mazeville

He changed my mind in that I did not think he -- and the Twins organization as a rule -- was capable of making aggressive, creative trades like this. Whether you like it or not, this was a good, creative trade. On the surface, Antony upgraded the rotation for this year and next with a younger, better starter in exchange for one of the worst starters in the league and a failed prospect. Don't get me wrong: I do not like the way the Twins have treated Meyer. I think he should have been in the majors in the second half of 2014, and believe their failure in this area will come back to haunt this team. It would not surprise me if he went on to be a solid MLB pitcher. But there is no question at this point that he is a failed prospect, a 26-year-old who has spent three years in AAA in an organization with one of the worst pitching staffs in all of baseball. And remember: They can flip Santiago at the trade deadline next year if need be -- and generate some sort of return. So yeah, I'll call this a good trade.

Rob Antony has changed my mind. He won all three trades. And the Nolasco deal was the type of creative trade this organization has desperately needed for decades. I would have definitely preferred to trade Brandon Kintzler and Kurt Suzuki. But I'm still OK with the team holding onto Ervin Santana and Brian Dozier. Both can be traded in the offseason - and contenders this year don't need second basemen so Dozier really wasn't a trade deadline target, anyway. I'd still rather the new regime assess the team and its ability to contend and make deals. Still, three trades were two more than I expected. And getting rid of Nolasco's contract was incredible.

I like "Idea No. 2," but only because I'd rather the new regime trade Dozier in the offseason to make way for Polanco. Having him play every day will give the Twins enough of a look to determine if he really is going to be ready to take the second base job next year.

This is another reason I want the new GM to analyze Santana. I want someone to come here, look at the roster, and make decisions on what to do. I don't think this team can be competitive next year, and believe Santana should indeed be traded, but it's possible that the new GM disagrees.

And so is my adult life. I know quite a bit about supply and demand. Did you look at the link I posted above or did you not bother? The upcoming free agent market is not very good. That means there WILL be demand for Santana this offseason. REGARDLESS, my point is that there will be enough demand for Santana this offseason that it would be much better to wait and let the new guy trade him rather than the guy who will not be in GM seat next year, and who is part of a regime that put us into this mess. I simply no longer trust these guys to make these deals. Period. And I'd rather the new regime look at the market, look at the roster, look at our assets, and start making moves. That means the team should focus only on the lower-end assets, and not at the bigger ones.

Let me make this clear: I hate the overly conservative nature of the Twins. My biggest - by far my biggest - request in a new GM is that he (or she) is aggressive, in the Dave Dombrowski mode. I just don't want Antony to make most of these deals. I listed four players largely because they'd all generally fetch lower-end prospects.

True, but they're not major assets. And I said they should look at trading them. In reality they should only trade a couple of those names. Which in and of itself would be the biggest trade deadline action in years ...

Still don't agree. More teams bidding to trade for your starting pitcher naturally increases the price through simple supply-demand rules. And in any event, my main point is this: I'd rather have a new GM make this trade than the interim GM.

Maybe. But if you have more people potentially bidding on the pitcher then that competition will yield higher bids. And he's still cost controlled for multiple seasons. But my main point is this: Do you want Rob Antony to make that trade? Do you? Wouldn't you rather have the person who will be in the permanent job do this deal? Why do you want the previous regime to collect the talent? This leadership has had its chance. I want the new regime to do the roster construction.

Most years, yes. But have you taken a look at the pitchers who will be free agents this offseason? Rob Antony is right - it's a weak market for starting pitchers this offseason. http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/making-sense-of-wasteland-that-is-now-baseballs-hot-stove-pitching-market/ With this the case, the market for Santana should be just as good this offseason as it is right now.

If someone offers the Twins a Top 100 prospect than yes. But I don't agree that his value will "never be higher" than it is now. It'll be just as high this offseason when more teams are looking for pitching.

As the Twins have struggled this year, I wanted them to start trading assets for younger players who could bolster areas of weakness, like catcher and starting pitcher. And then the Twins fired GM Terry Ryan and replaced him with an interim in Rob Antony. And now I want them to cool the jets. Think about this: Antony likely has little chance at getting the permanent job. So do you really want him dealing some of the team's most tradable players? Especially given the team's recent record in trades and free agent signings? Not really. I'm not saying he'd do a bad job. I am saying that the biggest trades should be made by the person who has the permanent job. Let that person do the team building. That means that players such as Brian Dozier and Ervin Santana should not be traded now, but this offseason when the new GM is allegedly in place. Dozier, in particular, is a better offseason trade candidate than he is a deadline candidate given that no contending teams need a second baseman. If the team is correct and there aren't many pitchers of Santana's quality available on the free agent market this offseason, then perhaps the best option is to wait until the offseason, anyway, when more teams -- not just contenders -- are hoping to bolster their starting staffs. Neither, of course, may generate all that much. But outside of young players like Miguel Sano they would attract the most return. And I'd rather the new GM trade them. My hope is that Antony keeps the trades relatively minor. Find a taker for Fernando Abad. Look at what kind of return Eduardo Nunez could fetch. Trade Brandon Kintzler. Please trade Kurt Suzuki while you can get something back. But leave the big guys on the team.

Keep your expectations low. And, to be honest, maybe that's a good thing. Rob Antony is unlikely to get the full time job. Assuming that someone else is coming into this position, wouldn't it be best for him (or her, should the new GM end up to be Kim Ng) to be the one making trades? I think this team would be better off letting Antony trade the lower value assets, like a reliever or two or Kurt Suzuki or Eduardo Nunez (though I'm less inclined to trade him). And then the new person could look at the roster and the organizational needs and work on trading Ervin Santana and, in particular, Brian Dozier, this offseason. There's no rush to trade either of those guys. Dozier is a far better offseason trade candidate, anyway, and there's not much in the way of free agent pitchers to be had, so perhaps Santana could attract some interest -- especially if the team kicks in a few million bucks.

Because the team is having a tough time ridding itself of a starter, methinks.

They actually DO have amazing trade pieces. Sano would fetch a ton. But nobody would consider trading him. I get the point. Keep the expectations when it comes to the Twins and the trade deadline low. It's not like people are knocking the door down trying to get Ricky Nolasco or Fernando Abad ...

I've long steeled myself to be underwhelmed when it comes to the Twins and the trade deadline. I'm permanently steeled, in fact.

The trade for Milone was pretty solid, too. Don't forget that. The common denominator here is that they are under-the-radar deals. TR works best on small finds and small trades. He doesn't do well with major free agent signings. Or at least he hasn't since his return.

"Brooks Sano" has not played third base in a year. Of course he looks like garbage. He didn't even play there in spring training. And this is a major problem with the team's player development. They watched him play third base for years in the minors, and didn't move him to another position until he got to the majors. That's utterly, utterly stupid.

Man this drives me nuts. No, there was no market for third basemen this offseason. But there is even less of a market for third basemen now. And Plouffe has destroyed what little trade value he has. He costs $7 million this year. Because the Twins decided to keep him and sign a DH (even though they have like 39 players on their 40-man roster who are bested suited for 1B/DH roles), they pushed Sano into the outfield, where his defense is even worse and where the team already has a bunch of players needing playing time. The Twins should have traded Plouffe in the offseason to balance their roster. NOT to get some sort of massive return.

Man they should have traded Plouffe last offseason.

The Plouffe question is interesting. I think it might be too high. But he is a good post-deadline candidate given his price tag. The Twins should definitely do something with him if they can once he returns. Yet if nobody was going to trade much for Plouffe in the offseason, I don't know why they'd do it now. The one question I really have is Dozier. I'd probably wait until the offseason to find a trade partner. But he's someone who could get a return and the Twins do need to find a spot for Polanco.

Nope. The main problem with this theory is that there's no way to determine whether a trade works or not in the weeks or months after the trade is made. Again, this is not an audition for Rob Antony. It's not his job to lose. He is a known commodity, and the Twins' history suggests that he would simply be given the job if the team thought he was good enough for it. At best, he's working to stay in the organization after whomever is named to be the GM or the POBO or whatever we're calling it these days.

It's not an audition for this job. That's the point. It may be an audition for another job, sure. But certainly not for this one.

Again, as a reminder: Ryan chose the timing of his firing, not Pohlad. That renders a lot of the speculation here moot. It means this isn't truly an "audition" for Rob Antony as it is simply the fact that someone needs to fill the seat for the rest of the year. And so I'm going to buy into Reusse's theory. And remember that Reusse was correct when he speculated multiple times that the Twins would get rid of Ryan in the offseason because, in his words, "Pohlad is not stupid." Lots of other people, including those who cover the team on a regular basis, refused to believe the idea that the Twins would get rid of Terry Ryan. And then they got rid of Terry Ryan. Logic suggests they go outside the organization on this hire. If they were going to hire from within, they'd simply hire Rob Antony now. They know what he can do because he's worked with the organization for 30 plus years. If you're going to go through with a search, why just hire the guy you know and put in the interim position? This is no audition.

I'd rather they not. I know it's terrible to say the Twins should lose. But the Twins should lose. They should focus on development. They need to trade away some veterans for guys who will help this team in the next few years. That means people like Brian Dozier and Ervin Santana. I do not think the Twins will climb out of last place even with those guys in the lineup. And it's clear this team needs to reconfigure the lineup and the pitching staff and the bullpen. I do believe that it could be a quick return to prominence given the right GM. But I also believe that they should just go ahead and lose to get a top draft pick in a very good draft.