twinswon1991

I will never understand TR's infatuation with PITCHTOCONTACT and slow footed DH types! The team now has 6-7 guys who are not capable of playing decent defense. If this means less mauer in the lineup I am ok with it!

As a 1b Joe is nothing more than an overpaid James Loney. As a catcher he was the best in the game. This FO is pathetic! They coddle guys like Joe and surround him with nice guys who can't play a lick. Terry Ryan should've been fired years ago when the game passed him bye but he is nice so he will continue to make this franchise a laughingstock for years to come. I am amazed how many slow-no defense guys TR can squeeze onto one roster! JUST SAD

Spot on. Until the old school (clueless) is gone we will continue to be a laughingstock.

The problem is not the money it is the people making the decisions. TR still thinks that rbi, pitcher wins and tail battling are the be all end all. He scoffs at strikeout pitchers and couldnt spell WAR or sabrmetrics. Until TR is fired this franchise is doomed.

I have no faith in TR having the guts to do the right thing and trade Perk at peak value. He totally bungled opportunities to cash in on Morneau, Doumit, and Willy last year when some pitching reinforcements couldve been had. It is sad how he still sees RBI, SV, and pitcher wins as measures of skills. The game passed TR by years ago and Twins fans have to pay the price.

The Twins front office should be released! Until they hire someone who has a clue how to manage rosters we are screwed. TR and Gardy only care about surrounding themselves with nice guys and yes men. This organization is embarrassing!

So sad that we are stuck with TR and his good ole boys in our Front Office. The gamepassed them bye years ago and they have made this franchise a laughingstock.

I think it is time to put Terry Ryan out to pasture. The game has passed him by long ago! After seeing some of the other trades for prospects this offseason you could argue he acted WAY too soon in trading Revere and Span. This team is doomed until TR and his good ole boys have been fired. Why not take that 10 million he lit on fire when signing Correia and use it to pry away Tampa's GM so we can get set on a decent course???

Terry Ryan just doesnt get it! I cant wait for the presser when TR says he signed a nice guy and a winner! Time for a major change at the top. Terry's solid trades will never be enough to offset his stupid free agent mistakes and pitch to contact philosophy.

The Twins actually won something back when their leader was an absolute SCUM of a human being. We would all take 25 losers like Kirby Puckett with HOF talent over Gardy's collection of yes-men. Bring in more Puckett's please!!!!!!!!!!!

If you throw in Sano and Rosario with Span you might be able to get Andrus. Otherwise, the best you will get for Span is a single A pitcher with upside. Too many good CF on the market and Span isn't an upgrade for most teams over their incumbant.

Not to rain on your parade but Diamond may have made it as a #5 on a good team if he even got a chance due to his pedigre and Revere would've played as a nice #4 OF on a contender. The rest don't sniff the bigs in a good organization. Lipstick on a pig....

Huh? The Twins have zero, ZERO, pitching prospects in their system other than Berrios. Their top 2 prospects are a free agent purchase (Sano) and last year's #2 pick. They have drafted and developed HORRIBLY. The reason their system has risen so much this year is the #2 pick was signed and they didn't graduate any prospects last year (because they didn't have any good ones) unlike other teams. TB, STL, Oak and other computer literate "new school" teams find prospects every year without picking in the top 1/3 of the draft every year. The Twins under TR have become a good ole boys club with no accountability. They demoted BS to appease the fans even though the astute fans know that TR was behind all of the drafting/scouting when BS was in charge. I hope this young guy is not just another yes-man who is forced into TR's old school ways of drafting/signing nice guys who are willing to buy into the "Twins Way". The Twins way will be LOSING until they find a way to rid themselves of the old guard who got this organization in this bind. As a die hard Twins fan I don't want to go another 10+ years without winning a playoff game especially now that payroll is no longer an excuse.

Great news! This org is in desparate need of new blood and a new way of thinking. What TR and Rantz have been doing the last 10 years has been a disaster. Please go outside the org instead of taking the easy/cheap way and promoting another one of TR's "Good Ole Boys".

We need to keep in mind that this was the worst team in the AL for the 2nd year in a row. That is a huge mountain to climb. Secondly, this was the worst team in the AL in 2012 despite career years from Plouffe, Willingham, Diamond, Burton, Perkins and Doumit. Twins also received much better than expected health from Span, Mauer and Morneau. I think at a minimum you need to expect some major regression from half of these guys and if that is the case your baseline should be around 60 wins. They will need to sign 3-4 above average starters to even sniff 80 wins and does anyone think that is realistic? This team needs to blow it up totally. Get a new GM you trust and trade your vets for low A power pitchers who have a chance to be impact players when the Twins next wave arrives. People need a little more realistic view of the Twin's player values. Span, Mornaue, Doumit and Revere have little value to other teams so the best you can hope for is a C+ young SP prospect (think Wimmers). Willy might get you a B+ pitching prospect (think Berrios).

A fair analysis. I'm not defending the Twins' drafts in saying they were good. I'd even concede that they weren't even mediocre. My only problem stems from the word "horrific". "Horrific" drafts don't return viable major leaguers to the roster. The Twins have done that over the past 6-8 years, even if those players aren't superstars. Teams like the Astros and Cubs spent large portions of those years picking in the top 15 of baseball (and often the top 10) yet they haven't shown any ability to produce decent players from the draft. The Twins spent most years picking in the bottom 15 (and several times, the bottom 10) and are still producing viable major leaguers. That's why I take issue with the word "horrific". If you're winning your division every other year and rarely placing lower than third (in the AL, which bumps your draft position down one or two more notches most years), it's not surprising that they haven't lit the world on fire in the draft. Could they have done better? Absolutely, especially in the pitching market, which has churned out virtually no pitchers with any kind of longevity. But to call their drafts horrific is an overstatement of the situation. They've done a decent job with position players and a really bad job with starters. All in all, once you consider their draft position, they've underperformed in the draft but I wouldn't call it horrific. That's my only point, really. Who are these viable Major Leaguers you speak of other than Span? And I don't mean viable major league players who are in the league only because they are in the Twin's org. Plouffe and Parmelee would not make the bigs in a differeent org. Revere would be a nice 4th outfielder or platoon guy on a competitive team. I think Horrific is very fair if not too nice. The failed SP picks may turn into useful bullpen arms ala Perk which salvages a minute amount of value although you can find effective RP's on the street. If not Horrific, how about a fireable offense?

+1. Yep. People who complain incessantly about "horrific" drafts haven't looked at many drafts. The Twins were mediocre, maybe even a smidge of the "bad" side of things. They drafted several prep players that are just starting to join the team in Plouffe, Parmelee, and Revere. They had Garza (ugh), Perkins, and Duensing earlier. Nothing to rave about but far from horrific. The Cubs and Astros, now those were some horrific drafts. I review the drafts pretty darn closely and I would say the Twins are bottom 5 in MLB over the last 6-8 years. Do not forget that TR and his good ole boys have been doing the scouting/drafting over that time so you cannot blame BS. If you use Plouffe, Parmelee and Revere as examples of potential prospects I would say that is worse than horrific. These 3 guys are replacement level at best and if you follow the BP or Klaw chats you will find that scouts agree that Plouffe and Parmelee will never make it in the bigs as regulars. I am not as critical as BP and Klaw on Revere because I think he can be a decent platoon or 4th OF on a competitive team. The main issue is TR and his boys have been the worst in baseball at drafting arms. TB drafts near the bottom each year and look at their farm system. Look at where they drafted their starters and you will see you don't need to have top 5 picks to get good pitching prospects. The difference with TB is they are constantly hiring fresh, young, forward thinkers who can use both their scouting eye and data to find that .0001% that distinguishes a good pitcher from the garbage the Twins always draft. The Twins desparately need a fresh prospective in the FO. What TR did in the 90's was great but the game and scouting has changed a lot since then.

The Twins should take best player available no matter what whether it be a SP, C, SS, or another speedy OF. The team is 3-5 years at least from competing so there is no need to reach for anyone. They need to pray that the 2014 draft ends up as strong as the epic 2011 draft so they can get an "ace upside" arm picking in the top 5.

Frankly, I think you're on the money here. I'd agree that Terry Ryan's head shouldn't be called for, but this seems like a move that re-instates a status quo when maybe new ideas should probably be being considered. The status quo should not be acceptable. Ryan and his good ole boys have done a horrific job of drafting and developing. The international signings and being bad enough to get Buxton have saved the position players in the org. Secondly, for those who think Ryan has such a track record, how many playoff series wins do the Twins have in his reign? They only have 1 more than the lowely Pirates and Royals. Hardly a glowing record especially when you consider the AL Central has been the worst division in baseball over the last 15 years. 15 years ago you could outwork other teams and being "nice guys" gave you a nice advantage. Now you need to outwork, outhink and out-innovate compared to your opponents. There is no way that Terry and his band of old school guys can compete in the new age and they have proved it over the last 10 years.

Great! Nothing better than having a GM and scouting staff that cant draft or develop. This will not end well! Why wasnt he fired? He failed to cash in any vets for prospects this system needs. He also gave up a pick for Capps again ignoring the farm system. The game sadly has passed him by and we Twins fans will pay the price.

This is patently untrue. Stop saying it. During the Smith years TR did provide all player eval imput to BS as BS has no player eval skillsn. BS is to blame for the bad contracts but Ryan and his scouts are to blame for the utter lack of talent in the organization.

Sure glad Terry Ryan gave up a sandwich pick for this guy last offseason. Glad he put no thought into building his terrible minor league pitching staff. Ryan must be fired before the Twins waste all opportunity to cash in vets like Span, Morneau, ans Willy for some hard throwing boom or bust prospects. My guess is the clueless Ryan thinks it is better to lose 95 games with the old vets than to lose 100 with young guys building towards the future. The game has passed you by Mr. Ryan, do the right thing and step down.

The Sawks will trade for Mauer if the Twins pick up 50 mil of hi salary. Your justification is that they will do a insane Hershal Walker deal because they have resources. Shoot your trade proposal via twittet to any nonTwins homer and let me know when they stop laughing. Mauers contract is a major albatross going forward eventhough he earned his salary this year.

I want what this guy is smoking if he thinks any team would take Mauers contract AND give up a prospect!!!

You dont understand waivers. If anyone thought it was a fair contract they would claim and hope the Twins outright release him for free. No one wanted to chance that thus Mauer has zero trade value. Mauer is a great hitter but a part time catcher making huge dollars has no trade value.