glunn

That makes sense to me as well. And I seem to recall a few flashes of Plouffe-like streaks from Casilla, and it seems possible that Plouffe and Revere might inspire Casilla to realize more of his potential. I would also like to see Florimon get a chance.

I need to pretend that I did not just read that Buxton may be injured.

If there are no good offers before the trade deadline, why not keep him for the rest of this season and see what he does. If he does very well, then a one year offer might make some sense. And if all that you can get for him is mediocre prospects, why not just forgo the mediocre prospects and keep him for the rest of this year? It seems to me that the Twins already have an abundance of mediocre prospects. Your hypothetical "starter who has decent stuff and his head on straight" won't come cheap and will never have the kind of ability necessary to win in the postseason. I believe that Liriano has the ability. I also concede that the chances are at least 75% that Liriano will not be able to realize his potential. The odds of success seem low here, but the level of potential success if all goes well seems very high. So I would be reluctant to trade him for anything less than at least one prospect who has a very high upside.

Someone please archive this. We don't need to be reminded of this loss.

Chief, you are probably correct, but I was thinking the same thing about Plouffe last year. Maybe this is a team with more than one late bloomer?

I think that what you are saying is essentially correct. I would note that the owners of an LLC pay taxes on the income of the LLC whether or not the income is distributed. Usually, the owners take distributions that will at least cover the taxes on the imputed income for each calendar year. The owners can take more if they wish or they can leave the balance in the LLC to make an investment in the business. If the LLC needed extra money, then the Pohlads could either loan money to the LLC or make a capital contribution. But I think that you are correct that the money generally flows only in one direction. I also think that you are correct that the owners are being asked to make bets that they hope will increase revenues. However, because the LLC is a pass through entity as described above (the owners pay taxes on the net income whether or not it is distributed by the LLC), I do not think that it is accurate to say that they would not be risking their personal money. Any extra money paid to players reduces the amount that the LLC can distribute to the Pohlads. On a more positive note, player salaries are deductible for income tax purposes, which has the effect of making the IRS a partner in all player decisions. If a $10 million player increases revenues by $20 million, then IRS gets its 35% tax on the extra net revenue. But if the Twins sign a $3 million pitcher who actually reduces revenues (cough Marquis cough), then the IRS loses, because there are less net revenues to tax. Baseball is just another business, and the Pohlads are classical capitalists. They seek to maximize their economic returns. And they have had success with their business model and seem unlikely to change it. I would rather have an owner who has a burning desire to win a World Series and who does not mind taking a risk of losing a lot of money on a very risky contract (cough Prince Fielder). But it seems to me that there are a lot of other owners who are even more conservative.

At the very least, it seems that Plouffe should get some award. Why not the Corie Koskie award for "Most Promising Third Baseman in a Very Long Time"?

Chief, I am pretty sure that he is correct about the LLC. Please keep in mind that "LLC" refers to "limited liability company", which makes it seem like a corporation. An LLC would be an ideal vehicle for the Pohlads to own the ball club (better than a corporation), because of various tax advantages over a corporation. I googled this and found a link to what appears to be the LLC's retirement plan -- http://401k-plans.findthebest.com/l/60898/Minnesota-Twins-LLC [please notice the address and # of employees] I am not 100% sure that this is the same LLC, but it sure seems that way. And LLC or not, there is no evidence of ownership by anyone other than the Pohlad family. In that regard, I believe that Chief is correct, as he usually is.

What you say makes a lot of sense, Dave. I would also be happy to see 3 years at a total of $19.5 million or so.

My error -- I meant $19.5 million over 3 years. Sorry for the goof up.

It would be nice to see the actual numbers. I also wonder if the 50-55% includes the dollars paid to Buxton and other draft picks.

I was not expressing any opinion as to any specific number of innings. My point is that it makes sense to be conservative, since the Twins are not in a pennant race and cannot afford dead arms next year. Also, I would think that there are other ways to build arm strength, such as lifting weights and doing pushups. I am all in favor of building arm strength, but believe that the focus ought to be on next year and the year after.

THAT is a very fun fact!

I hope that they have the guts to shut down starters who might damage their ability to pitch well next year. This is a lost season, and we need Diamond and others to have live arms next year. I would rather lose some extra games this year and have live arms next year.

Twins should have won this. I blame Gardenhire for leaving Perkins in for too long.

Good one -- thanks for sharing this.

Pull Swarzak now -- too many pitches.

It's only 9:00 here. Have a goodnight sb.

And bases loaded, and Gardenhire is going to let Swarzak sweat it out.

It sure would be nice to win this particular game.

Washington pulled Nathan when he looked vulnerable, but Gardy left Perkins in to give up the tie. I like the Washington approach better, assuming that the goal is to go into the All-Star break with a win.

Yes, often, but you got what you wanted.

It seems to me that Perkins has been asked to pitch a lot of inning lately. And I don't understand why Gardenhire left him in the game so long, especially with the All-Star break starting tomorrow.

Tonight, yes.

So true. Hopefully he gets a lot of credit tonight in the locker room.