mazeville

No, it is not an emotional response. It is a logical response. The main problem with the Minnesota Twins is that it is an insular organization. The team brings in few outsiders. It primarily hires from within -- even Molitor had been with the organization for years. The team's loyalty and organizational consistency was a strong asset when the team was winning. But as the team started to lose, and began falling behind other teams as they adopted new strategies in the use of technology or other strategies to find talent and put together a winning team, the insular nature of the organization became a problem. At that point, you need to bring in an outsider who can bring in new ideas and add life to the organization. The fact that this team couldn't bring itself to truly let go two people who were in the two key positions as the team descended into 90-loss purgatory is itself a problem. It shows to the other people in the organization that there is no real penalty for failure. They can simply land softly in a job somewhere else in the organization. I get that both guys have talents. But you don't keep around two people you allegedly fired simply because they have talents.

Maybe so. It sure looks like this is a statement from the team in advance of the trade deadline and as fans look to renew their season tickets. But this is a team that has rehired each of the past two major people it has fired into "special assistant" positions. Both Bill Smith and Ron Gardenhire, two guys who for all intents and purposes should be out of the organization, are still working for the Twins. So you'll excuse me if I'm not that confident this "statement" will lead to someone being hired from outside the organization. This team hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt after these six years.

This move won't mean a thing unless the team hires someone from the outside to run this team. Otherwise it's simply moving around chess pieces after losing your queen.

Obvious. Only reason people didn't think this would happen was that the Twins are the Twins and are loyal to a fault. Now, there needs to be some outside GM to come in and clean up the mess ...

Trade him. The Twins are not contending this year. They are not contending next year. Suzuki is not in this team's long-term picture. They need to trade him and sink or swim with their young catchers the rest of the year while working to put themselves in the picture to answer the catching question. He has value. You trade him. The Twins have not made much in the way of major veteran-for-prospect trades over the last six years that might have put them in a better position today. They need to do that now.

I don't disagree with any of that. At the same time, however, I get that the team wanted to make a push for the wild card after years of 90-loss seasons. And that was the going rate for relievers on the trade market. Lots of people every year clamor for the team to do something, especially at the deadline. At this point, I want to see this team focus on young players and make trades of veterans to get more young players and then sign top free agents once the team has demonstrated an ability to win that is not a mirage.

From my recollection, most people seemed to be OK with the trade at the time it was made -- though not all. The trade seems to reinforce the idea that it's just a bad, bad idea to make any trade for a quality reliever because you have to give up too much. It's better to either risk making a big signing or going with a combination of scrap heap guys and young, up-and-coming players.

I'm not sure I agree with the concept of this list. The all star game is about current play, not about career play. Nunez in particular has had a strong year, especially for his position, and absolutely deserves his spot on the team. If this was all about career ability, you'd never have rookies or first-year players and it would take multiple years for guys to make the team. Nunez is getting some time to play this year and he's doing something with it. God knows where this team would be without his ability to hit and steal bases.

I saw this. Two thoughts: The Twins this year are garbage and so have more open spots to give these sorts of players. It's not that surprising to see multiple members of the team on this list. Terry Ryan is at his best when he is working cheap. His issue is that he doesn't do a good job with a lot of money to spend, like he's had the past few years. So his major contracts (Phil Hughes, Ricky Nolasco in particular) and big free agent signings have been bad. But his small moves for scrap heap guys have generally been positive. This doesn't absolve the GM by any means. It does mean the Twins have to rethink the way they do business.

I agree. Trade Suzuki now. But keep Grossman. He gets on base and that's something this team needs. There's no problem with him as a fourth outfielder.

One more point: Since his return, if you simply remove the two-week stretch since his return in which he was brutal -- June 7 through June 21 -- he's hitting about .333. I know that's not really a good exercise, but inconsistency among young players is hardly uncommon.

He's slowly getting it and will be fine. He's had hits in his past six games and seems to have cut down on the strikeouts further. The key for the Twins is to just be patient with him, let him learn at the major league level, and focus on improvement. I don't expect a .780 OPS either but that is not out of the realm of reason given his talent level.

I think the Twins need to chip in some salary in the deal and buy better prospects in the deal. There's no point in trading a Santana unless you're going to get a good return, because the Twins are going to need starters next year and, as you noted, that's the going rate for said starters.

I like the plan, generally. The problem is that it will be difficult luring top free agents to a team that will likely lose 95-105 games. And a team that will lose 100 games this season is not going to go to the playoffs next year. Sad as that is to consider, it's just reality. This team will need to get good first with a core of young players before it'll be able to attract the big-name free agents to get to the next level. The good news is that there is a core of young players who CAN be really good, really fast. Sano, Buxton, Kepler, Rosario, Berrios, Polanco, Kohl Stewart, Tyler Jay, JT Chargois, etc., should give this team a nice base to start with. I would definitely trade Santana now, under the belief that a lack of pitchers on the market and the Twins' willingness to eat salary could net a decent prospect or two in return. I would also trade Abad and Suzuki. I do NOT trade Nolasco unless you really don't find a deal you like for Santana. This team will need pitching to be a bridge to Stewart-Jay, etc. I would also listen on Dozier and Nunez, but would only trade them if there is enough of a return. I assume, however, that Dozier could fetch a prospect package. I call up John Ryan Murphy, Polanco, Berrios and Chargois. In the offseason, I devote spending to making plays for young, international free agents. I also trade Plouffe for whatever I can get, and look at trading Dozier or Santana if deals didn't work at the trade deadline. I think the outfield is largely set. The infield is potentially set, with the exception of shortstop, where I assume Eduardo Escobar can hold down the position until someone like Gordon is ready, or perhaps the Twins could fetch someone like Jurickson Profar in a trade. I definitely work on getting catching help in trades but also give John Ryan Murphy every opportunity to earn the permanent starting gig. I also emphasize pitching in trades because you can't get enough of it. The team will have holes. But you could fill those with under-the-radar free agents and perhaps trades. But my hope is that the young nucleus the team already has, coupled with some young players that come back to the team via trade, can yield surprising improvement next year. And then in the 2017 offseason we target one or two big-name free agents.

This, though I still believe Santana would probably generate a better return at the deadline than during the offseason. I'm not in a hurry to get rid of Santana, either. But if you could conceivably get a good return, I think a team on pace to lose 108 games should probably do that. I feel the same way about Dozier. This team needs to regroup.

There are players who can and do sign one-year deals. And one year deals are great -- because they're only one year. But I'm not necessarily saying get rid of Nolasco. My view is that this team needs to make trades to get prospects, not to relieve themselves of salary. Santana will fetch a far better prospect than Nolasco. So trade Santana. Keep Nolasco as insurance until someone like Kohl Stewart or Steven Gonsalves, etc., can make the majors.

You're forgetting that Hughes most likely comes back next spring, I believe. But the best thing this team could do would be to reinsert Trevor May into the rotation. Then you'd have an intriguing starting five of Berrios, May, Duffy, Hughes and Milone or most likely Pat Dean. Perhaps Alex Meyer if he ever gets found. They could also sign one or two low-end guys this offseason. Or perhaps one of the trades nets them a starter. The problem with the Twins in recent years hasn't been spending, it's HOW they've spent. The team went out and got three mediocre starters when they'd have been better off giving those spots to young guys to develop them rather than let them waste away too long in AAA (Meyer), saving the money to go after the real top-end guys once the team is actually ready to contend. I'd be thrilled if the team focused on developing young pitchers, then went out and signed a top-notch free agent starter who could lead the rotation.

Plouffe's value would never be as high as it was last offseason, barring some unforeseen explosion in offense. He is who he is. An OK-hitting third baseman and decent fielder. Todd Frazier got a remarkably low return for the Reds, and he is vastly superior. What's done is done, however, and he's injured and will likely stick with the team for the full season because he'll be out past the trading deadline.

Maybe. But I bet someone takes him on for a marginal, low-level prospect. Either way, it illustrates the team's mistake in not trading him in the offseason.

Salary dumping Plouffe wouldn't surprise me, either. But I still say they trade him this offseason for a marginal prospect. Agree with you that he should have been traded last offseason. And Milone gets released or is relegated to mop-up duty. Also possible that they keep him as a warm body. Bottom line is this team is a damn mess.

Plouffe should be traded this offseason. Hopefully, he comes back strong and has a good last two months of the season. But it's a bummer they didn't trade him last offseason. My guess is that the Twins trade Abad, Suzuki and Santana at the deadline, with an outside shot of trading Nunez to give Polanco playing time this season. They end up waiting on Nolasco, Dozier and Plouffe until the offseason. But I wouldn't be surprised if most of these players aren't traded over the coming months. I don't have that much faith in the current regime, but I think it's obvious this team needs to make some trades.

I get it's a small sample size. But Arcia was still young and had potential with the bat. If you're perplexed by the Park signing, it should be because he took playing time away from Arcia, a perfect DH candidate.

And nobody will give up anything for Plouffe now. The Twins had a great third base prospect who wasn't in shape to play the outfield. They had an abundance of corner outfielders/infielders. They signed a DH. It made all sorts of sense to trade Plouffe in the offseason and not mid-season. Plouffe is not a good enough player to warrant the "don't trade him if you don't get enough for him," especially if you have log jams everywhere else. Sano is an upgrade over Plouffe when you look at both offense and defense. I do not understand this, "They won't get enough for him" view that people take when it comes to roster construction. Plouffe is an average third baseman. That hardly makes him a must-keep, especially when you have someone with all star potential in Sano who should be playing in that position. And the Twins' stupidity on this issue resulted in them losing Oswaldo Arcia -- who has had nine hits, including two doubles and a homer, since getting everyday playing time with the Tampa Bay Rays. Roster construction is important. You don't just hold average players because you won't get enough in return -- not when you need to open up spots for younger players with higher ceilings.

He's got "general soreness." Which probably means he'll go on the 15-day DL with like a major shoulder injury in three days ...

Nuck? Buxton isn't playing today because he's sore. So I'm back to having no idea who gets sent down or released.