glunn

It seems to me that we have lost the ability to compromise. In the past the Democrats and Republicans were able to trade increases in taxes for decreases in spending. And I would hope that we could all agree that military spending needs to be trimmed.

Here is a link to a relay of Span's injury.

That inning totally sucked.

I would really like to win this in the 10th. My dog needs a walk and my wife wants to go for a swim. And a loss will result in further baseball related depression. C'mon Alex.

I was sarcastic in my response to your question, but it can't be emphasized enough how good the Rays are at what they do. They play in a horrible park in a horribly indifferent to baseball (finished last, or next to last, in attendance in 7 of the last 10 years) market while trying to compete in the best division in baseball- and have put together a pretty decent track record in the W-L department despite what they're up against. As I've said for years, raiding their scouting/player development departments for talent should be as much a priority as finding players. Understood. And, jokin, I have learned a lot from your posts and am sympathetic with why you are sometimes sarcastic. Also, I have been wondering the same thing. Why not try to hire some of their scouting and development guys? If there was ever a time to consider some new blood,this seems like it. I would think that for a fraction of the $3 million that was spent on Marquis, the Twins could bring in people with proven track records for teams that built through the draft and through player development. New blood brings new ideas and insights. Also, the cost seems minimal compared to the benefit of home-growing a pitching staff that is similar that that of the Rays and the Athletics, who seem to be able to consistently grow starters who are above average. I would think that this would appeal to the Pohlads' desire to be economically efficient. Each home grown starter who pitches for 5 years in the majors would eliminate the need for a Marquis or a Pavano for 5 years.

Did it look serious?

I love this site. Every question yields good answers. Thanks, guys.

The Rays are a small market team yet always seem to have better pitching than the Twins. Is this a matter of better scouting, better player development or something else?

Damn, already trailing.

Thanks for another excellent report. It's good to see Slama having a great comeback. What does Slama need to do to get propmoted?

What was the problem with DeVries tonight? Up and in the zone?

Another excellent round up and it is good to hear that Slama is back.

It seems to me that they need to play the cards that are dealt as time passes. There has been lots of talk in the forums about signing Greinke and other starters who will be coveted by the Yankees and other free spending teams. I think that is pure fantasy. The Twins don't get into bidding wars against the high spending teams. Their favored approach seems to be looking for players who are undervalued, like the Hammer. If they can get a pitcher who they feel is undervalued, then I think that they will go for him. That pitcher might turn out to be as good as Pavano was in his first year with the Twins or as bad as Marquis was this year. Or maybe they will get lucky. For me the good news is that the home-grown pitching for next year may be at least at league average. In my opinion: -- Diamond seems fairly solid. I would be happy if he could start the first postseason game next year, -- Deduno may be a disaster waiting to happen (with his WHIP of 1,58), but he is a joy to watch and if he can fix his "fastball" and cut his walk rate, he could be a legitimate #2. -- DeVries is not flashy but he is getting the job done -- WHIP of 1.12. -- Kyle Gibson may be ready to contribute next year. -- Blackburn will be in a contract year and may get his act togther. -- Hendriks could use a strikeout pitch, and maybe he just needs to learn to relax and just throw the damn ball like he does at AAA. -- P.J. (the "Wall") Walters has shown flashes of competence. -- Esmerling Vasquez (now in Rochester) has a WHIP of only 1.13 and has more strikeouts than Hendriks (77 strikeouts in 81.1 innings for Vasquez versus 72 strikeouts in 92.1 innings for Hendriks). Vasquez is almost 30 years old, but maybe he could have a few good years in the majors as a #4 or #5 starter. These are all pitchers who I would like to see given a chance next year. And remember that if Butera becomes a pitcher next year, then he will bat only in interleague games. Nick, am I wrong to have hope that at least 4 or 5 of these guys could be equal or exceed league average next year?

[quote name=Jim Crikket;bt3521 Also' date=' am I wrong to feel that, assuming you are bound to be ranked near the bottom in SOME positions, I'd rather it be 2B and SS than most other positions? Sure the team OPS at those positions is bad, but how much worse is it than average for that position? Point being, I'd rather be 29th at 2B than 29th at 1B, where there'd likely be a significant spread.[/quote] I share Jim's desire to hear the answer to his question. I also would like to know where Revere would rank if he was playing his natural position of CF.

This is BRILLIANT. I hope that it gets promoted to the main page!

Another thorough report with the always appreciated links to the box scores. I am very happy to hear that Buxton is off to a strong start at E-Town.

I love any blog that involves the mysterious Players A and B. I did not guess who they were, but my sense was that Player B would be more appealing based on his stats. You make a good point about Parmelee needing to move up. On the other hand, trading Morneau or Parmelee would reduce the Twins' flexibility. If the Twins trade Parmelee, then they will have a problem if Morneau gets injured or if some team makes a great trade offer for Morneau. If the Twins trade Morneau, then they have a problem if Parmelee gets injured or is just not ready to perform at a high level. Although I agree with you that Parmelee would benefit from moving up, my personal preference would be to keep both Morneau and Parmelee unless some other team makes a very favorable trade offer involving at least 1 potential quality starter.

Maybe the Twins are auditioning Nishi for sale to a Japanese team? I wish that someone would explain to mudcat why his idea is not a good one. Also, does Nishi get even a crumb of credit for hitting the sacrifice fly that plated the go ahead run against Cleveland last night?

That was very well said, Jack. I would add that some people here, including me, enjoy and often agree with BOTH the positive AND negative posts.

If Kepler is promoted to Beloit, then he can bat after Rosario and Sano -- a young murderers' row for pitchers.

This makes a lot of sense, mudcat. I wish that someone would explain why this would not be a good solution!

This is encouraging. Do you think that Kepler should be promoted to Beloit?

These are some interesting dreams. I would love to see collapses from the White Sox and Tigers. It would also be nice to win a series from the Yankees.

This is very interesting. Thanks for laying it out so clearly. I would not mind seeing the AAA affiliate in Las Vegas. It would provide opportunities for a fun trip.