice this. The Twins also have some guys who can bunt for hits and this keeps players out of slumps. PM then said that Santana, Dozier and Hicks need to bunt more. The next question was whether PM will follow formulae and play percentages or instead adapt to each situation and follow his gut. PM said that the manager gets a huge information package about the opponent at the start of every series and he will study this and often follow it, but he will also know his guys and go against the book so that a player can get better. In particular, he likes players to play every day so he may not platoon much. The next question was about Hicks and Plouffe. PM said that Hicks is still part of the mix and PM believes in him and he was better late last season and became competitive in OBP. There will be competition in CF. As for Plouffe, he had a good year, the Twins were very pleased with him and he will be our guy coming in. The next question was about confidence and PM thinks he can lead these men and be successful. PM has a plan and ideas that he is organizing in his mind and should have this all worked out by spring training. The FINAL question was about PM's vision for the Twins brand. PM said that winning is the most important thing, but helping the community is also important. PM's ultimate goal is to win a World Series ring with the Twins. My overall impression of PM was very positive. I was hoping for an outsider, but now I am optimistic that the changes that are needed may come from within.

There are some interesting and creative ideas here. My main quibble would be Santana in AAA. Odds seem high that Santana may need more time in AAA, but it seems to me that he should continue in the majors until he fails, at which point he can go to AAA to work on whatever flaws made him fail. I also think that Santana's defense in CF could improve with practice and if Molly can figure out that Santana needs to play about 10 feet deeper.

Welcome, Sharon. I am glad that you are now part of TD.

This has been educational, but somewhat depressing. Hopefully, someone in the front office is devising a plan to produce more revenues in order to better compete against other teams. If you were TR, what strategies/technologies would you pursue in order to increase these revenue streams?

I applaud the effort that went into this and don't dispute the statistical analysis. However, it seems to me that the charts may not reflect intangibles, such as getting the most out of each player and attracting better free agents. I would also enjoy seeing a chart of how many wins Maddon would have had relative to Gardy if the Rays payroll had been as high as the Twins payroll. Such chart would require a lot of subjective assumptions, but the process could be illuminating.

I would hope that at the very least TR will have a face to face meeting with Maddon. It seems to me that Maddon's insights about the Twins could be valuable to TR. I also think that $5-7 million per year would be a good business decision, considering the morale boost for the fans and the players, plus making the Twins more attractive to free agents. The Twins could also offer Maddon an option to move up to the GM spot when TR retires, which is something that the Cubs cannot offer. Maybe the combined deal (manager then general manager) could be 6 or 7 years, which might also give an edge against the Cubs? It's painful to watch games and even more painful to go to the ballpark when the team is losing 90+ games per year. We fans need more reason to hope for better days. The Twins could spend big on free agents this offseason and we can argue about that until April, but Maddon seems to me to be far closer to a sure thing than any free agent, and it would be a business mistake not to make a serious bid for his services.

I am hoping that one of our experts can educate us on this.

I think that he would be wise to be consistent, and stick with what he said in the conference call with season ticket holders -- $100 million should be enough. I don't understand why TR has stopped saying that. Maybe someone told him to stop saying that? I have no idea, but I think that many of us could be fairly happy if the Twins spent up to that level next year. And I think that season ticket sales would increase if the Twins were to make one impact signing.

General moderator note -- please try to reduce the personal attacks in this thread. There have been good arguments made on multiple issues and reasonable people may disagree about a lot of this. When it gets too personal, that often sidetracks a thread. Please keep this in mind when your inner Mongo makes you want to flame someone who you believe has taken a position that is completely wrong. We are letting the players play in this thread, but a few of you have come close to infraction territory. There is no reason for that. You can make your points as forcefully as you wish. Just don't squabble.

Moderator note -- if you don't like a thread please just ignore it, don't drop a grenade then leave.

I was hoping that stringer would move on to the pitchers and he has not disappointed. I don't know how stringer finds the time to do such a great job on these articles. I do know that every one of them has been excellent and has promoted interesting discussion. Thanks, stringer.

If gambling were legal I would take that bet. It seems to me that Hughes will be treated as the ace until someone else earns that role. I can see Nolasco getting the opening day start only if Hughes is injured.

I heard TR say that in the conference call and now it seems that he may be backtracking. I also heard TR mention that $100 million should be enough. I would like to see the Twins focus on one quality acquisition, not spread the money around. We fans need something to be excited about.

Here is a link to an article about the conference call that I was reporting on in this thread.

I think that this is a great list. Very interesting.

Welcome Chief Jr. Your dad is a mainstay here at TD and one of my favorite human beings, despite his advanced age. It's great that you have joined up.

I love what you have written here about the Twins Way -- it is a great summary of why many of us have been very loyal fans through good years and bad. I wish that there was some way that we could follow up with TR about this. Please note that I signed up to ask a question in the Q&A and my question was going to be about what will be done to get the team back to playing good fundamental baseball. Unfortunately, they did not get to me.

I am not sure this means anything, but my recollection is consistent with my notes on this point. What I will find more interesting is whether TR actually interviews any Latino prospects for manager. It seems to me that it would be foolish not to interview a broad range of candidates, including Ozzie Guillen, if for no other reason than to gain their insights about the Twins.

Could you please say something negative about Mauer? I would like to see Mauer get his second MVP next year, and one negative comment from you might do the trick.

I am merely reporting what TR said. He did not appear to be joking at any point during the one hour call.